Toronto’s ambitious, multi-dimensional arts festival Luminato kicks off its third year today with an expanded line-up and ample opportunities for what it calls “accidental encounters with art.” We’ve studied the line-up to bring you five essential Luminato events.
Opening Night Overdrive
Randy Bachman will be takin’ care of business with an opening night concert tonight at Yonge-Dundas Square. Tonight, 7 p.m., free.
Enter Sandman
An Evening with Neil Gaiman finds the creator of the influential graphic novel The Sandman and exceptional 3D film Coraline in conversation and reading from his new novel The Graveyard Book. Monday, June 8, Jane Mallett Theatre, St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, 27 Front St. E., $15.
Shakey Tribute
The Songbook Series continues with a tribute to Neil Young’s Live at Massey Hall by such notables as Jason Collett, Cowboy Junkies and jazz guitarist Bill Frisell at, naturally, Massey Hall. Wednesday, June 10, 8 p.m., 178 Victoria St., $59.50 – $79.50.
Mr. Moto Returns
Billed as a multimedia punk-rock spectacle, director Jay Scheib’s Addicted to Bad Ideas: Peter Lorre’s 20th Century is an operetta celebrating the iconic film villain (Lorre played the first Bond villain ever). Friday, June 12, 11 p.m., The Phoenix, 410 Sherbourne St., $35.
Frenchy Fire
Cirque du Soleil feature in the closing weekend celebrations with a performance about the nature of civilization created specifically for Luminato. Expect contortionists and, in all likelihood, fire. Sunday, June 14, Central Waterfront, 7 p.m., free.
Image courtesy of WVR.
