What’s on in Montreal – Some choice arts and entertainment events for February

What’s on in Montréal courtesy of Tourisme Montréal

BLACK HISTORY MONTH

February marks the 33^rd anniversary of Black History Month in Montreal. This year’s theme is “Many Stories, One History” (Plusieurs nuances, Une Histoire). Many events listed here celebrate Black History Month.

DANCE

The acclaimed Danse Danse series presents Detrás del sur: danzas para Manuel by Sankofa Danzafro, the dance company founded by legendary Colombian choreographer Rafael Palacios who is dedicated to the exploration of Afro-traditional, contemporary and urban dance languages. This show pays tribute to the literary masterpiece Changó el Gran Putas by writer Manuel Zapata Olivella which traces the saga of the Black African diaspora in the New World. At Théatre Maisonneuve from February 21 to 24.

CLASSICAL

Pianist Louis Lortie and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal take us from Mozart’s Vienna to the Parisian concert halls in the time of Fauré, as San Francisco Opera music director Eun Sun Kim conducts Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, in Mozart and Fauré with Louis Lortie and Eun Sun Kim for three concerts (February 15 and 17).

A classical music icon and specialist of the contemporary repertoire, internationally renowned Canadian soprano Barbara Hannigan returns to the OSM as soprano and conductor for Richard Strauss and Poulenc with Barbara Hannigan (February 21 and 22). Then Grammy-winning Maestro Rafael Payare conducts Hannigan and the OSM in Rafael Payare and Bruckner’s Fourth Symphony (February 28 and 29).

All concerts at the Maison Symphonique.

The Horizon of Khufu is a unique virtual reality exhibition at the PHI Centre February 16 to March 31

Québec playwright Michel Marc Bouchard wrote the libretto for La Reine-Garçon, adapted from his play Christine, la reine-garçon, presented by the Opéra de Montréal at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier from February 3 to 11.

EXHIBITIONS

The Phi Centre presents Colored: The Unknown Life of Claudette Colvin, an augmented-reality experience that uses the HoloLens 2 augmented reality headset to bring to life the story of U.S. Black civil rights pioneer and icon Claudette Colvin. Runs from February 7 to March 10.

Joey Elias will headline the Legion of Friends comedy benefit for Mohawk Legion 219 of the Royal Canadian Legion, on February 10 at Legion Branch 219 in Kahnawake

The PHI also presents The Horizon of Khufu: A Journey in Ancient Egypt, a unique virtual reality expedition that brings together ancient history and new technologies to relive the reign of Egyptian Pharaoh Khufu and explore the 146-metre-high Great Pyramid of Giza, Khufu’s final resting place built between 2,590 and 2,565 BC. Visitors wander through galleries and spaces inside the Great Pyramid before reaching its top for a breathtaking view of modern Cairo and the Giza Plateau, then board an Ancient Egyptian sun boat on the Nile to witness the funerary rite of Khufu 4,500 years ago.

The Horizon of Khufu is located next to the Montreal Science Centre in the Old Port. Children under 8 not admitted. The 45-minute immersive experience runs from February 16 to March 31.

COMEDY

Montreal comic legend Joey Elias headlines the Legion of Friends comedy benefit for Mohawk Legion 219 of the Royal Canadian Legion, on February 10 at Legion Branch 219 in Kahnawake.

The Comedy Nest hosts The Underground Comedy Railroad, the first-ever all-Black comedy tour in Canada, on February 18. The annual tour has traveled across Canada during BHM since 2012. This year’s show features hilarious stand-up comics Rodney Ramsey, Daniel Woodrow, Tamara Shevon and Keesha Brownie.

The Underground Comedy Railroad features hilarious stand-up comics Rodney Ramsey, Daniel Woodrow, Tamara Shevon and Keesha Brownie

Late night TV veteran Pete Correale brings his Authentic Tour to the Beanfield Theatre on February 24, Aussie comedy troupe Sooshi Mango headline the Olympia Theatre on February 25, and comic sensation Masood Boomgaard headlines the Fairmount Theatre with his alter ego Self-Help Sing on February 29.

POP MUSIC

Productions Nuits d’Afrique presents Canada’s legendary Juno Award-winning South African World-Music diva Lorraine Klaasen at the Fairmount Theatre (February 10). Born and raised in Soweto, Klaasen is one of few remaining South African artists preserving the classic sound of township music.

Other February shows of note: Montreal singer-songwriter Charlotte Cardin at Place Bell (February 8 to 11), legendary British-American rapper Slick Rick at Théâtre Paradoxe (February 15), Quebec rock icon Michel Pagliaro headlines an acoustic show at Le Club Dix30 (February 17), The Kills at MTELUS (February 21), Enrique Iglesias, Pitbull and Ricky Martin triple bill at Bell Centre (February 22), Nigeria’s superstar “King of Afrofusion” Burna Boy at Bell Centre (February 28 and 29), Montreal indie rockers Half Moon Run at MTELUS (February 29), and legendary Montreal turntablist and producer Kid Koala at Cinquième Salle (February 29 to March 3).

Dubbed “Mr. Montreal” by the CBC, arts and culture journalist and columnist Richard “Bugs” Burnett knows Montreal like a drag queen knows a cosmetics counter.