When the snow blankets the ground and cakes the bottom of your shoes and you call to cancel that doctor’s appointment because your hand is regaining some sensation after exams are over (so it wasn’t carpal tunnel after all-phew!) it can only mean one thing: holiday time is here.
While some might be perfectly content with planting themselves in front of the television and catching up on the latest Walking Dead season, the adventurous have plenty of options for when they’re not busy ripping open presents. Here’s a list of some events to check out before you’re back in the shackles next semester.
I feel like dancin’…yeah!
We all work super hard during the semester, but other than Bible-length papers, what do we really have to show for it? Concordia’s dance department is a bit different, as students have their end-of-the-semester performances coming up, which they’ve been toiling away at for your viewing pleasure. Catch one from Dec. 8 to 14 at the MB building. Check out dance.concordia.ca for more details.
When Barbie met her nutcracker prince (poor, forgotten Ken) in 2001, it became painfully clear that virtually everyone has heard of the classic story. You can catch the grown-up-and considerably less pink version-The Nutcracker, presented by Les Grands Ballets. There’s shows on Dec. 10-11 and 17-18, and an overdose amount from Dec. 20-30 with the exception of the 24-25. ‘Cause even the most inhumanely graceful among us need to make time for Santa, after all. Go to www.grandsballets.com for more information.
Coming soon to a theatre near you
Thankfully, there are more holiday time options for the big screen than whatever Ben Stiller and Robert de Niro have regurgitated for us this year (let’s face it-those films haven’t been funny since Barbra Streisand’s wig first made an appearance). Besides making us aware that a third Olsen existed, and that The Tree of Life is award shows’ kryptonite, the Cannes film festival also rounded up the best ads in the world once more this year. Reel Refreshing, the latest edition of the Cannes Lions International Advertising Film Festival, is showing at Cinema du Parc until Dec. 15. Visit www.cinemaduparc.com for showtimes.
If your dreary weekday night classes kept you from checking out the offerings at Blue Sunshine (that’s Montreal’s psychotropic film centre to you, bud), then now’s your chance. From a tribute to Bob Clark’s Christmas movies, to screening Go Ask Alice (based on the book-think the plot line of Thirteen, but on steroids), they’ve got all your out-of-the-norm film needs covered. Not to mention their Christmas TV Trash Party, which promises to be “a six hour overload of rare retro Christmas TV specials, movies and ephemera.” Isn’t that what holiday dreams are made of, after all? Go to www.blue-sunshine.com to get in on the magic.
All the world’s a stage
If holiday cheer ain’t quite your thing, you can check out Urban Tales at the Centaur Theatre, a “naughty, anti-holiday storytelling extravaganza.” Featuring stories that range in anti-holiday titles from “The Hose and Dry Goods Specialty Store” to “Death & Co” (featuring Death’s Little Helper, no less), your inner Grinch might just break out into “Joy to the World” when seeing this one. It all goes down Dec. 8-10 and 16-17. Visit centaurtheatre.com for more details.
If you’re more Tiny Tim than Scrooge, you’ll want to swing by the Mile End to check out the Rialto Theatre’s musical take on A Christmas Carol. With 16 classic Christmas tunes being performed, and shows in both English and French, they’ve got the holiday spirit down for both sides of the language scale. The show runs Dec. 16-18, 20, 23, 26-27 and 30. Check out www.theatrerialto.ca for more information.
Oh honey, you are funny
SideMart Theatrical Grocery’s bringing the laughs to MainLine with One of Everything for the Boys, “a faux televised vaudeville” that will see the performers reporting from overseas in the Land of the Sun and Sand. This will mark the first time the Whiteman’s Whiskey Comedy Revue “have left TV Town to honour the bravery and spirit of our Boys fighting in the conflict overseas!” Think the love child of theatre and television, with a background of non-stop laugh tracks (but of live people, thankfully). It’s showing Dec. 7-11 and 14-18. Visit mainlinetheatre.ca for details.
NDG will welcome some of the world’s finest people-stand-up comedians, naturally-for its second Hilarious Holiday Hoedown on Dec. 8. It’s all going down at The Wheel Club, which is usually reserved for hillbilly and rock ‘n’ roll nights (which, come to think of it, are also worth checking out if you roam NDG on a regular basis). The show will have a hand in that unmistakable holiday spirit of giving by using the event to support the NDG Food Depot. The Wheel Club is over at 3373 Cavendish Blvd, and the laughs start at 8:30 p.m. It’s a measly $5 for entrance, or free if you bring along a non-perishable food item.
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