VIVA!
There will be champagne and hors d’oeuvres and a piano recital featuring pianist Rodrigo Leal playing works by Bach and Mozart. The party is free for members and you can take a guest for 100 pesos.
The event will be held at the home of Roseann and Tony Wilshere, Nicolas Bravo 35 on the lakefront in Ajijic. Park on one of the side streets near the Lake Chapala Society.
For more information contact Rosemary Keeling at 766-1801.
Garden show
The Ajijic Society of the Arts will hold its garden show on the Ajijic Plaza on Sunday, January 20, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Featured artists will be Julie Hensley, Benjamine, Janey Marquez, Gay Westmoreland, Mini Gula, Gwynne Lott and John McWilliams.
Dance party
Dust off your white buck loafers, peggers and poodle skirts. It’s time for the Doo Wops Dance Party on Tuesday, January 22 at La Bodega Restaurant (16 de Septiembre 124, Ajiijc), with the music starting at 7:30 p.m. Relive the songs from the American Bandstand of the 1950s and 60s. Make reservations at (376) 766-1002.
Gin Game returns
“The Gin Game,” a Pulitzer Prize winning play by D.L. Coburn, is making an appearance at lakeside many years after first being performed at Lakeside Little Theatre.
My, My, How Nice! Productions has brought in Gary Martinez, a professional actor from California, to play the crusty Weller Martin. Local actor Jayme Littlejohn is taking on the role of Fonsia Forsey.
As a member of the Actors’ Equity Association for more than 38 years, Martinez has worked with the likes of Guthrie Theater, the California, Marin, and San Francisco Shakespeare Companies, City Lights Theater, Sacramento Theater Company, San Jose Stage and TheatreWorks.
The production opens at Plaza de la Ribera (formerly Sol y Luna) on Thursday, January 31, 7:30 p.m. Subsequent shows will be on Friday, February 1, 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, February 2, 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, February 3, 3 p.m.
Tickets are 200 pesos and are available at Diane Pearl Colecciones and Mia’s Boutique or by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Naked
The Naked Stage Minimalist Theatre opens its production of “The Exonerated” by Jessica Blank and Erik Jensen on Thursday, January 25, 4 p.m.
This is a powerful, true story about six people convicted of capital crimes in the United States. They all spent years on death row before being exonerated. It’s well known for eliciting an intense emotional level from the audience.
The director is Lynn Phelan and the cast includes Ron Knight, Dick Yanko, Greg Clarke, Russell Mack, Don Chaloner, Patteye Simpson, Allen McGill, Roseann Wilshere, Graham Miller and Betty Lloyd Robinson.
The Naked Stage is located at Rio Bravo 10A in west Ajijic. behind Daniel’s Restaurant (open for lunch and dinner). A no-host bar will be available. Make reservations at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (376) 765-3262.
Auditions update
Please note the corrected audition date for the Naked Stage’s production of “Beyond Therapy” is Thursday January 31, 11 a.m. at the theater (Rio Bravo 10, west Ajijic). The director for this reading will be Robin Lawrason.
This play is about therapists who get everything confused. For more information contact Lawrason at 766-3070 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
Painting workshop
Ratindra Das, the internationally-known watercolor teacher, is returning to Ajijic to conduct a workshop entitled An Eye for Design at the Efren Gonzalez Gallery from February 11 through 14. Each of the four days begins at 9 a.m. and ends at 4 p.m. Classes will be given both in studio and on location.
Das is a signature member of the American Watercolor Society, the National Watercolor Society and six other U.S. watercolor societies.
“In most cases my paintings hardly resemble reality,” he says. “They exaggerate, lie, add, delete, change.”
The visit is being sponsored by the Lake Chapala Painting Guild. Gonzalez is courteously allowing the use of his gallery at Marcos Castellanos 7 in Ajijic for the classes. Although the demonstrations will be in watercolor, instruction will also be valuable for acrylic painters.
The cost of the workshop is 2,500 pesos. A non-refundable registration fee of 1,000 pesos will hold a space. The balance is due on the first day of class. A supply list provided with registration.
To register, contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or (376) 766- 5606. For more information see www.RatindraDas.net.
Shutterbugs
The American Legion Auxiliary #7 in Chapala is inviting all local photographers to participate in their First Annual Shutterbug Contest. They are looking for local Lakeside land and lake scape photos for their 2014 calendar.
The deadline for submissions is March 5. They must be printed at 4” by 6” with a limit of five per contestant. Put contact information on the back of each photo. Winners must be able to provide a digital image in 300 dpi. The Auxiliary retains usage rights for the first image of the photo published. Winning images can not be published locally until 2015.
Winning photographers will receive a gift certificate for a meal at the Legion, his or her photo in the 2014 calendar with photo credit and contact info, a free copy of the 2014 calendar for each photo they have chosen for the calendar.
Winners will be announced at the special event set for Thursday, March 14. Deliver entries to American Legion Post 7 at Morelos 114 in Chapala. The telephone number is (376) 765-2259.
Show some passion!
There is still time for your piece of fiction to be part of the next Storytellers performance coming up in February. These popular events feature original stories read on-stage by their authors or a well-known Lakeside performer. This show’s topic is “Love and Lust.” New submissions are welcome. Stories can be as long as 2,500 words.
Storytellers events raise money for the Jim Collums Education Fund. They showcase the works of talented Lakeside writers while helping local kids afford to stay in school. Got a good story on the love-and-lust topic? Get in touch with Larry Reeves at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..