Scarborough-raised superstar The Weeknd has been busy lately. In January, he released a new album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, along with a companion film of the same name starring Jenna Ortega and Barry Keoghan. The film was a critical disaster, but the album was well-received, and the tour is nothing less than a genuine spectacle. Abel Tesfaye, dwarfed by towering metallic structures and flanked by robed acolytes, takes the stage as a chrome-masked techno-priest with glowing eyes. He’s joined onstage by trap rapper Playboi Carti. August 7 and 8, Rogers Centre
Hailing from the Kainai Nation in southern Alberta, sculptor Faye HeavyShield has been exhibiting across Canada and the US for more than 30 years. Her AGO show features some of her most recognizable works, including sculptures characterized by repeating fractal motifs like spirals, circles, grids and lines. Among them is Venus as Torpedo, a large root-like form that protrudes from the wall and is draped in clothing stained a deep ochre. In the background, HeavyShield speaks via audio tape about her experience in the residential school system, accompanied by a chorus in Blackfoot. Opens August 16, AGO
Chris Fleming is one of the internet’s most popular comedians right now. Snippets of Fleming’s off-the-wall sets have amassed more than 80 million views on YouTube, with Vulture declaring their work “some of the most bizarrely funny performance art” around. Fleming is unpredictable, prone to going off on wild tangents, which makes for both viral TikToks and side-splitting stand-up. Fresh off a new Peacock special called Hell and with appearances on Abbott Elementary, Adventure Time and Netflix’s Last Laugh under their belt, Fleming is swinging through Toronto this month on an otherwise all-American tour. August 12, Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Crow’s Theatre wowed audiences and critics when it premiered this Tony-winning, Tolstoy-inspired play in 2023: Natasha, Pierre and the Great Comet of 1812 ran for 16 weeks of sold-out shows at the east-end theatre. Now the electro-pop musical is back for round two, with the original cast reuniting for a big-league Mirvish run. Based on a slice of War and Peace, the show follows Natasha, a young and impulsive bride-to-be who becomes entangled with a notorious playboy while visiting Moscow. It falls to her friend, Pierre, to repair her reputation while struggling with his own existential crisis. July 15 to August 24, Royal Alexandra Theatre
Acrobats, fire eaters and stand-up comics are descending on Woodbine Park for four days of zany street performances. Toronto Buskerfest will feature Heromacro, a Japanese acrobatic ninja and geisha duo; the Jambo Brothers, pyrotechnic stunt performers from Kenya; Julia Perron’s wheel-spinning circus art; a juggling stand-up comedian; and more. Also on the schedule: dogs. Mutts Gone Nuts is a canine cabaret of rescue pups that perform stunts under the guidance of world-class trainers. Dog owners can also put their own pooches through a lure course, photo ops and a costume contest. And to cap things off, there’s a daily kids’ foam party and a beer garden with live music. August 29 to September 1, Woodbine Park
Canadian Stage’s annual play in the park returns for its 42nd year with the classic tale of young star-crossed lovers. SkyMed hunk Praneet Akilla parachutes in to play Romeo, and stage and voice actor Lili Beaudoin stars as Juliet. Beaudoin is primed for the part: her last role was in SoHo Playhouse’s Juliet: A Revenge Comedy, in which the title character gets smart, decides Romeo isn’t worth dying for and lives her own damn life. Marie Farsi, who led the hit stage adaptation of André Alexis’s Fifteen Dogs, directs, with one performance that’s literally for the dogs: well-behaved pups are invited to join the audience for Dog Night on August 6. July 13 to August 31, High Park Amphitheatre
Noel and Liam Gallagher are miraculously back on speaking terms, kicking off one of the most anticipated reunion tours in music history. The Manchester brothers had been estranged since at least 2009, when they officially dissolved Oasis, their beloved Britpop outfit. Now, they’re playing a sold-out show for 50,000 of their most rabid fans at Rogers Stadium, the new colosseum on the Downsview Airport tarmac purpose-built for the event of the summer. For those new to town, note that the stadium is different from the Rogers Centre—if you see the CN Tower, look back in anger. August 24 and 25, Rogers Stadium
Bestselling author Jason Mott has a way of writing about other bestselling authors—especially ones who hallucinate, which may or may not be autobiographical. People Like Us is his follow-up to 2021’s Hell of a Book, which won a National Book Award. The novel traces the lives of two Black writers, one on a global book tour after winning a prize and the other preparing to give a speech at a school that’s reeling from a shooting. From there, truth and fiction merge in ever-more-bizarre ways. Out August 5
Anthony Milton is a freelance journalist based in Toronto specializing in long-form magazine writing. He previously worked as an assistant editor at Toronto Life, where he launched the Front Row newsletter. He regularly contributes all sorts of stories to the magazine, including deep dives on sports, business and housing as well as short-form commentary on our ever-changing city, from its obsession with cherry blossoms to its maddening NIMBYism. His work has also appeared in Maclean’s, Ricochet, TVO, the Trillium and more.
The July issue of Toronto Life features the monster cottages of Muskoka versus the resistance. Plus, our obsessive coverage of everything that matters now in the city.
