Double Puccini, Les Grands Ballets and ZZ Top, too
MONDAY, MARCH 16
Montreal’s pretty cool Art Matters Festival turns 15 this year. Art Matters was established in 2000 by five Concordia University Fine Arts students who launched it to promote emerging artists and provide students with “professional experience by working alongside cultural institutions, galleries, and artist- run centres in Montreal.” Art Matters continues to be a wonderful launching pad, and the art is thoughtful and provocative. Most of the art- gallery exhibitions run Tues. to Fri., but some are open on Monday, like Oppression Aesthetics ( at the VAV Gallery at 1395 René- Lévesque Blvd. W.) and The Tall Glass ( at Perte de Signale at 5445 De Gaspé Ave, Local 107). Free admission. Art Matters continues until March 21. Details: 514848- 2424, Local 5011, or artmattersfestival.org.
TUESDAY, MARCH 17
Texas boogie trio ZZ Top bring their trademark southern- fried rock to the Bell Centre with a solid set list of their 1970s blues ( Jesus Just Left Chicago) and synth- fuelled ’ 80s hits ( Legs, Sharp Dressed Man), not to mention a cover of the Jimi Hendrix classic Foxy Lady ( ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons’ first band the Moving Sidewalks opened four dates for the Jimi Hendrix Experience, Hendrix would later say Gibbons was the best guitar player in America and gave him his pink Stratocaster). Opening for ZZ Top is The Ben Miller band. Showtime: 8 p. m. Admission: $ 68.50 to $ 115. Tickets: 514- 790- 2525 or www. evenko. ca.
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18
Québécois literary icon Michel Tremblay’s 1973 play Hosanna is about the relationship between Montreal drag queen Hosanna ( portrayed by Eloi ArchamBaudoin) and Cuirette, an aging gay biker. Translated into English by John Van Burek and Bill Glassco, this is the play’s Montreal Englishlanguage première ( Hosanna has already played in Toronto and on Broadway). While some critics charge Hosanna is transphobic, director Mike Payette told me last week, “This is still an important play about identity.” Tableau D’Hôte Theatre’s production of Hosanna opens tonight at MainLine Theatre ( 3997 St. Laurent), runs Wed. to Sat. at 8 nightly until March 29. Sunday matinees: 2 p. m. Admission: $ 15-$ 20. Details: 514849- 3378 or www.mainlinetheatre.ca.
THURSDAY, MARCH 19
Les Grands Ballets Canadiens remount their production of Le Petit Prince ( The Little Prince) choreographed by Didy Veldman, based on Antoine de Saint- Exupéry’s 1943 novella about a young prince who falls to Earth from a tiny asteroid and whose observations about life and human nature strike a universal chord. “The Little Prince is like the Bible — it’s a classic that will be with us forever,” says Les Grands artistic director Gradimir Pankov. Le Petit Prince opens Thursday at 8 at Theatre Maisonneuve, then continues at 8 nightly March 20- 21, plus March 26- 28. Admission: $ 52 - $ 116 (+ tax). Tickets: 514- 842- 2112 or www. grandsballets. com.
Opera fans will love the Double Puccini production of Gianni Schicchi and Suor Angelica, a collaboration between the professional McGill Chamber Orchestra and McGill’s Schulich School of Music ( these kids can sing!), at Pollack Hall ( 555 Sherbrooke St. W.) at 7: 30, March 19 and 21. Admission: $ 24.85 - $ 54. Tickets: 514- 398- 4547 or schulich. ticketmob. com/ event. cfm? id= 39202.
FRIDAY, MARCH 20
Montreal’s 31st annual International Festival of Films on Art boasts 243 films from 29 countries: films about architecture, dance, literature, photography, theatre, and many other arts disciplines. Some highlights include filmmaker Andreas Sawall’s documentary Evil Buildings, which looks at architectural vestiges from the Third Reich in Germany; Thomas Wallner’s superb Before the Last Curtain Falls, which draws a touching portrait of six transsexual dancers, actors and drag queens in their 60s involved in Alain Platel and Frank Van Laecke’s astounding international hit show Gardenia; and Hollywood- philes will love the docs Rita Hayworth, et l’homme créa la déesse ( about how Hayworth was manipulated off- camera) and Dietrich- Garbo: L’Ange et la Divine ( about the romantic affair and lifelong feud between the two legends). FIFA runs until March 29. Admission: $ 5 — $ 13.50 per screening. Details: 514 842- 2112 or www.artfifa.com.
SATURDAY, MARCH 21
Tonight is the last night to catch L’Aiglon: Son of Napoleon with Grammy- winning Maestro Kent Nagano leading the OSM and an all- star cast of classical singers — including soprano Marianne Fiset and baritone Etienne Dupuis — in a concert presentation of the fiveact operetta composed by Arthur Honegger and Jacques Ibert, based on Edmond Rostand’s 1900 play L’Aiglon about the life of Napoleon II of France. Showtime: 8 nightly on March 17- 19- 21, at La Maison symphonique de Montréal. Admission: $ 48 to $ 159. Tickets: 514- 8422112 or www.osm.ca.
SUNDAY, MARCH 22
Celebrate Montreal’s Irish roots at the city’s 192nd annual St. Patrick’s Day parade, organized by The United Irish Societies of Montreal, Inc. The parade kicks off at noon downtown at Fort and Ste- Catherine Sts., and goes east to Phillips Square. If you tweet your parade photos, tag them # MTLStPaddys. Also, the UIS advises in their Top 10 Tip List, “The average St. Patrick’s Day parade lasts approximately three hours — the same amount of time it takes for an adult male to metabolize two single green beers.” Play safe. Happy St. Patrick’s Day!