What’s up

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/02/2024 (965 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Chelsea Handler brings LBB to the ‘Peg

• Friday, Feb. 9, 8 p.m.
• Burton Cummings Theatre
• Tickets: $48 to $95-plus at Ticketmaster

American comedian, author, and TV and podcast host Chelsea Handler takes audiences on a trip through her childhood in her latest show, Little Big Bitch.

“Because it’s been so much fun returning to standup, I figure the more time I spend with my fans, the better,” Handler says in a media release. “It’s time to give people a little insight into how I turned into who I am today.”

Handler returned to standup after a six-year hiatus with 2021’s People’s Choice Award-winning Vaccinated & Horny Tour, which saw her perform 115 shows in more than 90 cities. Revolution, her 2022 Netflix special, was recorded at her Nashville date.

Very few tickets remain for Friday’s show.

— Jen Zoratti

---

Anti-Valentine’s Day Market

• Saturday, Feb. 10, 3-9 p.m.
• Robert A. Steen Community Centre, 980 Palmerston Ave.
• Free admission

If the thought of heart-shaped boxes of chocolates, bouquets of red roses and candlelit romantic dinners for two makes your stomach turn, you’re in luck.

Presented by the Wicked Bazaar, the Anti-Valentine’s Day Market takes place Saturday at the Robert A. Steen Community Centre and will feature more than 40 local “wild, witchy and weird” vendors, artists and makers, including Belvidere Soap Co., D.W. Carvings, vintage shop Wanted & Wild Co., Ally Cat Oddities, Magic Attic Jewelry, Aradia’s Gallery, Happy Houligan clothing and many more.

The Anti-Valentine’s Day Market runs from 3 to 9 p.m. In addition to the vendors there will be entertainment, the canteen will be open, a donation drive will be taking place and more.

— Ben Sigurdson

---

Duncan Mercredi and the Broken Songs Band

• Thursday, Feb. 8, 7.30 p.m.
• Winnipeg Art Gallery, 300 Memorial Blvd.
• Reserve Pay What You Can tickets: wfp.to/mercredi

A new work by poet Duncan Mercredi will make its debut at DreamPlay’s Small Concerts. The one-hour “modern-day mini opera” is broken into four acts, combining Mercredi’s poems, songs and wolfman stories.

The work by the Métis/Cree storyteller and writer, who is originally from Misipawistik (Grand Rapids), is often deeply personally and emotional, reflecting the loss he experienced in his early teens when he and his community lost their home to the Grand Rapids Hydro Project.

Mercredi will perform with the Broken Songs Band: Glenn Buhr, Margaret Sweatman, Gilles Fournier and Daniel Roy.

“This new work involves stories and poems and songs and spoken word with music; I’ve written some music and we’ve also created some music together with Duncan and the band,” says Buhr.

“The piece centres around Duncan’s life through his parents and especially his grandmother, who taught him the stories. The music in generally eclectic and explores some of the genres close to Duncan’s heart: country music and the blues; there are songs, and also instrumental music underscoring the poems.”

While admission is Pay What You Can, seats must be reserved in advance.

This is the third concert in the DreamPlay Small Concerts five-concert series. The initiative of DreamPlay Productions, the concerts serve to support the collective of Winnipeg performing artists — and guests — with a focus on music, poetry and theatre.

— AV Kitching

---

Jazz Summit welcomes two days of musical negotiations

• Canadian Jazz Summit
• Friday, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10
• Desautels Faculty of Music, University of Manitoba
• Tickets: Saturday night concert: $11.57; master class and concert: $27.42 at jazzwinnipeg.com

Famous summits have dealt with world wars, the arms race and Cold War hockey showdowns.

A different type of summit descends upon the University of Manitoba and the Desautels Faculty of Music Friday and Saturday, when Jazz Winnipeg hosts the fourth annual Canadian Jazz Summit.

Drummer Ernesto Cervini is one of three performers who will headline the master classes, workshops, rehearsals and a wrap concert Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

Cervini, a University of Toronto music prof, has led several groups, some of which have performed at the Winnipeg International Jazz Festival. Those include the quartet Tetrahedron and the the sextet Turboprop, which won a 2020 Juno Award for the album Abundance.

Two Winnipeg artists, Rayannah, the Franco-Manitoban singer-songwriter, and pianist-vocalist Amber Epp will also share experiences about songwriting and the music business.

Joining the summit guests in the Saturday night concert will be performers from the U of M’s jazz faculty, as well as the University of Manitoba Jazz Orchestra, with Jon Challoner conducting.

— Alan Small

---

Comedians cut a rug at the Park

• Friday, Feb. 9; doors open at 7 p.m.
• The Park Theatre, 698 Osborne St.
• Tickets: $20 at myparktheatre.com

Winnipeg-raised, Los Angeles-based actor and comedian Aisha Alfa is back in town this Friday to host a standup dance party at the Park Theatre, featuring a lineup of local jokesters.

Truth or Dance is part-comedy show — with sets by Mike Green, Jordan Welwood and Emmanuel Lumuro — and part-dance party, with music provided by Tempo Collective.

Alfa — fresh off a recurring role in Based on a True Story, a Peacock comedy thriller series starring Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina — promises to bring “some genuine L.A. vibes and a whole shwack of new jokes” to the Park tomorrow, according to the event listing.

She is set to co-host Truth or Dance with Jonathan Giles, who co-created of A Work In Progress, a humour podcast about personal growth with Alfa.

— Eva Wasney

If you value coverage of Manitoba’s arts scene, help us do more.
Your contribution of $10, $25 or more will allow the Free Press to deepen our reporting on theatre, dance, music and galleries while also ensuring the broadest possible audience can access our arts journalism. BECOME AN ARTS JOURNALISM SUPPORTER Click here to learn more about the project.