THEATRE | Howie the Rookie
The daring Red One Theatre Collective specializes in site-specific performances, expanding the boundaries of live theatre into unconventional locations. Their production of the Zoo Story last fall was performed at different park benches throughout the city and was a welcome change from the average theatre experience. The setting for their new production of the Irish crime drama Howie the Rookie is so secretive that the company's asking the audience to meet at College and Grace, and from there they'll be escorted to a nearby intimate venue that seats only 20 people. Directed by the talented David Ferry, whose recent credits include the Alley Co-op's Where's My Money?, the play is free if you RSVP and stars Tyrone Savage and Brenhan McKibben. Runs til June 6.
College and Grace, Free, 7 pm and 9 pm nightly

MUSIC | Make Some Noise Workshop with Indie Insider Vish Khanna
In an age where the Internet has all but replaced the library as our primary reference source, the Toronto Public Library is doing an excellent job of staying relevant, drawing young people through its doors with innovative programs and events. The Make Some Noise initiative has broken the traditional library rule of silence, inviting bands like Fucked Up and One Hundred Dollars into the library for performances to accompany the TPL's rapidly growing collection of albums by local musicians. Tonight CBC Radio host Vish Khanna will be at the Toronto Reference Library as part of Make Some Noise to impart to aspiring musicians and music journalists some of the inside knowledge he's learned from his 15 years of experience on both sides of the music industry.
Toronto Reference Library, Beeton Auditorium, 789 Yonge Street, Free, 7 pm

FILM | Last Waltz at the Bloor Cinema
The Bloor Cinema presents Martin Scorsese's 1978 instant classic The Last Waltz tonight. Widely considered the greatest concert film ever shot, the movie captures the final show of the Band, a group of incredibly talented (and mostly Canadian) musicians whose non-stop touring and hard-partying lifestyle kept them in constant proximity of rock 'n roll tragedy. By the time they decided to call it quits in 1976, rock music was at a drug-fueled peak thanks to musicians like Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Van Morrison, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, and Ron Hawkins, all of whom delivered rollicking exuberant sets too see the Band off. Watch for the wad of cocaine in Neil Young's nose as he performs the most famous version of "Helpless"; rumour has it there was a giant bowl of it backstage.
Bloor Cinema, 506 Bloor Street West, $10, 7 pm

BOOKS AND LIT | Linda Holeman, Holly LeCraw and Lydia Kwa at Authors at Harbourfront
The Authors at Harbourfront series is a weekly event that brings together three talented writers for an evening of readings and conversation. With slots to fill every week and no theme to tie the events together, Harbourfront eschews massive names in the world of lit for unpredictable but always stimulating discussions with up-and-coming writers or deserving novelists who may not be as widely known as they should be. Tonight Quill and Quire's Meaghan Strimas welcomes veteran novelist Linda Holeman, who'll be talking about her new story of love and mystery in Morroco The Saffron Gate, Lydia Kwa, whose latest novel Pulse splits time between Toronto's Chinatown and Singapore, and Atlanta short fiction writer Holly LeCraw, who's just written her debut novel The Swimming Pool about the secrets and lies in loving relationships.
York Quay Centre, 235 Queen's Quay West, $8, 7:30 pm

GALLERY | Polyphony
This new exhibition at Launch Projects is an experiment in artistic collaboration. Eight emerging visual artists met regularly for weeks to discuss the source of their inspiration, and then went off to independently produce a body of work. Now they reconvene to see to what extent they've influenced each other and to produce a visual Polyphony, or brief artistic harmonization. Participating artists Gay Gooderham, Diana Hamer, Christy Hayhoe, Jennifer Mason, Ellen Matthews, Rena Okada, Karin Shaddick, and Angela Tamari represent diverse techniques and mediums, but to what extent they share anything will be found out tonight.
Launch Projects, 404 Adelaide Street West, Reception tonight 5:30 pm - 8 pm, Gallery hours Wednesday to Sunday 5 pm

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Photo: "TORD Season Opener" by Fifth Business, member of the blogTO Flickr Pool.