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This article was published 14/11/2019 (2178 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

 

Great Russian Nutcracker comes to the Burt

If you’re not in the holiday spirit yet, a trip to the Burton Cummings Theatre on Wednesday, Nov. 20, should do the trick. The travelling Moscow Ballet company brings the classic Christmas story of the Great Russian Nutcracker to Winnipeg.

The show is on its 27th annual tour and will be visiting more than 140 cities in North America during the holiday season. At each stop, young local dancers are invited to audition to join the professional cast onstage. Dancers from Winnipeg’s L.A. Dance Academy will be performing as party children, mice, snowflakes and snow maidens.

The Great Russian Nutcracker tells the story of Masha and a magical nutcracker doll that comes to life to defend her from a rat king. The Moscow Ballet show is set to Tchaikovsky’s classic score and the dancers perform in vibrant costumes. The set includes three-metre-tall puppets and intricate backdrops of a Russian skyline.

The performance is two hours long with a 20-minute intermission. Tickets start at $49.25 plus fees at Ticketmaster.

— Eva Wasney

 

Benefit concert features live local music and art

A night of music and art with proceeds going toward a great cause is being organized by the Joyful Project, a Winnipeg company that sells fair trade clothing. All you need is $10… and a pair of socks.

“The idea behind Concerts for Socks is to encourage practical support and awareness for homelessness through song, story and art,” event organizer Andrew Benson says. “All proceeds from ticket sales and donations received will be given to local organization 1JustCity.”

1JustCity provides support to three drop-in community centres in Winnipeg’s core that serve people living with addictions, experiencing homelessness or otherwise facing challenges and barriers because of race, income or sexual orientation. Services the organization provides include meals, haircuts, showers, laundry, toiletries and more.

This is the fifth year of the event and the lineup of Winnipeg musicians includes Attica Riots, Efflo and viisi featuring Ellowex, in addition to an art exhibition and sale created and hosted by people who have lived experience with homelessness.

Concert for Socks takes place Friday, Nov. 15, at the West End Cultural Centre. Tickets are $10 and available online at eventbrite.ca or are $20 at the door. Doors open at 7 p.m. and the show starts at 8 p.m.

— Frances Koncan

 

City and Colour back at Bell MTS Place

Hot on the heels of the release of his sixth full-length record as City and Colour, A Pill for Loneliness, Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green and his band have embarked on a cross-country tour that brings them to Bell MTS Place on Saturday, Nov. 16.

The new album, which was released at the beginning of October, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Canadian Albums chart, making it the fourth consecutive chart-topping release for City and Colour in Canada.

Lyrically, the record explores typical themes for Green — human connection or lack thereof, love and unrest, but this time he has paired these with a more shoegazey, rock-forward sound.

“I wrote a lot of dark songs and wrapped them in the most beautiful sounds we could find,” Green said in a news release about the album. “There are personal connotations, but they’re also relatable. I’m thankful for the opportunity to create.”

Tickets range in price from $42.75 to $166 and are available at Ticketmaster. B.C. singer-songwriter Ben Rogers and Nigerian-born but Alabama-based singer Jacob Banks will open the show.

— Erin Lebar

 

Daniel Caesar returns to Winnipeg stage

When Toronto R&B singer Daniel Caesar first visited Winnipeg in 2018 for the jazz festival, he was a star on the rise. The performer, born Ashton Simmonds, had won two Junos and had been nominated for two Grammys in the wake of his 2017 album Freudian, which was also longlisted for the Polaris Prize.

Since then, the Oshawa, Ont.-born Caesar has won the best R&B performance Grammy for his song Best Part (the track, a duet with H.E.R., has been streamed 500 million times and become a staple wedding song) and has graduated from two nights at the Burton Cummings Theatre to an arena show.

He brings his Case Study 01 Tour to Bell MTS Place on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 8 p.m. in support of his June sophomore album, which features contributions from Pharrell and John Mayer, as well as a duet with Brandy. Tickets range from $40 to $53 at Ticketmaster. Toronto indie-pop artists MorMor will open the show.

— Jill Wilson

 

Hunks recording sketch comedy album at Wee Johnny’s

After five years of performances both around town and beyond, Winnipeg comedy troupe Hunks is going on the record, in a matter of speaking.

The sketch-comedy quartet — featuring Rory Fallis, Dana Smith, Matt Nightingale and Tim Gray — is a longtime favourite of Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival-goers, and has brought its show to all manner of stages in the city, as well as events such as the Toronto Sketch Comedy Festival, SF Sketchfest in San Francisco, the Chicago Sketch Comedy Festival and more. The troupe has performed with all manner of entertainers, including Bruce McCulloch of the Kids in the Hall fame. The group has also created 100 episodes of the Hunks Podcast, which features a wide range of hilarious guests and stories.

Fresh off a busy fall, which has seen the group take the stage several times in Winnipeg over the past month, Hunks will hole up at Wee Johnny’s Irish Pub (177 McDermot Ave.) on Saturday, Nov. 16, for the recording of their first sketch comedy album. City funny-makers Jordan Welwood and Ashley Burdett will open the show, which sees doors open at 8 p.m. and the laughs getting underway at 9 p.m.

Tickets for the Nov. 16 Hunks album-recording event are $10 plus fees, and are available in advance at wfp.to/hunksalbum.

— Ben MacPhee-Sigurdson