Skip to main content

Ali Wong.Max S. Gerber

Ali Wong

How do you get to Sony Centre? By selling out three shows at the Winter Garden Theatre. Organizers of the big JFL42 comedy festival added a show at a bigger venue to satisfy the demand for Ali Wong, the San Francisco spitfire and self-fashioned "Naughty Oprah" whose darkly spun relationship humour brings all the boys and girls to her yard.

Sept. 22 (7 p.m.) and Sept. 23 (7 and 10 p.m.), $55 to $71, Winter Garden Theatre, 189 Yonge St.; Sept. 24, 7 p.m., $32.50 to $65.50, Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 1 Front St. E., ticketmaster.ca.

North By Northwest

Spies! Crop-dusters! Ice-cool blondes! Spiralling paranoia! Counterspies! Wait, crop-dusters? Priscilla Queen of the Desert director Simon Phillips adapts Hitchcock's zippy thriller for a spectacle that uses the film's original score and some visual razzle-dazzle for a Hollywood-to-stage experience.

To Oct. 29. $45 to $150. Royal Alexandra Theatre, 260 King St. W., 416-872-1212 or mirvish.com.

The Apology Project

Choreographer Gerry Trentham, who has little to be sorry about, performs a new work with the dancer Kevin Ormsby. Employing projections, visual art and innovative lighting designs, the Dora-winning Trentham has created a piece that explores guilt, forgiveness and the body's release from its legacy of violence.

To Sept. 23, 8 p.m. $25 to $34. Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 231 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000 or harbourfrontcentre.com.

Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony

Rust never sleeps, but somebody at the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame must have been snoozing. At the age of 71, Neil Young (a member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame since 1995) will finally be enshrined into the hall. He'll be honoured with fellow inductees Bruce Cockburn, Beau Dommage and Stéphane Venne at Massey Hall, where a star-studded lineup of artists will perform material from the songbooks of the duly noted.

Sept. 23, 7:30 p.m. $79 to $125. Massey Hall, 178 Victoria St., 416-872-4255 or masseyhall.com.

Word on the Street

We are in the literary high season, what with book-prize announcements, high-profile releases and probably Margaret Atwood is up to something. On Sunday, authors including Emma Donoghue, Anne Michaels, Deborah Ellis, David Suzuki and Ron Sexsmith – yes, that Ron Sexsmith – converge with book lovers for an afternoon of readings, sellings and "Who's gonna win the Giller?" conversations.

Sept. 24, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Free. Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W., thewordonthestreet.ca.

A new TV series explores the life of notorious Montreal mob boss Vito Rizzuto. Actor Tony Nappo says the revenge tale, which debuts on City on Thursday, is “almost Shakespearean.”

The Canadian Press

Follow related authors and topics

Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following.

Interact with The Globe