Jenn Grant, winner of the Solo Recording of the Year at the 2016 East Coast Music Awards, will perform at The Great Hall March 24.Andrew Vaughan/The Canadian Press
Jenn Grant
Give or take a Leslie Feist or a k.d. lang, the Halifax-based songstress possesses as sublime a voice as there is in the country. Her latest album is Paradise, a mature work with Grant in sophisticated indie-pop form. "I'm a two-step honey, I'm your trigger, I'm your paradise," she croons hauntingly on the title track. No arguments here.
March 24, 8 p.m. $25. The Great Hall, 1087 Queen St. W., 416-872-4255 or http://www.thegreathall.ca/event/jenn-grant.
Butcher
An old coot shows up at a police station wearing a military uniform and a Santa hat. Who is this guy? Hailed by this newspaper as a "gripping nail-biter," with twists, turns, aliases and allegiances aplenty, Nicolas Billon's thriller closes the Off-Mirvish season boldly (and with a meat hook).
March 25 to April 9. $39 to $92. Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge St., 416-872-1212 or https://www.mirvish.com/shows/butcher.
Sarah Polley: Away From Her
Based on Alice Munro's short story The Bear Came Over the Mountain, Sarah Polley's indelible 2006 adaptation Away From Her stars Gordon Pinsent as a man losing his wife (played by Julie Christie) to Alzheimer's disease. The story is heartbreaking; the acting, transcendent. At a screening, Polley speaks about her directorial-debut doozy with CBC Radio's Eleanor Wachtel.
March 27, 7 p.m. (event is sold out; rush tickets available). TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W., 416-599-8433 or http://www.tiff.net/events/books-on-film-sarah-polley-on-away-from-her.
The Baroque Diva
A Tafelmusik production celebrates the role of baroque diva, starring the outstanding soprano Karina Gauvin, who makes her long-awaited return to the period-music specialists. A program includes orchestral works by baroque composers and a world premiere by Canadian composer Colin Labadie that was commissioned as part of this year's sesquicentennial celebrations.
March 23 to 25 (8 p.m.) and March 26 (3:30 p.m.). $26 to $95. Koerner Hall, 273 Bloor St. W., 416-408-0208 or https://www.tafelmusik.org/concert-calendar/concert/baroque-diva.
Crawlspace
Karen Hines once dreamed of a black enamel farmhouse sink. Now she just wants a place to sleep that doesn't stink of dead animal. A raccoon, specifically – a rotting carcass of one, to be exact. A hit as a smaller production in 2015, the darkly humourous, all-too-true one-woman show about a house-buying debacle is back.
March 28 to April 15 (currently in previews). $25 to $49. Young Centre, 50 Tank House Lane, 416-866-8666 or http://tickets.youngcentre.ca/single/PSDetail.aspx?psn=9339.
Brad Wheeler