Local artists showing
The Ajijic Society of the Arts (ASA) presents a show on the Ajijic Plaza, Sunday, February 19, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Featured artists will include Janey Marquez, Kim Eatles, R. Johanna, Ted Shaw, Ardelle Holden and Ana Romo.
Tickets for ASA’s upcoming 6th Annual Open Studios Tour will be available for purchase during Sunday’s event for 50 pesos. The Studios Tour sees 50 plus artists showing at 20 locations on Saturday and Sunday, February 25 and 26, between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Tickets/maps are also available at Diane Pearl, Efren Gonzalez, El Gallo Gallery and the LCS Ticket Booth. Proceeds benefit the LCS Children’s Art Program. A shuttle bus will stop at studios from Ajijic to Riberas del Pilar.
Jewish film fest
The 8th annual Ajijic Jewish Film Festival continues Sunday, February 19, 11:30 a.m. with a screening of “Bottle in the Gaza Sea” (2011, France/Canada/Israel). A bottle thrown in the sea by a 17-year-old French Jewish immigrant in Jerusalem, and retrieved by a 20-year-old Palestinian youth in Gaza, begins an email correspondence that explores the current conflict while raising the hope of resolution on a small and personal scale.
Presented by the Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation, the festival features a film on each Sunday through the end of February at Cinemas del Lago in Plaza Bugambilias. All the films begin at 1:30 p.m.
The final showing is “My Mexican Shivah” (2007, Mexico), February 26.
Tickets are 60 pesos, available at the cinema. A portion of the proceeds will benefit Mision San Pablo.
Northern Lights
The Festival de Febrero (Northern Lights) continues with performances by top level Canadian and U.S. musicians, ranging from chamber orchestra concerts to more intimate recitals and jazz concerts almost daily through February 25.
Vancouver cellist Ariel Barnes will play Hayden’s Cello Concerto in C major with the full string section of the Northern Lights Festival Orchestra, Saturday February 18, 7:30 p.m. at Auditorio de la Ribera. The orchestra is under the baton of Bramwell Tovey, music director of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.
The Gryphon Trio and Patricia O’Callaghan bring an eclectic blend of music in their Moonshine Ballads and Other Charms concert Tuesday, February 21, 4 p.m. at the Auditorio. The closing night orchestra festival will feature pianist David Fung performing Mendelssohn’s Concerto #1 and accordion virtuoso Alexander Sevastian bringing Richard Galliano’s Accordian Concerto to the stage on the same night, Friday, February 24, 7:30 p.m.
Tickets for concerts at the auditorium are priced at 400 pesos for side seats and 500 pesos for center seats. The Salon Series recitals are held in some of the area’s finest homes. Premier Events are scheduled Monday, February 20, 4 p.m. at Casa Contenta 7 in Las Brisas (tickets 1,000 pesos); and Saturday, February 25, 6 p.m. at La Nueva Posada (800 pesos) when the offering will be hot jazz and dinner. Tickets are still available for all the concerts but they are no longer selling them at La Nueva Posada. They will be available for pickup at the box office at the Auditorio de la Ribera. Contact Maureen Welch This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 108-1407. For more information, see www.festivaldefebrero.com.
Showstoppers
Showstoppers 14 takes the stage Sunday, February 19, 4 p.m. at St Andrew’s Anglican Church. This is bi-annual fundraising concert presented by Los Cantantes del Lago is always a major crowd pleaser. This year features some new faces as well as guest musician Jimmy Barto in the mix. Barbara Pruitt is emcee and the inimitable Timothy G. Ruff Welch accompanies. Tickets, 200 pesos, are available at Diane Pearl, Mia’s Boutique, from any choir member or at www.loscantantesdellago.com.
JPO bus trips
Viva la Musica hosts bus trips to the Jalisco Philharmonic Orchestra concerts in February.
Sunday, February 19: “The Piper of Hamelin” with the Ballet de Jalisco. Sunday, February 26: Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique.” Thursday, March 2: Brahms’ Symphony #1 with the Percussion quartet; Sunday, March 12: Latin rhythms and Lalo symphony with A. Olivo solo violin: Thursday, March 16: Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” and a clarinet concerto; Sunday, March 26: Old Testament themes including Bernstein’s “10 Commandments,” “Nabucco Overture” and “Samson and Delilah.”
Bus tickets, 450 pesos (550 for non-Viva members), are available at the Lake Chapala Society on Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to noon.
Naked Stage
“Clever Little Lies” is the next production of The Naked Stage Readers Theatre, running Friday to Sunday, February 24-26. The cast of Fred Koesling, Maryanne Gibbard, Jennifer Wisniewski and Harry McFadden take on this play by Joe DiPietro and directed by Lila Wells.
A mother always knows when something is wrong. When Alice notices her beloved husband Bill has returned home on edge after a tennis match with their son, she grows suspicious and springs into action. Determined to piece together the puzzle, she invites her son Bill, Jr. and daughter-in-law Jane over for drinks and dessert. Comic chaos ensues as Alice digs for the truth, resulting in even more honesty than anyone expected.
Reservations are recommended 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.. Box office opens 3:15 p.m., show starts at 4 p.m. A cash bar is open from 3 p.m. with proceeds benefiting local animal shelters. The Naked Stage Theatre is located at Hidalgo 261 (on the Carretera) in Riberas del Pilar. Suggested donation is 100 pesos.
LCS films
Up next in the Lake Chapala Society’s continuing free Spanish-language film series is “Grandes Amigos” starring Robert Redford Friday, February 24, 7 p.m. at the Wilkes Biblioteca on Calle Galeana near the LCS campus. The screening is open to the public.
English-language films are also shown Thursdays at 2 p.m. to LCS members (bring your card). On February 23 the featured film is “Patterson” (2016, United States), about a bus driver from Patterson, N.J. who writes poems. According to one critic, it is the best film not nominated for an Academy Award last year.
Levi Kreis
Levi Kreis, known for originating the role of Jerry Lee Lewis in Broadway’s Tony-nominated musical “Million Dollar Quartet,” will give a concert at the Auditorio de la Ribera Saturday, February 25, 6 p.m. The role of the famous rock ’n’ roller won him the 2010 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical, a 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award, and a 2010 Drama League nomination.
Kreis began arranging music for the show and preparing the role in 2004. His performance demonstrates that even the nuttiest of comedic characters can have a human longing, a vulnerability that endears us to their struggle, a truth that offers us hope.
Tickets are available at Diane Pearl, Jose Melendrez or Wildes, or reserve at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Live from the Met
Viva La Musica sponsors Saturday bus trips to Teatro Diana in Guadalajara to view productions of Live from the Met. Operas screenings are February 25, “Rusalka” by Dvorak; March 11, “La Traviata” by Verdi; March 25, “Idomeneo” by Mozart. April 22, “Eugene Onegin” by Tchaikovsky, and May 13, “Der Rosencavalier” by R. Strauss.
Bus tickets, 400 pesos (500 for non-Viva members), are available at LCS on Thursdays and Fridays, 10 a.m. to noon.
Oldies but Goodies
Mac Morison puts on a show with Cindy Paul and Judy Hendrick of “Simply Standards,” Tuesday, March 14, 7 p.m. at Club Exotica on the Ajijic Plaza. The show also features excepts from LLT’s recent musical “Chicago,” sung by Alxis Hoff and Christine Molly.
The show is a fundraiser for Ajijic Cares, a program that educates local teens on sexually transmitted diseases and provides free testing for AIDS, HIV an other STDs.