The opening of the Claude Tousignant exhibition at the Galerie Sherbrooke, Montreal, May 1969 Gelatin silver print (2017).The Globe and Mail
Gabor Szilasi: The Art World in Montreal, 1960-1980
The Hungarian-born Montreal photographer was known for capturing the eloquence of the everyday, but a collection of 43 mostly unpublished black-and-white shots cover the Montreal art scene of the 1960s and 70s, a time of social and cultural tumult. A remember-when stroll through the past chronicles exhibition openings and other artistic events, captured in spontaneous documentary style. To April 29, 2018, at Montreal's McCord Museum.
Fred Eaglesmith
The Ontario troubadour Fred Eaglesmith offers many things, including advice to those in the business of making music. He advocates fairness to fans, to expect nothing and to give everything. "Don't stay in fancy hotels," he adds, and "write good songs." Eaglesmith, whose sturdy Americana-music compositions are often vivid portraits and dusty tales of oddballs and desperadoes, practises what he preaches, particularly the good-songs bit. Dec. 27, Silversmith Brewing Company, Virgil, Ont.; Dec. 29, St. Jacobs Schoolhouse Theatre, St. Jacobs, Ont.; Dec. 30, Royal Canadian Legion, Dundas, Ont.
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens: The Nutcracker
'Tis the season for sugarplum visions, a twinkling Tchaikovsky score and a sweet pas de deux. Of the many productions of The Nutcracker across the country, few are more cherished (or caloric) than Montreal's annual Candyland affair choreographed by Fernand Nault. Performances come complete with a child selected from the audience to play the "mouse of the day," an honour as squeaky as they come. To Dec. 30, at Montreal's Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
Young People's Theatre: Beauty and the Beast
While the Disney live-action film version of Beauty and the Beast this year was a lavish sugar-rush delight and a billion-dollar box-office bonanza, the stage version of the beloved musical playing in Toronto is a relatively stripped-down affair. Recommended for audiences ages 5 and up, an earnest production sings, dances and preaches the value of being true to oneself, all on a budget that would just about cover Emma Watson's herbal-tea per-diem. To Jan. 7, at Toronto's Young People's Theatre.
Black Christmas
If you're dreaming of a Black Christmas, "just like the ones I used to know," your psychotherapist has our deepest sympathies. An antecedent to Halloween and its knife-y ilk, the 1974 sorority-house slasher classic was filmed in Toronto and stars Olivia Hussey, Margot Kidder, Lynne Griffin and Andrea Martin as victims of obscene phone calls and extreme (and unexplained) violence. One of them makes it out alive. Dec. 23, at Vancouver's Rio Theatre and Toronto's Royal Cinema.
Brad Wheeler