Recap: Good Morning, From Here, November 16 -22
Monday
The First International Fiesta de Cabaret is over. I went to every concert – all seven of them, and was so impressed Vallarta Mirror will publish a synopsis this coming week. Congratulations to everyone who took part.
My birthday breakfast (I know, I know, that ship sailed a week ago, but gotta do these things when they’re offered!) was at Langostinos on the beach. They make vegetarian omelets and are always accommodating when I substitute chile poblano instead of those nasty bell peppers!
Patrice and I were so excited to see the first Boys on Fire – Temptations – show at Coco Cabaret. If you saw the show last season at The Palm, know it has been expanded upon, there have been some personnel changes, and there is nothing quite like a brand-new sound and light system in a brand-new theater. Patty Macias and Carlos did a wonderful job with Lucero, on loan from The Palm, behind the spotlight.
The smiling, engaging wait staff hustled, and drinks were on the table in mere minutes. Everyone sat in casually arranged chairs, and all the attendees chatted with everyone around them. I only knew a few faces in the audience.
Temptations is sexy, steamy, and fun. A couple of surprises – Armando Chakam was part of the dance troupe and emcee! Last week, he was all buttoned up in three-piece suits singing the best of Michael Buble, and last night, he was singing in, um, a red leather harness and sometimes less than that. No spoilers! He is so lovely! Another surprise was seeing Indra from last year’s Voice of Vallarta competition. She danced up a storm and sang often and well, including a duet with Armando. AND, I watched Angel wrap his seemingly boneless, weightless body in a pole dance. His strength is beautiful to see. Another eye candy treat was tango luminary Emilio, from Buenos Aires, A Tango Murder Mystery, currently playing at The Palm. The cast is incredibly talented, directed, and choreographed by Sebastian Coronel, who has another show on Sunday nights at 10 pm. I will get to that next week. If you are up for an off-the-wall Variety Sex Show (should that be a Sexy Variety Show?), you will adore Temptations. I will have to go back and shoot better photographs.
Dear, long-time friend Cindy du Chateau is 70! She threw a helluva party at La Catrina Cantina that included her best girlfriends from high school, who all turned 70 this year, and flew down for the occasion. Hubby Bert Ramirez was there, daughter Cory, the grandkids, and a roomful of wellwishers who ate, drank, danced, and enjoyed the entertainment by Luis Villanueva, the Golden Tenors (Freddy Pacheco and Armando Chakram – I have seen the latter in three different shows in less than a week. I think that qualifies as stalking!), Alberto Ponce and more. A delightful party, thanks, Cindy!
Today, Patrice and I deliver the Casa Karma/Vallarta Mirror contribution to the Festival of Trees to benefit the Vallarta School for Girls. See ours and others on display at Casita and Garden until December. You can bid on the trees or buy them outright. Photos tomorrow!
We are having rain. Unusual but not unheard of – La Niña strikes again, From Here.
Tuesday
Our lovely yet funky Christmas tree joined a row of tall, graceful, artfully decorated submissions to the Festival of Trees. You can meander through them all at Casita & Garden, make a bid or buy them outright. There are also wreaths with Kevin Anthony’s winner. I am not saying another word…it is just so HIM! All of this benefits the Vallarta School for Girls who have made some beautiful gift-giving items, gorgeous handmade cards, cookies, festive table decorations, and more. Please, please get out and support this noble cause, and give the Casa Karma/Vallarta Mirror entry some love. Everything on the tree is recycled from three decades of my life in this city. It is stuffed with simple meaning, and every silk flower has a story (and won’t show up on my head!), all things collected over the years. The frog’s sombrerito is brand new; that’s it.
I was so happy to sit in Coco Cabaret’s front row last night to see the first production of last season’s smash hit from the Palm – the Monaco Band’s tribute to Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles. I could/would listen to Gina Ramirez sing anybody. She has one of those chameleon voices that takes on inflections seamlessly. And she’s beautiful. She also costars with Ale Matus and the Monaco Band in the ABBA Tribute at The Palm. See both.
Luis Villanueva unveiled his latest show, Love Lock Down, last night at Nacho Daddy. All new songs were rearranged beautifully with a live quartet and Ana Adame’s backup vocals. The packed house spoke volumes of the love and respect this community has for Luis. He has come a long, long way from Chiapas six or so years ago with no English. Puerto Vallarta is a beckoning beacon for artists from all over the world, and I am so happy to hear Luis sing wherever he is in town From Here.
Wednesday
Gouda Gabor kicked off her Come Blow Your Horn Edition Two, Open Mic at Nacho Daddy last night. A near-capacity room from the get-go, empty seats were filled as soon as other shows in the vicinity emptied, including their stars. Mr Lady Zen closed the night with a Billie Holiday number from her new show; other luminaries included Nicolas King and Seth Sikes. Robert Ryan, accompanied by Derek Carkner, had us looking for tissues by the end of his song. Robert just finished the Fiesta de Cabaret, and the changes he has made in his delivery are massive: he has taken down that fourth wall.
Kimberly G, Sargento Dan, and Enel Ram, all members of the So, You Think You Can Rise talent competition club that either launched or boosted their careers immensely, sang accompanied by Bing Young on piano. All, except for Enel, who performed La Llorona to a track. Her show by the same name is tonight at La Catrina Cantina at 6:30. Besides her sister dancing, Enel has a Cirque du Soleil contortionist to further add to the mysticism of the evening.
Amy Armstrong, finally cancer-free, rejoiced with fabulous guitarist Al “Mimi” Ramirez; their next show is tonight at 7:30 at Nacho Daddy.
Miana Melendez kicked off the show with Janathan on sound and lights, Lydia Damato scheduling all the singers, and Gouda glided about carefully wearing three meters of fabric encrusted with roughly one million sequins—a dazzling affair From Here.
Thursday
When Enel Ram talks about her country, words fly out of her mouth like starlings in a morning hunt. She cannot express her love of Mexico’s history and stories hard enough or fast enough. Enel is enchanted with the dichotomies of Mexican society – patriarchal, yet no country honors their mothers with greater fervor than Mexico. The legend of ghostly La Llorona, a woman who drowns her children and then spends eternity searching for them, when sung by Enel, offers her heart and soul laid bare to be pitied and vilified – exonerated and elevated at the same time.
Enel is tiny and delicate, her hands in constant motion when she talks or sings with her fingertips welcoming and dismissive, dancing through the air, creating silent words in harmony with her complex voice.
La Llorona is a Gloria Fiona Production that will change every time it is presented, with different elements added – a contortionist from Cirque du Soleil, for example, at La Catrina Cantina last night, that defies reality. See Enel Ram at any opportunity. She is a window looking into Mexico’s future while celebrating and holding Mexico’s past close to her heart.
Opening Nights are a wonder. The energy is explosive, with everyone’s nerves onstage at fever pitch, trying to remember every movement – your own and everybody else surrounding you, and not forgetting the words and delivering them, sometimes upside down, perfectly.
Steven Retchless is a genius. He builds his productions layer by layer, one idea at a time, adding more of this, then that, and at the end, you have a raucous standing ovation. Seamless choreography, intriguing video work, excellent costuming, exhaustive research, and parlaying that in an exciting way to half of the audience that didn’t have a clue Britney Spears was a non-blonde Mouseketeer! Catch the next performance of The Woman in Me at Coco Cabaret on Wednesday, November 27, at 8 pm. See a beautiful man recreated as a lovely woman onstage and feast your eyes on one gorgeous human being – Steven Retchless.
See you at 6 pm at La Catrina Cantina for Out and About Puerto Vallarta Magazine’s Gay Mixer, From Here!
Friday
Have you been watching the transformation of Le Bistro on the Isla Cuale? It used to be the only great restaurant in Vallarta in the old days, and it will reopen very soon. The Group that owns La Palapa and El Dorado will reignite that gorgeous spot on the river and restore it to its former glory and then some. A delightful way to test the waters and do a good thing at the same time will be to join the Vallarta Garden Club at Le Bistro on December 13 for our annual Welcome Back Membership Drive. This cocktail party is always a great big reunion with returning snowbirds getting in touch with permanent residents who all share the same goal – finding ways to make Vallarta more beautiful naturally. I will have more delicious details as the day approaches.
Out & About Puerto Vallarta Magazine had another over-the-top successful Gay Mixer last night at La Catrina Cantina. Patrice and I stopped in briefly to say hi to owners Juan Alvarado and Bill Williams and to chat with O & A publisher and my dear and savvy friend, Jerry Jones. All of these Mixers make me happy that I live where I live. The next one will be on the beach at Daiquiri Dick’s next Tuesday, the 26th, from 6 to 8 pm.
There are times when I run out of superlatives. It’s rare, but so was last night’s performance at Coco Cabaret. It was the third time I had seen this tribute to Pink, starring Eva Jimenez. Of course, with its soaring ceiling, the new venue allowed Eva to add more work – exciting stuff that she aced with glorious grace and ease. Her voice, hair (thanks to Josh Breau), costumes, sound, light, dancers, and aerials were perfect and I so do not like that word because nothing ever is – except for last night’s show. Spontaneous standing ovations were so common throughout the performance that the audience exercised nearly as hard as Eva!
And she did so effortlessly, her smile rarely leaving her lovely face. She engaged everybody, high-fiving the front row, dancing among friends and family (her proud mom and big brother Alejandro were behind us cheering), and genuinely giving Pink fans a show they will remember forever.
There is an energy at Coco Cabaret that crackles when the stage is empty. Add four enthusiastic dancers, a pop-up duet with co-producer Losanna Diaz, and a superstar like Eva Jimenez, and you have E=MCSquared. Oh, the beautiful power From Here.
