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

What’s on in Montréal courtesy of Tourisme Montréal

CLASSICAL

Grammy-winning Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin returns to conduct the Orchestre Métropolitain in Mahler’s Sixth at the Maison Symphonique on June 16.

The Orchestre Classique de Montréal presents the all-star A Life in Opera: Homage to Joseph Rouleau – featuring beloved opera excerpts by Mozart, Verdi, Puccini, Bizet, Delibes and Offenbach – to pay tribute to the late world-famous operatic bass and former OCM Board Chair Joseph Rouleau, at the Maison Symphonique on June 18.

Founded in 1995 by renowned cellist Denis Brott, the 29^th edition of the Montréal Chamber Music Festival, one of the finest of its kind in the world, features eight world-class concerts in Salle Bourgie, as well as a closing concert at the Maison Symphonique, from June 13 to 23.

Drag icon Mado Lamotte’s 22nd annual Fringe Festival Mado’s Drag Race on June 15
Photo: Mado Lamotte

DANCE

The 25^th anniversary world tour of Michael Flatley’s smash hit show Lord of the Dance headlines the Olympia Theatre on June 25 and 26.

THEATRE

After a record-breaking 2023 edition, the bilingual St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe Festival presents 500 artists from some 90 producing companies in 700 indoor performances at this year’s 34^th edition. Both the Montreal Fringe and the OFF Fringe run to June 16.

Outdoor free programming at the Fringe Park – located at Parc des Ameriques, corner Rachel and St-Laurent – features live bands daily, as well as the festival’s hugely popular marquee event, drag icon Mado Lamotte’s 22^nd annual Mado’s Drag Race on June 15.

Under the direction of Bob Bachelor and Cathy Burns, the 40-voice Lyric Theatre Singers will hit the downtown Concordia Theatre stage (formerly the DB Clarke Theatre) with their latest Broadway revue show BROADWAY DREAMS for four performances, from June 13 to 15.

KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities under the Big Top in the Old Port has been extended to August 25
Photo: MathewTsang

CIRCUS ARTS

The only presenter specializing in contemporary circus in North America, La TOHU presents the National Circus School Graduating Students’ Show until June 9.

The Cirque du Soleil show KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities under the Big Top in the Old Port has been extended to August 25.

EXHIBITIONS

The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts presents the Saints, Sinners, Lovers and Fools: Three Hundred Years of Flemish Masterworks exhibition from The Phoebus Foundation’s collection of early modern Flemish art. This blockbuster exhibition transports visitors to the Southern Netherlands during a dynamic period of social, scientific, economic and artistic development (1400-1700). Artists featured include Hans Memling, Peter Paul Rubens, Anthony van Dyck, Jacob Jordaens and Michaelina Wautier. Runs from June 8 to October 20.

CINEMA

The Society for Arts and Technology – affectionately called “The SAT” by locals – presents the 42-minute cinematic show Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon in surround-sound to celebrate the album’s 50^th anniversary, in their Satosphere until August 8.

POP MUSIC

Australian singer-songwriter Xavier Rudd headlines MTELUS for three shows (June 16 to 18); Canadian national treasure Sarah McLachlan (June 20) at Place Bell; RnB king Chris Brown (June 20), and legendary country duo Brooks & Dunn (June 21) all headline the Bell Centre.

Other June shows of note: In a Mardi Gras-style carnival atmosphere, NEW ORLEANS BLUES is a musical, historical and gourmet experience. With an all-you-can-eat Cajun meal concocted by chef Paul Toussaint and a live show featuring 12 musicians and singers, directed by Normand Brathwaite, NEW ORLEANS BLUES runs at the Studio-Cabaret in the Espace St-Denis from June 5 to September 1.

Montreal Divas: Back in 1986, jazz icon Ranee Lee and soul legend Michelle Sweeney co-starred in director Roger Peace’s fabled 1986 remount of Ain’t Misbehavin at Montreal’s La Diligence dinner theatre. Nearly 40 years later, both divas are stilling wowing audiences:

Ranee Lee reprises her Dora Mavor Moore Award-winning role as Billie Holiday in Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, at the legendary Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill on June 1-7-8, while Michelle Sweeney headlines Le Balcon with her popular Gospel Brunch with Michelle Sweeney & The Gospel Tribe on June 29, presented by the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal whose 44^th edition runs from June 27 to July 6.

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.