A Triumphant Freddie Mercury Return to The Palm
Opening Night(s) Week is behind us for the start of the 2026 Season. All I can say to that is, WHEW! We have a minute or two, like a couple of days to breathe and remember what it’s like to try and be in two places at once. After a four-and-a-half-month break, it is nothing short of exhilarating! From zero to sixty like that! Boom!
I have watched Roy Cruz perform at The Palm Cabaret as Freddie Mercury for five years now. He started with an incredible rock band from Guadalajara before COVID reared its ugly head and nearly brought the entertainment business to its knees here in Vallarta. The band eventually had commitments elsewhere, and so did Roy, as in marrying his lovely wife Karla and welcoming baby number one, Siena. Baby Number Two, a big strapping boy, joined his sister about six months ago, and that happy family is firmly ensconced in Vallarta.
Most singers go from singing to tracks, then progress to being accompanied by musicians onstage. Here was Roy doing the reverse.
I was anxious to see the start of THAT season a couple of years back thinking maybe it would be less of a great concert experience. I was dead wrong. Having Roy alone on the stage gave him the opportunity to cover the entire stage with three or four strides with the exaggerated flamboyance of the late, great Freddie Mercury. And it gives us in the audience a chance to devote our attention to Roy as he fills the whole space with his vast love for the Zanzibar native who became a legend before he died almost 35 years ago.
Roy’s dancers, Mery Zambrano, from Venezuela, Brayan Santana, and the remarkable Francisco (Paco) Guizar weave the music around Roy, the stage, and the audience like a mystic blanket. In the heartbreaking ballad, ‘Love of My Life’ that Freddie wrote in honor of Mary Austin in 1975, is one of the many highlights of Roy’s show.
I watched Mery, dressed in white, kneeling on the stage within touching distance of me, her face turned toward the spotlight across the room as Freddie and Paco reveal Freddie’s innate love of men. Mery has performed this number dozens of times, but the atmosphere of Opening Night after a four-month break, and the electricity in the air had her fighting for composure. Her jaw was tight as she fought back tears, and I don’t think she took a breath. As I watched her, I couldn’t see anything else. What control. What a night.
The pas de deux that follows with Paco and Brayan is an extraordinary piece of choreography. The two men fight, embrace, circle around one another, remain two separate beings, struggling to get away from each other, yet never breaking their grip. It is stunning work.
Tonight at The Palm at 5 pm is the returning Tribute to ABBA starring Ale Matus and Gina Ibarra, with live music provided by Daniel Celis and his Monaco band.