Spain/Mexico & art
The first annual Ibero-American Art Encounter: Mexico-Spain is up at the Centro Cultural Gonzalez Gallo in Chapala.
The Spanish artists include Isabel Monfort, Maria Esther Florez, Pilar Xercavins, Joaquin Falco, Damace David and Gamar Jose Garcia Martinez. From Mexico are Veronica Jimenez, Jose Luis Malo, Carlos Alberto Sanchez, Victor Mora, Enrique Chiu and Javier Malo. The Mexican curator of the touring show is Martin Andrade and the Spanish curator is Gorgonio Sanjuan.
Cabaret
The Spotlight Club continues its grand opening shows featuring songstress and comedian extraordinaire Christine Deaver, Fridays, August 17 and 24, 7 p.m. and Wednesday, August 22. Appropriately titled “In The Spotlight,” Deaver’s show is a true cabaret experience. This is her fourth visit to Ajijic in as many years. Tickets are available at Diane Pearl, Wild’s and The Spotlight. Group reservations 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..
Festival del Lago concerts
The Festival del Lago music school continues with two more one-hour “Master Series” concerts at the Auditorio de la Ribera, featuring the faculty members of the festival, who are some of the most acclaimed classical musicians in the world.
Saturday, August 18, the Harp Quartet performs works by Beethoven and Friday, August 24, the Dvorak Piano Quintet featuring Mark Fewer, Aaron Schwebel, Jamie Parker, Jacob Shaw and Juan Miguel Hernandez will wrap up the series concerts. All concerts start at 8 p.m.
All ticket sales go toward scholarships for Mexican students for the following year. Master Series concert tickets (300 pesos general public and 100 pesos for anyone under 20) can be purchased through Maureen Welch, (376) 766-4784, or 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.. They will also be available at the door.
There will also be evening student recitals and masterclasses held at the beautiful Haus Der Musik at Constitucion 112, Ajijic. All performances are at 8 p.m. Tickets for these performances on August 19, 20, 22, 23 and 25 are 100 pesos and offered at the door.
Big Band dancing
Dance to the sound of Big Band Rafael Terriquez, a lakeside group of 18 musicians – Mexicans and expats – who bring a big band style sound to the Chapala area, Saturday, August 18, 7 p.m., at The Spotlight Club in San Antonio Tlayacapan. Tickets, 350 pesos, at Diane Pearl or via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., 331-845-1523.
Cortazar celebration
Sixteen artists celebrate the life of Argentine novelist and short-story writer Julio Cortazar at the Centro Cultural Ajijic. Cortazar combined existential questioning with experimental writing techniques in his works. Cortazar’s masterpiece, “Rayuela” (1963; Hopscotch), is an open-ended novel, or antinovel; the reader is invited to rearrange the different parts of the novel according to a plan prescribed by the author. It was the first of the boom of Latin American novels of the 1960s to gain international attention. The inauguration of “Historias de Cronopios” is Saturday, August 18, 7 p.m., and the works are up through August 30.
Eclectic sounds
AryaTara brings back its unique musical style to the Centro Cultural Ajijic, Saturday, August 18, 6 p.m. Tickets, 100 pesos in advance and 120 pesos at the door, are available at the center.
Theater at LCS
Potter Productions presents a staged reading of “The Sisters Rosensweig,” written by Wendy Wasserstein and directed by Rosann Balbontin. The cast features Don Beaudreault, Barbara Pruitt, Sharon Lowry, Anne Drake, Maryanne Gibbard and Ed Tasca.
The play focuses on three Jewish-American sisters and their lives. It broke theatrical ground in 1992 by concentrating on a non-traditional cast of three middle-aged women. Wasserstein received the William Inge Award for Distinguished Achievement in American Theatre for this play.
The final show is Sunday August 19, 4 p.m., at the Lake Chapala Society. Doors open at 3 p.m. Use the side entrance (same as for Open Circle). Admission is 100 pesos. Liquid refreshments and snacks are available. E-mail reservation requests to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and include your preferred date and number in your party.
LLT season tickets
Lakeside Little Theatre (LLT) season tickets go on sale August 22 and 23 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the theater. These tickets include reserved seats for all six shows.
The plays are “Clever Little Lies” September 14-23; “Proof” October 19-28; “Noises Off” November 30-December 9; “Ghosts” January 11-20; “The Same Deep Water As Me” February 15-24 and “Sweet Charity” March 22-April 2.
Film Aficionados
Lake Chapala Society members can take advantage of Film Aficionados screenings each Thursday, 2 p.m. On August 23, “Nineteen Forty Five” (2017, Hungary) will be shown. Two mysterious strangers dressed in black appear at the railway station of a Hungarian village in August of 1945. Secrets, sins, betrayal; everything changes (84 minutes).
Naked Stage
The Naked Stage Readers’ Theatre will present two one-act plays Friday to Sunday, August 24-26. Johan Dirkes, Fred Koesling and Jayme Littlejohn appear in “The Proposal” by Anton Chekhov, directed by Randy Warren; while Johanna Labadie and Ken Yakiwchuk appear in “The Exquisite Hour” by Stewart Lemoine, directed by Jean Llewellyn.
“The Proposal” is a comedy about two people trying to become engaged to marry one another if only they could for a moment not be at each other’s throat. “The Exquisite Hour,” set in the 1960s, features bachelor, Zachary Teale, who, while enjoying an evening drink, has his peace interrupted by the entrance of a mysterious woman who begins to question his general knowledge and reveals that she is there to sell him a set of encyclopedias.
Tickets are 100 pesos. Reservations are by email 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 Naked Stage is on the Carretera in Riberas, across from the Catholic church and in front of the Baptist church. Parking available in the lot of the Baptist church.
Curtain rises 4 p.m. Box office and bar open at 3 p.m.
CCA anniversary
The Centro Cultural Ajijic celebrates its 13th anniversary Friday to Sunday, August 24-26. An expo and sale of crafts, herbs and independent design will be open each day from 10 a.m. through the evening hours.
Friday, from 7 p.m., three bands play: Charales K (ska-reggae), MandLaguna (reggae) and The Waynes (rock). On Saturday, an aerial dance exhibition begins on the esplanade at 5 p.m., followed by Duo Quetzal at 6 p.m., puppet show La Cucaracha Titeres at 7:30 p.m. and the Boppin’ Royals (rockabilly) at 8:30 p.m. Sunday sees Danzon Ajijic take the floor at 6:30 p.m. and the Ballet Folclorico Jocotepec at 7:30 p.m.
Auditions
Lakeside Little Theatre will hold auditions for “Proof” August 24 and 25. Needed are one man who can present as age 50-60, one man and two women who can present as 20-39. For scripts and 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.. LLT encourages everyone interested in acting, new or experienced, to attend auditions.
Western wear recommended
The Ol’ Country Boys are back at the Spotlight Club in San Antonio Saturday, August 25, 8 p.m.
Piano & guitar recital
Enjoy a recital by Duo Quetzal, Eddie Lara on guitar and Sofia Ramirez on piano, at the Centro Cultural Ajijic ,Saturday, August 25, 6 p.m. They will perform works by Debussy, Rodrigo, Coste, Grieg, Ponce and Arnold. Tickets 100 pesos (120 pesos on the day of the event) are available at the CCA.
Live theater on screen
Lakeside Little Theatre presents “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time,” an HD recording of the live production at the National Theatre in London, Saturday, August 25, and Sunday, August 26, 4 p.m., this critically acclaimed production directed by Marianne Elliot (“Angels in America,” “War Horse”) has astonished audiences around the world and received seven Olivier and five Tony Awards. Tickets, 250 pesos, are available Wednesday and Thursday, 10 a.m. to noon, at the LLT box office or one hour before curtain.
Mariachi Festival bus trip
LCS will take a bus to the 22nd annual International Mariachi Festival, Thursday, August 30, when a free concert will be held at the Forum Mall in Tlaquepaque. The bus leaves the sculpture at La Floresta at 4 p.m. Tickets are 370 pesos for LCS members and 470 pesos for non-members.
Fall Viva bus trips
Viva plans three “Live at the Met” bus trips to see opera on the big screen at Teatro Diana Saturdays in Guadalajara. October 13: “Aida” by Verdi; November 3: “Samson and Delilah” by Saint Saens; and December 15: “La Traviata” (The Fallen Woman) by Verdi. Tickets, 450 pesos for members, 550 pesos non-members, are available at the LCS ticket area, Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to noon or by calling (376) 766-1801.