HARVEY OPENS
Harvey opens at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts. The production of
Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy, which opened in 1944, is
directed by Diana Leblanc, whose credits include Stratford and Toronto’s
Soulpepper Theatre. Harvey was one of the longest-running shows on
Broadway, with 1,775 performances, and was made into a classic Hollywood
movie starring Jimmy Stewart in 1950. Leading Canadian actor R.H.
Thomson plays the central character, Elwood P. Dowd, whose best friend
is a 6-foot-6 invisible rabbit. Among the other members of a stellar
cast are Nora McLellan, Walter Massey, David Francis and Moira Wylie.
Expect a stunning set by John Dinning that captures the pre-World War I
American neo-classical decor. Harvey continues until May 9. Tickets,
739-7944.

GYPSY MUSIC
Moldovan-born violinist Sergei Trofanov performs with his ensemble at
the Ben Weider YM-YWHA, 7-9 p.m., a program of Russian, Romanian, Jewish
and Hungarian songs with a “Gypsy twist.” Nadia Cherkashina and her
dance group, Cleopatra, are also on the bill. Tickets, Olga Freiman,
737-6551, ext. 240.

WALKING FOR WOMEN
Jewish Women International of Canada holds its annual fundraising “Walk
in her Shoes: Fitness for a Cause” at the Club Sportif Cote de Liesse in
St. Laurent from 9 a.m. to noon. In addition to walking, there’s boot
camp, spinning, circuit training, yogalates and other classes.
Registered participants receive a T-shirt, gift bag, refreshments and
the chance to bid at a silent auction. Sex therapist and radio
personality Laurie Betito is honorary chair and author and teacher
Monique Polak is guest speaker. Proceeds go to JWIC’s educational
programming to raise awareness of date rape and sexual assault on
campus. www.walkinhershoes.ca.

FILLING EMPTY BOWLS
In co-operation with the Unitarian Church of Montreal, Congregation
Dorshei Emet holds its annual Empty Bowls fundraiser benefiting the NDG
Food Depot, Santropol Roulant and other local organizations feeding the
poor. For $20, you receive a hand-crafted bowl, donated by more than 100
Quebec potters – to keep – filled with soup, along with bread and
fruit.  The event has raised more than $50,000 in the last three years.
Klezmer music by clarinetist Marc Simons and accordionist Sergiu Popa.
[email protected].

BEYOND NEVER AGAIN
“Beyond Never Again”, a Holocaust-themed course offered by Chabad’s
Jewish Learning Institute and taught by Rabbi Ronnie Fine begins at 4941
Queen Mary Rd. and continues for six consecutive Wednesdays and
Thursdays. The course explores  meaning in the face of suffering and the
existence of evil, and is timed to coincide with Yom Hashoah.
www.JLImontreal.com.

WARSAW GHETTO UPRISING
The 67th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is commemorated by
the Montreal Workers Circle at the Gelber Conference Centre, 2 p.m.
Guest speaker Jack Jedwab, executive director of the Association for
Canadian Studies, is a son of Holocaust survivors. Program also includes
ghetto songs by Fishel Goldig, poetry reading by the second generation,
and candlelighting by survivors and grandchildren. 733-9221.

JEWS OF EGYPT
“Les juifs d’Egypte de Moïse à aujourd’hui” is the theme of a two-part
event sponsored by Aleph, Centre d’études juives contemporaines and the
Association des Juifs originaire d’Egypte à Montréal. The first part is
10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. at the Cummings Centre and the second 6:30-9:30
p.m. at the Maison de la culture sépharade. 733-4998

KLEZMER CONCERT
The New York-based Michael Winograd Klezmer Trio, with local
accordionist Sergiu Popa, give a concert at Excentris at 8 p.m., under
the auspices of KlezKanada. Clarinetist Winograd blends traditional
Yiddish songs and new klezmer with “chamber-like improvisations and
spontaneous arrangements.” www.myspace.com/mwinfection.

FIGHTING MALARIA
A campaign to combat malaria, “Nothing but Nets,” is the subject of a
talk and film at Temple Emanu-El-Beth Sholom, 7 p.m. Ten dollars buys an
insecticide-treated bed net that can help save the lives of the nearly
one million people, mostly children, who die of the mosquito-born
illness every year. Anita, 937-3575, ext. 212.

SOBIBOR SURVIVOR
Philip Bialowitz of New York, one of the last living survivors of the
Sobibor concentration camp and a fighter in an uprising there, speaks at
Chabad of the Town, 7 p.m., in association with the Montreal Holocaust
Memorial Centre. Bialowitz testified at the trial of John Demjanjuk in
Germany this year. A fundraising cocktail reception at 6 p.m. precedes
the public event. Reserve at www.mychabad.org.

LAUGHTER CLUB
A Laughter Club with Tracy Shafter meets at the Ben Weider YM-YWHA, 7-8
p.m. The class combines laughter exercises with gentle yoga breathing
and stretching. Olga Freiman, 737-6551, ext. 240.

CANCER RESEARCH
The Maimonides Society of Combined Jewish Appeal holds a “non-technical”
presentation on the latest developments at the Rosalind and Morris
Goodman Cancer Research Centre of McGill University, 7 p.m. Speakers
include geneticist Dr. Maxime Bouchard and biochemist Dr. Thomas
Duchaine. Registration, 345-2645, ext. 3660.

MASSACRE REMEMBERED
Monique Lepine, mother of Marc Lepine, who killed 14 women at the Ecole
Polytechnique on Dec. 6, 1989, is guest speaker of Jewish Women
International of Canada, Chomedey Chapter, Young Israel Synagogue, 7
p.m. After years of silence, she has written a book titled Aftermath.
Tickets, Rosalee, 450-681-5335.

JEWISH ARTISTS
A symposium, “Montreal Jewish Life: The Thirties and Forties,” at the
McCord Museum, in association with the Concordia Institute for Canadian
Jewish Studies, opens at 6 p.m. and continues through the day tomorrow.
The event complements the museum’s exhibit on Jewish painters from the
period. Speakers include curator Esther Trépanier and academics Rebecca
Margolis, Lisa Sumner and Loren Lerner. Garry Beitel’s film Chez
Schwartz will also be shown. www.concordia.ca/jchair.

The exhibition “The Armenian Genocide and the Holocaust: One Man Takes a
Stand,” featuring the photography of Armin T. Wegner, continues at the
Montreal Holocaust Memorial Centre until May 16. During World War I,
Wegner took pictures of the massacre of Armenians by the Turks. In 1933,
he was one of the first people to denounce the persecution of Jews in
Nazi Germany, and spent the rest of his life fighting for the rights of
Armenians and Jews… Montreal lawyer and leukemia survivor William Brock,
55, from Davies Ward Philips and Vineberg this week began a 2,500-km
bicycle trek across Europe to raise what he hopes will be $1 million for
the Université de Montréal and its affiliated Maisonneuve-Rosemont
Hospital’s hematology and bone transplant program. Five years ago, Brock
received his first stem cell transplant at that hospital, which saved
his life. The donor was his brother Gordon. He is blogging throughout
his tour, which he began in St. Nazaire, France, and expected to
complete May 31. http://acelebrationoflife.blogspot.com… Montrealer
Jeremy Gordaneer’s paintings exploring the idea of continuum using every
day objects are on exhibit at the Segal Centre for Performing Arts’
ArtLounge until May 13.