Top Tiff picks
Five must-see premieres at
this September’s Toronto
International Film Festival
} Alias Grace
An advance screening of
the first two episodes of
the CBC/Netflix miniseries
based on Margaret Atwood’s
award-winning novel tells
the story of a poor Irish
servant convicted (perhaps
wrongly) of murder.
} Battle of the Sexes
Emma Stone and Steve
Carell play Billie Jean King
and Bobby Riggs in this
comedy-drama recreating
the tennis stars’ 1973 match.
Cirque du Soliel’s Volta
along with vocalist Bombay
Jayashri and percussionist
V. Selvaganesh. Roy Thomson
Hall, 60 Simcoe St., tso.ca everyday life. When he becomes
a suspect in the death of a
neighbour’s dog he investigates
to find the real culprit. Princess
Arabella of Wales Theatre, 300 King St. W.,
mirvish.com
Oct. 5–28
The Canadian Opera Company
presents Arabella, the story of a
girl from a family of aristocrats
looking for true love, but who is
pressured to marry for money
after her father gambles away his
fortune. Four Seasons Centre,
145 Queen St. W., coc.ca
The Curious Incident of the
Dog in the Night-Time
Starts Oct. 10
Christopher Boone—the lead
character in Simon Stephens’s
stage adaptation of Mark
Hadden’s popular novel—is a
15-year-old boy, highly intelligent
and gifted at math, but who
has trouble making sense of
Bat Out of Hell
Oct. 14–Dec. 3
} Catastrophe
In this animated short a
house cat suspected in the
death of the family bird
tries to set things right, with
disastrous results,
} Ex Libris: The New York
Public Library
Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman’s
operatic 1977 album, Bat Out
of Hell, meets its stage musical
roots head on in this energetic
post-apocalyptic extravaganza.
Set in dystopian Manhattan,
the show follows a young man
named Strat who falls in love
with Raven, the daughter of
a powerful tyrant. Rock out to
Meat Loaf ’s greatest hits, like
“Paradise by the Dashboard
Light,” “I’d Do Anything for
Love (But I Won’t Do That)” and
“Two Out of Three Ain’t Bad.” Documentarian Frederick
Wiseman takes an inside
look at how the New York
Public Library sustains its
traditions and adapts to the
modern digital age.
Ed Mirvish Theatre, 244 Victoria St.,
mirvish.com For tickets and showtimes,
visit tiff.net
} Long Time Running
Tragically Hip frontman
Gord Downie’s 2016
announcement that he had
been diagnosed with a ter-
minal brain tumour shocked
the country. This documen-
tary captures the emotional
final tour by this legendary
Canadian band.