Pop star Sia is in Toronto on Oct. 22
Sia
Her lips say, "I don't need no money, as long as I can feel the beat," but her eyes say … well, we're not sure what Sia's eyes say exactly, what with the face-covering wigs favoured by the Cheap Thrills singer. Australia's fame-shunning Sia Furler is weirdly secretive, but her pop-star status is legitimate and open to scrutiny. And if she fails to show her full mug here with the R&B star Miguel on Sunday, rest assured her show is visually spectacular otherwise – she's one for giving fans bangs for their bucks. Oct. 22, 7 p.m. $35 to $145.50. Air Canada Centre, 40 Bay St., 855-985-5500 or ticketmaster.ca.
Mystical Landscapes: Masterpieces from Monet, van Gogh and more
Vincent van Gogh's preoccupation with the evening resulted in some of his most famous works, including Starry Night Over the Rhone, a muted sparkling vision in blues – Prussian blue, cobalt and ultramarine. The 1888 painting, on loan from Paris's Musée d'Orsay, is part of an exhibition that considers the intersection of art, nature and spirituality, with other landscapes from Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Edvard Munch, James McNeill Whistler, Georgia O'Keeffe and more. Oct. 22 to Jan. 29, 2017. $16.50 to $25. Art Gallery of Ontario, 317 Dundas St. W., 416-979-6648 or http://www.ago.net/mystical-landscapes.
Made in China
The term "made in China" invokes stereotyped thoughts of slapdash goods, but the newest interdisciplinary work from Vancouver's Wen Wei Dance promises to be of the highest quality. Four artists (including dancer-choreographer Wen Wei Wang and Qiu Xia He of Vancouver's Silk Road Music) culled morsels from their memories, heritage, and personal and professional histories to form a collective biography that is unapologetically subjective. Oct. 21 and 22, 8 p.m. $15 to $42. Harbourfront Centre Theatre, 231 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000 or danceworksblog.wordpress.com.
When the Beatles Rocked Toronto
An exhibit focuses on the Beatles and the Toronto of the mid-sixties, the last years in which the Fab Four actively toured and an era when the group regularly played Maple Leaf Gardens. Highlights include a recreation of a Don Mills family rec room with period decor and furnishings, which include something called a "hi-fi system." As well, off-site, Beatles expert Mark Lewisohn speaks at the Toronto Reference Library on Oct. 22 (free, 2 p.m.). Ask him about the "hi-fi," as the hepcats used to call it. To Nov. 12. $5 to $10. Market Gallery, 95 Front St. E., 416-392-7604 or toronto.ca.
Dido and Aeneas
Baroque specialists Opera Atelier offers the compassion and comic relief of Henry Purcell's greatest hit, Dido and Aeneas. Wallis Giunta, the red-hot young Canadian mezzo-soprano, is Dido, the widowed queen of Carthage whose flagrant affair with the Trojan prince Aeneas is an epic fail. An all-sung piece from a world-class company runs just 90 minutes with one intermission, its conciseness being just one of the draws for the opera aficionado and the inquiring novice alike. To Oct. 29. $39 to $194. Elgin Theatre, 189 Yonge St.. 1-855-622-2787 or http://operaatelier.com/season/16-17-season/dido-and-aeneas/.
Brad Wheeler