-
Monument National Theatre
Shows here run the gamut from Oscar Wilde to Sam Shepard with everything from acting, directing and technical production performed by graduating students of the National Theatre School. There are two halls, one with 800 seats, the other with 150 seats. The smaller theater stages about three original works a year by student playwrights. Tickets are on sale a month before opening and productions are in either English or French.
-
National Film Board
This cutting-edge cinema is worth a visit for serious cinephiles. There are regular screenings from the archive, but the real attraction is its Cinérobothèque - make your choice, and a robot housed in a huge, glass-roofed archive plucks your selection from the stacks. Then settle back into individual, stereo-equipped chair units to watch your personal monitor. There's also a huge Canadian-video collection available.
-
Orchestre Métropolitain de Grand Montréal
This hip 58-member orchestra is made up of young professional musicians from all over Quebec led by conductor Yannick Nézet-Séguin. The orchestra's mission is to democratize classical music so besides the swish Place des Arts, you may see it playing Mahler or Hayden in churches or colleges in even the city's poorest neighborhoods for reduced admission. A free 30-min concert talk is given by one of its musicians one hour before each performance.
-
Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal
Begun in 1934 as an amateur outfit, the Montréal Symphony Orchestra has grown into an international powerhouse that plays to packed audiences at Carnegie Hall. Its Christmas performance of The Nutcracker is legendary. Conductor Kent Nagano, a Californian with a leonine mane and stellar credentials, took over as music director in 2006. Check for free summer concerts at Basilique Notre-Dame, Olympic Park and in municipal parks in the Montréal area.
-
Paramount & Imax Cinemas
An entertainment monstrosity with crowds darting through junk-food kiosks amidst a riot of flashing lights and booming sounds to get to the IMAX theatre and screens showing Hollywood blockbusters in this multilevel cinema.
-
Parking Nightclub
With the right wardrobe you can celebrate Halloween every night at Parking, a very cruisy, steamy, and for the time being, utterly sexy gay nightclub. Located in an old garage repair shop, the club is decorated with car parts and tools. The Cruising Bar upstairs opens nightly, the disco Wednesday to Saturday with theme nights. The Le Parking bar and the fetishist Donjon club are eventful arms of the same complex.
-
Passeport
A jewelry and clothing store by day, Passeport changes its spots after dark and becomes a small dance-music club spinning New Age and hip-hop. Québec's crème-de-la-crème shows up dressed to kill on weekends.
-
Peel Pub
This barn of a pub is a student institution for its cheap pitchers of beer and greasy-spoon menu. During televised sporting events fans hurl vocal abuse at the 30 big-screen TVs and it gets so crowded it's hard to move.
-
Pepsi Forum
This flashy entertainment arena is built on the site of the old Canadiens hockey rink. Cinemas with 22 screens, restaurants, a Jillian's pool and game emporium as well as the Comedy Nest rank among the biggest tenants. There are free shows staged in the central amphitheater.
-
Pollack Concert Hall
McGill University's main music hall features concerts and recitals from its students and faculty, notably the McGill Chamber Orchestra. It's in the stately 19th-century building behind the statue of Queen Victoria.
-
Advertisement
-
Pub Ste-Élisabeth
Tucked off a side street, this awesome little pub is positively revered by Montrealers for its vine-covered courtyard and drink menu that includes beers galore, whiskeys and ports. It's got a mind-whirring repertoire of beers on tap, including imports and rare-to-find elsewhere microbrewery fare like Boréal Noir and Cidre Mystique.
-
Quai des Brumes
This pub is a fine place for live blues, rock and jazz; there's DJ-spun techno upstairs. The interior is in dark Parisian cafe style, with framed mirrors, ceiling mouldings and lots of panelling that's been toasted brown by a million cigarettes.
-
Quartier Latin Pub
This cool bar with 1950s lounge-style decor has a small dance floor and a DJ playing New Wave on weekends, but Monday evenings you can catch rehearsals of the Vic Vogel Big Band for the price of a drink.
-
Saidye Bronfman Centre
Montréal's Jewish theater stages dramatic performances in English, Yiddish and Hebrew during the summer. The center also hosts a variety of other events throughout the year, including dance and musical recitals, puppet shows and readings, and there's a tremendous gallery.
-
Saloon
This bar-bistro with the Big Ben clock face earned a spot in Village hearts for its chilled atmosphere, cocktails and 'five-continents' menu including some good vegetarian options. This is a stylish pre-club pit stop.
-
Salsathèque
This bright, busy, dressy place presents large live Latin bands pumping out tropical rhythms. During the breaks slurp a margarita in one of the movie-theater seats and watch the 25 to 50s crowd gyrate into exhaustion. Practice your one-liners and prepare to meet people Latin-style. Salsa, meringe and bachata lessons are given Sunday nights.
-
Sat
The clock runs backwards over the bar at the Societé des Arts Technologiques, a cutting-edge warehouse space that promotes partying as much as digital art. DJs and performance artists push the envelope with banks of multimedia installations, but the wooden picnic tables and plastic beer cups recall its university links.
-
Sharx
You won't look out of place if you dress up for this slick, post-apocalyptic pool hall. It caters mostly for pool with its 36 tables but has a couple of full sizes for snooker or billiards. Rows of TVs, a sizeable bar and a bowling alley make it more of a place for drinks and a good time rather than serious billiards.
-
Sir Winston Churchill Pub
Winnie's cavernous, split-level pub draws an older anglo crowd with its multiple bars, pool tables and pulsating music. The late great author Mordecai Richler used to knock back cold ones in the bar upstairs. Meals are served all day and drinks are half-price from to .
-
Sky Pub & Club
This is one of those popular Village complexes designed to suck you in for an entire Saturday night of partying. If you're a gorgeous guy or looking for one, start the evening in the 1st-floor pick-up pub (low lighting for intimate chat) before heading up to the dance floors (disco and energized house/hip-hop). The roof terrace is a perfect place to catch the Loto Québec International Fireworks Competition in summer.
-
Advertisement
-
Sofa
This cigar-and-port lounge with the comfy lounge gear is often standing room only on the weekends when 20- and 30-somethings crowd in for live R&B, funk and soul bands. Hot snacks like nachos and designer burgers are served.
-
Spectrum de Montréal
This converted cinema with great acoustics is a leading venue for rock and pop concerts as well as comedy acts. It serves as a main indoor venue for the International Jazz Festival in summer.
-
Station C
Alternative plays, circus and art exhibitions are held in this Village post-industrial space with living-room furniture. Some events have a gay flavor (this being the Village after all) but the artistic objective is much broader. It's worth a visit if only for the nonsensical whizz-bang machines by Florent Veilleux, a permanent exhibit.
-
Stereo
Montréal's house music giant, the sound system here is so amazing regulars gush about out-of-body-experiences. Stereo attracts everyone - gay, straight, students, drag queens - in short, anyone looking to lose sleep in style. You can warm up at the adjacent Stereobar from to .
-
Théâtre de Quat' Sous
Housed in a former synagogue, this cosy theater is a launch pad for the careers of young singers, directors and playwrights. The forté is intellectual and experimental drama.
