Recap: Good Morning, From Here, December 07 – 13
Monday
The three of us stepped off the new bridge onto the Island into peace, quiet, and beautiful surroundings and walked a few steps to the commanding entrance of the recently restored Le Bistro.
We weren’t starving, just wanted something light to eat before our long walk to Arte Vallarta Theater at the top of Olas Altas. The menu is intriguing, with the French onion soup catching my eye. Patrice had ravioli, and Sharon the quesadillas. Portions were just what we wanted, and we all look forward to returning with more appetite.
We ambled up the busy streets, plunging into the Zona Romantica and the Gayborhood, making our way almost to the sea with a hard left up Olas Altas, past Daiquiri Dick’s, the (in)famous Andale, The Palm Cabaret, then the Swedes then up and up to the top of Pilitas, left again to Arte Vallarta which is a combination of an art school with all the tools necessary for every art form, a well-stocked artist’s supply store, a Mexican pottery museum, a gift shop, hotel and an adorable, tiny 50-seat theater.
I have been to a handful of productions over the years and love the space – it is warm and inviting. You really can reach out and touch somebody.
The thing with improv is nothing remains static, and you can only script things so far, and then all hell breaks loose with laughter. It has been a long time since I have laughed that hard. My cheeks were sore for days and a remembered off-hand remark would make me smile again and again.
These two Canadian gals – Diana Frances and Karen Parker, are master comedians and will be leading an Improv Workshop, 1 – 4 pm, Sunday, December 15, at Arte Vallarta Theater. If you are interested, send an email to: leaveittocleavage@gmail.com for more information and to reserve space in the class. There are only two more shows, Friday, the 13th, and Saturday, the 14th, at 8 pm.
The First Saturday at the Arte Vallarta Museo is always an indication of how busy the city is. They were lined up outside the door, waiting to refresh annual memberships and to buy food and drink. The house – courtyard – was full to overflowing, with lots of people seeing one another for the first time this season after a long, hot summer. It was impossible even to greet so many of the people in the crowd I could see and didn’t get to. These first Saturdays always fondly remind me of shopping at the Old Rizo’s Supermarket, where it could take an hour to buy bread with all the greetings, hugs, and squeals of delight in seeing people return for the winter. The Museo is far more civilized with chairs, wine, and tacos!
We left there buoyed and happy and walked all the way down to the end of Lazaro Cardenas to Charlie Huynh’s Let’s Pho for some fabulous Vietnamese food. The portions at Let’s Pho (pronounced Fa) are enormous, and we did our level best to finish before ordering their famous carrot cake, which took our four forks earnestly struggling to get through this masterpiece dessert. It is the best carrot cake in the world and is baked daily in-house. We all left with remnants of dinner to enjoy later.
Come back tomorrow and hear about Sunday Brunch at Hacienda San Angel and the Annual Garden Party for the Girl’s School; it has been a week! From Here.
Tuesday
Sunday brunch is a rarity, and I look forward to overindulging once or twice a year, perhaps in one or two food groups that present themselves in superabundances. Certain brunches specialize in specific food, music, ambiance and the one we chose, Hacienda San Angel, is close by, a magnificent old mansion designed by Freddie Romero in Gringo Gulch’s heydey with the quality of food, service, music, and ambiance equal to the breathtaking views. And they serve prime rib.
I grew up in Southern Alberta where we ate meat three meals a day. I have been a vegetarian for three years or so, but what a joy it is to sit down to a thick slab of juicy, tender, blood-rare, perfectly seasoned roasted beef. With a splash of au jus and horseradish – it was perfection on a lovely tropical morning with a strolling violinist playing Beethoven’s Ode to Joy from his Ninth Symphony, a chilled mimosa, and my sister with me.
It’s a delightful way to start the week.
Funnyman, realtor, and great pianist, Derek Carkner emceed the fundraiser Christmas party for the Vallarta Girl’s School outside at Los Mangos Library Sunday Night. The weather cooperated, and Vallarta’s singers turned out en masse to donate their talent, as they always do when the call goes out to help. Seth and Nick sang, then ran off to get ready to perform their last show this year at Act2PV. Mau sang and played guitar, his voice matured somewhat, prompting the great Kevin Anthony to pause mid-speech and say to me, “Whoa, Mau is in fine voice tonight!” And he was.
Stolie also played her guitar and sang, but she couldn’t wait to show off what the girls had learned from her volunteer teaching at the Girl’s School. Gloria Fiona, mere weeks away from debuting her Adele Tribute concert at the enormous Teatro Vallarta, also teaches at the school. Gloria says the girls have taught her more than she has taught them. The gorgeous Maru, Lady Gaga from the Palm and Coco Cabarets, arrived ready to step foot onstage, thrilled to be there to help champion the girls in their quests for a superior education. Which is all free, by the way, all of it – tuition, books, uniforms, and two meals a day are served to these kids who may otherwise not eat at all. This labor of love begun by Cecil and Francie endures only by our community. Francie Nguyen’s dismay at seeing very young Mexican girls, bringing their children to the Food Bank during Covid, pushed her and Cecil Kerfont to find solutions. And they did.
A fast trip out to the Botanical Garden garnered us a wonderful breakfast and a tour of the new, gigantic greenhouse! More about that in the morning and this breaking news: the marvelous Chris Jacobs, late of Pastitos de Luz, has joined Bob Price and Jesus Reyes’s team at the Vallarta Botanical Garden. I was so happy to see him there on his first day of work, From Here.
Wednesday
It’s going to be a busy one with Scrabble at 12:30 at Qulture and Bingo for the Purr Project at 4 pm at Nacho Daddy. There’ll just be time to go home, offload all the bingo prizes we won, then head south to Casa Karma for the 6:30 start of Toast of the Town, a fundraiser for Gholi’s Field of Dreams where, it seems, every performer in Vallarta will be to entertain.
So, the sprawling new greenhouses at the Botanical Garden currently house thousands and thousands of primarily orchids that are propagated in the lab, then carried up the hill where they will be nurtured, potted and repotted many times over the years until they bloom and grow up big and strong enough to go on display and/or for sale in the Gift Shop. Manuel was excited to show us how to pollinate an orchid – a tricky, time-consuming task. He also showed us a tiny orchid endemic to the Botanical Garden that was identified a mere two years ago! This glimpse behind the scenes made me love the Botanical Garden even more, with the intense infrastructure ensuring that these magnificent flowers, many on the edge of extinction, will survive and thrive. The greenhouses are not open to the public, and if you wander by them, remember, sssh! Babies are sleeping!
Lydia Damato hosted Open Mic with help from the Cleavage gals from Canada, who led off last night’s events with improv hilarity. Send healing vibes to Gouda Gabor, who was feeling unwell enough to stay home in bed; we missed you, Gouda!
The small crowd upstairs at Nacho Daddy was treated to some exquisite stylings by Nick Rogers, original music from Aldo, clever, tongue-twisting Spanish lyrics from Enoch, and gorgeous guitar work from Dash Robles, an extraordinary self-taught musician. Bing Young accompanied on piano when asked, and the Women’s Shelter, Casa Esperanza, was the charity of choice last night. Shows were plugged, including Sargento’s tonight at Garbo’s at 10, after he performs at Casa Karma. Diana Frances and Karen Parker snagged unsuspecting Rick and Monica Miller as foils for their hilarious comedic sketch. Catch Diana and Karen at Arte Vallarta Theater, this Friday and Saturday for their final performances of Leave it to Cleavage. You can thank me later From Here.
Thursday
Yesterday was one of those cannot-do-anything-wrong sort of days starting at Qulture and winning three straight games of Scrabble. I then joined my sister and our friend Sharon (who leaves today for the frozen north) at Purr Project Bingo at Nacho Daddy. I won one game AND the 50/50 drawing of cash. After a quick change of clothes at the house, the three of us jumped into a cab and headed for Casa Karma and Gholi’s birthday party/fundraiser for Club Vallarta. I am sure Georgia Darehshori will let us know how much was raised to help those soccer-playing kids. Lots of singers stopped in, sang a song, then flew out the door to make a business meeting or prepare their own shows at various venues throughout Vallarta. A mark of their devotion to Georgia, who makes Casa Karma available for entertainers when there is a break in her scheduled reservations.
The labyrinth was abuzz with supporters of the arts, ensconced in canvas chairs, the sun long set, Martin on sound and lights, the odd pairs of dancers trying to keep the tempo moving, the bar up top doing a brisk business and delicious food appeared endlessly throughout the evening. A baker’s dozen performed with Bing Young accompanying often on piano and was emceed overall by Host Will Walker. The entire program gave a rare opportunity for lesser-known artists in town to be seen and to promote themselves to an appreciative audience already spellbound by the magic of Casa Karma.
Nutcracker opens tonight at Coco Cabaret at 6 pm, and the much anticipated Vallarta Garden Club Membership Drive/Welcome Back party starts at 6 pm tomorrow at Le Bistro Jazz Cafe From Here.
Friday
Oh, the blessed quiet this morning; today, La Virgen de Guadalupe can sleep for the first time in 12 days, and so can the rest of us. The church bells ring again at the appropriate time of the day, and, with luck, the munitions master and his bombs have moved on. Thank you for this silent momentito!
I went to the Opening Night of The Nutcracker in Wonderland, a mash-up of the holiday classic ballet with Alice in Wonderland at Coco Cabaret. Producer Chris Lopez greeted everyone at the door with a lovely printed program; to me, this speaks volumes about the love and care that goes into a production. It’s an added expense, yes, but one I am super grateful for.
The clever use of video mapping created a number of scenes that left me feeling chilly from the falling snowflakes and spring thaw in the mountains, to a little wobbly with the fantastic Alice-inspired psychedelic mushrooms displayed in the background.
Amazingly, one chair was the entire set, and it held the Queen of Hearts tucked nicely, her meters of fabric far away from the flying feet of the dancers. The fabrics were gorgeous: rich brocades and satins with just enough glitter to catch the light. Kudos go to the Mad Hatter and the Queen of Hearts for hair, makeup, and costume design.
Directed by and starring James Wolburg, who, a season ago, broke down barriers in his all-male cast of Swan Lake, can put another glorious feather in his cap. The Nutcracker in Wonderland is about a boy who HAD to dance. And he did. Wolburg’s costar, Alejandro Barrón, was superb in every scene.
This production kicks down a lot of barriers and does so with a gentle push, fierce dancing, smiling faces executing some tight choreography and love, people. Lots of love. Merry Christmas From Here.
