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This article was published 18/07/2019 (2300 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

Take a magical tour through Winnipeg’s musical past

Brush up on your local rock ‘n’ roll history this summer with a tour of homes and haunts frequented by some of the biggest names to come out of Winnipeg.

The Magical Musical History Tour is a three-hour guided bus tour led by music historian and colourful storyteller, John Einarson. Stops include the steps of the school where Neil Young sat and dreamed of being famous; the home where Burton Cummings and Randy Bachman of the Guess Who wrote These Eyes; and music-inspired murals and historical sites around the city.

Tours run Thursday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. or Sundays from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on various dates until Sunday, Sept. 15. Seats are $42 plus tax and must be booked in advance. Private bookings are also available for a minimum of 15 people. Tours leave from the Travel Manitoba Information Centre at The Forks. Visit heartlandtravel.ca for more information.

— Eva Wasney

Artist brings tattoo-inspired imagery to life in surreal new exhibit

Fans of the fantastical are in for a dreamy delight at Ashley Perrier’s upcoming exhibit Phantasmagoria, opening at the Cre8ery Gallery and Studio on Thursday, July 18.

Perrier has created a body of work focusing on dreamlike and surreal imagery inspired by childhood storybook illustrations and visuals commonly found in tattoos. Her work ranges from highly colourful paintings utilizing fluorescent tones to monochromatic drawings with metallic accents.

A graduate of the University of Manitoba with a bachelor of fine art with honours and a tattoo artist since 2010, Perrier’s work combines the skills and knowledge obtained in art school, influences from the art world, and the technical structure and imagery of the tattoo world.

Phantasmagoria runs at the cre8ery gallery and studio at 125 Adelaide St. from Thursday, July 18, to Tuesday, July 30. Hours are 12-6 p.m. Tuesday to Friday and 12-5 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free. An opening reception is being held Thursday, July 18, from 7 to 10 p.m.

— Frances Koncan

 

Star Wars at the Park Theatre

A long time ago in a galaxy not so far away, three movies changed cinema as we know it forever. And this weekend, they’re back where they belong — on the big screen.

The original trio of Star Wars films — 1977’s A New Hope, 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back and 1983’s Return of the Jedi — introduced the world to some of the world’s most beloved intergalactic heroes and villains. Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Princess Leia, Yoda, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Darth Vader, Chewbacca and the gang — including the lovable droids R2-D2 and C-3PO, as well as those cute little Ewoks — have become ingrained in popular culture like no other big-screen characters.

On Saturday, July 20, the Park Theatre (698 Osborne St.) will screen all three of the original Star Wars films starting at 4 p.m. In addition to lining George Lucas’s pockets with plenty of cash, the three films spawned numerous sequels/prequels/spinoffs (there are now 10 Star Wars films — the 11th, The Rise of Skywalker, lands in theatres this winter), a handful of TV series, countless action figures and other toys, video games and, most recently, the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge theme park at Disneyland.

Admission for each of the three Star Wars films is $5, or block off your day/night and catch all three for $10 — grab your tickets at wfp.to/starwarstix. Doors open at 3:30 p.m.; A New Hope screens at 4 p.m., The Empire Strikes Back gets underway at 7 p.m. and Return of the Jedi is on at 10 p.m.

— Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson

 

Backstreet’s back at Bell MTS Place

Back in January, the Backstreet Boys released their newest full-length album, DNA, and now they are following that up with their biggest arena tour in nearly two decades.

The DNA World Tour takes them to more than 60 cities, including Winnipeg, where they play Bell MTS Place on Monday, July 22.

Prior to the new album and the tour, the Backstreet Boys held a residency in Las Vegas at Zappos Theater for more than two years, ending right before the five-piece started the DNA tour, though band member AJ McLean has stated the plan is to go back to Vegas once the tour is complete.

The Backstreet Boys have been part of the collective consciousness since the release of their 1996 debut album, Backstreet Boys. The crew of Florida singers quickly catapulted into international stardom, and in the more than 20 years since that first album, they have become the bestselling boy band of all time and one of the world’s bestselling music artists, with each of their first 10 albums reaching the Top 10 on the Billboard 200 and DNA debuting at No. 1.

Tickets range in price from $144-$385 at Ticketmaster; country-pop singer Baylee Littrell, son of Backstreet Boy Brian Littrell, will open the show.

— Erin Lebar

 

Send in the clown-educators

“Isn’t it rich? Isn’t it queer?”

The lyrics to Stephen Sondheim’s tune Send in the Clowns might have been written specifically for the fringe show Is That How Clowns Have Sex? at Venue 11 (Centennial Concert Hall Rehearsal Studio). Advertised as “A One-Woman Queer, Clown Sex-Ed Show,” the piece is written and performed by Montreal-based artist Fiona Clark, a real-life sex educator who assumes the clown identity of Ms. Bea Haven for the hour-long educational comedy.

Clark was first an educator who taught sex ed in community organizations in Montreal. She also worked — on the technical end — in local theatre until she had an aha! moment — or perhaps a ha-ha moment — when she attended a clown show.

“I thought, ‘This is it!’” she recalls. “This is what I want to do!”

The show allowed Clark to combine her vocations and her passions, and has generally enjoyed success in past fringe shows around the country, although the Winnipeg fringe has eluded her until now.

The play was originally geared to queer audiences, but Clark discovered she was getting enthusiastic response from straight audiences as well, and she doesn’t want to set limitations on her prospective fans, especially since performances apparently pay off in the coin of the clown realm: laughs.

“One critic wrote that people laugh so hard, they don’t realize it’s educational,” she says.

Is That How Clowns Have Sex? runs to Sunday, July 28.

— Randall King