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Arts & Life

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Jazz-folk act Chickadee is at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain on Tuesday.
Supplied Jazz-folk act Chickadee is at the Centre Culturel Franco-Manitobain on Tuesday.

What’s up

5 minute read Preview

What’s up

5 minute read Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026

Lights On the Exchange

Exchange District, various locations

On now

Lights On the Exchange is brightening up winter for the fourth year.

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Thursday, Jan. 22, 2026

Kristen Sawatzky photo

What started out as a duet turned into the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir, which currently has 10 members.
Kristen Sawatzky photo What started out as a duet turned into the Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir, which currently has 10 members.

Fu Fu Chi Chis bring decade of harmony to first full album

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Preview

Fu Fu Chi Chis bring decade of harmony to first full album

Ben Waldman 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

Most choirs sing about God, grace and gratitude: outfitted in century-old house dresses, Winnipeg’s Fu Fu Chi Chi Choir sings heartfelt odes to drunk dials, diss tracks to booty calls and romantic murder ballads with maggot-coated codas.

Formed in 2015 by Michelle Boulet and Sarah Constible — best known for their work in local theatre with Shakespeare in the Ruins — the choir started because Boulet couldn’t stand working alone. For two years at the Gas Station Arts Centre’s Girls Girls Girls fundraiser, the pair performed as a duet.

“It was kind of theatrical and a bit humiliating,” says the pink-haired Boulet with a laugh. “Then, in the third year, we decided to share the humiliation. We invited 13 women to get up and sing a spiritual about friends who backstab each other, and it went over gangbusters.

“So then we went, ‘That’s the key. More is better. More women is better.’”

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2:00 AM CDT

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A Canada Goose cools off in a water pond Monday afternoon at Brookside Cemetary- See Bryksa’s Goose a day Challenge– Day 27-June 25, 2012 (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
JJOE.BRYKSA@FREEPRESS.MB.CA Local-Postcard Day-Horror frost and fog created a most beautiful setting at Assiniboine Park Thursday morning in WInnipeg- Enviroent Canada says the fog will lifet this morning and will see a high of -7C- JOE BRYKSA/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS- Feb 18, 2010
MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS 060711 Chris Pedersen breeds Monarch butterflies in his back yard in East Selkirk watching as it transforms from the Larva or caterpillar through the Chrysalis stage to an adult Monarch. Here an adult Monarch within an hour of it emerging from the Chrysalis which can be seen underneath it.
A group of Horese pose for the camera in the early evening light at Southcreek Stables in Stl Norbert Wednessday. Sept 14, 2011 (RUTH BONNEVILLE) / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
A female Mallard duck leads a group of duckings on a morning swim through the reflections in the Assiniboine River at The Forks Monday. (WAYNE GLOWACKI/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS) Winnipeg Free Press June 18 2012
Carolyn Kavanagh(10) had this large dragonfly land on her while spending time at Winnetka Lake, Ontario. photo by Andrea Kavanagh (mom0 show us your summer winnipeg free press
Geese fly in the morning light over Selkirk Ave Wednesday morning- Day 22– June 13, 2012 (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
Two Canada geese fly Wednesday afternoon at Oak Hammock Marsh- Front bird is banded for identification- Goose Challenge Day 3- - Apr 30, 2012 (JOE BRYKSA / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS)
MIKE.DEAL@FREEPRESS.MB.CA 100615 - Tuesday, June 15th, 2010 The Mane Attraction - Lions are back at the Assiniboine Park Zoo. Xerxes a 3-year-old male African Lion rests in the shade of a tree in his new enclosure at the old Giant Panda building. MIKE DEAL / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS

Jonathan Olley/Amazon MGM Studios via AP

Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) heads to space as part of a last-ditch attempt to save humanity in Project Hail Mary.
Jonathan Olley/Amazon MGM Studios via AP Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) heads to space as part of a last-ditch attempt to save humanity in Project Hail Mary.

Space odyssey’s optimism, humour and stellar star turn Hail Mary into sure thing

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read Preview

Space odyssey’s optimism, humour and stellar star turn Hail Mary into sure thing

Alison Gillmor 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

A family-friendly crowd-pleaser that combines flashes of the sci-fi sublime with bursts of slapstick comedy, this space odyssey is goofy, peppy and — more than anything — hopeful.

Based on Andy Weir’s 2021 hard science-fiction novel, Project Hail Mary is powered by a passionate belief in pragmatism, ingenuity and science. There’s a sunny confidence here that people can figure things out, work together and act for the common good.

And sure, that might be wildly optimistic, but it’s a wild optimism a lot of us need right now.

Ryland Grace — an (inter)stellar performance from Barbie’s Ryan Gosling — is a molecular biologist whose academic career was scuttled by a stubbornly unorthodox position on alien life. Now he’s an underpaid but inspiring middle school science teacher in California.

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2:00 AM CDT

You’re definitely not in marriage country here

Maureen Scurfield 5 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: I’m a university student studying agriculture. I will inherit my parents’ grain farm someday and I couldn’t be happier about it. But I told my latest girlfriend about this, and she said she wouldn’t want to live outside the city on a farm. I told her it wasn’t a proposal, I was just stating a fact. And that turned out to be the end of us.

Was this the wrong thing to say to a girl you’re just starting to date, or is she just over-sensitive? She’s only 19, so she can’t be thinking about marriage at this point, can she?

— Farmer’s Son, Pembina Valley

Dear Farmer’s Son: People may not be in the market for immediate marriage, but it can be in the back of their minds. For instance, when people start dating, they often make little comments and ask questions about a new person’s lifestyle. Sometimes it’s just a casual fishing expedition, to see if the person would even be considered a “contender.”

Andrew Park / Invision Files

Do the Right Thing director Spike Lee turns 69 today.
Andrew Park / Invision Files Do the Right Thing director Spike Lee turns 69 today.

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: Caution. Avoid shopping (except for food and gas) after 4 a.m. After that, the moon moves from Aries into Taurus.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

The sun enters your sign to stay for the next four weeks. That means the sun, the moon, Venus, Saturn and Neptune are all in Aries. You’ve got the bases covered. Go after what you want. You don’t have to demand the advantage — you have it.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

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2:00 AM CDT

Charles Sykes / Invision Files

Moonlighting star Bruce Willis turns 71 today.
Charles Sykes / Invision Files Moonlighting star Bruce Willis turns 71 today.

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Preview

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions. The moon is in Aries.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

It’s OK to second guess yourself because you might be genuinely confused or discouraged. Whatever the case, this is temporary. You might feel disappointed. You might feel overwhelmed by domestic problems. Yet ironically, you have the energy to make improvements. Go figure.

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

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Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Amy Stuart / Picture Perfect Takes

Playwright Amber O’Reilly brings her sharp eye to family dynamics in Soutensions.
Amy Stuart / Picture Perfect Takes Playwright Amber O’Reilly brings her sharp eye to family dynamics in Soutensions.

Domestic comedy explores familial expectations

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Preview

Domestic comedy explores familial expectations

Ben Waldman 4 minute read Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

It’s a cliché to call a piece of creative work “my baby,” but for Amber O’Reilly, writing a script, shaping a lyric or giving voice to a poem is the only kind of parenthood she’s ever been chasing.

The 32-year-old O’Reilly has known since the final years of high school that mothering wasn’t of interest to her, at least not in the literal sense.

“As a creative person, I think there are other things I will leave behind in the world after I pass on, for whatever I know,” says the writer, raised in a francophone home in Yellowknife, N.W.T.

“I’m more focused on caring for my parents and other older family members. Rather than bringing new life into the world, that’s where I’d like to contribute. I don’t necessarily need to become a mother to have the role of a caregiver or a caring person.”

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Yesterday at 2:00 AM CDT

Arts Editor's Picks

Stepping up for the planet

Stepping up for the planet

Free Press reviewers' top-rated picks for the 2019 theatre festival

Fringe storyteller Jem Rolls puts up posters for his show, The Walk in the Snow, at the Tom Hendry Warehouse Theatre in the Exchange District in Winnipeg. (Mikaela MacKenzie / Winnipeg Free Press)

Streaming services offer up seasonal episodes aplenty to get your holiday fix

Glad TV tidings

Christmas playlist has highs and Lows

MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS JP Hoe poes for a portrait in his studio before his 10th annual JP Hoe Hoe Hoe holiday show, which has grown massively over the years, in Winnipeg on Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2018. Winnipeg Free Press 2018.

CBC’s ‘The Porter,’ Nathan Fielder’s ‘The Rehearsal’ nab Spirit Awards nominations

Actors Ronnie Rowe (left), Jr. as Zeke and Aml Ameen (second right) as Junior and other cast members are shown in a scene from

Homemade holidays: 12 days of vintage sweets

This marshmallowy fudge recipe from 1956 is nice to look at, but a mess to make. (Photo by Eva Wasney)

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Apple TV From left: Elisabeth Moss, Kerry Washington and Kate Mara play best friends in Imperfect Women, premièring Wednesday.

You just can’t keep a good plotline down

Denise Duguay 4 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

Esteemed Irish playwright Samuel Beckett could likely have written some excellent absurdist sitcoms if he had been born a little later (though no quibbles with his stellar oeuvre, including Waiting for Godot, which will be onstage at Royal Manitoba Theatre Centre next spring). But especially on point for this edition of viewing recommendations, consider his most famous quote: “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” This is the dogged spirit that propels the characters in these streaming options beyond death, war and career failure. Enjoy.

● Imperfect Women (series premières with the first two of eight episodes Wednesday, March 18, on Apple TV)

If indeed “friendships are built on secrets,” as the trailer for this mystery intones, some hard stares will be on the menu at the next brunch. Onscreen here, Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid’s Tale) and Kerry Washington (Scandal) star and produce, joined by a solid supporting cast including Kate Mara (The Astronaut), Joel Kinnaman (The Killing), Corey Stoll (House of Cards) and Leslie Odom Jr. (Hamilton). The basic story — a crime shatters lives and assumptions in the decades-long friendship of three women — sounds very similar to that of the newish How to Get to Heaven From Belfast (Netflix). The latter is darkly hilarious, with some good twisty developments, whereas the new series sounds a little worryingly slick.

● Peaky Blinders: The Immortal Man (movie sequel to the series premières Friday, March 20, on Netflix)

Freepik

Endometriosis causes debilitating pain and can negatively affect fertility.
Freepik Endometriosis causes debilitating pain and can negatively affect fertility.

Endometriosis painful, lack of research shameful

Jen Zoratti 7 minute read Preview

Endometriosis painful, lack of research shameful

Jen Zoratti 7 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

In late 2023, I spent a few weeks in the dark days of winter talking to women about their experiences with endometriosis for a reported feature. I listened as they told me about the labyrinthian, sometimes decades-long quest to get a diagnosis. They told me about being gaslit and dismissed by doctors. One told me about having to get surgery abroad and pay for it out of pocket.

I listened as they raged and cried.

Through my reporting, I learned the cruel facts of this disease.

That endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease in which tissue that looks and behaves similarly to the lining of the uterus grows outside the uterus.

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Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

Extricate selves from friends’ withering wedlock

Maureen Scurfield 5 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

DEAR MISS LONELYHEARTS: My closest girlfriend is getting ready to leave her husband, and he doesn’t know it.

My husband is also friends with her hubby, and I feel guilty as sin keeping the secret.

I broke down and told my husband about it this week — and now he feels uncomfortable keeping the secret from the husband.

I wish my friend would just leave her husband already and get it over with, but it’s dragging on and on!

Today’s horoscope

Georgia Nicols 4 minute read Tuesday, Mar. 17, 2026

MOON ALERT: There are no restrictions to shopping or important decisions today. The moon is in Pisces.

ARIES (March 21-April 19)

Things are going your way which gives you a warm feeling in your tummy. In fact, you might be privately pleased about something very few others — if any — know about. Meanwhile, this is an excellent day to buy wardrobe treasures for yourself. You might score a winning purchase!

TAURUS (April 20-May 20)

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