Ariana Grande’s pop spectacle
With her glossy 2016 record, Dangerous Woman, the elfin pop powerhouse contends for Swift-level dominance. On the reggae-tinged single “Side to Side,” Grande parades a mischievous persona, while the title track showcases a vocal range that rivals Mariah Carey’s—though, with Grande, you can be sure she’s actually singing. Sunday, March 5. $60–$250. Air Canada Centre, ticketmaster.ca.

A literal junk food fest
At Trashed and Wasted, chefs turn waste into wonders: the gourmet snacks and drinks (like beer made from bread scraps!) are all made from perfectly good food that would otherwise be tossed. Porchetta and Co., Montgomery’s, Monforte Dairy, Rainhard Brewery and Yongehurst Distillery are all participating; they’ll use some of their own scraps, and some salvaged from other restaurants and kitchens. Proceeds will support Second Harvest. $35–$50, not including food and drink tickets. Wednesday, March 1. Wychwood Barns, universe.com.

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The irreverent Book of Mormon
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone managed to translate their potty-mouthed shtick into a Tony-winning Broadway phenomenon. The satirical musical—about Mormon missionaries in an impoverished Ugandan village—is as irreverent and ribald as you’d expect from their cartoon, but it also packs layers of sweetness and smarts. Tuesday, February 28 to Sunday, April 16. $49–$139. Princess of Wales Theatre, mirvish.com.

A Westerosian symphony
Even after six seasons, we wouldn’t dare fast-forward through Game of Thrones’ title sequence: the medieval strings and chugging timpani of composer Ramin Djawadi’s heroic theme constitute the best of modern TV scores. As with all things Westerosian, the soundtrack’s live incarnation is a super-sized spectacle, featuring an elaborate maze of stages, an 80-piece orchestra and choir, giant cylindrical LED screens, and a handful of gimmicks for superfans, like an Iron Throne photo-op station. Saturday, March 4. $40–$125. Air Canada Centre, ticketmaster.ca.

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Cirque du Soleil’s darker, edgier cousin
The Montreal-based troupe Cirque Éloize delivers a grittier take on Cirque du Soleil–style acrobatics with Cirkopolis, an international hit with the gritty aesthetic of nightmare-city movies like Metropolis. The troupe’s 11 gravity-defying artists vault, spin and fly across a dystopian streetscape, unleashing splashes of colour and creativity on a monotonous grey world. Wednesday, March 1 to Saturday, 18. $39–$99. St. Lawrence Centre for the Arts, ticketmaster.ca.

A pop-up taco shop
Every Friday and Saturday night starting March 3, Kensington’s top taco shop, Seven Lives, sells its shells in the space above Kinton Ramen on Bloor. On the menu: apps (like ceviche tostadas) and tacos, including their most-excellent gobernador. There’s booze, too: while their market address isn’t licensed, this space is, so you can sip on tequila and mescal or down a cerveza or two. From Friday, March 3. 668 Bloor St. W., second floor, instagram.com.

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A don’t-call-it-classical music fest
Cool things are afoot in the world of classical music, where orchestras are programming new works by people born this side of 1800. Leading the populist push is the TSO’s New Creations Festival. Boyish baroque-pop star Owen Pallett, a Polaris Prize winner and Oscar nominee, co-curates this year’s fest, which features the world premiere of his TSO-commissioned work, Songs From An Island. A second Polaris winner, throat singer Tanya Tagaq, brings her sumptuous growl of a voice to a new collaboration with fellow improv vocalist Christine Duncan. Next to the young iconoclasts, the adventurous Kronos Quartet might seem like the old fogeys of the fest (the group has been around for more than 40 years), but they step up to debut two new pieces. Saturday, March 4 to Saturday, March 11. $30 pass. Roy Thomson Hall, tso.ca.

Chicago’s buzziest new rapper
The 25-year-old rapper Noname, a.k.a. Fatimah Warner, honed her chops at slam poetry nights before scoring a collaboration with fellow Chicagoan Chance the Rapper—he called her guest verse the best he’s ever had on one of his tracks. Her debut mixtape, Telefone, is a coming-of-age effort with jazzy synths and tinkling chimes that display swagger and silliness all at once. Sunday, March 5. $17.50. Phoenix Concert Theatre, ticketmaster.ca.

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A podcast king’s inner voices
On his podcast, WTF, Marc Maron taps career anxieties, romantic woes and booze battles—both his own and those of his guests—as grist for his comedy mill. He disarms celebrities, comics and politicians (including then-president Barack Obama!) with his oddball energy, yielding candid conversations that feel more like therapy sessions. As he’s graduated from obscure garage podcaster to global superstar (though still in a garage), his style has become only more blunt. Expect the same revealing inner dialogues when Maron hits the stage. Sunday, March 5. $47. Danforth Music Hall, ticketmaster.ca.

Odditorium, a (tiny slice of a) weeks-long opus
Eccentric Canadian composer R. Murray Schafer’s 12-part Patria cycle makes Wagner’s 17-hour Ring cycle seem like a Sunday matinée: the unclassifiable composition is based loosely on the Greek myth of Ariadne and the Minotaur, and would last weeks and require several different venues if staged in full. Fear not: the excerpted curiosities in this show—a sort of sampler platter—clock in at just 95 minutes. It’s well named, too—Odditorium combines circus acts, a busker fest and a mystical, musical journey. Thursday, March 2 to Sunday, March 5. $57.50–$67.50. Crow’s Theatre, crowstheatre.com.

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