Recap: Good Morning, From Here, September 06 – 12
Monday
I have been watching Gloria Fiona since the day she appeared in the now (sadly) defunct Voice of Vallarta. Over the 12 years since placing second in that contest, she has grown exponentially more integral into the fabric of entertainment in Vallarta.
She arrived from Italy on vacation, and that thing, that bewitchment that Vallarta is wont to do to some of us, befell her, compelling her to stay here. For that, we will be forever grateful to have this woman in our midst.
She learned to speak English and Spanish, flirted heavily with rock and roll music, slid into sequined gowns, and commandeered the largest concert hall in the city, paying tribute to Adele. She married the girl she loved on the beach south of town, has painted with a boa constrictor, reconnected with her spirituality, and took over La Catrina Cantina twice with blackout curtains and soft whips.
Last Friday, Gloria unveiled Burlesque – Tied Up to a sold-out, spell-bound La Catrina Cantina audience. Her voice was spectacular, and she easily and kindly thanked each of us for being there with her and her guests.
Aldonza Della Callabazza stripped off just enough to be able to play a smoking rendition of Fever on her violin. Alejandra Matus and Dabit Azofeifa, the magical clown couple from Costa Rica, had Dabit balancing, stripping, and juggling all pretty much at the same time, which was breathtaking to say the least! Vallarta’s favorite puppy, Sargento Dan, was in fine form, but the action went sideways when a volunteer from the audience was tied up by a gorgeous masked bodybuilder on stage.
The fun ramped up when Gloria innocently challenged anybody else to join the lucky woman, clad in black, already on her knees onstage. A surge of young women caught Gloria and us by happy surprise, and the gentle melee that unfolded before our eyes was proof enough that lots of people in Vallarta apparently enjoy S and M!
It was enlightening and fun, with 🍏 being the safe word. It may or may not have come in handy later on Friday night. Again, Gloria triumphed as the fearless woman that she is, singing or silent, she is formidable and so loved.
I learned this weekend of the passing of Jean-Guy Comeau in Montreal, Canada. His partner, artist Petru Voichescu, is sadly going through papers and planning the funeral. He has not had a chance to think about a Celebration of Life for Jean-Guy here in Vallarta. Please send Petru healing energy to get him through this most difficult and heartbreaking time.
Jean-Guy touched so many of us with his infectious smile and deep love of music. His joie de vivre was so evident every time he sat in front of a piano, barely able to keep himself from bouncing up and down in anticipation of the next note and the even richer note to follow. To watch him play was to know Joy. Rest in Peace, lovely ‘Jay Gee,’ From Here.
Tuesday
Heavy rain this morning; odd timing, but whatever it takes to fill our rivers and aquifers. I wish we could (would) capture it and use it later.
Last weekend, a downpour didn’t deter friends from attending the City of Vallarta’s public recognition of Pata Salada painter Javier Niño. Close to a hundred of us flanked the soaking-wet courtyard/patio of the Presidencia, the old City Hall just off the Malecon, downtown.
The requisite speeches by City officials, photo ops, and the unveiling of Javier’s latest triptych, a fantasy of local flora and fauna mixed with the history of his beloved Vallarta, preceded tres leches cake and wine.
Each of us received a laminated bookmark as a remembrance of this fitting tribute to one of Vallarta’s finest artists.
When Javier was a child, one of his neighbors handed him three tubes of paint and sent him off to go and play. That neighbor was none other than the legendary naïf painter, Manuel Lepe!
I have known Javier for more than 30 years and was so delighted when he married Nathalie Herling a year and a half ago in April. Nathalie is the founder and director of the Arte Vallarta Museo. Truly a match made in heaven!
The next day, on September 06, the Arte Vallarta Museo had its regular First Saturday Fiesta and combined it with Javier’s 75th birthday celebrations. The lovely mango tarts – instead of a birthday cake – were made from the fruit of the mango trees in the courtyard of the museum.
We all had the pleasure of listening to Diego Arreola Gonzalez sing and play guitar. You may remember Diego from Incanto days when his band, the Red Suitcases, used to perform. He has been seriously studying voice, and the results are incredible! He aced Freddy Mercury’s range and sang ”Time to Say Goodbye,” a la Italian tenor, Andrea Bocelli, but in Spanish, and fairly flew over the notes with power mixed with sweetness – an often hard-to-come-by combination. Diego is available to entertain your birthday guests or at any other event. We were all very impressed with young Diego; find him and book him on Facebook!
Another aficionado of Diego, who also has some pipes, is Armando Mafud, an extraordinary clothing designer, born in Oaxaca to Syrian parents. We had some laughs with Sandra Bradley, who is always my date for the Museo! Be sure to visit Armando’s shop on Venustiano Carranza, and be prepared to be amazed at his creations – each one a dedication to Mexican artisans and history. I hope Nathalie will have another fashion show, featuring Mafud’s extravagant and beautiful designs.
Back briefly to Javier Niño and Nathalie Herling. After being at the Museo with their guests for hours, the couple went home with their dog, Blanquita, packed and flew away on Sunday to Argentina to celebrate Javi’s 75th with, perhaps, a bit of Tango and some fine Argentine empanadas, From Here.
Wednesday
Time for Scrabble and chit chat with Sharon Gerber Scherer this afternoon at Qulture, then, this evening is a fundraiser at La Catrina Cantina to help Angeloo, Vallarta’s 12-year-old singing wunderkind, win the Voz de Zapopan. A full report on those goodies in the morning.
My luck has turned from indifferent to wretched back to good after winning the first bingo game at Awaysis Rio on Monday. And, because it is a non-tournament day, I should do well at Scrabble today!
Before my sister Patrice and I left for Europe last month, we had already decided on what play we would see for sure while in London. We had lots of recommendations on how to easily spend a fortune in the West End, and wandered from box office to box office, checking on the availability of such monumental productions as Evita, Les Mis, Cabaret, and so many more.
Fawlty Towers, at the Apollo Theatre it was, for a matinee mid-week. We settled into our seats, drinks in hand, cameras put away, of course, and laughed for the next 90 minutes. It was extraordinary to me that that stellar cast could be cloned and brought back to life 50 years after the BBC first aired the show written by and starring John Cleese and his then-wife, Connie Booth.
The production, adapted for the stage by John Cleese, was an amalgam of at least three episodes of the 12 that were produced over two seasons, four years apart, starting in 1975 and finishing in 1979.
If you are unfamiliar with this irreverent series, that likely would not be made today in our sanitized times of political correctness, check it out on YouTube. If you are a John Cleese or Monty Python fan, this is what you will see in London – and you can thank me later.
PBS out of Seattle used to run Fawlty Towers marathons back in the late 80s, and I would have our staff over for special Bloody Marys. We would sit, drink, and watch as many episodes as we could, shrieking with laughter and joining the dialogue whenever we remembered the lines. One of my prized possessions remains the boxed set of all 12 episodes on DVD. And some of my fondest memories of Sundays, TV, and Canada, all rolled together with dear friends, came to life again onstage in London.
One of the quirky things about the series was that the letters on the hotel sign, Fawlty Towers, would be juggled for each episode – Flowery Twats being one that was rather memorable and not used by the current stage production. The signs were, are, always funny and a piece of minutiae that is so perfectly British and acceptable if read aloud with the correct English accent and introduced with a fresh flourish of violins.
Seeing Fawlty Towers live was, right up there with eating delightful Swedish pastries, one of the highlights of our trip.
How I would have loved to embrace the cast afterwards, but that’s a Vallarta thing, From Here.
Thursday
La Catrina Cantina is hopping these days with free, live entertainment, freezing cold air conditioning, delightful wait staff, fabulous popcorn (easily the best in Vallarta), a good, reasonably priced menu, and even a big covered terrace for those who still smoke. It is the most welcoming atmosphere in Vallarta, where you will find lots of your friends being cool.
I went last night to catch the tail end of Gloria Fiona’s weekly show (every Wednesday at 5 pm), and had the pleasure of joining Kevin Feltner from Vallarta Calendar (that you need to check daily to decide where to go and when to brave the rain or feed your FOMO).
Immediately following Gloria’s show was a fundraiser for Angeloo whom I have not seen onstage since early summer. Since then, Angeloo entered Voz de Zapopan Niños y Niñas, Third Edition, just outside of Guadalajara. The first two contests had over 6,000 (!!) participating kids from 5 to 17 years old from throughout the state of Jalisco.
And Angeloo is a finalist this year.
The funds Angeloo made last night – that included 20% of sales during the hour Angeloo sang his heart out, donated by La CC owner, Juan Alvarado, will go to pay for transportation on the bus for Angeloo and his dad, Oscar Corral. Also, there are hotel stays, costumes to buy, food, and other expenses.
While winning this event would be the best, just the fact that he is a finalist is another step in the future career of this 12-year-old singer from Vallarta.
Angeloo’s stage presence has grown leaps and bounds since I last had the pleasure. Gone are the fidgets of a young, nervous boy, replaced by almost constant but thought-out movements.
Angeloo sings comfortably in English, Spanish, Italian, German, and Korean, and I am likely forgetting a couple of languages. His extraordinary rendition of Diva Dance from the 1997 movie The Fifth Element is written in such a high register that the song has been deemed ”impossible for the human voice to sing.” But there is Angeloo, at 12, nailing the bel canto notes.
Another remarkable example is Mozart’s most famous aria, “Der Holle Rache” from The Magic Flute. The words fly out of Angeloo’s mouth like tiny birds reaching for the sky. No effort whatsoever or none that is apparent at any rate. He is just as comfortable singing Ozzie Osborn.
From winning the Third Edition of the ”So, You Think You Can Rise?” talent competition last year, here in Vallarta, to competing in Zapopan in 2025, Angeloo’s future will revolve around music in one way or another.
The finals for La Voz de Zapopan Niñas y Niños will be held on September 27. Stay tuned for those details: A watch party would be fun!
I am back at La Catrina Cantina tonight for another triumphant return concert by Francesca Bavaro, aka Effie Passero. Of course, it will be sold out; it is what she does. Francesca loves to be close to her audience, but she rarely gets the chance to do so while touring the world. It will be lovely to hug my Birthday Sister again (November 9th, if you are keeping track), From Here.
Friday
Yesterday, Vallarta received such a gift from Francesca Bavaro/Effie Passero at La Catrina Cantina. In the past five years, we have anxiously awaited her return from wherever, following her updates on Facebook, which we would check day by day and sometimes for months on end.
She returned from this latest journey to Mykynos in Greece a changed woman. Of course, she brought the pieces of her broken heart back with her to Vallarta for the light here to heal her before she is off again in a week.
Her voice has never been better, and she was radiant in her hot pink tulle dress and killer, sparkly pumps that didn’t stay on her feet for the entire concert. Her song choices spanned the entire Broadway spectrum, including a couple she had never sung publicly before. Streisand, Minnelli, the Phantom of the Opera, it didn’t matter. Her voice is getting more and more color in it – maybe because she’s growing older, like everybody else. Whatever it is, I love it, and would have happily listened all night to the new riches in her voice, but nearly 90 minutes is too long for anybody’s vocal chords. I hope she rests today with our hearts full of gratitude for such a brilliant concert.
Her happiness at being home with her community spilled over as she invited Vallarta’s youngest star, Angeloo to the stage to sing a solo. Owner of La CC, Juan Alvarado, took the mic and explained to the packed house that Angeloo had made it to the finals in Voz de Zapopan, encouraging his patrons to tip generously to help defray the costs of going back and forth to Guadalajara. (The final is on September 27.)
Angeloo brought the house down with Diva Dance from the science fiction movie The Fifth Element. It should become his signature song. The standing ovation rolled into a duet of Shallow with Francesca. The two voices played back and forth to an astonishing finale. It was the first song they ever performed together; although there have not been many, it was a good choice for a duet, and again, Francesca let Angeloo take the lead.
Her kindness to this gifted young man will come back tenfold; it was her concert, her time to shine before she is back on the road again in mere days, and she certainly did not have to share her stage with anyone. Angeloo earned a bit more money towards his future, and Francesca became even more adored by all of us, if that’s even possible!
Wherever you go, Francesca, know you are loved. We’ll wait for you to come home, From Here.
