Montreal, Quebec — Activities
Montreal Culture
Montreal is well represented in all the traditional manifestations of high culture (symphony, opera and ballet) but truly stands out in experimental theater and contemporary dance. One of its most notable exports is the internationally acclaimed Cirque du Soleil (tel: (514) 722 2324 or 1 800 678 2119; website: www.cirquedusoleil.com) which still occasionally performs in Montreal. Innovation in the arts is not all that new in the city - in the first half of the 20th century, it was one of the hottest places for jazz; Oscar Peterson was born here.
Place des Arts (tel: (514) 842 2112 or 1 866 842 2112; website: www.pdarts.com), a complex of performance halls surrounding a large plaza and linked by an underground concourse, makes up the city's cultural heart and is home to all of Montreal's major performing arts companies. Its plaza, along with the surrounding streets, is the epicenter of the big summer festivals, when tens of thousands of people throng the area daily for the free outdoor shows and other events.
There are events listings in the free alternative weeklies, The Mirror (website: www.montrealmirror.com) and Hour (website: www.hour.ca), as well as Montreal's daily English-language newspaper, The Gazette (website: www.montrealgazette.com). Tickets for most cultural events can be purchased from Admission outlets (tel: (514) 790 1245 or 1 800 361 4595; website: www.admission.com) for a fee, as well as from the venue itself.
Music: The Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal (tel: (514) 842 9951; website: www.osm.ca) is one of the top performance groups in North America. They can be seen at Place des Arts (see above) and offer summer concerts at the Basilique Notre-Dame. L'Opéra de Montréal(tel: (514) 985 2258; website: www.operademontreal.com) is the city's leading opera company. They, too, perform at Place des Arts, as do the chamber groups I Musici de Montréal(tel: (514) 982 6038; website: www.imusici.com) and those organized by the Pro Musica society (tel: (514) 845 0532; website: www.promusica.qc.ca). The multi-purpose Salle Pierre-Mercure at the Center Pierre-Péladeau (tel: (514) 987 4691; website: www.centerpierrepeladeau.com) places a special focus on concert music presenting a variety of acts year-long.
Theater: Theater is dominated by French-language productions, but there are occasional runs of large Broadway shows. The city's mainstay English-language company is the Centaur Theater, 453 rue St-François-Xavier (tel: (514) 288 3161; website: www.centaurtheater.com), with everything from Canadian drama to Broadway hits. Unique to the city are the Yiddish Theater productions at the Segal Center for Performing Arts at The Saidye, 5170 chemin de la Côte-Ste-Catherine (tel: (514) 739 2301; website: www.saidyebronfman.org). This venue also stages a number of English-language plays a year. Light-hearted summer theater is staged in the Eastern Townships at The Piggery Theater, in North Hatley (tel: (819) 842 2431; website: www.piggery.com), and Théâtre Lac Brome, in Knowlton (tel: (450) 242 2270; website: www.theaterlacbrome.ca). The most established of the French-language theaters are the Théâtre du Rideau Vert, 4664 rue St-Denis (tel: (514) 844 1793; website: www.rideauvert.qc.ca), Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, 84 rue Ste-Catherine West (tel: (514) 866 8668; website: www.tnm.qc.ca), and Théâtre Jean-Duceppe, Place des Arts (tel: (514) 842 2112; website: www.duceppe.com).
Dance: The city's chief ballet company is Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal (tel: (514) 849 8681 or 842 2112 (box office); website: www.grandsballets.qc.ca) who perform at Place des Arts. The Festival des Arts de St-Sauveur(tel: (450) 227 0427; website: www.fass.ca) showcases international ballet companies in the Laurentians in July and August.
Film: There are plenty of English-language screens in the city, mostly downtown. The largest and most modern are the central Cinéma Banque Scotia Montreal, 977 rue Ste-Catherine West (tel: (514) 842 5828; website: www.famousplayers.com), and the 22-screen AMC Forum, 2313 rue Ste-Catherine West (tel: (514) 904 1250; website: www.amctheaters.com). Ex-Centris, 3536 boulevard St-Laurent (tel: (514) 847 2206; website: www.ex-centris.com), is a high-tech cinema for independent film and avant-garde new media productions.
Montreal is one of Canada's largest film production centers and a number of Hollywood films have been shot here, including The Aviator (2003), Sin City (2005), Get Smart (2007) and Blades of Glory (2006). A much better picture of the city can be had from such films as The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1974), Jésus de Montréal (1989) and the charming Léolo (1992), though Old Montreal does provide a backdrop in The Score (2001). The Terminal (2003), starring Tom Hanks, was filmed in Montreal's Mirabel Airport. More recently, the city's streets were used to film I'm Not There (2006), directed by Todd Hayes. The World Film Festival (website: www.ffm-montreal.org) is only one of many such festivals, including celebrations of cultures from Jewish to First Nations (website: www.espaces.qc.ca) and the gay and lesbian image+nation (website: www.image-nation.org).
Literary Notes: Montreal has a rich literary history in both French and English poetry, drama and fiction. A number of authors have captured the day-to-day realities of life in the city, including David Fennario, whose play Balconville (1979) explores the interaction between French and English in the working-class neighborhood of Pointe St-Charles. Gabrielle Roy's The Tin Flute (1947) chronicles a family's lives in nearby St-Henri. The Plateau Mont-Royal is the setting for the novelist and playwright Michel Tremblay's The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant (1978) and also for the earlier works of Mordecai Richler: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959) and St Urbain's Horseman (1971). The French-English divide was captured by Hugh MacLennan in Two Solitudes (1945), and the former McGill professor's The Watch That Ends the Night (1959) is a wonderfully poignant novel set in Montreal. Although better known for his music, Leonard Cohen chronicles a young man's coming of age in Montreal in his first novel, The Favorite Game (1963). Kathy Reichs' chilling tales of a forensic anthropologist in Montreal began with Déjà Dead in 1997. Yann Martel, who won the 2002 Booker Prize for Life of Pi, lives in Montreal. It should be added that Nobel Prize-winning author Saul Bellow was born in the city.
Montreal Tours
Walking Tours
Heritage's Great Calendar, a list of walking tours in the city, is available from the tourist office, as is the Discover Old Montréal booklet, an illustrated walking guide. Héritage Montréal (tel: (514) 286 2662; website: www.heritagemontreal.qc.ca) offers a number of ‘Architectours' of the city's historical architecture and neighborhoods. Guidatour (tel: (514) 844 4021 or 1 800 363 4021; website: www.guidatour.qc.ca) offers daily tours of Old Montreal from mid June to September (and weekends in May and October), departing from the Basilique Notre-Dame.
Fantomes Montreal Ghosts (tel: (514) 868 0303 or 1 877 868 0303; website www.fantommontreal.com) has four tours that trace historic crimes and legends of Old Montreal (Wed-Sun from late Jun-Aug, plus Sat in Jun, Sep and Oct). The Flavours & Aromas of Old Montreal (tel: (514) 966 9193; website: www.visitesdemontreal.com) two-hour walking and tasting tour will delight the epicurean adventurer (Sat 0930-1200; early May-mid Oct).
Cycling Tours
Guidatour (tel: (514) 844 4021 or 1 800 363 4021; website: www.guidatour.qc.ca) now includes guided cycling tours among its services. The main tour, the ‘Official Bike Roundabout', covers 15km (9.5 miles) in three hours and takes in the Old Port, the Latin Quarter, La Fontaine Park, The Plateau, Mount-Royal Park, the Underground City, the business district, and Old Montreal. Other cycling tours are available on request. The free-spirited can find maps of the city's network to plan a personalised journey at Voyagezfute (website: www.voyagezfute.ca).
Bus Tours
Most bus tours depart from Square Dorchester, in front of the Center Infotouriste. Gray Line Montreal (tel: 1 800 461 1223; website: www.coachcanada.com/montrealsightseeing) offers a variety of city tours: the basic tour covers Downtown, Old Montreal and Mount Royal; more comprehensive tours add on the Montreal Botanical Garden, Olympic Tower, Biodome, and Insectarium.
Boat Tours
Croisières AML (tel: (514) 842 3871 or 1 800 563 4643; website: www.croisieresaml.com) offers a variety of day and evening cruises heading east on the St Lawrence River. Bateau-Mouche (tel: (514) 849 9952 or 1 800 361 9952; website: www.bateaumouche.ca) offers cruises as well, circling the islands of Parc Jean-Drapeau with forays upriver to the west; longer dinner cruises are also available. Departures are from various piers in the Old Port.
Other Tours
One of the most romantic ways to see Old Montreal is in a horse-drawn calèche. These can be hired at place d'Armes or on rue de la Commune, near place Jacques-Cartier.
Another compelling option is the Jules Verne-like Amphibus (tel: (514) 849 5181; website: www.montreal-amphibus-tour.com), an amphibious vehicle that departs from the Old Port near the Science Museum for a unique tour of the city taking in the sights of Old Montreal and cruising down the St Lawrence River. Tours run daily 1000-2200 (late Jun-early Sep) with a limited daily operating schedule from mid May-mid Jun and Sep-Oct.
