If you’re looking for a rollicking good time to put you in a upbeat mood and relieve the winter blues, you won’t want to miss the terrific Lip Sync Six song and dance show, booked to run for four straight dates next week at the Auditorio de la Ribera. The event is programmed as a fundraiser to continue the auditorium renovation project.
For his third local foray into the lip sync show genre, director Michael McLaughlin has put together an eclectic repertoire of well-known tunes, featuring an all-star international cast of more than 50 performers.
Six lively dance numbers are listed among the 26 acts chosen to delight audiences with 90 minutes of fast-paced stage action. Great costumes, provided courtesy of Lakeside Little Theatre, and some amazing special effects will add glitz to a show that promises loads of fun and a touch of schmaltz.
Lori and Dave Truly and Flip Nicholson of Tallboys fame will open with a rendition of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Sally Dreesen, Jack Vanesko, Jon Seaborg and the Reporter’s Ajijic office manager Libby Townsend are set to appear as The Mamas and The Papas with their big 60’s hit “California Dreamin’.” Local businessman Noe Ortega is on to portray Ricky Martin “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” Canadians should get a kick out of Harriet and Paul Hart doing a tongue-in-cheek version of “Indian Love Call.”
As the show rolls on and on Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” will take aging hippies back to the Fillmore, Edith Piaf‘s classic “La Vie en Rose” will pull at listeners’ heartstrings and two hilarious tunes from the Monty Python musical “Spamalot” will tickle funny bones all around. All that and much, much more is on the bill.Performances are slated Tuesday through Thursday, January 7, 8 and 9, 7 p.m., closing with the Friday matinee, January 10, 4 p.m. Tickets for all dates are now on sale at Diane Pearl Colecciones, the Lake Chapala Society and the auditorium foyer box office. Premium cushioned seats in the center section are priced at 200 pesos, including a glass of wine or beer. Seating in the side sections go for 150 pesos, without the free drink.
Auditorium upgrade
The Pro-Auditorio committee was formed three years ago with the intention of improving the acoustics so that unamplified music could be heard properly by the audience. This project was spearheaded by John Keeling with technical expertise provided by retired architect Thom Weeks. They soon found that the lights, electrical installations and air-conditioning system all needed to be upgraded. The cost of the complete project was calculated at 4.5 million pesos.
With the help of Aurora Michel, the project was promoted at all levels of government and eventually a 3 million pesos purse was approved by the National Council for Culture and the Arts (Conaculta) with the stipulation that the local community put up one million. Pro-Auditorio conducted a series of fund-raising activities until the one million mark was achieved in April, 2012.
“Unfortunately, we couldn’t fit the entire four and a half million peso project into a three million peso contract” says John Keeling. “We had to omit a number of items, principally the air conditioning.”
The contract for the work was sent out for bids in September and construction started in December. The grand reopening was held mid-March, 2013. The Northern Lights Music Festival, held at the end of that month, demonstrated that the new acoustics are awesome. The performers did not need amplification to be heard perfectly in the back rows of the hall.
Overall, Weeks rates the project as a good value for the money as it would have cost ten times as much to do the same work up north. On the other hand, the contractor cut corners in some areas, such as in the quality of the stage curtains on the stage, and has yet to return to properly connect the new lights.
Keeling notes the proceeds from raised from Lip Sync Six will be used principally to reduce the racket of the air conditioning equipment with new sound-absorbing ducts employed as a replacement for noisy extraction fans.