Tanya St-Arnauld at the Theatre de la Ville, in Longueuil, Quebec, Nov. 28, 2012. (TVA)

MONTREAL — A Montreal-area woman who was severely burned in an acid attack last summer made a surprise appearance at a comedy show in her honour Wednesday night.

Tanya St-Arnauld was all smiles despite the disfiguring scars over the top half of her body.

Sporting a wig to cover where hair was burned off in the Aug. 25 attack, the 29-year-old was cheered by 400 spectators at a theatre in the Montreal suburb of Longueuil.

"I'm glad to be here," she said. "It feels good, it's a silver lining on the cloud, as they say."

The money raised from the show will be donated to the former hairdresser, who can't work while she undergoes gruelling skin grafts and other surgeries.

St-Arnauld was doused with scalding concrete cleaner on the front steps of her apartment building following an argument with her boyfriend, police said.

She suffered burns over 20% of her body.

Nikolas Stefanatos, 27, is charged with assault.