Author: Marcia Blondin

In the past ten years, I have been to some epic parties with off-the-chart shenanigans like recreating scenes in a pop-up of Night of the Iguana, complete with a bus, or a dinosaur-sized alebrije jostling dancers for space during a street party, or the time 700 people showed up over three hours to see what…

Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody. I hope romance is in your life if that’s what you want; I envy those with time for it. I have a love story to tell that keeps getting hung up on the same issues, and I don’t know how to fix it and make it come out ‘happily ever after’…

What a fun-filled day yesterday! I won three out of four games at Scrabble. Incidentally, our Club needs more boards, preferably turntable ones; if you can help us, we would be grateful. From Qulture, I flew down to Nacho Daddy for Colina Spay and Neuter Clinic bingo and won one game. Ball caller Lydia Damato…

Dreamer of Dreams opened Sunday night at Coco Cabaret and stars America’s Got Talent Brian Justin Crum and a couple of fine aerialists, Woody Fox and Raul Valle. Now 38 and a decade away from competing on AGT, where he finished in 4th place, he had us riveted by his powerful voice. I felt his…

Describing Zoe Lewis in concert is the same as writing down exactly how butterflies fly and fish swim and getting the mechanics of it just right. She flits about onstage, landing here and there on a light or heavy piece of subject matter and deals with them equally – an election result that makes her…

A week today is St. Valentine’s Day! Chocolate is celebrated here in its country of origin, and what better way to take the herbal tinctures you need than to eat infused chocolates! Dark, rich and healthy chocolates that are handmade by Ricardo Mazcal, our local wizard of plant medicine. I use a number of Ricardo’s…

The Third Annual Mr. Vallarta kicked off yesterday at Coco Cabaret with 11 hopefuls onstage and an appreciative audience. Vallarta’s only ‘beauty’ pageant dealt with just that: How do you look in jeans and a button-down shirt? Round Two: just the jeans and everyone’s favorite part, Round Three, a mere speedo. A vast amount of…

I walked all the way to Paso Guayabo yesterday afternoon to see the Hall & Oates Tribute show at Rancho Santiago. The #04 bus was ahead of me on the other side of the river just as I passed Hueco Colectivo. I crossed the bridge, figuring I would take a taxi that are always in…

The First Saturday Fiesta at Arte Vallarta Museo was packed as it usually is, with people listening to live music, drinking wine, and eating freshly made tacos with all the trimmings. A wonderful new exhibit called “Line + Color” by artist David Jones was officially opened and will remain displayed at the gallery until early…

Less than two years ago, Mark Robert Rome, Entertainment Director at The Palm Cabaret and Bar, suggested I see Chris Lopez’s Sam Smith Tribute. I said, “Who is Sam Smith?” He replied, “Exactly what I said to Chris when he suggested he wanted to do a tribute.” To that point, I knew Chris Lopez primarily…

One more person could not have been squeezed into Chachalaca Bar on Pier Street for Jerry Jones’s Gay Mixer last night. The overflow spread outside, creating tons of photo ops for Out & About magazine photographer Oscar Almeida. Jerry Jones was not there for hugs; he was missed! I also stopped in to see painter…

It’s impossible that a full month of the new year is nearly over or will be tomorrow. The first thing out of my mouth when I bump into snowbirds on the street these days after welcome back, is Happy New Year. Nobody wants to hear it anymore. It was a MONTH ago, for god’s sake,…

I finally had time to go early to Paso Guayabo to catch a bit of my friend Kurt Sinner, singer and frontman for Perros del Rio band at Rancho Santiago. They sounded good and are happy to be playing together again every Tuesday at 3 pm. There is no cover, so go, play in the…

The best way to describe the Leading Ladies concert last night at Nacho Daddy is to start at the finale and work backward to the beginning of this joyous collaboration of three singers and a musical director. Gouda Gabor hosted the show and teamed with Broadway star Nicolas King, with Maestro David Maiocco (legendary Liberace…

The Electric Light Orchestra appeared once again on Coco Cabaret’s stage with little lead time to get the word out, but the audience there was thrilled! ELO was one of hundreds of new bands 50 years ago struggling to become known, and, while nearly every song played during this great tribute show was recognizable, everyone…

What a glorious night at Oscar’s on the Isla to celebrate another year of work done in the city by the Vallarta Garden Club. Dozens of raffle prizes and silent auction items were donated; I will let you know how much money was raised by this vibrant group when the dust settles. The volunteers deserve…

Keenan Steiner and I spent a couple of hours in the sun drinking mango smoothies and catching up on post-COVID goings-on in his life. And laughing. It is what he does: make people laugh. Or tries. When he moved to Mexico City a couple of years ago, and set up stand-up shop in a place…

Tribute Tuesday, upriver in Paso Guayabo, starred ABBA and all their greatest hits. Canadians Amberley Beatty and Kara Promise, each one an international touring tribute artist star, joined together for the first time here in Mexico with this ABBA show. The vocals were pure, fun, and joyous. It was impossible to sit still with the…

I wandered into the Gay+Community Center on Morelos in advance of their Open House and landed a private tour led by fundraiser wunderkind Matt Karimi. The Community Center started a year ago, with a small area, then Vallarta CoWork moved out, and the CC spread their wings and assumed the space. With some anticipated renovation,…

Last weekend was rich with diverse musical genres, from Cabaret to Bach Cantatas and back to Cabaret. But first, a Grand Opening of a new shop in a section of Vallarta undergoing a rebirth at Los Mercados. Tashara Smith Santana cut the ribbon at the front door of Usawa with her husband on one side,…