Quebec City’s cultural scene runs the gamut from the high aspects of opera and symphony to intimate
boites à chansons, with their Celtic-tinged Québécois folk music. While there is some experimental theater (boosted by local son Robert Lepage), much of the theater tends towards the mainstream, with larger performances often consisting of light-hearted musicals, such as
Starmania and
Notre-
Dame de Paris, both by local son Luc Plamondon. The best way for visitors to appreciate the culture, however, is during one of
the large festivals, in which almost the whole city seems to become involved. A number of major cultural events will take place in 2008 to coincide with Quebec City’s 400th anniversary (website:
www.monquebec2008.com).
Listings can be found in the free alternative weekly,
Voir (website:
www.voir.ca), the weekly English-language newspaper, the
Québec Chronicle Telegraph (website:
www.qctonline.com), or the French dailies,
Le Soleil (website:
www.cyberpresse.ca/soleil) and
Le Journal de Québec (website:
www.journaldequebec.com). The free tourist publications,
Québec Scope (website:
www.quebecscope.com) and
Voilà Québec, are also helpful, as is the online
Télégraphe de Québec (website:
www.telegraphe.com).
Tickets for many events are available from
Réseau Billetech outlets (tel: (418) 643 8131
or 691 7211; website:
www.billetech.com) and
Admission (tel: 1 800 361 4595; website:
www.admission.com), as well as the venues themselves.
Music: The city’s main symphony orchestra, the century-old
Orchestre symphonique de Québec (tel: (418) 643 8486; website:
www.osq.org), performs at Quebec City’s most prestigious venue,
Le Grand Théâtre de Québec, 269 boulevard René-Lévesque East (tel: (418) 643 8131; website:
www.grandtheater.qc.ca). The Grand Théâtre is also the home of the
Opéra de Québec (tel: (418) 529 0688; website:
www.operadequebec.qc.ca) and features performances by visiting soloists and orchestras organized by the
Club Musical de Québec (website:
www.clubmusicaldequebec.com) music society. The chamber orchestra,
Les Violons du Roy (tel: (418) 692 3026; website:
www.violonsduroy.com), performs at a number of churches as well as the
Palais Montcalm, Place D’Youville.
Many of Quebec City’s churches provide a wonderful ambience for classical concerts -
Chalmers-
Wesley United Church, 78 rue Ste-Ursule, has organ concerts on Sunday at 1800 during the summer, while the chapel in the
Musée de l’Amérique française, 2 Côte de la Fabrique (tel: (418) 692 2843; website:
www.mcq.org), has occasional concerts. The
Salle Albert-
Rousseau, 2410 chemin Ste-Foy (tel: (418) 659 6710; website:
www.sallealbertrousseau.com), also hosts a variety of performances.
In summer, music moves out of doors, with classical concerts at the
Kiosque Edwin-
Bélanger bandstand (tel: (418) 648 4050; website:
www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca) on the Plains of Abraham, as well as occasional concerts at the open-air
Agora, in the Old Port. Further afield,
Domaine Forget (tel: (418) 452 3535
or 1 888 336 7438; website:
www.domaineforget.com), 140km (87 miles) east of Quebec City in Ste-Irénée (near La Malbaie in Charlevoix), is renowned for its summer concert series.
Theater: The
Grand Théâtre de Québec, 269 boulevard René-Lévesque East (tel: (418) 643 8131; website:
www.grandtheater.qc.ca), hosts some of the city’s larger theatrical productions, in addition to concerts. The resident company is the 35-year-old
Le Théâtre du Trident (tel: (418) 643 5873; website:
www.letrident.com), which performs modern French works and translations of American and European plays.
Le Capitole de Québec, 972 rue St-Jean (tel: (418) 694 4444
or 1 800 261 9903; website:
www.lecapitole.com), has dinner theater performances and a smaller cabaret venue that features comedy and musical acts.
Théâtre de la Bordée, 315 rue St-Joseph Est (tel: (418) 694 9721; website:
www.bordee.qc.ca), has a contemporary and often cutting-edge program.
Dance: There are no major permanent dance companies in the city.
La Rotonde (tel: (418) 649 5013; website:
www.larotonde.qc.ca), produces shows by touring and local contemporary dance companies, with performances taking place at the
Méduse arts center, 591 rue de St-Vallier Est (website:
www.meduse.org). The
Grand Théâtre de Québec also hosts occasional dance performances.
Film: Most films are screened in French, although at the beginning of a film’s run the original English version (
v.
o.
a.) may be available in the suburban multiplexes, especially in Ste-Foy.
Cineplex Odeon Ste-
Foy, 1200 boulevard Duplessis (tel: (418) 871 1550; website: www.cineplex.com) shows mainstream movies. The longstanding repertory house,
Cinéma le Clap, 2360 chemin Ste-Foy (tel: (418) 650 2527; website:
www.clap.qc.ca), has arthouse and occasional English-language offerings;
Cinéma Cartier, 1019 avenue Cartier (tel: (418) 522 1011; website:
www.cinemacartier.com), has international output, subtitled in French. The weekly
Voir (website:
www.voir.ca) is the best source for listings (French only).
The 1991 film
Robe Noire (
Black Robe) captured the life of 17th-century New France, with a young Jesuit priest departing early Quebec City with his Algonquin guides to visit a remote mission. Filming took place near La Baie, a 2.5-hour drive away. The set has been converted into a tourist attraction -
Site de la Nouvelle-
France, du Vieux chemin, Saint-Félix-d’Otis (tel: (418) 544 8027; website:
www.sitenouvellefrance.com).
Le Confessional (1995), directed by renowned theater director Robert Lepage, jumps back and forth between present day Quebec City and 1952, during the time that Alfred Hitchcock filmed
I Confess (released in 1953).
Literary Notes: Other than journals of the early explorers, such as Samuel de Champlain, the first literature out of Quebec City was François-Xavier Garneau’s
Histoire du Canada (1845-48). The life and habits of late 18th-century Québécois were captured in Philippe Aubert de Gaspé’s
Les Anciens Canadiens (1863), a name that is now used by the restaurant that occupies the 1677 Maison Jacquet, 34 rue St-Louis, where he lived. Anne Hébert, the novelist and poet born in Ste-Catherine-de-la-Jacques-Cartier, a village west of the city, wrote
Kamouraska (1974), based on a real-life love-triangle and murder in the 1840s, in the eponymous town on the south shore of the St Lawrence, east of Quebec City. Jacques Poulin, known for
The ’
Jimmy’ Trilogy of novels (1967-70) studied at Université Laval, as did Antonine Maillet, whose
Pélagie la Charette (1979) won the Prix Goncourt, France’s top literary prize. Gabrielle Roy, author of
The Tin Flute (1945), lived in Quebec City (the main civic library now bears her name), while the poet, playwright and musician, Félix Leclerc, lived on nearby Ile d’Orléans.
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