Anne with an E is back with a bang
TUESDAY
Joan Baez
Watch this for: The most celebrated folk singer left standing in her final rodeo. At age 77, it’s last call for Joan Baez on a local stage, part of a farewell tour that will wind up next spring after a spin through Europe. She’s got a lot of goodbyes to take care of, in other words, and though her instantly recognizable falsetto no longer extends to the upper reaches the spirit is evidently more than willing. Last March, for instance, had her releasing a new album, Whistle Down the
Wind, her first studio work in a decade — she’s not going gently into that good night game, and no doubt there will be a few fellow veterans of Mariposas gone by in the house who will share in this closing of circles. (Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., 8 p.m.) —Chris Young
A Moveable Feast: Paris in the ’20s
Watch this if: You want a Parisian salon here in Toronto. Soulpepper Theatre is moving on from its challenging 2018 with the announcement of a new executive director, Emma Stenning, a couple of promising summer productions in Orlando, Bed and Breakfast and Sisters, and the return of an audience favourite concert— A Moveable Feast:
Paris in the ‘20s created by director Frank Cox-O’Connell, writer Sarah Wilson, and arranger/musical director Mike Ross. It takes audiences back to the romanticized time of “The Lost Generation” in Paris (Hemingway, Picasso, Fitzgerald, Stein, Joyce, and the whole crew) with music, literature excerpts, and witticisms you’ll be able to quote along with. Pair this with Buddies in Bad Times Theatre’s Gertrude and Alice. (Until Sunday, Young Centre for the Performing Arts, 50 Tank House Lane) —Carly Maga
WEDNESDAY
Harlem Duet Watch this if: You want a new-school Othello. It has been nearly 20 years since Djanet Sears’s Harlem Duet premiered, and it has since gone on to become a Canadian theatrical force. It’s conceived as a riff on Shakespeare’s
Othello, set in Harlem and taking place throughout time: in 1860, in 1928, and in the present day, about a Black man leaving his Black wife for a white woman. Not only is it the perfect time to look at Sears’ exploration of race, sex and gender again, but it follows Tarragon Theatre’s interest in alternative takes on Shakespeare, such as last season’s rockand-roll-inspired Hamlet. (Until Oct. 28, Tarragon Theatre, 30 Bridgman Ave.) —CM
Vanity Fair
Watch this if: You're feeling period drama deprivation. Becky Sharpe has always seemed one of the more unlikeable heroines of classic English literature, but you’ll find yourself rooting for her — and railing against the upper class snobs who try to keep her down — in this adaptation of the 1848 novel by William Makepeace Thackeray. This miniseries from ITV and Amazon Studios has everything you’d want from a period drama — sumptuous sets and costumes, lavish cinematography — but there’s a modern sensibility in Becky’s dogged determination to better her circumstances. English actress Olivia Cooke ( Bates Motel) stars. (CBC at 9 p.m., also on the CBC TV app and at cbc.ca/watch) —Debra Yeo
THURSDAY
JFL42 Watch this if: You want to go out, just for laughs. Toronto’s little sister of the Montreal comedy juggernaut Just For Laughs arrives again this week, bringing some big names in standup along with it (and film, and TV, and podcasts). There was a recent shakeup to the lineup with the loss of Nikki Glaser, leaving the headliner group with only one woman (but it’s Wanda Sykes, so we’ll take it) alongside Seth Meyers and Joe Rogan. But the 42 are where the real exciting talent is, like Maria Bamford, Dulcé Sloan, Margaret Cho, Chris Fleming, Get Out’s Lil Rel Howery, and more. (Until Sept. 29, multiple venues) —CM
Perfect Blue
Watch this if: You’ve yet to join the cult of Japanese anime great Satoshi Kon. A manga artist, animator and filmmaker who died of cancer at the too-young age of 46 in 2010, Satoshi Kon has become increasingly revered as a pivotal figure in the history of anime, as well as a major influence on directors outside the genre, including Christopher Nolan and Darren Aronofsky. The first of his four features,
Perfect Blue is a wildly imaginative mindbender about a pop idol who loses her grasp on reality when she’s threatened by a mysterious stalker. The Revue’s monthly anime series hosts a 20thanniversary screening with prizes from The Beguiling. (Revue Cinema, 400 Roncesvalles Ave., 6:45 p.m.) —Jason Anderson
FRIDAY
What Walaa Wants
Watch this if: You want invaluable views of life in the Middle East. The first of the fall film fests to arrive in the weeks after TIFF, the Toronto Palestine Film Festival has been a consistently strong showcase of Palestinian cinema and culture since its founding in 2008. A prizewinner at Hot Docs that’s also a highlight of the TPFF’s three-day slate of docs, features and shorts at the Lightbox, What Walaa Wants is Toronto director Christy Garland’s compelling portrait of a headstrong girl who’s determined to join the Palestinian Security Forces. Garland will talk more about the six years she devoted to Walaa and her story at a post-screening Q&A. (TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W., 8:45 p.m.) — JA
SATURDAY
Bruno Mars
Watch this because: No one plunders classic funk and soul better than Mars and his band. This 24K Magic tour began nearly a year ago and is into its final couple of months of filling the world’s biggest stadiums. Business as usual, then, for the Hawaii native, an all-round entertainer of rare ambition whose cheery, dynamic stage persona draws deeply on pop music legends (not for nothing is he being tipped for the lead in a proposed Prince biopic, and that’s Michael Jackson’s record he broke in selling out Aloha Stadium for the tour’s final stop). He’s also canny enough to bring along touring mates who are headline material on their own, Pharrell Williams and Ellie Goulding in support his last couple of times in here. Cardi B pulled out of this final leg to stay at home with her baby daughter, so it’s Grammy winner Ciara who gets the call. (Scotiabank Arena, 40 Bay St., 8 p.m., and again on Sunday) —CY
SUNDAY
Anne With an E
Watch this if: You're good with your classics being shaken up. The Season 2 opener of this Canadian Screen Awards Best Drama winner begins with the type of pure whimsy that made Anne of Green Gables a beloved book character so long ago. But creator Moira Walley-Beckett hasn’t lost her edge. She continues to peel back the layers that reveal Anne (in a wonderful performance by Amybeth McNulty) in all her wounded humanity. And as the season opens, Anne and the people of Avonlea face genuine peril from the con men we met at the end of Season 1. (CBC at 7 p.m., also on the CBC TV app and at cbc.ca/watch) —DY