THURSDAY 17
Hip-hop star T-Pain (a.k.a. Faheem Rasheed Najm) began his career as a rapper in the group Nappy Headz, has collaborated with Usher, Snoop Dog and Lil Wayne, and has won Grammys rapping with Kanye West and Jamie Fox. T-Pain finally brings his solo Steam Punk Tour to Montreal’s Telus Theatre (1280 St-Denis) tonight. Opening act is local drummer Ryan Stevenson at 8:30 p.m. ($45). Over at Espaces des Arts (9 Ste-Cat E.), don’t miss the really popular monthly POMPe queer dance floor apocalypse with DJs Bratface, JonnyBonnyRock, Plastik Patrik and Mhmhmh. Doors at 10:30 p.m. ($5).
FRIDAY 18
The Festival Voix d’Amériques winds down with Cabaret Dada at Sala Rossa (4848 St-Laurent). Hungarian circus master Laszlo Kolozsy explores a freak show theme with the usual bearded ladies, giants and Siamese twins, The Human Pin Cushion, The Escape King, Zoltan the Magnificent and others. Showtime: 9 p.m. ($10). Over at Cabaret Playhouse (5656 Parc), Faggity Ass Fridays celebrates its third anniversary with DJ Frigid and Fringe fest sensation Dance Animal. Doors: 10 p.m. ($10). And Canada’s fave Irish punk rockers The Mahones and opening act East End Radicals play at Foufounes (87 Ste-Cat E.). 9 p.m.
SATURDAY 19
Today is your last chance to see Danse Carpe Diem’s Cinq Humeurs at the Agora de la Danse (840 Cherrier), a dance spectacle inspired bu Vivaldi’s Four Seasons and choreographed by Emmanuel Jouthe. Showtime: 4 p.m. ($20). Over at Petit Campus (57 Prince Arthur E.), Juno-nominated roots singer/songwriter Del Barber hits the stage at 8 p.m. ($15). And Radical Queer Week winds down with its Monster Ball at Montreal’s fab new downtown queer space, Espace des Arts (9 Ste-Cat E.). Performances by Antonio Bavaro and Glam Glam Productions (10 p.m.,$10). See www.radicalqueersemaine.org for the program.
SUNDAY 20
Embrace this city’s fab Irish heritage at Montreal’s 187th St-Patrick’s Day Parade, scheduled to begin at noon at the corner of Fort and Ste-Cat, proceeding east until St-Urbain. As with 2010, the parade is shortened by five blocks, ending at Phillips Square. Over at Le Divan Orange (4234 St-Laurent), Black Theatre Workshop presents its spoken-word Poetry Jam: WhenWereWe? Showtime: 7 p.m. ($10). Today is also the last day to check out playwright Neil Labute’s The Shape of Things at Espace 4001 Berri (4001 Berri), co-starring Montreal stud-muffin Michael Daniel Murphy. Showtime: 2 p.m. ($15).
MONDAY 21
Film screening of the week: Do not miss director Érik Cimon‘s 2010 documentary film MTL Punk-The First Wave which explores when the punk movement arrived in Montreal in 1977 with rare archival footage of the Montreal punk scene, featuring the music of the earliest local punk bands The 222s, The Normals and The Chromosomes. Plus interviews with some of the players 30 years later. At the Cinémathèque Québécoise (335 De Maisonneuve E.) at 6:30 p.m. It repeats at the CQ on March 26 at 9 p.m. ($12). Recommendation: Buy your tickets early online at www.artfifa.com.
TUESDAY 22
Montreal’s Segal Theatre (5170 Côte-Ste-Catherine) presents the critically hailed John Van Burek-directed play La Sagouine, starring Canadian theatre legend Viola Léger in the classic monologue of a washerwoman dramatizing four centuries of Acadian existence. Léger has performed the role of La Sagouine over 1,400 times across Canada, the U.S. and Europe for almost 40 years. The play runs at the Segal until April 10 ($22-$44). Surf to www.segalcentre.org.
WEDNESDAY 23
AIDS Community Care Montreal launches their third annual ARTSIDA art exhibition today, with all the art on display – with works by, among others, Kat Coric, Yvon Goulet, Charlotte Greenwood, Vincent Cyr and Zilon – to be auctioned off at the Hôtel des Encans (872 Du Couvent) on April 14. Montrealers can check out the exhibition for free daily at the Galerie Dentaire (1239 Amherst). Go to www.artsida.org. Over at the Rialto, Village Scene Productions presents the French version of the play The Second Coming of Joan of Arc ($20 at 8 p.m.). It repeats in English at the Rialto on March 27.
