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Hands on Artists and Artisans

Hands on Artists and Artisans host a show May 3 and 4 from noon to 5 p.m., featuring 12 professional artists and artisans and a show and sell of paintings, pottery, jewelry, wood-turned pieces and more. Nicole Kagan creates unique pieces of wearable art using an array of techniques and materials including fine silver, semi-precious stones and fresh-water pearls. Joan Kagan creates pots for food and flowers using wonderful shapes and a rich variety of glazing techniques. Frances Craig paints using acrylics, pastels, watercolour and brilliant inks flowing in liquid colour. Craig explores ancient and contemporary methods. Admission is free. Manor Road United Church, 240 Manor Rd., east of Mount Pleasant Road and west of Bayview Avenue.

Don Valley Art Club

The Don Valley Art Club holds its annual Spring Celebration art show and sale May 3 and 4 and 10 and 111 from noon to 5 p.m. Opening reception is May 2 from 7 to 9 p.m. Free admission and parking. Todmorden Mills Gallery, 67 Pottery Rd., bottom of Pottery Road, east of Bayview Avenue and west of Broadview. Call 416-396-2819.

MUSIC

The Creation

Toronto Mendelssohn Choir performs The Creation May 2 at 8 p.m. The choir's symphony of voices infuses Haydn's descriptive masterpiece with emotional impact. From chaos through raging storms to the calls of creatures, each day of the creation of the world is celebrated in song. The Toronto Mendelssohn Choir expresses the full spectrum of emotion - you will hear joy and tenderness as well as the great power and grandeur of monumental choruses. A powerful piece of matchless beauty. Pre-concert talk. Tickets: $30 to $65. New: Vox Tix program offers $15 tickets for those aged 15 to 25. These seats are in the north balcony at Yorkminster Park. Visit www.tmchoir.org. Yorkminster Park Baptist Church, 1585 Yonge St., one block north of St. Clair Ave.

Serenades

Sinfonia Toronto presents Serenades May 9 at 8 p.m. as part of its Masterpiece Series. Vienna's most famous sigh and smile and Dvorak's seductive love letter. Program features: Andre Prevost's Hommage, Tartini's Devil's Trill, Kreisler's Liebesleid, Dvorak's Serenade. Tickets: $35 adults, $27 seniors, $7 students. Grace Church on-the-Hill, 300 Lonsdale Rd. Call 416-499-0403.

CAMMAC presents Klezmer Workshop

Canadian Amateur Musicians Musicians Amateurs du Canada presents Klezmer Workshop with Brian Katz May 24 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Katz is an internationally acclaimed Canadian guitarist, composer, recording artist, pianist, improviser and music educator. He draws on jazz, classical and various world music traditions to form his personal sound. He is currently on faculty at the University of Toronto where he teaches Klezmer and music education pedagogy to prospective teachers of music; he also teaches klezmer at York University. Elliott Hall, Christ Church Deer Park, 1570 Yonge St. (two blocks north of St. Clair Avenue). Call 416-421-0779.

LECTURES

Skip Shand on Hamlet

Guest speaker Skip Shand talks about Hamlet May 6 from 7 to 8 p.m. Shand is a senior scholar in English and drama studies at York University's Glendon College. He has published widely on Elizabethan text and performance and on teaching Shakespeare, and has been a text coach and dramaturg for numerous stage productions in Toronto and at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre in London. Learn more about four Shakespearian plays as internationally renowned, academic experts talk about their favourite plays. The lecture series is co-sponsored with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival Spring, 2008. Dr. Jane Freeman, member of the Stratford Festival's board of governors, introduces the program and the guest speaker. Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St. Call 416-393-7158.

From Hanga to Manga: The Graphic Art of Japanese Storytelling

The TD Gallery at the Toronto Public Library presents From Hanga to Manga: The Graphic Art of Japanese Storytelling until June 28. From Hanga to Manga is an exhibition of woodblock prints (hanga), Japanese comics (manga) and rare illustrated books. Japan's rich literary tradition has grown alongside a complementary respect and appreciation for stories told largely or entirely in pictures. The exhibition features a variety of these materials from Toronto Public Library's Special Collections, supplemented by loans from the H. H. Mu Far Eastern Library at the Royal Ontario Museum and the Japan Foundation. On May 22 at 7 p.m., catch The Man Who Made The Great Wave as award-winning novelist Katherine Govier discusses her research into the little known life and mysterious works of woodblock print artist Katsushika Hokusai. Beeton Auditorium, Toronto Reference Library, 789 Yonge St. For more information about the exhibit, free tours and related programming, call 416-393-7158.

FESTIVALS

Ready for Prime Time/Lies our Mothers Told Us

CONTACT photography festival presents John Hyslop and Christos Tsirbas' Ready for Prime Time/Lies our Mothers Told Us May 14 to 27. Opening reception is May 15 from 7 to 9 p.m. Gay men are said to disappear at 40. In Ready for Prime Time, Christos Tsirbas explores the sensual allure of men who are years and decades past that arbitrary cutoff point. Though a series of abstract nudes, John Hyslop's Lies our Mothers Told Us explores the destructive myths about sex learned in childhood. CONTACT is an annual month-long festival of photography with more than 500 local, national and international artists at more than 200 venues across the Greater Toronto Area in May. It's devoted to celebrating and fostering an appreciation of the art and profession of photography. This Ain't the Rosedale Library, upstairs gallery, 483 Church St. Hours: Monday to Sunday from 1 to 9 p.m. E-mail info@thisaint.ca or visit info@primetimelies.com for details.

Doors Open Toronto

Todmorden Mills is part of Doors Open Toronto May 24 and 25 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Explore the unique adobe construction of Helliwell House. Tour the Regency-style cottage and visit the renovated Papermill Theatre and Gallery. Learn more about the 19th-century industrial community of Todmorden, which supplied lumber, beer and bricks to the growing City of Toronto. More than 150 buildings of architectural, historic, cultural and social significance open their doors to the public for a citywide celebration. The program allows visitors free access to properties that are either not usually open to the public or would normally charge an entrance fee. Many locations have organized guided tours, displays and activities to enrich the visitor experience. Admission is free. Todmorden Mills, 67 Pottery Rd., bottom of Pottery Road, east of Bayview Avenue and west of Broadview Avenue. Call 416-396-2819.

ON STAGE

The Eco Show

Necessary Angel Theatre Company presents The Eco Show. Previews are May 13 and 14, with the show opening May 15 and running to June 1 at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre. Overpopulation, energy depletion, drought, mass extinction, these and other problems have arrived, or are on their way. People die, families die out and entire civilizations end. Change on an enormous scale is inevitable. Described by Daniel Brooks as an elegy, The Eco Show examines how the ecology of one family is changed by the ecology of the world. Tickets: Tuesday to Thursday: $20, Friday and Saturday: $25, Sunday pay-what-you-can, previews $15. Call the box office at 416-975-8555. Buddies in Bad Times Theatre, 12 Alexander St.

After You

East Side Players presents the Dave Carley's drama After You May 22 to June 7. Summer at a family cottage in the Kawarthas. Cousins Adele and Jean, now in their 70s, are seen in the present and in the past, as their younger selves. A warm examination of innocence lost, wisdom gained and the endurance of friendship, with a lot of laughs along the way. Performances: Thursday to Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Second week: Wednesday to Saturday at 8 p.m.; Sunday matinee at 2 p.m. Third week: Wednesday to Saturday at 8 p.m. Tickets: adults $18, students $12. Call the box office at 416-425-0917. East Side Players performs in the Papermill Theatre at the Todmorden Mills site as the resident theatre company. Papermill Theatre, 67 Pottery Rd. east of the Bayview Ave. Extension, west of Broadview Avenue.

Series 8:08

Series 8:08 presents Series 8:08 season finale May 29 to 31 at 8 p.m. at the Winchester Street Theatre. The Series 8:08 Season Finale is a curated presentation of four premieres commissioned from the works in progress shown recently at Series 8:08's Choreographic Performance Workshop program. The season finale provides an opportunity to view dances in which workshop audience members gave feedback and have had an affect. This season marks the fourth year of the mentorship program for dance artists, enabling participants to work with like-minded senior dance artists who also develop work for the Season Finale. This season, emerging dance artists Marie France Forcier and Matthew Waldie had that opportunity. Series 8:08 has brought audiences 28 bold premieres through this program in the last eight seasons. Founded in 1992, its mandate is to promote the creative development of professional dance artists in Canada, to build a strong sense of artistic community and to build a knowledgeable, appreciative audience for new dance. Tickets: $20 adults and $15 students and seniors. Visit www.series808.ca. Call 416-504-6429, ext. 40. Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester St.