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The best things to do in Toronto this weekend: May 28-30

Louise Pitre
Louise Pitre On The Rocks
Kimberley Butler

Our picks for the best things to do in Toronto for the weekend of May 28 include Louise Pitre’s acclaimed solo show, a fully-staged and filmed production of Handel’s The Resurrection and Juno Week.

On The Rocks… Stirred Not Shaken

The multi-talented, Tony Award-nominated actor and singer Louise Pitre (Les Misérables, Piaf, Mamma Mia!) presents a filmed version of her acclaimed autobiographical solo show with original songs by Pitre and W. Joseph Matheson.

May 27 (featuring a live Q&A with Pitre) to May 31. $11.62-$22.23. eventbrite.ca

July Talk

Canadian Music Week was officially last week, but there are still a couple of events left under the festival’s banner. The first is a virtual concert from sweet-and-salty Canadian rockers July Talk on Sessions Live. The other is later in this post.

May 27 at 8 pm. $15. sessionslive.com

The Resurrection

Opera Atelier presents the first fully-staged and filmed production of Handel’s opera about hope and renewal, featuring a multi-level set in a transformed St. Lawrence Hall and starring Carla Huhtanen, Meghan Lindsay and Allyson McHardy.

Streaming from May 27 at 7 pm to June 10. $25. OperaAtelier.com

The Parliament Of Birds

Guillermo Verdecchia’s new adaptation of Persian poet Farid Ud-Din Attar’s work is the latest installment in Soulpepper’s ambitious Around The World In 80 Plays series of audio dramas. Iran-born Soheil Parsa directs a fine cast that includes Raoul Bhaneja, Augusto Bitter, Oliver Dennis, Jani Lauzon and Arsinée Khanjian.

Available from May 27 to June 30. Pay-what-you-choose. soulpepper.ca

A photo of DijahSB
Samuel Engelking

Juno Week

This year, you don’t have to be a charity-hockey-playing Canadian record exec to take in all the hobnobbing events that lead up to the Junos. It’s all virtual and open to the public. There are studio sessions, songwriters’ circles and CBC streams, all open to your browsers. They includes appearances from members of the Tragically Hip, Crown Lands, Jim Cuddy, Murda Beatz, DijahSB and more. Find the full list of events here.

May 27 to June 6. Free. junoawards.ca

Inside Out

2SLGBTQ+ film festival is going virtual for a second year with 33 features and five episodic series, including Natalie Morales’s “socially distanced platonic love story” Language Lessons and Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler’s Alone Together, a documentary that follows pop star Charli XCX as she records an album in isolation. All films are available to stream anywhere in Ontario. The majority of titles will be viewable for the entirety of the festival, though films in the Premiere program will be rolled out at a specific date and time, and remain available until the end of the festival.

May 27 to June 6. Single tickets $12. insideout.ca

Regina Gently

The Toronto drag queen/pop musician, who has been DJing regularly on Twitch, switches things up with two livestreams in support of last year’s Don’t Wait To Love Me album. The shows will mix pre-filmed and live performances, musical and spoken word plus the premiere of two new music videos.

May 28 at 7 and 10 pm. Free. twitch.tv/reginagently

ActiveTO

After two weekends on Lake Shore West, the weekend exercise program scales back to part of Lake Shore East and High Park. Runners, cyclists and pedestrians can take over the eastbound lanes of Lake Shore East between Leslie and Woodbine from 6 am on Saturday until 9 pm on Sunday, and roads within High Park will close to vehicles starting Friday at approximately 11 pm until Monday at approximately 7 am.

May 28-31. toronto.ca/ActiveTO

A scene from the dance/theatre hybrid Revisor
Michael Slobodian

Revisor

Choreographer Crystal Pite and playwright Jonathon Young’s clever dance/theatre hybrid about a motley group of corrupt bureaucrats debuts on streaming this Saturday and is available on-demand thereafter. The show begins as farce but ends up evolving into something completely new. This version was recorded during a run at Sadler’s Wells in London in March 2020.

May 29 at 7 pm. marquee.tv

Come Home – The Legend Of Daddy Hall

Audrey Dwyer’s play about a dying man reliving his life thanks to the ghosts of his ancestors is the final production in Tarragon Theatre’s acoustic season, presented in association with PlayMe Podcast. Dwyer directs this music-filled show with a cast that includes Jesse Clark, Beau Dixon, Starr Domingue and Jackie Richardson.

May 30 to June 13. $12.50. tarragon.com

The Indies

CMW’s annual award show, officially the Independent Music Awards, is having its 20th anniversary in virtual fashion. It’s free to watch and you can catch performances by the aforementioned July Talk, Sam Roberts Band, Half Moon Run and Monowhales along with appearances by Walk Off The Earth, Iskwē and Tom Wilson.

May 30 at 7 pm. Free. indies.ca

Macy Gray

The raspy-voice American R&B/soul singer kicks off a livestream concert series in the lead up to her 11th studio album, The Reset, with a greatest hits show backed by a full band. She’ll perform two more shows on June 6 and 13, focused on covers and the new album, respectively.

May 30. 8 pm. Single tickets from $20, Series tickets from $50. boxoffice.mandolin.com

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