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Arts & Life

JOHN WOODS / FREE PRESS From left: Katie-Rose Connors, Bella Ciccone and Paulina Pino Rubio star in Cabaret of Murder.

Artistic side of murderers examined in fringe show Cabaret of Murder

Randall King 4 minute read 6:00 AM CDT

One show at this year’s Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival has a perverse premise, even in the context of the event’s established baseline of “out there” offerings.

Take a sampling of some of the most vile murderers of the last 100 years, give or take.

Now: reveal their attempts to be creative.

That’s the crux of Cabaret of Murder, a dark, dark comedy/musical at Venue 4 (Centre culturel franco-manitobain) running through Sunday.

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You go, gill: Check out some more fringe fest reviews

Free Press review team 10 minute read Preview

You go, gill: Check out some more fringe fest reviews

Free Press review team 10 minute read Yesterday at 4:27 PM CDT

CAUSING A COMMOTION

Momentum Aerial & Acrobatic TroupeMTYP Mainstage (Venue 21), to Saturday

Directed by Monica Goermann, this lively show combines aerial circus arts, theatre and acrobatics to keep you on the edge of your seat. The young Winnipeg performers are talented, executing incredible and professional stunts; the graceful aerial silk artists, in particular, are mesmerizing. The storyline, though a great idea, has some shaky moments, but the overall performance — which was billed at 60 minutes, but ran about 45 — is sweet and fun. The show also features cute dance numbers that add charm. Crowd participation is an absolute treat for the kids, making it family-friendly, and the message behind the story is meaningful. Despite some initial storyline issues, the skilled performers and the captivating stunts make it worth checking out, especially for the little ones. With a bit of fine-tuning, it could be even better.

🐟🐟🐟 ½

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Yesterday at 4:27 PM CDT
You go, gill: Check out some more fringe fest reviews

The tide of Fringe Fest reviews is not going down

Free Press review team 9 minute read Preview

The tide of Fringe Fest reviews is not going down

Free Press review team 9 minute read Yesterday at 3:52 PM CDT

THE GET LAID SHOW

The Other V Name ProductionsDuke of Kent Legion (Venue 13), to Sunday

Going by “V,” fringe vet Veronica Ternopolski shoots for a wild, raucous fringe experience in the intimate – some might say cramped – confines of the Duke of Kent Legion. V invites consenting adults to play games designed to open you up to relationships with new people. She employs a whiteboard spelling out the tenets of responsible mating: Participation, Risk, Vulnerability, Honesty.

If you go in knowing she’ll be polling patrons on their sexual histories, the bold extrovert may be happy to oblige. (All others beware.) Indeed, she takes up much of the show sharing her own sexual history, told through the device of an egg collection with each ovum representing a past lover, the best part of the evening.

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Yesterday at 3:52 PM CDT
The tide of Fringe Fest reviews is not going down

Fringe fest reviews keep swimming along

Free Press review team 9 minute read Preview

Fringe fest reviews keep swimming along

Free Press review team 9 minute read Yesterday at 2:21 PM CDT

THE BIG BIG IMPROV SHOW

Leap Before You LookAsper Centre for Theatre & Film (Venue 10), to Sunday

Why sit through one three-hour movie, when you can experience four never-to-be-seen-again flicks in an hour flat?

A revamp of the long-running Big Stupid Improv Show, this production from Stephen Sim features a rotating cast of well-known Winnipeg improvisers working with and competing against one another to create a compelling made-up narrative.

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Yesterday at 2:21 PM CDT
Fringe fest reviews keep swimming along

Feeling fintastic with latest fringe fest reviews

Free Press review team 9 minute read Preview

Feeling fintastic with latest fringe fest reviews

Free Press review team 9 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 4:33 PM CDT

ACK NOW

Theatre & PlayThéâtre Cercle Molière (Venue 3), to Sunday , July 28

Do you struggle with making your own decisions? Do you freeze up when the waiter arrives at your table? Do you ever wish a tech company could just make the choice for you? In Ack Now, Kim (Kim Kay) rolls the dice and signs up for a newfangled app that boasts anticipatory cerebral knowledge, a product sold by a pink-haired pitchperson (Alex Mutcheson) from Ignatius Industries. Once Kim clicks download, the app provides a friendly avatar (Zanifa Rasool), and soon, both versions of Kim are ghosts in the shell.

A comedy that zaps the common trappings of Fantastic Voyage to the brave new world of AI, this show would be vastly improved if it relied less on pop-culture references and allowed itself to lean more in the direction of techie children’s programming (Cyberchase). One kid in the audience clearly loved it, repeating the lines with glee.

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Updated: Yesterday at 4:33 PM CDT
Feeling fintastic with latest fringe fest reviews

Hollywood reacts to Joe Biden exiting the presidential race

The Associated Press 3 minute read Preview

Hollywood reacts to Joe Biden exiting the presidential race

The Associated Press 3 minute read Updated: 9:14 AM CDT

Hollywood was quick to react to the news that President Joe Biden was ending his bid for reelection and endorsing Vice President Kamala Harris.

Barbra Streisand, a Democratic supporter, wrote Sunday on X that “we should be grateful for his upholding of our democracy.” While many paid tribute to Biden’s presidency, others wondered about the future.

Cher wrote on X that she thought Biden dropping out was the best chance for Democrats to win. She had written in a post she said was made before she saw Sunday's Biden news that she was “tortured” because she didn't believe the Democrats could win with Biden. She said it was time to think “way outside the box” and proposed a split ticket.

In recent weeks, several high-profile Hollywood names had begun calling for Biden to exit the race. Just weeks after headlining a record-breaking fundraiser for the president's reelection campaign, George Clooney wrote a New York Times opinion piece calling for Biden to end his bid.

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Updated: 9:14 AM CDT

FILE - George Clooney, a cast member in "Ticket to Paradise," poses at the premiere of the film, Monday, Oct. 17, 2022, at the Regency Village Theatre in Los Angeles. Just weeks after headlining a record-breaking fundraiser for the president's reelection campaign, Clooney wrote a New York Times opinion piece calling for Biden to end his bid. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, File)
FILE - George Clooney, a cast member in

These are better than catch and release: Check out some more fringe fest reviews

Free Press review team 4 minute read Preview

These are better than catch and release: Check out some more fringe fest reviews

Free Press review team 4 minute read Yesterday at 5:27 PM CDT

AWOL

RibbitRePublic Theatre

King’s Head Pub (Venue 14), to Sunday

🐟🐟🐟 ½

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Yesterday at 5:27 PM CDT
These are better than catch and release: Check out some more fringe fest reviews

Arts Editor's Picks

Ben Waldman:

Visiting performers talk about what makes Winnipeg’s fringe special

Ingrid Hansen

Winnipeg Free Press:

Winnipeg Fringe Festival: 2024 show reviews

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Marianne Morash looks at show listings at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival.

Alison Gillmor:

Twister sequel a fun homage that fails to spin a new yarn

UNIVERSAL PICTURES Leads Glen Powell, left, and Daisy Edgar-Jones enter a whirlwind romance in Twisters.

Winnipeg Free Press:

Fringe fest news and reviews

JESSICA LEE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A pedestrian reads posters for the Fringe Festival July 19, 2023 in the Exchange District.

AV Kitching and Ben Sigurdson and Thandi Vera and Benjamin Waldman and Eva Wasney and Jen Zoratti:

What’s up: Alan Jackson Experience, Manitoba Night Market, Super-Spike, Garden and Art Tour, Monarch Butterfly Festival

Supplied Super-Spike offers volleyball action at the net and music onstage by Down with Webster and more Friday and Saturday at Maple Grove Rugby Park.

Zoe Pierce:

Future bright for Manitoba track and field athletes

NIC ADAM / FREE PRESS University of Manitoba track team members Madisson Lawrence (left) is a national champion in the heptathlon and Daxx Turner earned silver in the triple jump at the 2024 Bell Trials for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Diversions

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More Arts & Life

Puzzles Palace is home to your favourite word games and brain teasers. Enjoy seven Sudokus, five crosswords (including the Thomas Joseph and Premier) as well as two new puzzles: Word Sleuth and Plus One.

Puzzles Palace is home to your favourite word games and brain teasers. Enjoy seven Sudokus, five crosswords (including the Thomas Joseph and Premier) as well as two new puzzles: Word Sleuth and Plus One.
Ingrid Hansen

On the town

Visiting performers talk about what makes Winnipeg’s fringe special

Ben Waldman 9 minute read Friday, Jul. 19, 2024
MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS Lorraine and David Pfeffer are the married couple behind West End Pierogies on Cavalier Drive.

Pinch by pinch

Perogy makers take pride in ‘baba-approved’ accolades for their handmade products

David Sanderson 7 minute read Saturday, Jul. 20, 2024

On a summer Sunday, Biden withdrew with a text statement. News outlets struggled for visuals

David Bauder, The Associated Press 4 minute read Preview

On a summer Sunday, Biden withdrew with a text statement. News outlets struggled for visuals

David Bauder, The Associated Press 4 minute read Updated: Yesterday at 7:27 PM CDT

In an intensely visual news world, a seismic week of politics was transformed again in an instant on Sunday by something almost old-fashioned: a printed statement.

President Joe Biden's announcement that he would not run for a second term was dropped into his social media feed at 1:46 p.m. Eastern, followed 33 minutes later by an endorsement of his vice president, Kamala Harris. Still recovering from COVID, the president did not appear on camera. Which meant, for news outlets, scant to no visuals.

There was also virtually no warning, leading to initial concerns that the president's X feed had been hacked. The Associated Press filed a “flash” alert at 1:54 p.m. Eastern. Television networks broke into programming between 1:50 (Fox News Channel) and 2:04 p.m. (ABC).

It was, the Associated Press wrote, “a late-season campaign thunderstrike unlike any in American history.” CBS News analyst Ashley Etienne called it “an incredible day in American history.”

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Updated: Yesterday at 7:27 PM CDT

A news crawl appears on the side of the Fox News building in New York, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in the wake of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)
A news crawl appears on the side of the Fox News building in New York, Sunday, July 21, 2024, in the wake of President Joe Biden dropping out of the 2024 race for the White House. (AP Photo/Craig Ruttle)

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