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There's something uniquely Quebecois about the kind of entertainment referred to as a spectacle. It's more than just a performance, usually involving some kind of multimedia projection, light show, and, if outdoors, fireworks. It's no wonder, then, that the ultimate spectacle, Cirque du Soleil, was founded in Montréal in the ’80s. And it's also hardly surprising that North America's largest French-speaking metropolis should be the continent's capital of French theater.
Montréal is the home of nearly a dozen professional companies and several important theater schools, but there's also a lively English-language theater scene and one of the few remaining Yiddish theaters in North America.
In 2012, the city completed the Quartier des Spectacles, a 70-acre theater district in Downtown with stages for outdoor performances and nearly 80 venues for dance, music, theater, and art.
For a city its size, Montréal offers a remarkable number of opportunities for fans of classical music to get their fill, from operas and symphonies to string quartets.
As for dance, there are several modern dance companies of note, including Montréal Danse and Québec's premier ballet company Les Grands Ballets Canadiens.
Packed with intimate screening rooms, recording facilities, exhibition spaces, and a performance space, this center promotes artist-driven film, design, and music from locals as well as international artists. Films are in English and French.
This is one of several venues hosting events that are part of the Just for Laughs Festival. Touring Broadway productions, concerts, musicals, and dance performances can often be seen here. Formerly known as Théâtre St-Denis, the space expanded in 2023 and rebranded as Espace St-Denis. The new complex houses the original Théâtre St-Denis, a studio-cabaret for events such as nouveau cirque performances and virtual art shows, rooftop bar Le Marie-Louise, French brasserie Le Molière, and the Trattoria del Teatro.
Inaugurated in 1929, this gorgeous Art Deco theater rapidly became a local favorite and had its heyday in the '70s before it fell into disarray. After reopening its doors in the early '90s, the theater has regained much of its steam with mostly theater and live music acts, but also film screenings, comedy, and circus performances.
