The Naked Stage
“Lunch with Mrs. Baskin,” directed by Don Chaloner and featuring Russell Mack, Clay McAdam, MaryAnn Waite, Florette Schnelle, Phyllis Silverman and Dick Yanko, runs Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 30, 31 and January 1, at the Naked Stage Readers Theatre.
The Naked Stage is at Hidalgo 261 in Riberas del Pilar. Box office opens 3:15 p.m., show begins 4 p.m. A cash bar with proceeds benefiting local animal shelters opens at 3 p.m.
Also, The Naked Stage will hold auditions Wednesday, January 4 for “Clever Little Lies.” For more information, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Ajijic hosts free concert
Leontine, a pop-rock band from Mexico City, will appear for a free concert Friday, December 30, 7 p.m., at the esplanade outside the Centro Cultural Ajijic. Featuring singer/songwriter Helena Sánchez and percussionist Rodrigo Barbosa, the group has earned critical acclaim for its debut album “The Tide,” noted for the unique style of original compositions blending acoustic and electronic sounds.
Over the top
Christine Deaver — singer, dancer, actress and natural comedienne — will entertain at the Auditorio de la Ribera, Friday, January 6, 6 p.m. Deaver is best known as a lead actress for Seattle’s Teatro ZinZanni dinner theatre, where she has performed over 15 original daring, sensual and funny characters for 13 years. Make reservations at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
LCS Mariachi fest
The Lake Chapala Society (LCS) brings two top U.S.-based mariachi groups to its second Lakeside International Mariachi Fest Saturday, January 7. Grupo Bella is a Los Angeles-based, multi-faceted, all-female ensemble with roots in the mariachi genre, while Mariachi Estrellas de Chula Vista is San Diego’s premier mariachi.
Both groups will perform two sets on January 7, from 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m. on the Neill James Patio. Tickets are 200 pesos.
Ajijic Cultural Center
Two events will be held at the Centro Cultural Ajijic, Saturday, January 7.
Lake Chapala Painting Guild members invite everyone to their group show reception on the first floor of the center from 4 to 6 p.m. Refreshments are available. This show remains in place until January 20.
Meanwhile, on the second floor an opening reception for local artist Jesus Lopez Vega’s exhibit ‘’ATAVISMOS’’ will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. Live music and refreshments are offered. The exhibit is up through January 19.
They’re back!
Ajijic’s favorite band, The Tall Boys, will play at El Bar-Co Saturday, January 7. For tickets call 766-0452.
‘Threepenny Opera’
Lakeside Little Theatre, in affiliation with London’s National Theatre, will present National Theatre Live’s HD screening of its live production “The Threepenny Opera” by Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill, in collaboration with Elisabeth Hauptmann, in a new adaptation by Simon Stephens. The two-hour, 40-minute show (including intermission) screens Saturday, January 7, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 8, 3 p.m.
As London’s East End scrubs up for the coronation, Mr. and Mrs. Peachum gear up for a bumper day in the beggary business, keeping tight control of the city’s underground – and their daughter’s whereabouts.
Starring Olivier Award-winner Rory Kinnear, Rosalie Craig (As You Like It) and Haydn Gwynne.
The International New York Times said of it: “Canny, foul-mouthed and deeply modern. It soars.”
The LLT box office is open 10 a.m. to noon, Wednesday and Thursday and one hour before each show. Call 766-0954 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Viva opera trips
Viva la Musica offers seven bus trips to the Teatro Diana next year to see Live from the Met Opera presentations.
The first opera is “Nabucco” by Verdi, featuring Placido Domingo, Saturday, January 7. Other presentations (all on Saturdays) are: “Romeo and Juliet” by Gounod, January 21; “Rusalka” by Dvorak, February 25; “La Traviata” by Verdi, March 11; “Idomeneo” by Mozart, March 25; “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky, April 22 and “Der Rosencavalier” by R. Strauss, May 13.
Bus tickets, 400 pesos (500 for non-Viva members), are available at LCS on Thursdays and Fridays, from 10 a.m. to noon.
Jazz Greats
Guido Basso, Canada’s acclaimed trumpet and flugelhorn artist, returns to lakeside for an exciting follow-up to the Jazz Greats concerts that wowed local audiences back in 2014.
Performances scheduled for Saturday, January 14, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, January 15, 2:30 p.m. at the Auditorio de la Ribera will also feature vocalist Heather Bambrick and a back-up band of talented musicians. Different programs have been arranged for each date.
Admission is set at 450 pesos for center seats, 350 pesos for side seating. For ticket purchase information contact Dawn McGinnis, at 766-2030, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Proceeds from both events will go to the Niños Incapacitados, a non-profit, all volunteer organization that helps low-income Mexican families pay for ongoing and/or major medical expenses for their children with disabling or life-threatening illnesses. Go to programaninos.org for more information.
Bravo! Theatre
Have you ever had a vacation where everything that could go wrong did and everything you expected to happen didn’t?
On January 15, Bravo! Theatre presents “Mr. & Miss Adventure,” a hilarious comedy about a vacation gone awry. Written and performed by Canadian guest artist and seasoned actor Catherine Clarkson, this true story/one-act standup show will have you laughing from beginning to end and leave you wondering how such a series of unfortunate events could possibly occur in just one week.
One performance only: Sunday, January 15, 4 p.m. Tickets, 100 pesos, can be reserved at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Viva party
Viva la Musica will hold a membership renewal party Sunday, January 15 at the home of Tony and Roseann Wilshere in Ajijic. Viva’s annual general meeting is at 3 p.m., the party begins at 4 p.m. and a concert by Juan Pablo Medeles on violin and Rodrigo Leal on piano will take place at 4:30 p.m.
Champagne and finger food are free with 2017 Viva membership. All Viva members are welcome. The cost for guests is 100 pesos.
Pre-Hispanic replicas
Chapala’s Centro Cultural Antigua Presidencia is featuring “Culturas de Occidente,” a display of reproductions of pre-Hispanic ceramic figures typical to Jalisco, Nayarit, Colima and Michoacan. The collection comprises 43 pieces showcasing the talents of master craftsmen Carlos Torres Chávez from Chapala and Carlos Vázquez Mendoza from San Juan Huetamo, Michoacán. The show at the former town hall building continues through mid-January.
Singers wanted
The Lake Chapala Chorale is issuing an open invitation to local singers to audition for a chance to join the already highly successful vocal ensemble. No need to read music, according to director Cindy Paul, since all the parts are online for comfy home study. Auditionees are welcome to come before any rehearsal between 2:15 and 2:45 p.m. on Fridays at the Little Chapel, just east of the Chula Vista Golf Club on the highway. Why not start the new year singing?
‘Mr. Green’ reprise
In January, The Bravo! Theatre will reprise “Visiting Mr. Green,” directed by Jayme Littlejohn and starring Roger Larson and Ken Yakiwchuk. This is an endearing play about the unlikely friendship between an old Jewish man and a young Jewish man – each with a secret.
“The most outstanding, performance this season Lakeside has to have been Roger Larson,” wrote Jim Cooper in his review of the play by Jeff Baron published in this newspaper last April. “His portrayal of an embittered, 86-year-old Jewish widower was a wonder to behold. From the moment he shuffled on stage to answer the front-door knock that opens the play he didn’t miss a beat. Every nuance, every tiny shake of his elderly hands were all in character … True, honest unsentimental acting of this caliber is usually only encountered in New York, LA or Toronto but here in a role that reveals his true abilities as a performer we have Roger Larson creating a character and performance for us that goes beyond and into the world of the consummate professional.”
Show dates are January 21, 27 and 28, at 7:30 p.m., and January 22, 29 and 30, at 4 p.m. Tickets, 250 pesos, available at Diane Pearl Colecciones, Mia’s Boutique or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Stepping Out
Friday, December 30:
The Iron Horse in Riberas del Pilar features Asuntos Varios singing their variety of cumbia, reggae and rock from 9 p.m. Los Morales plays La Bodega from 8 p.m. Jimmy Barto and Paco Casas entertain at Manix Restaurant 7 to 9 p.m. Reservations: 766-0061. Dance to Barba Canelo y Los Piratas at El Camaleon on Constitucion, one block from Colon, from 8:30 p.m. to midnight.
Saturday, December 31:
La Bodega’s New Year’s fiesta features dining and dancing to Ricardo & Blanca. 790 pesos. Reservations: 766-1002.
El Bar-Co celebrates the new year with Mike and the Suspects starting 9:30 p.m. 100 pesos.
La Mesa Restaurant offers dining and dancing to Dynamo from 9:30 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. 750 pesos per person. Reservations: 766-2948.
La Mision features music by Victor and Ignacio from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and Latino Lounge Trio until closing. Reservations: (376) 108-0887.
Manix Restaurant’s New Year’s bash will host Jimmy Barto and Co. The gala dinner and dance goes from 8:30 p.m. to to 1 a.m. 900 pesos (drinks and tips not included). Reservations: 766-0061.
The Iron Horse is throwing an ‘80’s themed costume party with live music from Psychostasia (and a DJ). 50-peso cover charge.
The Cadaveico Rock & Blues Band from Guadalajara will play the Avocado Club’s New Year’s Eve party 9 p.m. to midnight with a great view and heated patio. 500 pesos. Reservations: (331) 858-9617,
The Raquet Club holds its Fiesta de Año Nuevo 8 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. featuring music by Sol y Luna. Get dinner tickets at the club office Friday and Saturday 9 to 5 p.m.
Sunday, January 1:
The Jazz Duet will play at Ocampo 71 in Ajijic from 7 p.m.
New face at Little Theatre
Dennis McCary is the new Director of Development for Lakeside Little Theatre. In addition to being an avid theatre-goer, LLT volunteer, actor and Lakeside resident, McCary is a retired attorney. He will initially take on the task of developing a charitable giving and legacy program to facilitate contributions and bequests to the theater. He will also work on setting up the necessary legal structures to allow for charitable contributions to be tax deductible to the extent allowed by law. If you are interested in sponsorship, contact Dennis or any member of the board at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..