Winnipeg Free Press

Winnipeg Free Press (Newspaper) - January 15, 2025, Winnipeg, Manitoba C2 ● WINNIPEGFREEPRESS.COMWEDNESDAY, JANUARY 15, 2025 MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESS FILES Kate Fenske, CEO of the Downtown Winnipeg BIZ, is aiming for grace and self-compassion. Practise self-compassion “MY intention is to give myself grace when the outcome is be- yond my control and feel content and calm knowing that I’m doing my best. I think there’s a sense of peace that comes with giving ourselves permission to not carry the weight of everything happening around us. We’ve been working so hard for so long to create positive change in the community, and at some point we have to tune out the noise and focus on what we know is right and just keep moving forward.” — Kate Fenske, CEO, Downtown Winnipeg BIZ av.kitching@freepress.mb.ca INTENTIONS ● FROM C1 But his experiences in the perform- ing arts go back to his childhood in Lagos. “My mom was actually the one who taught me how to sing. I was in a lot of musical theatre, like The Sound of Music to Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” he says. Omolayo moved to Canada in 2015 to study at the University of Manitoba (graduating with a degree in global po- litical economy), and decided to pursue music professionally around the time of the pandemic. Afrobeats is now an international sound, inflected by the regional styles and experiences of Nigerians and Africans across the globe. But finding like-minded musicians in this little city on the Prairies was tough for Omolayo at first. “In the past three years, I would say a growing community has emerged,” he says. “People have been doing it before that time, but I think the influx of international students also coming to the province to study (has helped). I’m actually excited for where it’s going.” Omolayo is taking an active role in developing that community, not just as an artist but as organizer. Since May, he’s worked as the co-ordinator of Manitoba’s Black Professionals in Music program, taking over the role from founder Andrew Sannie after he moved to Toronto. While Omolayo also hears the siren song of Toronto, for now he’s strongly invested in Winnipeg. “I genuinely feel like Winnipeg itself will become a strong contender in the Canadian music scene, and I’m not even talking like a decade from now, but probably like in the next three to four years,” he says. Omolayo is collaborating with many of these local talents on his next al- bum, Afromdiem — arc 1, which is set to be released in the spring. In the meantime, he’s looking forward to performing at Music ‘N’ Mavens — delivering what he expects will be the first afrobeats concert in a series that leans towards jazz, folk and classical. “I’m excited to see how that goes and to also take in their feedback and the reception,” he says. “It definitely will be an interesting mixture.” conrad.sweatman@freepress.mb.ca TOMIWA OMOLAYO ● FROM C1 SUPPLIED Tomiwa Omolayo FESTIVAL DU VOYAGEUR LINEUP ANNOUNCED CORB Lund, the Barr Brothers, Leif Vollebekk, Jill Barber, Roman Clarke, Ami Cheon and Al Simmons are among the musicians taking the stage at the 2025 edition of Festival du Voyageur, which runs Feb. 14 to 23 at Whittier Park. There will be a few new attractions at this year’s fest, including L’shed à Léo, an exhibition of objects and photos that mascot Léo la Tuque keeps in his shed from festivals of yesteryear. Visitors will also find an interactive self-guided activity tours of Fort Gibraltar, a new outdoor lounge, a beverage shack, infor- mation panels about maple syrup production and an ice sculpting workshop. Also new this year: the option to purchase weekend passes. And, for the first time since 2023, snow sculptures will once again be part of the city- scape in the weeks leading up to the festival. Last year’s event looked a little different owing to unseasonably warm temperatures and little snow on the ground. The full entertainment lineup and ticket information is available at heho.ca. HASTY PUDDING NAMES JON HAMM ITS 2025 MAN AWARD-WINNING actor Jon Hamm, best known for his roles on Mad Men and, more recently, on Fargo and Landman, has been named 2025 Man of the Year by Harvard University’s Hasty Pudding Theatricals. The theatre group announced Tuesday that Hamm will receive his Pudding Pot award at a celebratory roast Jan. 31. Afterwards, Hamm will attend a performance of Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ 176th production, 101 Damnations. Hasty Pudding Theatricals, which dates to 1844 and calls itself the third-oldest theatre group in existence, gives out the awards to people who have made lasting and impressive contributions to the world of entertainment. JEFF BECK’S GUITARS HITTING AUCTION BLOCK IN LONDON SOME of the most iconic guitars in rock history are going on display in London before they go under the hammer at auction. Auctioneer Christie’s held a preview on Tuesday for the collection of Jeff Beck, who died in January 2023. Starting Wednesday, the public can view 90 guitars from the collection until they are sold on Jan. 22. Beck was renowned for his unique sound and improvisational skill and was twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. The collection is valued at more than 1 million pounds (US$1.75 million) and includes an oxblood 1954 Gibson Les Paul that Beck bought in Memphis in 1972 and played for the rest of the decade. MAUD LEWIS POSTCARDS STOLEN FROM HALIFAX HOME HALIFAX police are investigating the theft of three Christmas-themed postcards believed to have been painted by Nova Scotia folk artist Maud Lewis. Investigators say three framed cards painted by Lewis were taken from a residence on Cam- bridge Street in Halifax in November. One depicts pedestrians and a sleigh in winter near a passing train, another is of a sleigh and of people walking toward a church, and the third is of a sleigh moving away from a church near a hillside. Each piece is approximately seven inches by five inches, and the cards are matted and framed. Investigators say the owner informed them that each postcard was evaluated, found to be original work, and was estimated to be worth about $10,000. Lewis, who has been the subject of novels, plays and a feature film, died in 1970, leaving a legacy of folk art that depicts rural scenes of Nova Scotia. — staff / wire services BRIEFS ARTS ● LIFE I ENTERTAINMENT Six students, one mentor, 18 months to create original production about modern youth AWKWARD STAGE ONSTAGE E IGHTEEN months ago, “six kids and one old man” got together with a single goal in mind: to write and perform a full-scale produc- tion from scratch for the province’s oldest professional theatre company, Théâtre Cercle Molière. “We started with nothing. What came next was up to them,” says ed- ucator Philippe Habeck, the self-de- scribed old man in question who oversaw the development of Here and There! The possibilities were endlessly ex- citing — and a tad intimidating — for both Habeck and the six high school and university students who were brought together after participating in Cercle Molière’s annual Festival Théâtre Jeunesse two years ago. With one original script, what could they tell the world about how it felt to be young in 2025? Every two weeks, the troupe — Mikaël Beaudry, Andreas Detillieux, Madison Nelson, Lizzie Rochon, Jordan Showers and Amélie Tétrault — met with Habeck to consider the question, improvising scenes and discussing sources of inspiration from their lives. The result had plenty to do with the pressures of endless possibilities and the idea that every decision they made — no matter how trivial they seemed — would forever alter the course of their lives. In Here and There! (Un Peu Partout!), the teenage Isabelle (Rochon) leaves a party and waits outside for a taxi, where her evening’s contemplations veer into existential territory. Should she stay put, get married to her religious farmboy boyfriend (Detillieux) and become a doctor like her older sister, Monique (Nelson, a Grade 12 student)? Or should she listen to the quiet voice encouraging her to abandon her small-town mindset and see what exists beyond her youthful borders? Tick-tock, the meter is run- ning. “The play explores aspects of identi- ty and what it means to stand on your own versus pleasing the folks around you, considering how to live for your- self versus for those in your life. And it entails all of the scary ‘What-ifs’ that come from that,” says stage manager Sarah Lamoureux. Kate George’s set design helps tell that story through street signs: there are no U-turns, no exits, some confus- ing forks in the road, one emphatic warning to take a step back (Recule!!) and a traffic-light column simultane- ously blinking red, yellow and green, delivering a mixed message that could lead to collision and heartbreak. “Chaque chemin est un mauvais chemin,” one sign reads: each available path is a treacherous one. “Geneviève (Pelletier, Cercle Molière’s artistic director) really wanted a show by the kids, for the kids. Their shows are always wonderful to see, but they’re generally made for an adult crowd, so her idea was to bring a new generation to see some theatre and to share the ideas of kids who need to be heard and also want to be heard,” says Habeck. T HE show, say Lamoureux and Habeck, is non-linear and dream-like, with its characters entertaining even their least rational patterns of thinking as they move to- ward self-compassion and an ultimate understanding that life’s biggest ques- tions have more than one answer. After about 15 months of develop- ment, the troupe has spent the last six weeks in rehearsals, during which they’ve been paid hourly rates for their work, says Habeck. No cast members were available for interviews when the Free Press stopped by — first-week-of-school vibes — so Habeck and Lamoureux did their best conveying the ideas of the show. But when the curtain rises today for the production’s eight-show run, Habeck assures that the only voices the audience will hear are those of Rochon, Detillieux, Tétrault, Nelson, Beaudry and Showers. “It’s sometimes harsh and sometimes sweet and sometimes frustrated, but this is their message,” says Habeck. “It’s them talking. It’s not an adult who wrote every line for them. There was guidance, but this show is them — in their own words.” ben.waldman@winnipegfreepress.com BEN WALDMAN THEATRE PREVIEW HERE AND THERE! (UN PEU PARTOUT!) ● Théâtre Cercle Molière, 340 Provencher Blvd. ● Today to Jan. 25 ● 80 minutes, with intermission ● Tickets: free to $40 at cerclemoliere.com SARAH LAMONTAGNE / THÉÂTRE CERCLE MOLIÈRE The show is non-linear and dream-like. SARAH LAMONTAGNE / THÉÂTRE CERCLE MOLIÈRE Here and There! (Un peu partout!) creators and actors Jordan Showers (from left), Amélie Tétrault, Lizzie Rochon, Andreas Detillieux, Madison Nelson and Mikaël Beaudry rose to the challenge of creating an original script describing how it feels to be young in 2025. ;