DAYTIME
A City Transformed: Images of Istanbul Then and Now
By its title, we know that this exhibition’s focus city is definitely the Turkish one. But while there are dozens of vintage and contemporary panoramas and photographs of the bravura, ever-morphing Eurasian hub on hand, the Turkish artist and urban thinker Murat Germen has also contributed to the show Muto-Morphosis Toronto #1, an epic twilight look at Toronto’s inner harbour.
Feb. 6 to June 26. $15 to $20. Aga Khan Museum, 77 Wynford Dr., 416-646-4677 or agakhanmuseum.org.
NIGHTTIME
Mondays with Molly
Mondays with Molly sounds like a peppy television program to help the bleary eyed get back into work-week grooves after a weekend away. And indeed the upbeat chanteuse Molly Johnson hosts a weekly cabaret that is sure to be charismatic and Monday-blues-curing, and that features guests – the electric Measha Brueggergosman on Feb. 8, for example – who share Ms. Johnson’s melodic outlook and soulful, playful spirit.
Mondays, to Feb. 29, 8:30 p.m. $20 to $29. Young Centre, 50 Tank House Ln., 416-866-8666 or youngcentre.ca.
FOR THE KIDS
Totsapalooza
Bryan Adams told us that “kids wanna rock,” and it appears he was onto something. At an event of picture books, handmade snacks and craft invention, the indie-roots rock trio Bellwoods Trinity excites book-loving pip squeaks from the ages of 2 to 8, with Neil Pasricha (who unveils his new book Awesome Is Everywhere) and Lindsay Mattick (Finding Winnie: The True Story of the World’s Most Famous Bear) also on hand.
Feb. 6, 1 p.m. $15 to $20. Revival, 783 College St., smallprinttoronto.org.
FESTIVAL
Kuumba
He has been referred to by different names – including “Grandfather of Rap,” but we prefer “Lightnin’ Rod” – but the Last Poets’ Jalal Nuriddin is known universally for his influence on socially conscious hip hop. At a festival themed “Black Like We,” a screening of the film Hustlers Convention (named after Mr. Nuridden’s 1973 album) precedes the man’s first ever spoken word performance in Canada (Feb. 6, 9 p.m., $20; film, 6:30 p.m., free.).
To Feb. 7. Harbourfront Centre, 335 Queens Quay W., 416-973-4000 or harbourfrontcentre.com.
LAST CHANCE
Bigmouth
This guy Valentijn Dhaenens, he never shuts up. In a brilliant one-man performance – The Globe’s theatre critic J. Kelly Nestruck praised a “fascinating, if oddball, show” – the Belgian satirist voices historical speeches made by everybody from Socrates to Muhammad Ali to Osama bin Laden. An inventive collage illustrates the power, persuasion and consistency of charismatic oration.
To Feb. 7. $39 to $79. Panasonic Theatre, 651 Yonge St., 416 872-1212 or mirvish.com.