Recap: Good Morning, From Here, January 25 – 31
Monday
The Electric Light Orchestra appeared once again on Coco Cabaret’s stage with little lead time to get the word out, but the audience there was thrilled! ELO was one of hundreds of new bands 50 years ago struggling to become known, and, while nearly every song played during this great tribute show was recognizable, everyone exclaimed, “I didn’t know that was ELO!” Every musician on stage was at the top of their game and played and sang with respect for one another, their craft, and Electric Light Orchestra. I will definitely go back if a third tribute becomes a reality. You should, too!
Sunday began with a small dance class at the IFC Clubhouse. We worked out enough kinks to prepare for the Mary Porter-produced and directed extravaganza – Stars With a Heart concert at Teatro Vallarta to benefit the Vallarta School for Girls.
Bravos go to Mary and her Production Assistant, Crist Thomas, for putting this seamless concert together from far, far away, and without a rehearsal!
It was hosted by wonderfully talented, funny, and loved by all in Vallarta, Kevin Anthony ll, who remembered names and show times and venues of all the performers appearing onstage and some sitting in the audience!
Keith Tynes opened and was followed by Cate Valcic and David Maiocco; all three have shows at Act2PV. Natalie Douglas and Mark Hartman reprised Mark’s beautiful arrangement of the 1957 folk song The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. Brenda Gaviño soloed with a traditional Viva Mexico, and Yoalli and Jordon followed with a decidedly untraditional version of Under Pressure. See those two in the spectacular Hedwig and The Angry Inch at the Palm Cabaret.
Angeloo, Vallarta’s 11-year-old wunderkind, belted an aria from Mozart’s Magic Flute, then Kimberly LaRue’s Follies filled the enormous stage with dancers. Diego Guerrero, with Derek Carkner on piano, delivered a heartfelt Nina Simone ballad, and then Stolie sang an original song to the Canadian Rocky Mountains; Gloria Fiona, Skyfall. These two ex-pats volunteer at the Vallarta School for Girls, and all 41 students sang, and some danced their appreciation to their teachers and the audience who helped pay for their free schooling.
Sarah Joy and Brenda delivered a gorgeous aria with Kim Kuzma, Mary Porter, Kevin Anthony, Mister Lady Zen, and Enrique de Allende singing solos, then a mash-up of duets that culminated with everyone that could stay, sang for the joyous finale.
Co-founder of the Vallarta School for Girls, Francie Nguyen, tearfully took the stage to thank everyone for being there and to announce a 50,000 USD sponsorship that must be matched this week. If you can, please, please help Francie achieve this generous offering. A hundred thousand DOLLARS would ensure so many pieces of this educational puzzle remain fixed in place.
Thank you to the dozens of singers and dancers involved in this worthwhile cause, and to the girls at the school, keep studying hard. You are the future leaders of this great city and country.
Leading Ladies tonight at 7:30 at Nacho Daddy. See you there, From Here.
Tuesday
The best way to describe the Leading Ladies concert last night at Nacho Daddy is to start at the end and work backward to the beginning of this joyous collaboration of three singers and a musical director.
Gouda Gabor hosted the show and teamed with Broadway star Nicolas King, with Maestro David Maiocco (legendary Liberace Tribute artist) accompanying on piano; the three recreated the 1963 duet between Judy Garland (it was on her TV show) and Barbra Streisand. The song: Happy Days/Get Happy, in a glorious mash-up.
The spontaneous standing ovation returned the joy to Gouda, Nico, the too-funny, full-throttle voice of Amy Armstrong, and Maiocco on piano, who I thought was going to fly off the piano stool, he was having such a blast playing for these consummate pros who were enjoying themselves immensely.
This seems to be the trend thus far in 2025 on various stages in Vallarta, with three concerts standing out vividly, starting with ELO at Coco, an intimate cabaret – a small crowd but a band giving everything they had musically to an audience eating out of their hand. Then, at the downright cavernous Teatro Vallarta, which holds 900 people and was not quite sold out for Stars With a Heart, – the underlying feeling was the same at all three memorable concerts. Even the melancholy, on the sad side of some songs sung during Leading Ladies, there was a tinge of optimism and nary a drop of despair.
Whatever cheerful undercurrent or eddy is happening in town, I am delighted by the incandescent freedom of it all. My walk home was buoyant from the gifted voices, David’s perfectly placed fingers on the keyboard, the smile rarely leaving his face, the audience singing along when appropriate (ahh-ooh!), tapping toes, and chair-dancing; it was uplifting and easy.
Next Monday, at 7:30 pm, at Nacho Daddy is the Opening Night of Glee and stars Gouda Gabor, somewhat dressed down, and the irrepressible Sargento Dan. It will be quirky!
I am off this afternoon to the jungle to hopefully catch Perros del Rio at Rancho Santiago and, a bit later at 5:30, the Eagles Tribute. Looking forward to hearing Marty’s voice and great guitar work again, then back to town for Open Mic at Nacho Daddy. See you there and everywhere, From Here.
Wednesday
I finally had time to go early to Paso Guayabo to catch a bit of my friend Kurt Sinner, singer and frontman for Perros del Rio band at Rancho Santiago. They sounded good and are happy to be playing together again every Tuesday at 3 pm. There is no cover, so go, play in the river, have lunch and a couple of cold beers, or whatever, and enjoy some oldies music.
At 5:30 sharp, the Eagles Tribute show kicked off, starring Canadians Kenny V. on lead guitar and Marty Jones on bass. Their gorgeous harmonies had the dance floor packed at all times. So full the magic horse danced just outside the front entrance. Very close to 200 people remembered their lives of 50 years ago, sang along, and danced their hearts out, including friends Karl and Shirley. His first dance since surgery: baby steps!
A quick-ish bus ride from the jungle into town got me into Nacho Daddy in time to join Jan Dorland and Rob Burton at Gouda Gabor’s Come Blow Your Horn – Open Mic. Every week, this no-cover show is a continuous treasure trove of talent unfolding over two hours, usually with a resident pianist – last night, the illustrious Mark Hartman. Mark got to play again with singer Natalie Douglas, who returns to NYC today after her shows at Act2. It was lovely to hug her once again and wish her Happy Trails back to the cold winter.
Gouda Gabor in jungle/beach green mumu introduced superstars and locals with the same warm energy. Zoe Lewis is back in town and shared some of her magic with us; catch her shows at The Palm Cabaret. Enrique de Allende, Keith Tynes, Delilah Beaucoup sang with Mark Hartman, David Maiocco and Cate Valcic, aka the Vaude-Villains, all entertained us well and plugged their respective shows. A new (for me) comedian took the stage; I hope to see him again. A father and daughter tag-teamed a song apiece. Flautist Andrea played with Kimberley G, and Mark Hartman, Gene Berube, and Robert Ryan – each had solos, and a couple of other newcomers rounded out the evening, with Angleoo closing the show like the 11-year-old rockstar that he is!
I love seeing packed houses; the energy is life-giving, and the entertainment is spectacular across the board. Scrabble at Qulture today at 12:30, then Lydia Damato will call bingo for the dogs at 4 pm at Nacho Daddy. For information about entertainers and their shows, look to VallartaCalendar.com for everything you need, including links to buy tickets From Here.
Thursday
It’s impossible that a full month of the new year is nearly over or will be tomorrow. The first thing out of my mouth when I bump into snowbirds on the street these days after welcome back, is Happy New Year. Nobody wants to hear it anymore. It was a MONTH ago, for god’s sake, I will get over it. February is Vallarta’s busiest month tourist-wise and also the coldest. If next month is colder than this month, then I fully expect to see snowflakes hitting Los Muertos Beach!
I am going to see Tracy Stark tonight at the Casa Karma Red Room. She was here from New York for the Fiesta de Cabaret in November; it was one of those instant love things with her. I will have a full report on her Tapestry concert next week.
Saturnalia opens tomorrow also in the CKRR at 5 pm. The gorgeous couple from Costa Rica – Ale Matus and her partner Dabit Azofeifa, were asked to create a sensual new show for Act2. I’ll let you know the outcome, or join me tomorrow (better!) and see how it turned out!
At 10 tomorrow night (ugh…) at Coco Cabaret, Chris Lopez reprises his beautiful Sam Smith Tribute (to kick off Bear Week in Vallarta). Chis has added a phalanx of nearly naked dancers from the short video teases online and promises to be fabulously divine. Take a late nap – as I will indeed be doing, and join me for another Chris Lopez Production (the best in town) starring Chris Lopez!
Bingo was packed yesterday at Nacho Daddy. Lots of money was raised to help continue sterilizing 20 cats and dogs every Saturday; it is never enough. Colina Spay and Neuter Clinic has been operating (forgive the pun) for 12 years, sterilizing roughly 1,000 cats and dogs a year. Those 12,000 animals cannot reproduce, so where the hell are all the cats and dogs coming from? Vallarta must have half a dozen agencies related to animal welfare, yet every Saturday, Colina does 20 more surgeries. It must feel to them often like rolling a rock uphill. Please donate as much as you can, and join us at bingo every other Wednesday at Nacho Daddy. It’s a fun group with great prizes.
See you at Chachalaca for Out and About Puerto Vallarta magazine’s Gay Mixer tonight at 6, From Here.
Friday
One more person could not have been squeezed into Chachalaca Bar on Pier Street for Jerry Jones’s Gay Mixer last night. The overflow spread outside, creating tons of photo ops for Out & About magazine photographer Oscar Almeida. Jerry Jones was not there for hugs; he was missed! I also stopped in to see painter Kathleen Carrillo at her new gallery across from the Palm Cabaret; she too, was missing in action. Every winter in peak Tourist Season, we get hit with strange imported illnesses that make us stay home when we really need to be boots on the ground. Happily, everyone has an excellent staff that can fill in. Owner of Chachalaca Bar, Christopher, had a beautiful spread of food laid out, and a guitarist fearlessly played over the sounds of happy conversation.
I could not linger long but did have time to catch up with Canadians Randy and David before heading to Act2 for Tracy Stark’s return concert Tapestry, in the Casa Karma Red Room.
Tracy’s exuberance and sheer love of what she does for a living make it a joy to sit in her company while she weaves stories in song. She added a trio of local backup singers – Montse, Stephanie Wright Watts, and Delilah Beaucoup, all soloists who work closely with pianist David Maiocco, to pull off an extraordinary concert full of four-part harmonies. It was like listening to a big church choir. Rehearsals with Tracy were done remotely and with spectacular results!
Many Carole King songs were shared, and Tracy often invited the audience – sprinkled with amazing singers like soprano Sarah Joy, Robert Ryan, an alumnus of Fiesta de Cabaret, and Broadway star Nicolas King.
On for tonight – premiere of Saturnalia at Act2 PV at 5 pm and 10 at Coco Cabaret, the first presentation of Chris Lopez’s Sam Smith Tribute at that new venue.
Tomorrow, the Arte Vallarta Museo’s First Saturday Fiesta and opening of David Jones’ Exhibition Line and Color, at 6 pm, followed at 8 by Branden & James’ premiere of Cinematic, at Coco Cabaret.
Have a lovely and kind weekend, From Here.
