The Guadalajara Reporter

Ribera arts review - January 10, 2014

The fourth play of the Lakeside Little Theatre season, “Blood Relations,” opens on Friday, January 17 and runs through January 26. 

The play is a suspenseful psycho-drama based on the story of Lizzie Borden, who in 1892 was acquitted of the brutal murders of her father and stepmother.  Directed by Lynn Phelan, “Blood Relations” was written in 1980 by Canadian playwright Sharon Pollock, and was honored with the Governor-General’s Award for Drama in 1981. 

Pollock is coming to Ajijic to see this production, and plansg to hold a playwriting workshop while she is here.  More details will follow later this month.  

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

Auditions

Auditions for Lakeside Little Theatre’s “Social Security,” a sophisticated comedy by Andrew Bergman, will take place at the theater on Friday and Saturday, January 17 and 18.  Registration is at 9.30 a.m. and auditions begin at 10 a.m. There are parts for three men and three women, middle-aged up to 90 years young.

The show will run from March 28 through April 6.  For scripts and further information, contact director Phil Shepherd at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Comedy

My, My, How Nice Productions’ next play, the comedy “The Cemetery Club,” is currently in rehearsals.  This is the story of three Jewish widows who are moving on with their lives ... or maybe not.  Whoever thought a cemetery could be this much fun? You’ll die laughing!

“The Cemetery Club” is directed by Bernadette Jones, a professional director from Canada. The  seasoned cast includes Mark Bennett, Jayme Littlejohn, Candace Luciano, Diana Rowland and Roseann Wilshere.

Shows are scheduled at Sol y Luna (Rio Bravo 10, Ajijic) on February 6, 7, 8, 14 and 15, at 7:30 p.m., and February 9 and 13, at 3 p.m.

Tickets are 200 pesos and available at Diane Pearl Colecciones, Mia’s Boutique or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Mexican Folklore Dinner

If you want to find more to love about Mexico, or fall in love with it all over again, don’t miss the Mexican Folklore Dinner Show at La Bodega Restaurant on Friday, January 17, starting at 7 p.m.

Javier Raygoza, a talented local harpist and stringed instrument plucker/strummer, will be on hand, along with the rest of his group to play live, while a ballet folclorico troupe dances, stomps and swirls. 

Tickets are 200 pesos per person and include dinner. They are available at La Bodega (16 de Septiembre 124, Ajijic). Call (376) 766-1002 for more information.

Songs of Latin America

Three accomplished sopranos – Dolores Moreno, Berenice Barragan and Viviana Baez – team up for a special Viva la Musica concert on Thursday, January 23 that guarantees to enthrall.

The “three sopranos” will interpret a variety of songs to create a musical collage uniting the various rhythms and emblematic melodies that demonstrate the richness and beauty of music from different Latin American cultures.

Moreno has a degree from the Superior School of Sacred Music in Guadalajara. In 2005 she was awarded a Viva la Musica grant to study operatic singing. She has taken classes with Nico Castell and Johann Dornemann, principal voices with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She has performed leading roles in the operas “Bastien y Bastienne” by Mozart and “La Serva Padrona” by Pergolesi, both performed at the Teatro Degollado, and performed widely in Mexico as a soloist. She has also recorded CDs with the Ensamble Filarmónico of Guadalajara.

Barrragán is considered one of the most talented sopranos in Guadalajara with a wide repertoire of popular songs of Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Chile, Spain, Argentina, Russia and the United States, as well as opera arias, musicals, Mexican art songs and oratory. She has recorded five CDs.

Báez’s repertoire includes oratory, musicals, folk music, renaissance, baroque opera and Mexican music of the period of the Spanish rule. In 2010, Báez and her group Contrapunto represented Mexico at international choral festivals in Peru and Ecuador. In 2013 she was invited to give recitals in Italy and recorded a CD.

The trio will be accompanied by Gabriela Zepeda, who impressed with her skill at the piano at the Viva Christmas concert.

The January 23 concert is scheduled for 6 p.m. at the Auditorio de la Ribera in Ajijic.  Tickets cost 200 pesos and are available from the auditorium, Diane Pearl Colecciones and the Lake Chapala Society on Thursdays and Fridays, from 10 a.m. to noon. Students will be admitted free of charge.

Open house, art show

Abbeyfield, the home for active independent elderly people, will host an open house and art exhibition on Friday, January 17, from 3-5 p.m.

The exhibit will feature many works by Javier Ramos, the renowned local artist and teacher, as well examples by several of his talented students. A number of artworks will be available for purchase.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to view Abbeyfield’s en-suite rooms and casitas that are currently available for rent. The home is situated opposite the skateboard park on the Ajijic malecon, where there is ample parking. Light refreshments will be served.

Galeria Sol Mexicano

An opening reception for an exhibit featuring the work of Robina Nicol and Frank Howell will be held Friday, January 17, from 4-7 p.m. at Galeria Sol Mexicano (Colon 13, Ajijic).

Howell, a master ceramicist, will be showing new wall hangings and other ceramic pieces that feature his Raku finishes. Nicol, originally from the United Kingdom and more recently Canada, has now settled in Ajijic. She is a visionary artist who expresses her spiritual and healing transformations on to canvas. A self-taught visual artist, she paints in many mediums, often mixing them to achieve the effect she desires. Her work is infused with color and vibrancy. Don’t miss this exciting new art show, up until February 10.

Art openings

Two new art exhibits are scheduled to open Saturday, January 18, 4 p.m., at the Centro Cultural de Ajijic. Luis Enrique Martinez, a young artist who got his start in the Lake Chapala Society children’s art program and is now studying graphic design at the University of Guadalajara, will feature watercolors in a one-man show on the ground floor.  A collection of works by ten other local artists will be showcased on the upper level.

El Piano Rojo

Next weekend El Piano Rojo welcomes DeNita Asberry, a tour de force who is renowned for her amazing tributes to Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston and Tina Turner.

Born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, Asberry experienced her first standing ovation at the age of eight.  At 16 she joined her first professional band. While other kids were working at McDonald’s,  Asberry was honing her skills in nightclubs, private parties and festivals. At 19 she joined the national gospel touring company of the musicals “Momma Don’t” and “One by One.” She later joined the national touring company of Beehive, which took her to Las Vegas.

Asberry has performed all over the world and shared stages with a host of top entertainers, including Wayne Newton, Gladys Knight, The Righteous Brothers, Debbie Gibson, Rose Royce, The Doobie Brothers, Bad Company, Kid Creole and the Coconuts and more.

Her “Legends In Concert” show makes audiences remember why Aretha Franklin was the first lady inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Critics have described her tribute to Whitney Houston as “spellbinding” and “remarkable.”

Don’t miss this electrifying, energetic show at El Piano Rojo on either Friday, January 17, 8 p.m.; Saturday, January 18, 7 and 9 p.m. and Sunday, January 19, 6 p.m.

Call 376-766-2876 for reservations.  Piano Rojo is at Morelos 14, Ajijic.

Watercolor glazing

Lois Schroff, winner of Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) best of show award in the 2012 judged show and first in watercolor in the 2013 judged show, will teach a four-day workshop from February 18-21 at the Center for Creative Being (16 de Septiembre 53, Ajijic).

Schroff is president of the Lake Chapala Painting Guild and a signature member of the Virginia Watercolor Society.  She has studied extensively with nationally-known U.S. watercolorists, as well as in the Netherlands, where she discovered the technique of glazing as combined with the color theories of Goethe.

Schroff has written three books on watercolor glazing and produced a DVD.

The workshop costs 2,500 pesos and comprises four hours of tuition daily. To register email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-5606. A supply list will be provided upon registration.