The last half of May
picks up steam event-wise
Much to choose from in the way of entertainment as the days grow warmer
By Byron Toben
May 18, 2023
The last half of May picks up steam as we approach summer festival time. Here are some events, listed by opening dates:
May 19 to 21
Image: courtesy of Bowser & Blue
Walter Lyng begins the NDG Comedy Fest (1st year of planned annual event)
Friday, May 19
Rustik Pub and Grill
At 7:30 pm – NDG Super Folks
At 10:30 pm – Filthy Late Show
Saturday, May 20
Trenholme Park
At 3 pm – Free show
Oscar Peterson Concert Hall
At 7:30 pm – Gala: Joey Elias, Bowser and Blue
Sunday, May 21
Wheel Club
At 5 pm – Comedy Course 101
At 7:30 pm – Derek Seguin
May 24 to June 8
FTA – Festival Trans Amérique
A dance and theatre festival in its 17th year with 22 shows and other side events. Eleven shows opening in May are detailed below, and eleven others, opening in June, are to be detailed in a June article.
FTA – Crazy Smooth – Image: courtesy of FTA
May 24 to 26
Finland – dance – Vastadus Eana (The Voices of the Tundra)
May 25 to 27
Scotland – theatre – The Making of Pinocchio
Canada (Quebec) – dance/music – Creation Destruction
Morocco/Belgium – dance – Libya
FTA – William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, A Radical Retelling – Cliff Cardinal – Image: Dahlia Katz
May 26 to 28
Zimbabwe/USA/Germany – dance/music – Nehanda
May 26 to 29
Australia – theatre – The Shadow Whose Prey the Hunter Becomes – French surtitles
May 28 to 30
Argentina – theatre – Soliloquio (Manifesto For A World) – English and French surtitles
May 28 to June 1
Canada (Quebec) – performance – Lay Hold to the Softest Throat – French surtitles
May 30 to June 1
Northern Ireland – dance – Navy Blue
May 31 to June 3
Canada (Quebec) – theatre – Cispersonnages en quête d’auteurice – English surtitles
France – theatre L’Étang – English surtitles
May 25
Mary Ann Lacey jazz quartet
At 5 pm at La Petite Marche. No Cover or minimum. Beer, wine, and snacks are available on the menu. The quartet keeps jazz alive during slowdowns before the Montreal International Jazz Festival, this year from June 29 to July 18.
May 28 to June 18
Josephine promo image
Josephine
The multi-prize winning musical cabaret on Afro-American singer/dancer Josephine Baker who had to achieve success in France before returning to acclaim in the USA. At the Segal Centre.
May 29 to June 18
Montreal St-Ambroise Fringe Festival 2023
Program expected soon. Opens with “Fringe for All,” two-minute snippets of shows at Club Soda on May 29. The accepted non-curated shows with 500 performers will be at twenty venues – theatre, dance, comedy, circus and more!
montrealfringe.online.red61.ca
May 31 to June 11
The Flick
This guest show from Persephone Productions won many awards, including a 2014 Pulitzer Prize for drama. Described as “A hilarious and heart-rending cry for authenticity in a fast-changing world.” At the Centaur Theatre.
Feature image: FTA – Nehanda – nora chipaumire, by Sachyn Mital
Other articles by Byron Toben
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Byron Toben, a past president of The Montreal Press Club, has been WestmountMag.ca’s theatre reviewer since July 2015. Previously, he wrote for since terminated web sites Rover Arts and Charlebois Post, print weekly The Downtowner and print monthly The Senior Times. He also is an expert consultant on U.S. work permits for Canadians.
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