Les Jardins en cabaret
every Tuesday in August

Freedom, spontaneity and the off-beat to take centre stage at les jardins Gamelin

Les Jardins Gamelin will devote every Tuesday in August to its new series of public shows, Les Jardins en cabaret. Over unique, magical evenings, this downtown Montreal crossroads will become an open-air cabaret that promises to be anything but humdrum! From 8:30 to 10pm, the stage will be set for amazing and astonishing performances that include artistic and circus numbers, variety acts, spoken word presentations, physical comedy and the performing arts, all presented by Montreal masters of the genres.

Cabaret Debout : Actes de parole – August 21

This intimate evening will pay tribute to the spoken and sung word in all its forms: from poetry to slam, from song to storytelling. Raw, gentle, funny, sensitive and hard-hitting in turn, the voices of so many poets and spoken word artists are rarely heard together. They are sure to lift your spirits and get you thinking.

Artistic director and emcee: Marie-Paule Grimaldi. With Emmanuelle Riendeau, Joséphine Bacon, Urbain Desbois, Noémie Pomerleau-Cloutier, Isabelle St-Pierre and Jocelyn Thouin. Presented by Debout: Actes de parole.

Jocelyn Thouin (photo : Normand Laporte), Josephine Bacon (photo : Niane Naiane), Marie-Paule Grimaldi (photo : Julie D’Amour-Leger), Isabelle St-Pierre (photo : Mathieu Poirier)

Le Corps Dada aux Jardins de Phénomena – August 28

The talent and free spirits of wonderfully diverse artists take the spotlight in this surrealistic cabaret that pays tribute to human movement. Under the tutelage of Krin Haglund, your hilarious and exquisite host, the stage is set for an eclectic lineup of performances highlighting physical comedy and every undisciplined discipline of performance art you can name!

Artistic director: Éliane Bonin. Emcee: Krin Haglund. With Nathalie Claude, Stéphane Gentilini, David Menes, Érika Nguyen, Jimmy Gonzales Palacio, Corey Tomicic and Lili la terreur. Presented by Festival Phénomena and Les Filles électriques.

Stéphane Gentilini, Nathalie Claude (photo : Julie McInnes), Lili la terreur, Corey Tomicic (photo : Casey Jacques)

INCLUSIVE FESTIVITIES

The setting of Les Jardins Gamelin, with its illuminated canopy, circular stage and friendly terrace, is ideally suited to the cabaret formula, making this the perfect new rendezvous for all Montrealers, families included. “We wanted these cabaret evenings to be a place for fun, freedom and a spirit of adventure, one where anything can happen. We are very proud to have brought together so many outstanding performers and artists’ collectives who are true masters of their art. They embraced the concept right away and created one-of-a-kind shows tailor-made for this venue. The result is an intimate cabaret-style experience that can be wild, wacky and profoundly moving,” said Pascale Daigle, programming director at the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership.

Photo : Martine Doyon

Every show will kick off with performances by DJ FunkyFalz, for the Cabaret Debout: Actes de parole, or DJ Speakeasy Electro Swing, for the cabarets Carmagnole à Gamelin! and Le Corps Dada aux Jardins de Phénomena. The terrace will be decked out in the trappings of a cozy cabaret, in a decor designed by Karine Galarneau. In keeping with the spirit of traditional outdoor dance halls, the site’s snack bar will be serving up Old Fashioned and Pink Ladies for the occasion.

A TREAT FOR THE EYES AND EARS

This August, homegrown cinema and music will also be in the spotlight. Presented by Radio-Canada with Québec Cinéma, Notre Cinéma aux Jardins will be screening three films under the stars between 9pm. and 11pm. on Fridays.

• August 17: De père en flic 2, directed by Émilie Gaudreault, with Michel Côté, Louis-José Houde and Karine Vanasse

• August 24: Les rois mongols, directed by Luc Picard, with four amazing young actors!

Julien Sagot (photo : Le Petit Russe), Chandail de Loup, Mat Vezio (photo : Julie Artacho)

Another series, Les midis en chanson, will get under way in August. Every Friday from noon to 2 p.m., audiences will get to hear performances by talented singer-songwriters:

• August 17: Chandail de Loup
• August 31: Mat Vezio

Noubi Trio (photo : Danny Lalonde), Nomad’Stones (photo : Peter Graham), LaF

The series Les concerts découverte will be back on Fridays from 7pm. to 9pm. This popular series will feature musicians who have won competitions and received all kinds of musical honours.

• August 17: Nomad’Stones (Radio-Canada’s 2018/2019 “Révélation” in world music)
• August 24: LaF (Les Francouvertes)
• August 31: The 2018 winning group at the Festival international de la chanson de Granby

Kleztory (photo: Sergei Bergen), Beatrice Deer, Dominique Fils-Aimé (photo: Kevin Millet)

Finally, the series Les escales musicales, presented on Thursdays from noon to 2 p.m. and again from 5 to 9 p.m., will provide a current snapshot of Quebec’s homegrown world music scene.

• August 16, 23 and 30: DJ Canicule Tropicale
• August 16: Tziganskaïa and Chico y la Negra
• August 23: Dominique Fils-Aimé and Les siffleurs de nuit
• August 30: Carine au micro (Festival Nuits d’Afrique) and Labess

LES JARDINS GAMELIN
Open daily until 11 p.m.
All activities are free.

For full details on our programming, subscribe to the Jardins Gamelin weekly newsletter (in French only) and follow us on Facebook.

LA MAISON JAUNE
Wednesday to Sunday, 10am. to 7pm.

BAR AND SNACK BAR
Dominic St-Laurent’s team serves up a snack bar-inspired menu exclusive to Les Jardins Gamelin, featuring a special happy-hour offering and children’s menus.

Restaurant and bar open seven days a week: Monday to Friday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.

SELF-SERVE GAMES
Football, ping-pong and board games.

FOLLOW LES JARDINS GAMELIN
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ABOUT LES JARDINS GAMELIN

In the spring of 2015, Place Émilie-Gamelin showed a new face to Quartier des Spectacles residents and visitors with Les Jardins Gamelin, open from May to October. A large, green and inviting civic space in the heart of downtown, Les Jardins Gamelin return every year with an original temporary layout and a versatile set of facilities. The space’s unique, accessible and human-scale programming, now in its fourth season, has become a part of daily life for residents and visitors, making Les Jardins Gamelin an inclusive gathering place in true Montreal style. The initiative, led by the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership, is produced in collaboration with Pépinière & co, Sentier Urbain and numerous partners, with the financial support of the borough of Ville-Marie.

Feature image: Martine Doyon

Read also: The Films of Our Life at Théâtre Outremont