Another Montreal Christmas tradition returns, as the Lyric Theatre Singers bring back their popular Christmas time concerts to a live audience at the Loyola Chapel of Concordia University, 7141 Sherbrooke Street West, for four performances from December 8 – 11.
Called “Candlelight Christmas 2022”, the concerts are once again under the masterful direction of its Artistic and Musical Director Bob Bachelor, as its ensemble of 45 singers (which includes 15 new members) will offer a repertoire of classic and new tunes to put you in the Christmas spirit in the way the Lyric Singers know how. Show times are at 8 p.m. (December 8 and 9) and 4 p.m. (December 10 and 11). Tickets cost $37.50 for adults, $33.50 for students and seniors, and $18 for children 12 years of age and under. Parking is available within the Loyola campus at $6, and the concert is wheelchair accessible. As well, money donations to benefit The Depot community food centre will be accepted during all four performances.
For more information, or to purchase tickets, call 514-743-3382, or email.
The 11th annual Montreal Community Cares (MCC) Awards Gala
Sixteen individual Montrealers and Montreal-based organizations will be recognized for their tireless efforts towards making a difference in their communities, at the 11th annual Montreal Community Cares (MCC) Awards Gala on November 18, 7:30 p.m., at the Omni Mont-Royal Hotel, located at 1050 Sherbrooke Street West. It will be hosted by Natasha Hall of CJAD and Patrick Langlois of WKND FM.
The awards were established by Denburk Reid as a means of celebrating people and organizations who devote a great deal of time and energy by making a difference towards improving the lives of Montrealers across the island and supporting our youth. Since 2011, more than 165 awards have been bestowed upon these community champions.
This year’s MCC Award recipients are the following: MCC Lifetime Achievement Award: Irene Anthony; MCC Founders Award: Dr. Angela Genge; MCC Derek Aucoin Inspirational Award: Storme-Zenaih Moore (aka “DJ Storme”); MCC Educational Leadership Award: Jay Valiquette and Geprgie Lubin; MCC Pro-Athlete Community Engagement Award: former Montreal Alouette player Etienne Boulay; MCC Student-Athlete Award: Roman Alexander; MCC Paul-Frappier Community Leadership Award: Paul Evra, Ricardo Daley and Todd Smith; MCC Community Organization Award: Bread and Beyond, Kristie Jagoe, Movement Contre le Viol et l’inceste, Rita Acosta, Maya Acosta and Acte d’Amour; MCC Randy Tieman Community Broadcaster’s Award: Pat Dillon Moore.
Tickets for the gala cost $50 (award show only), $150 (which includes the award show, pre-show cocktail with winners and light bites) and $300 (including VIP seating at the awards show, pre-show cocktails with the winners, reserved table seating with wine and bites, and valet parking).
For more information, go to www.montrealcommunitycares.com.
Canada’s original LGBTQ film festival
Image+Nation, Canada’s original LGBTQ film festival, returns for its 35th edition from November 17 to 27 at four venues across downtown Montreal – Cinema Imperial, Cinema Moderne, De Seve Cinema and PHI Centre – as well as virtually across the province.
With an emphasis towards showcasing films that represent the new voices and stories of the next generation of Canada’s LGBTQ community, the festival kicks off on November 18 at the Imperial Theatre with a screening of Rosie, the debut feature by Metis writer/director/actor Gail Maurice, which takes a look at the fringes of Montreal during the 1980s a seen from the point-of-view of a suddenly orphaned Indigenous girl and her new chosen family. The festival closes on November 27 with a screening of the Icelandic cop spoof Cop Secret, in which a closeted “supercop” teams up with a pansexual crime fighter to confront a rising crime spree in Reykjavik.
As well, there will be separate series showing LGBTQ+ films from Ukraine, Iran and France; series showcasing LGBTQ+ films from Canada, Quebec and the Indigenous community; films from countries that are considered under oppressive regimes; and the inaugural edition of the I+N@PHI x FMC/CMF series, which take place at the PHI Center and feature a number of LGBTQ+ people from the Canadian film, episodic and game media.
For more information on the Image+Nation festival, or to purchase tickets.
The Centaur Theatre continues its 2022-2023 season
The Centaur Theatre continues its 2022-2023 season with a play that deals with an illicit May-December romance that has overtones reminiscent of Woody Allen’s classic 1970s films Annie Hall and Manhattan.
Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes is the Governor General Award-winning play by Hannah Moscovitch. It focuses on Jon Macklem, an insecure, angst-ridden, yet popular, college professor and best-selling author (Marcel Jeannin), who strikes up a rather hesitant, yet torrid, friendship and affair with Annie (Ines Defosse), a reluctant 19-year-old student of one of his classes, who worships him through his writings. Although the affair develops with passion and intensity, both Jon and Annie still have dangling over their heads many issues that are both personal and ethical, especially the latter, wondering if such a secretive relationship is the right thing to do on both their parts.
The chemistry between Jeannin and Defosse is honest, genuine and sensitive, and boldly complements each other when those issues and concerns between them continue with the passage of time and the path of their respective lives, especially with the dawn of the #MeToo movement.
Sexual Misconduct of the Middle Classes runs at the Centaur until November 27. For more information, or to purchase tickets, go to www.centaurtheatre.com.
The Sound of Music playing at St. Denis Theatre
This December, the aisles of the St. Denis Theatre will be alive with the Sound of Music, as the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein Broadway musical – in which the movie version won the Oscar for Best Picture of 1965 – will present six performances of the show in English on December 3, 9, 11, 12, 18 and 23 at 8 p.m. (expect the December 3 and 23 performances, which start at 3 p.m.).
The memorable story of the Von Trapp Family Singers and their daring escape from Nazi-occupied Austria stars Sophie Naubert as Maria Rainer von Trapp, and Frayne McCarthy as Captain von Trapp. Directed by Quebec mega star Gregory Charles, the Sound of Music boasts a cast of 25 actors, singers and dancers, as well as a 10-piece live orchestra.
To get your tickets for this production, which has already sold over 40,000 tickets, can be done by calling 514-790-1111, or through Ticketpro.
Rustik Comedy in the heart of NDG – Buy tickets here
Montreal comedians Walter J. Lyng and Mike Carrozza present the premier edition of “Rustik Comedy”, a showcase of some of the city’s best comedians in the heart of NDG, on November 17 at the Rustik Pub & Grill, located at 5617 Sherbrooke Street West; show time is at 7:30 p.m. Joining Walter and Mike on the line-up are Viveth K., Lawrence Corber, Elspeth Wright, Serag Meletian, Zak Kik and Vance Michael. Admission is $10. To purchase tickets, go to https:/www.eventbrite.ca/e/451896573817.
And on November 27, Walter will team up once again with Reese Turner to present the live comedy event “Rad Dads: Legion of Dads” at the Diving Bell Social Club, located at 3956 St. Laurent Boulevard; doors open at 8 p.m. Lawrence Corber and special guests will join Walter and Reese for an evening of comedy and total dad destruction. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by going to https:/www.eventbrite.ca/e/457162243577.
Air Drum showdown
For all of those aspiring rock stars out there, but who never got the opportunity to master an instrument, the world of air instruments (like the internationally-renown air guitar competitions), has entered a new dimension, but this time with air drums.
In 2020, Montreal journalist Eric Cohen transcended his love for the Canadian rock group Rush (in particular, its late drummer Neil Peart) into a video digital video concept called Air Drum Showdown. Throughout the pandemic, Cohen presented several videos that featured air drum competitions between himself and other air drum enthusiasts, as they went head to head “drumming” simultaneously to a chosen rock tune that is heavy on the drums.
For his latest Air Drum Showdown, Cohen challenged popular Quebec comedian Louis-Jose Houde (himself a major fan of Rush) to match his air drumming skills to the group’s tune “A Passage To Bangkok”. What was Houde’s take on the choice of song for the showdown? “It’s a song that’s about 45 years old. And I think it’s a good representation of what Rush were at its peak!”
Other articles from mtltimes.ca – totimes.ca – otttimes.ca
Dryer vent cleaning in Montreal and surrounding areas – Mtl Duct Cleaning
Mtl Wine Gal bringing affordable high-end private imported wine to your table
