Ribera Arts Review - November 23, 2019

Met Opera

The Chapala Opera Guild presents the Metropolitan Opera Live in HD transmission of Philip Glass’s “Akhnaten” Saturday, November 23, 11:55 a.m. in three Movie Space theaters, two with English subtitles and one with Spanish subtitles.

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Director Phelim McDermott tackles another one of Philip Glass’s modern masterpieces, with star countertenor Anthony Roth Costanzo as the revolutionary title ruler who transformed ancient Egypt. To match the opera’s hypnotic, ritualistic music, McDermott offers an arresting vision that includes a virtuosic company of acrobats and jugglers. Karen Kamensek conducts.

The stage production of Akhnaten contains some full-frontal nudity. Please note that the Live in HD transmission of the opera on November 23 will include some additional costuming elements, and there will be no nudity.

Season tickets are available at chapalaoperaguild.org and individual performance tickets are for sale at MovieSpace Cinemas box office. Future Met Live simulcasts are “Wozzeck” January 11; “Porgy and Bess” February 1; “Agrippina” February 29; “Der Fliegende Holländer” March 14; “Tosca” April 11 and “Maria Stuarda” May 9.

Email Howard Willis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details on how you can become a member of the Guild and support the continuation of Met HD Live opera transmissions to Ajijic.

Spotlight Club

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Showtime is 4 p.m. Bar opens at 3 p.m. Bare Stage Theatre is at Hidalgo 261 on the mountain side of the Carretera in Riberas del Pilar. (Please, no parking in the Baptist Church parking lot.) Also see Facebook/barestagetheatre2018." class="caption" width="303" height="378" style="float: right;" />

Kim Kazuma performs “Look at Me Now,” accompanied by Eduardo Leon on acoustic guitar, in a fundraiser for Niños Incapacitados, Tuesday, December 3. Two shows: 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. Tickets, 400 pesos regular, 500 pesos VIP.

Petite Fleur y La Mamba Negra play their “Pulp Fiction” concert Friday, December 6, 7 p.m. The band includes vocalist Petite Fleur, guitarist Georges Lopez, drummer Caloyero Hernandez, bassist Vic Romero and visual artist Omar Martinez Torres. Tickets cost 300 pesos.

Aunt and Uncle Jazz perform a special Christmas show, Thursday, December 12, 7 p.m. Tickets are 300 pesos.

Reservations: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 331-845-1523.

LLT Playhouse Series

“One Man, Two Guvnors” by Richard Bean and directed by Nichola Hytner is the first of the National Theatre Live productions to be screened in LLT’s Playhouse Series this season, Saturday and Sunday, November 23 and 24, 4 p.m.

This is a classic Italian comedy, where sex, food and money are high on the agenda. The show is based on Carlo Goldoni’s 18th-century Italian commedia dell’arte piece, “The Servant of Two Masters.” It’s pretty funny in its original form, but Bean has transformed it into a delirious English farce set in Brighton in 1963, creating scenes and dialogue that often leave the audience helpless with hilarity.

London papers give it rave reviews: “A triumph of visual and verbal comedy. One of the funniest productions in the National’s history” – The Guardian; “Slapstick, satire and gags galore: a classic comedy hilariously updated” – The Times; “An evening of riotous delight” – The Daily Telegraph.

Running time is three hours. Tickets, 250 pesos, are available (temporarily) by email only 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.. The box office opens every Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to noon, as of November 13.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. A cocktail will be served after the concert." class="caption" width="318" height="277" style="float: right;" />

Talent Shows

The Chapala Talent Show, a benefit for the School for Special Children, will hold performances Sundays at 7 p.m. on November 24, December 8 and 22 and January 12 and 26 at The Spotlight Club in San Antonio Tlayacapan. First prize is 25,000 pesos. A finale will be held February 16. For tickets or to enter contact  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Film Aficionados

Lake Chapala Society (LCS) members can take advantage of Film Aficionados screenings. Wednesday, November 27, 2 p.m. “Paper Moon,” (1973, United States) will be shown.

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may, or may not, be his daughter. The two form an unlikely partnership. Tatum O’Neal was the youngest Oscar winner (aged 10) for her role. (97 minutes.) LCS members only.

Community Orchestra

The Lake Chapala Community Orchestra’s performance on Sunday, December 1, 3 p.m. at the Lakeside Presbyterian Church is sold out. There are still some tickets available for the next day’s performance, Monday, December 2, 3 p.m.

This concert, Music for Art, is in association with the Ajijic Society of the Arts and pairs a diverse selection of orchestral music with works by local artists. The orchestra will perform pieces by Beethoven, Borodin and Tchaikovsky and local vocalist Abby Rivera will perform much loved songs including “Memory” and “The Look of Love.” In addition, the concert will feature the talented students of “Violines de Casa” coached by LCCO violinist Christopher Martin.

Tickets, 250 pesos (150 pesos for students), are available 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..

The orchestra is looking for a volunteer stage manager. Contact Director Michel Reason at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more information.

Los Cantantes del Lago

Los Cantantes del Lago choristers are working hard on the upcoming holiday concert “A Rose in Winter.” Wonderful music fills this concert, including pieces by John Rutter, Eric Whitacre, Craig Hella Johnson and Ola Gjeilo. This season’s concert features the Janus Quartet – which includes former Los Cantantes singer Areli Medeles.

The guest director for this concert, Ken Turner, comes to Lakeside from San Antonio, Texas, where he directed for many years what were considered to be among the finest high school choruses in the state. His program for “A Rose in Winter” is varied and has layers of the symbolism of roses from Aphrodite to the Virgin Mary, to the rose being a symbol of love and hope in today’s world.

Tickets, 250 pesos, are available at Diane Pearl, Mia’s Boutique, from any chorister or via 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..

Concerts are at the Auditorio de la Ribera, Tuesday, December 3, 7 p.m. and Wednesday, December 4, 4 p.m.

LLT main stage event

“The Real Inspector Hound” and “After Magritte,” both by Tom Stoppard, will premier December 6-15 at the Lakeside Little Theatre. Directed by Randy Warren, assisted by Suki O’Brien, these two plays should keep the audience in stiches.

“The Real Inspector Hound”: Feuding theater critics Moon and Birdboot, the first a fusty philanderer and the second a pompous and vindictive second stringer, are swept into the whodunit they are viewing. In the hilarious spoof of Agatha Christie-like melodramas that follows, the body under the sofa proves to be the missing first-string critic. As mists rise about isolated Muldoon Manor, Moon and Birdfoot become dangerously implicated in the lethal activities of an escaped madman. The cast is Brian Fuqua, Fred Koesling, JeanMarie Harmon, Mark Donaldson, Allyson DeJong, Louise Ritchie, Frank Lynch and Dave McIntosh.

“After Margritte”: Harris, his mother and his wife are a kooky trio. Enter the forceful inspector from Scotland Yard with his constable — which is strange, notes the wife, for she had ordered an ambulance. The officers proceed to place the three under arrest. It is not clear why; something about a parked car, a bunch of .22 caliber shells in the waste basket, and a robbery of the box office of a minstrel show. But Harris has an explanation: he had parked near an art gallery to let his mother see some paintings by Magritte in which her obsessional instrument, the tuba, figured grandly. But then it develops that there was no minstrel show at all, and the plot goes haywire. The cast is Mark Donaldson, Donna Burrohus, Stan Rawson, Beede Satterthwaite and Brian Fuqua.

The first Saturday and both Sundays are matinees, 4 p.m., and the evening shows begin at 7:30 p.m. Tickets, 300 pesos, are available at the LLT box office, 10 a.m. to noon, every day but Sunday and one hour before curtain. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-0954.

Bravo! Christmas

“Every Christmas Story Ever Told,” is Bravo! Theatre’s take on a Christmas play to end all Christmas plays.
The curtains rise daily, Monday December 9 through Sunday, December 15. Four shows are at 7:30 p.m. and the Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday shows are at 4 p.m.

Tickets, 300 pesos, are available at Diane Pearl, Mia’s Boutique or via 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..

Christmas Concert

The Kin Quartet, four young string musicians, perform a concert of classical Christmas music as well as fun traditional and Mexican songs, Saturday December 21, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, December 22, 4 p.m. at the Lakeside Little Theatre.  There will also be a special appearance by their teacher and coach, Christopher Wilshere.

Proceeds from these concerts will be shared with the Festival del Lago Academy. Tickets, 300 pesos, are available at the LLT box office, 10 a.m. to noon, every day but Sunday and one hour before curtain. Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call (376) 766-0954.

Centro Cultural

Friends of Centro Cultural de Ajijic needs you as a volunteer to protect the works on display. Call the Friends of Centro Cultural de Ajijic at 331-837-9466, 376-766-2373 for more information.