Reuben and the Dark brings that Folk Fest feeling to the Park Theatre

March 30, 8 p.m.
Park Theatre
Tickets are $37.80 at Ticketmaster

Before Reuben and the Dark, the Calgary-bred outfit led by singer/songwriter Reuben Bullock, first burst onto the Canadian music scene with 2013’s Funeral Sky, Bullock was about to go pro — as a skateboarder.

But after too many broken bones, Bullock found a new dream to chase when he picked up a guitar in his early 20s. And now, 10 years and four studio albums in, Reuben and the Dark has beguiled theatre audiences and festival crowds alike with its brand of lush, cinematic folk-rock, anchored by Bullock’s rich, textured vocals and evocative songwriting. (It’s unsurprising the band has attracted the attention from music supervisors; its soaring songs have been featured in Game of Thrones, The Handmaid’s Tale and more )

Reuben and the Dark is currently touring in support of its fourth album, 2022’s In Lieu of Light. The band is no stranger to the Winnipeg Folk Festival’s stages; the festival is presenting this concert as part of its Hear All Year concert series.

— Jen Zoratti

 

Women Talking back on the big screen

Starting Saturday, April 1 at 4:30 p.m.
Dave Barber Cinematheque, 100 Arthur St.
Tickets $8 ($7 for students) at winnipegfilmgroup.com

If you missed the Oscar-winning film Women Talking in its first brief appearance in Winnipeg theatres, you’re in luck.

The 2022 film, directed by Sarah Polley and starring Rooney Mara, Clare Foy, Frances McDormand and Jessie Buckley, returns to the big screen — this time at Dave Barber Cinematheque — starting Saturday at 4:30 p.m. as part of the Human Rights Through Film series presented by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

Based on Manitoba-born author Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel of the same name, which in turn was inspired by real-life events that took place in 2009, Women Talking is set in an isolated Mennonite colony in Bolivia, and chronicles a dialogue between women of the colony. After discovering the men in the community have been drugging and sexually assaulting women in the community, the group struggles to determine what course of action, if any, to take.

Earlier this month, Women Talking won Sarah Polley an Oscar for best adapted screenplay, and the film was nominated for best picture.

Women Talking screens this weekend and next at various times; for more details and for tickets, visit winnipegfilmgroup.com.

— Ben Sigurdson

 

Fame at the Gas Station

Mar. 31 to Apr. 8, various times
Gas Station Arts Centre, 445 River Ave.
Tickets $29.25 for adults, $23.25 for students at winnipegstudiotheatre.com

It’s not quite forever, but the Winnipeg Studio Theatre cast of Fame is hopeful audiences will remember their names after a week-long run at the Gas Station Arts Centre.

The musical, based on the 1980 movie musical of the same name, follows a group of spotlight-hungry students at New York’s illustrious High School for the Performing Arts. The wannabe dancers, singers and actors grapple with the pressures of school and social acceptance while striving for stardom.

The show features an all local cast, starring Victoria Exconde (Carmen), Charlotte Thompson (Mabel), JJ Scherr (Tyrone), Jean Van Der Merwe (Nick), Joyce Jugo (Serena), Josh Bellan (Schlomo), Megan Fry (Iris), Devin Lowry (Joe) and others.

Fame is the Winnipeg Studio Theatre’s first live production since the start of the pandemic. The show is produced under the company’s new “professional research initiative,” which aims to create a more inclusive rehearsal process.

— Eva Wasney

 

Matt Andersen brings a Big Bottle of Joy to Club Regent

Thursday, March 27
Club Regent Event Centre
Tickets: $40.25 at ticketmaster.ca or casinosofwinnipeg.com

New Brunswick blues powerhouse Matt Anderson has some joy to share Thursday night. A big bottle of it, in fact.

Andersen has performed solo for a good portion of his 19-year recording career, but on this tour, he shares the stage with an eight-piece group, the Big Bottle of Joy, the group that also performed on album Matt Anderson & the Big Bottle of Joy, which came out March 10.

“Somebody told me a long time ago that when you put a band together, you need to make yourself the weakest musician,” Andersen says in a release. “So that’s always what I’ve done. And they’re all just absolutely monstrous at what they do.”

That means in addition to Anderson’s acoustic guitar and singing, three harmony vocalists, Reeny, Hailey and Micah Smith, pianist Kim Dunn, organist Chris Kirby, bassist Mike Farrington Jr., guitarist Cory Telford and drummer Geoff Arsenault provide their musical input on the record and on stage.

The Hello Darlins, a Canadian country-roots supergroup led by Calgary’s Candace Lacina and keyboardist Mike Little, opens the concert, and their new album, Go By Feel, includes Winnipeg guitarist-producer Murray Pulver.

— Alan Small

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