A Paul Simon show, a Mean Girls screening with Lindsay Lohan and seven other things to do this week
A nostalgic Paul Simon set
He helped define folk rock alongside Art Garfunkel, shook up the music industry with Graceland and even convinced Chevy Chase to call him Al. Few entertainers have been as influential, inventive or durable. This performance resurrects a half-century of poetic gems like “The Boxer” and “The Sound of Silence.” Tuesday, June 21. $78–$168. Sony Centre for the Performing Arts, 1 Front St. E., ticketmaster.ca.
A Mean Girls screening with Lindsay Lohan (sort of)
The most quotable movie of the early 2000s inspired the theme of this year’s Pride (“You can sit with us”), so it’s only appropriate that there’s a screening this month. Not that you ever need another reason to rewatch Mean Girls, but: Lindsay Lohan herself will video chat with some of her co-stars, including Daniel Franzese (Cady’s bestie Damian), who will be in attendance. Wednesday, June 22. Free. Harbourfront Centre Concert Stage, 235 Queens Quay W., harbourfrontcentre.com.
An exhibition of Dale Chihuly’s sublime glass sculptures
The enormous installations from this American glass sculptor are at once tasteful and kitschy, at home in both fine art museums and Las Vegas hotels—like the Bellagio, where a collection of his multicoloured blossoms adorns the lobby ceiling. For the rest of 2016, his works will turn the ROM’s Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall into an immersive psychedelic dreamscape of billowing flowers, tentacles and bulbs. $25. Saturday, June 25 to January 2, 2017. Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park, rom.on.ca.
Pandamonium, a charity bash with a jellyfish bar
The week’s hottest party has a good cause—raising funds for WWF-Canada’s conservation work—and an even better programme. MasterChef judge Claudio Aprile and Mama Flo’s Haan Palcu-Chang serve up the nosh (including a jellyfish bar), folk phenoms The Strumbellas and Broken Social Scene pioneer Brendan Canning provide the music, and an arctic VR experience offers some topical thrills. Thursday, June 23. $200. Andrew Richard Designs, 571 Adelaide St. E., pandamonium.wwf.ca.
A primer on Lawren Harris with Steve Martin
When he’s not cranking out Pink Panther and Cheaper by the Dozen sequels, Steve Martin is an ardent champion of Group of Seven member Lawren Harris. To mark the opening of The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris, an exhibition he co-curated, the erstwhile Wild and Crazy Guy will sit down with the AGO’s Andrew Hunter for a discussion of the painter’s legacy. Wednesday, June 22. $30. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., ago.net.
A long-overdue Shad show
Behind the mike on CBC’s Q, he’s calm and cool as he chats with extraordinary Canadian musicians. Onstage, he becomes one of those deft artists. Here, he returns to the intimate clubs of his early career to deliver fan favourites like “Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins)” and, we hope, any new material he’s been scribbling down in between interviews. June 24. $20. Mod Club, 722 College St., ticketmaster.ca.
Vivian Maier’s secret street photography
Maier was a nanny first, photographer second. On her days off, she took thousands of pictures as she moved invisibly through Chicago, showing them to no one. A few months after her death in 2009, her candid street shots and portraits—found in a storage locker—went viral, inspiring the Oscar-nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier. In this show, Stephen Bulger shares his favourite black-and-white shots from the collection. Saturday, June 25 to Saturday, September 10. Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen St. W., bulgergallery.com.
A chance to see Second City take on the symphony
Ever since John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, classical music has been ripe for satire. Back by popular demand, this Second City show injects a dose of wit into Mozart and Mahler through symphonic sketch comedy. Whose Line Is It Anyway? jokester Colin Mochrie stars, while the Toronto Symphony Orchestra supplies the soundtrack. Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24. $35.50–$107. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., tso.ca.
The Toronto Jazz Fest’s sprawling shows
The city-wide festival frees jazz from the grip of music theory nerds by enlisting 1,500 artists to perform hundreds of shows that encompass easy-listening swing sets, bar-blues gigs and avant-garde shows. The 30th-anniversary edition kicks off with Sarah McLachlan, who’ll perform her Juno-winning 2014 album, Shine On, at the Sony Centre. Also on the lineup: notables like Wynton Marsalis, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and genre defier Robert Glasper (above). Friday, June 24 to Sunday, July 3. Prices vary. Various venues, torontojazz.com.
The most quotable movie of the early 2000s inspired the theme of this year's Pride (“You can sit with us”), so it’s only appropriate that there's a screening this month. Not that you ever need another reason to rewatch Mean Girls, but: Lindsay Lohan herself will video chat with some of her co-stars, including Daniel Franzese (Cady’s bestie Damian), who will be in attendance. Wednesday, June 22. Free. Harbourfront Centre Concert Stage, 235 Queens Quay W., harbourfrontcentre.com.
[caption id="attachment_386328" align="alignnone" width="1618"] An installation by Dale Chihuly.[/caption]
An exhibition of Dale Chihuly's sublime glass sculptures
The enormous installations from this American glass sculptor are at once tasteful and kitschy, at home in both fine art museums and Las Vegas hotels—like the Bellagio, where a collection of his multicoloured blossoms adorns the lobby ceiling. For the rest of 2016, his works will turn the ROM’s Garfield Weston Exhibition Hall into an immersive psychedelic dreamscape of billowing flowers, tentacles and bulbs. $25. Saturday, June 25 to January 2, 2017. Royal Ontario Museum, 100 Queen’s Park, rom.on.ca.
Pandamonium, a charity bash with a jellyfish bar
The week’s hottest party has a good cause—raising funds for WWF-Canada’s conservation work—and an even better programme. MasterChef judge Claudio Aprile and Mama Flo’s Haan Palcu-Chang serve up the nosh (including a jellyfish bar), folk phenoms The Strumbellas and Broken Social Scene pioneer Brendan Canning provide the music, and an arctic VR experience offers some topical thrills. Thursday, June 23. $200. Andrew Richard Designs, 571 Adelaide St. E., pandamonium.wwf.ca.
[caption id="attachment_386340" align="alignnone" width="1356"] The Old Stump, Lake Superior.[/caption]
A primer on Lawren Harris with Steve Martin
When he’s not cranking out Pink Panther and Cheaper by the Dozen sequels, Steve Martin is an ardent champion of Group of Seven member Lawren Harris. To mark the opening of The Idea of North: The Paintings of Lawren Harris, an exhibition he co-curated, the erstwhile Wild and Crazy Guy will sit down with the AGO’s Andrew Hunter for a discussion of the painter’s legacy. Wednesday, June 22. $30. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., ago.net.
A long-overdue Shad show
Behind the mike on CBC’s Q, he’s calm and cool as he chats with extraordinary Canadian musicians. Onstage, he becomes one of those deft artists. Here, he returns to the intimate clubs of his early career to deliver fan favourites like “Fam Jam (Fe Sum Immigrins)” and, we hope, any new material he’s been scribbling down in between interviews. June 24. $20. Mod Club, 722 College St., ticketmaster.ca.
[caption id="attachment_386331" align="alignnone" width="1672"] Highland Park, IL (Children Lemonade Stand), circa 1961-1965.[/caption]
Vivian Maier's secret street photography
Maier was a nanny first, photographer second. On her days off, she took thousands of pictures as she moved invisibly through Chicago, showing them to no one. A few months after her death in 2009, her candid street shots and portraits—found in a storage locker—went viral, inspiring the Oscar-nominated documentary Finding Vivian Maier. In this show, Stephen Bulger shares his favourite black-and-white shots from the collection. Saturday, June 25 to Saturday, September 10. Stephen Bulger Gallery, 1026 Queen St. W., bulgergallery.com.
A chance to see Second City take on the symphony
Ever since John Gay’s The Beggar’s Opera, classical music has been ripe for satire. Back by popular demand, this Second City show injects a dose of wit into Mozart and Mahler through symphonic sketch comedy. Whose Line Is It Anyway? jokester Colin Mochrie stars, while the Toronto Symphony Orchestra supplies the soundtrack. Thursday, June 23 and Friday, June 24. $35.50–$107. Roy Thomson Hall, 60 Simcoe St., tso.ca.
[caption id="attachment_385341" align="alignnone" width="2000"] Robert Glasper.[/caption]
The Toronto Jazz Fest's sprawling shows
The city-wide festival frees jazz from the grip of music theory nerds by enlisting 1,500 artists to perform hundreds of shows that encompass easy-listening swing sets, bar-blues gigs and avant-garde shows. The 30th-anniversary edition kicks off with Sarah McLachlan, who’ll perform her Juno-winning 2014 album, Shine On, at the Sony Centre. Also on the lineup: notables like Wynton Marsalis, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, and genre defier Robert Glasper (above). Friday, June 24 to Sunday, July 3. Prices vary. Various venues, torontojazz.com.
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