The Sheik
Though professional wrestling is mostly phony, the wrestlers themselves are very much real. Take Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri, an outlandish Iranian who performed under the name Iron Sheik and who incapacitated opponents with his feared “camel clutch” hold. Once his career was over, his body and spirit were broken and his clutching was no longer tolerated. A documentary chronicles a publicly outrageous man picking himself off the mat. Feb. 28, 9 p.m. $25 ($50, meet and greet). The Royal, 608 College St., 416-466-4400 or theroyal.to.
Bryan Adams
Lyrically, Bryan Adams is nothing if not a sentimentalist. As such, the fans who found the scratchy-voiced songster irresistible in 1984 could now only feel stronger toward the earnest pop-music passion of his prime, what with the nostalgia now linked to Run to You, Somebody, Heaven and the other hits from his breakout album Reckless. More than 30 years after the record’s release, Mr. Adams celebrates it with a tour. Kids wanna rock, and so too do their parents.
Feb. 28, 8 p.m. $62 to $113.50. Air Canada Centre, 50 Bay St., 855-985-5000 or ticketmaster.ca.
It's Not the End of the World
We rationalize our mishaps, telling ourselves or others that, however bad the situation is, it’s not the end of the world. But if not at the end, life is apocalyptic enough, at least in our own minds. From the veteran Montreal choreographer Sylvain Émard comes a full-length piece about the modern world’s volatility and the reactions to the turbulence by seven male dancers. Confused but energetic, they search for their place in life.
Feb. 28, 8 p.m. $19 to $37. Fleck Dance Theatre, Harbourfront Centre, 207 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000 or danceworks.ca.
Eric Peterson: Desert Island Cabaret
He’s played Billy Bishop on Broadway and he’s played a cranky old so-and-so on the sitcom Corner Gas, and now he wants to “play it again, Sam.” You’re invited to sit around the piano with the actor Eric Peterson and hear his favourite songs, as interpreted by the jazzer Denzal Sinclaire and others. Expect to hear stories and music, the latter from the songbooks of Noel Coward, Tom Waits, Hank Williams, Edith Piaf and Jimmy Buffet.
Feb. 28, 8:30 p.m. $20 to $25. Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank House Lane, 416-866-8666 or soulpepper.ca.
Whisper Opera
You might use Google to find out that the American composer David Lang won a Pulitzer Prize in 2008 for his piece The Little Match Girl Passion. But when Mr. Lang attempts to google, he does so in poetic ways and ends up using search-engine responses for a libretto to an opera so delicate it can only be experienced by 52 people at a time, with lines delivered by a whispering soprano. And you wonder why he’s won a Pulitzer and you have not?
To March 1. $67.50. The Theatre Centre, 1115 Queen St. W., 416-408-0208 or soundstreams.ca.