Montreal's most prestigious centre for the performing arts is the Place des Arts, 175 rue Ste-Catherine ouest (information tel.: 285-4200, tickets tel.: 842-2112, www.pdarts.com), a five-hall complex with a comprehensive year-round programme of dance, music and theatre. The Theâtre de Verdure in Parc Lafontaine is an outdoor theatre with a summer-long programme of free plays, ballets and concerts. Another eclectic venue is the Theâtre St-Denis, 1594 St-Denis (tel.: 849-4211), which presents blockbuster musicals and other shows. The Saidye Bronfman Centre, 5170 chemin de la Côte Ste-Catherine (tel.: 739-2301), contains an exhibition centre and a three-hundred-seater venue for English (or Yiddish) music, dance, film and theatre.

The city's foremost French-language theatre is the Theâtre du Rideau Vert, 4664 St-Denis (tel.: 845-0267), which gives prominence to Quebec playwrights, while the Theâtre du Nouveau Monde, 84 Ste-Catherine est (tel.: 866-8667), presents a mix of contemporary and classic plays in French. Montreal's main English-language theatre is the Centaur Theatre, housed in the former stock exchange at 453 St-François-Xavier (tel.: 288-3161).

Montreal has more than ten excellent dance troupes from the internationally acclaimed Les Grandes Ballets Canadiens (tel.: 849-8681) and Ballets Classiques de Montreal to the avant-garde LaLaLa Human Steps and Tangente, who perform at various times at the Place des Arts, Theâtre de Verdure and during the festivals.

There are two well-known orchestras based in the city, the Orchestre symphonique de Montreal (tel 842-9951) and the Orchestre Metropolitaine (tel.: 598-0870), each of whom holds regular concerts at Place des Arts and the Basilique Notre-Dame. The city also has a programme of free summer concerts in various city parks (information tel.: 842-3402). L'Opera de Montreal (tel.: 985-2258) produces five bilingually subtitled productions a year at Place des Arts.

Films in English, usually the latest releases from the US, can be caught at most cinemas. Central ones include Centre Eaton, 705 rue Ste-Catherine ouest; the ornate Egyptian, 1455 rue Peel; the subterranean Faubourg, 1616 rue Ste-Catherine ouest; and the wide-screened and armchaired Paramount, 977 rue Ste-Catherine ouest. The city's only English rep cinema is the Cinema du Parc, 3575 ave du Parc (tel.: 281-1900 for listings). For Quebecois film-makers, check out the Cinemathèque Quebecoise, 335 boul de Maisonneuve est (Tues–Sun 11am–9pm), which has screening and exhibition programmes that bring together the history, events and future of cinema, TV and new media; Ex-Centris, 3536 boul St-Laurent has a penchant for alternative French film. Call 849-FILM for films and times or check the weeklies – make sure to verify that the English film you want to see is playing in v.o. (version originale), not v.f. (version français); the latter means it's dubbed.