Relive Mandela’s visits to Toronto
MONDAY
> Mandela — Through the Eyes of a City
See this if: You think news coverage can be an art form. Nelson Mandela had a life that can’t be encapsulated in a single art form; that’s why Torontonians are looking forward to the upcoming multimedia exhibition
Mandela, created by Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum for Human Rights in collaboration with Johannesburg’s Apartheid Museum, arriving in Toronto in October. But before that, the Star and TO Live are partnering on a display of the newspaper’s coverage of Mandela’s three major visits to Toronto, showcasing archival photos and articles in the Allen Lambert Galleria in Brookfield Place. Entry is free. (Brookfield Place, 181 Bay St., through Sept. 27) —Carly Maga
> A Very Brady Renovation
Watch this if: You’d enjoy a home renovation show built on a foundation of nostalgia. Last year, HGTV won the bidding war for the North Hollywood home seen on the 1969 to ’74 sitcom The Brady Bunch. Here’s the catch: only the exterior was featured on the show about a widower, his new wife and their blended family of six kids; the interiors were built on a sound stage. Eight HGTV stars, including Canada’s Property Brothers, joined with surviving Brady actors Barry Williams, Maureen McCormick, Chris Knight, Eve Plumb, Mike Lookinland and Susan Olsen to gut the house and duplicate the TV show interiors. It’s a fun ride for Brady fans, lovers of vintage decor or anyone who enjoys watching a reno take shape. (HGTV at 9 p.m.) —Debra Yeo
TUESDAY
> Mary J. Blige
Watch this to: Hail the queen of hip hop (and one of her longest-serving courtiers). At 48 and still as vital a force of nature as ever, the BET Lifetime Achievement Award she received in June would seem the last thing Blige needs: she’s much too busy, including this joint tour with fellow New Yorker Nas. Her last time here, amid the personal turmoil of her divorce, she brought down the house at the arena formerly known as the ACC. This return is less fraught but maybe even more intriguing: a “Royalty” tour that has her opening and closing the evening alongside her co-headliner, their 1997 partnership “Love Is All We Need” occupying a prominent place on a deep set list. A few more outdoor shows remain in the season, but none hold the promise of this rare pairing of star power and quality. (Budweiser Stage, 909 Lake Shore Blvd. W., gates 6:30 p.m.) — Chris Young
WEDNESDAY
> 9/11: Cleared for Chaos
Watch this if: You’re up for a fresh perspective on a much-remembered day. The story of the thousands of airplane passengers put up in Gander and other Newfoundland towns after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks is well known by now thanks to the musical Come From Away, which only briefly touches on the role of Gander’s air traffic controllers. This Canadian documentary takes us into the control centre as 14 staff guide 224 planes safely onto Canadian soil in less than four hours. Interviews with the controllers, airline pilots, flight attendants and passengers bring the confusion and fear of that infamous day vividly to life. (Discovery at 10 p.m.) —DY
THURSDAY
> Slowthai Watch this for: A bare-chested British invasion. If Mary J. represents the career-spanning option this week, then Slowthai — née Tyron Frampton, from Northampton — is the now, as Britain slam-dances toward a Brexit endgame. With his offbeat flow, skewering of John Bull stereotypes and manic, stripped-to-the-skivvies stage diving, he’s as snarly profane and on-the-(snotty)nose as the U.K.’s punks of yore. Debut LP Nothing Great
About Britain is worth a preview: a lovehate letter of his days growing up in estate housing and resonant enough that this summer he played Glastonbury. Limited tickets are available only at the door, so it appears Toronto’s ready for an introduction. (Velvet Underground, 508 Queen St. W., doors 7:30 p.m.) —CY
> Alegria: In a New Light
Watch this if: You get joy (or in Spanish, “alegria”) under the Big Top. When Alegria premiered 25 years ago, Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil wasn’t nearly the entertainment juggernaut it is today, but the show’s success helped put the company and contemporary circus on the map. To celebrate its anniversary, a revamped version of Alegria is landing at Ontario Place for two and a half months — with new orchestrations, new costumes, and updated acts to take advantage of advancements in technology and artistic skills, as well as to appeal to modern audiences who are more familiar with Cirque’s brand of spectacle (Ontario Place, 955 Lake Shore Blvd. W., 8 p.m., on through Dec. 1) —CM
> Fleabag at National Theatre Live
Watch this if: You can’t get enough of the ever so witty Phoebe Waller-Bridge. Six years after she first performed the one-woman play that launched her career (and became the TV show that shares its name), Fleabag creator Phoebe Waller-Bridge returned to London’s West End for one final run this summer. Critics and audiences deemed the show as brilliantly caustic as ever, which is why devotees of Waller-Bridge — whose CV now includes writing stints on Killing Eve and the next James Bond movie, too — will have much to relish in National Theatre Live’s worldwide, big-screen presentation of the production, including four Cineplex locations in the GTA. (Cineplex Cinemas Yonge-Dundas, Queensway, Empress Walk and YongeEglinton; 7 p.m.) —Jason Anderson
FRIDAY
> Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
Watch this if: it’s been too long since you enjoyed Edgar Wright’s love letter to Toronto. Spruced up with a major renovation a few years back, Innis Town Hall at the University of Toronto’s Innis College is a very fine place to enjoy a movie, preferably a free one. That’s why movie lovers who may or may not also be attending weighty film lectures about Antonioni in the same theatre ought to appreciate the return of Free Friday Films, a long-running program that’s always full of cool choices. The new season hits its stride with director Edgar Wright’s 2010 adaptation of Bryan Lee O’Malley’s graphic novel about the romantic and sometimes fantastical misadventures of a Toronto musician played by Michael Cera. His co-stars include Brie Larson, Chris Evans and Casa Loma. (Innis Town Hall, 2 Sussex Ave., 7 p.m.) —JA