Oscar Peterson and Oliver Jones: A Celebration
If they were not joined at the hip, they were certainly joined at the piano bench. A special concert salutes the Canadian jazz giants Oliver Jones (now retired) and his late friend and mentor Oscar Peterson. Piano luminaries scheduled to perform include Monty Alexander, D.D. Jackson, Robi Botos and Marc Cary, in a program of such melodious things as The Canadiana Suite, Peterson's hard-swinging homage to his home country. Dec. 9, at Living Arts Centre, Mississauga.
Cirque du Soleil: Crystal
Hockey has long dined out on its claim to be the coolest game on ice, but now that status is deeply in question. From the Quebec acrobatic company comes its first production on ice and surely its slickest spectacle yet, with a derring-do pas de deux and a game of shinny transformed into a pinball machine. Dec. 13 to 17, at Quebec City's Centre Vidéotron.
CP Holiday Train: Alan Doyle and the Beautiful Band
According to his new memoir, A Newfoundlander in Canada, as a boy raised in a small fishing village, Alan Doyle daydreamed of what lay beyond the tall hills of his tiny hometown. The Great Big Sea musician will get his fill of some of it this week when he hits the Canadian Pacific line for a tour of Alberta and British Columbia that promises to turn a train ride into a rolling thunderin' kitchen-party revue. Dec. 9 to 17.
Winter at Ontario Place
With the creation of an outdoor winter-long festival, the unfortunate, extended disuse of Toronto's iconic waterfront park is over. The area will be enlivened by a Winter Light Exhibition, ice skating, bonfires and a schedule of films on the giant screen at the newly reopened Cinesphere. Dec. 8 to March 18, 2018.
Citadel+Compagnie: Mixed Program of James Kudelka Dances
Johnny Cash famously walked the line, and occasionally even danced it. With that in mind, the great choreographer James Kudelka created The Man in Black, an intimate Americana piece inspired by country-western dance styles and set to a hurtin' song score. Toronto's Citadel+Compagnie presents it with a pair of other works by Kudelka. To Dec. 9, at Halifax's Dalhousie Arts Centre.
Brad Wheeler