The Guadalajara Reporter

Ribera arts review - November 30, 2013

The third play of the Lakeside Little Theatre season opens Friday, December 6. “Over The River And Through The Woods” is a comedy-drama about an Italian-American family, written by U.S. playwright Joe DiPietro. Directed by Ann Swiston, and with a cast of Georgette Richmond, Ed Tasca, Heather Hunter, Kevin O’Byrne, Kenneth Bridges and Peggy Lord Chilton, the play runs from December 6 through 15. 

Tickets are 200 pesos and can be obtained at the LLT box office from 10 a.m. to noon on Wednesday, December 4 and Thursday, December 5, and every day during the run of the show – or one hour before curtain time for each performance.

Christmas concert

The talented Hermosillo Family Singers from Guadalajara will perform at Viva la Musica’s Christmas concert on Friday, December 6, 6 p.m. at the Auditorium in la Floresta.

The three children will each play solo violin pieces: Lucia interprets “Siciliana” by Fritz Kreisler, older sister Mariana performs a Czarda dance piece by Italian composer Monti, while the youngest, Jorge, plays a piece by Vivaldi.

The Hermosillo family will also sing various pieces including the popular “Edelweis” by Rogers and Hammerstein, and the well-known Christmas Carol “O Holy Night.”

Professional opera singers Hector Lopez (baritone) and his wife Patricia (mezzosoprano) will be joined by Antonio Hermosillo (baritone), accompanied on the piano by his wife Gaby. They will complete the program with a variety of famous arias and duets by Verdi, Handel, Rossini and Bizet.

The whole company will sing a chorus from Nabucco and “Ode to Joy” by Beethoven.

Lopez, Hernandez and Hermosillo all studied voice with the late Harlan Snow in Guadalajara.  Snow devoted most of his retirement to coaching talented Mexican singers and helping them qualify for scholarships to study in the United States.  This program is a tribute to Snow.

Tickets cost 200 pesos for Viva members, 300 pesos for non-members, and nothing for students. Bring a child or two! Tickets are available at the auditorium, Diane Pearl Colecciones and at the Lake Chapala Society ticket sales area on Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to noon.

ASA

The Ajijic Society of the Arts will meet on Monday, December 2 at La Bodega Restaurant (16 de Septiembre 124, Ajijic).

The group of about 150  artists, artisans and arts supporters get together for coffee at 9:30 a.m. The business meeting starts at 10 a.m.

Following the meeting two videos will be shown that deal with the theme of creative inspiration expressed in unconventional media.

In the first video, “Taking Imagination Seriously,” U.S. artist Janet Echelman talks about how she found a voice that reshapes urban airspace with monumental fluidly moving sculpture that responds to environmental forces, including wind, water, and sunlight.

In the second video, “Your Body, My Canvas,” Alexa Meade talk about how she paints mesmerizing illusionist portraits directly on living subjects, subverting familiar visual cues with perspective and color.

The presentations will last about 20 minutes.

Jeff Capri

Los Angeles stand-up comic Jeff Capri will open for Mac Morison’s December 4 show “Let’s Do it Again.”

The son of long-time resident and community volunteer Barbara Clippinger,  Capri is a graduate of the Los Angeles Second City Conservatory and has worked alongside Ellen DeGeneres, Joy Behar and Adam Sandler, and is a favorite in Las Vegas and at various improvs.  He has been seen on Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing and Comic’s Unleashed. He just returned from his fifth trip entertaining U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

Capri will also do his entire act on December 7, 9 p.m. at the Red Piano. This one-night only show costs 150 pesos.  Reservations at:   This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 766-3865.

Art Show

An opening reception for an exhibit at Galeria Sol Mexicano featuring the work of artist Claudia Nery will be held on Friday, December 6, from 3 - 6:30 p.m.

Nery has lived at lakeside for many years, and has a great following here and nationally. She describes herself a self-taught painter whose style is derived from the roots of Mexican culture and primitive universal symbolism.  Her striking imagery is truly original – a skillfully controlled blend of color, line and form that is intriguing, attractive and alluring.

Galeria Sol Mexicano is at Colon 13, Ajijic; telephone: (376) 766-0734. The show continues throughout December.

Los Cantantes

Christmas and Hanukkah is the name of Los Cantantes del Lago’s concert offering this holiday season.  

As the name implies, both traditions will be amply represented in song. There will be a clarinetist playing several pieces in the Klezmer style, as well as songs in Hebrew and Ladino.  Two of the soloists are local youths – one aged 11 and the other 16.  

The concerts are on Tuesday, December 10, 7 p.m. and Wednesday, December 11, 4 p.m. at the Auditorio de la Riberas.

The bar opens one hour before each performance.  Tickets are 250 pesos, available at Diane Pearl Colecciones and Mia’s Boutique, from Cantantes members or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Double show at CCA

New art exhibits opening in tandem at the Centro Cultural de Ajijic on Saturday, December 7, 6 to 7 p.m., will feature works by Lara Gallardo and Jose Melendrez. Gallardo will be showing a collection of engravings and photographs. Melendrez will display incaustic paintings, following an ancient mixed media technique employing bee wax and pigment that traces back over two millennia to the Greek, Egyptian and Roman cultures.

Concert

Tenor Jorge Taddeo and classical guitarist Jim Byers will present a concert of songs at the Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo on Sunday, December 8, 4 p.m.

The program will include songs by John Dowland, Giulio Caccini, G. F. Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Franz Schubert and Anton Diabelli.

There will be a 50-peso admission fee at the door. Part of this money goes to support children’s programs at the center.

Guadalajara-born Taddeo is a specialist in German Lieder and French Chanson.  In 2012 he directed a production of Kurt Weill’s “Three Penny Opera” when he also took the lead as Mack the Knife.

Sale

Frank Howell and his advanced students will hold their fourth annual pre-Christmas sale at the pottery studio location in Mirasol on Friday and Saturday, December 13 and 14,  from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on both days.

New this year will be many raku items, including the popular wall-mounted fish and sun god faces.  There will be new lamps and functional items, as well as some new glaze colors to entice. 

The address is Lirios 40 – look for the green signs to show the way.

Ajijic street art fest

The third edition of the Ajijic Festival Internacional de las Artes--put together by Efren Gonzalez--will take place Saturday and Sunday, December 14 and 15, on Calle Marcos Castellanos in the block between Constitucion and the San Andres Church. Artists hailing from lakeside, Canada, the U.S. and Peru will be among the exhibitors showing a wide assortment of paintings, photographs, sculptures, etchings, ceramics and hand-crafted goods. Live music, folk dancing, door prize raffles and art work auctions will give extra sparkle to the street fest, open to the public for a 10 peso per person entrance fee. Limited exhibit space remains available at a cost of 300 pesos. For details contact Gonzalez at his gallery, Marcos Castellanos 7, telephone (376) 766-5381 or cel. 331-703-3942.

Nutcracker magic

For a dose of pure holiday magic, the children’s theater version of Cascanueces (The Nutcracker) staged by Instituto Loyola will cast you under its spell. Back-to-back performances of the classic Christmas season fantasy are scheduled for Friday, December 20, 5 and 6:30 p.m., at the Auditorio de la Ribera in La Floresta.

More than 200 kindergarten to high school age students will charm audiences with a fast-paced theatrical extravaganza filled with lavish costumes, giant props and lively action set to an abbreviated version of the famous Tchaikovsky ballet score. Scripted and directed by Loyola headmaster Wayne Palfrey, the annual show usually plays to sell-out houses.

Admission is set at a modest 50 pesos per person for assigned seating. For advance tickets stop by the Loyola front office located just inside the entrance gate to Lakeside Little Theatre, open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Opening

Artisan jeweler Heber (Morelos 190B, Chapala) hosts a grand opening sale featuring photography by Jaime Barbiery on Saturday November 30, from 4-6 p.m.

Refreshments and botanas will be served.