Author: Marcia Blondin

The First Annual Puppy Love Pet Parade took place yesterday at Parque Lazaro Cardenas. Thanks go to organizer Jeff Wilkie, a load of volunteers, sponsors, and to all the moms and dads of the critters that took part, take a bow(wow). On Sunday, February 15, the upstairs stage at Nacho Daddy becomes the setting for…

Between Mr Vallarta’s 12 contestants and the Gay Mixer at Studs, and my two lovely dates for the Botanical Garden for lunch yesterday, I am properly sated for now. A young, coffee-colored Cuban, Ricardo, won the ‘Most Popular/People’s Choice’ vote at Round One of the Fourth Annual Mr Vallarta contest that took place Monday at…

Robert Ryan was born in Rhode Island a while back, and Mary Porter in North Carolina, also some time ago. Their biggest connection to one another is singing professionally back in their day, but enjoying themselves more now, doing just that in the second half of their lives. They met here in Puerto Vallarta, and…

So, if you don’t play Scrabble for 11 weeks in a row, what do you get? A blockbuster, that’s what. Instead of playing Scrabble, Sharon Gerber Scherer, devoted all her waking hours to producing a Broadway Musical on the Main Stage at Act2PV. For 11 weeks. An unheard of amount of rehearsal time! Other producers…

It is so lovely to be (semi-) retired; it has been six weeks since the last issue of Vallarta Mirror was published. Perhaps this month – February is pivotal in Vallarta – someone will come forward with the drive, energy, and resources to make a PV Mirror comeback. There have been a couple of nibbles;…

At 12:30 sharp today, we begin our Scrabble Tournament, the first one of the year. January’s tourney drew no takers, so we just played regular games. A full report tomorrow of who was left standing when the dust settles! And then straight to bingo at Nacho Daddy and from there to Coco Cabaret for Brian…

Fuchsia was Yvonne Kalman’s favorite color, so when invitations to her Celebration of Life dinner were sent out, it was requested that attendees wear pink, white, or a combination of the two. Casa Yvonneka, high above the city, became a gigantic bougainvillea for the evening. Enormous photographs of Yvonne in pink-glittered frames lined the entrance…

The year-long wait for Jordon Carnegie‘s return to The Palm Cabaret in ”Hedwig and the Angry Inch’‘ is over. A packed house – overpacked, actually – embraced the entire production crew in an emotional hug that would not let go. A thunderous standing ovation, two of them, in fact, as the audience tried to convey…

I wasn’t sure who the dreamboys in question were: the dancers from Kim LaRue’s Follies or the singers Seth Sikes, Nicolas King, and Sargento Dan. The answer is: yes! all of the above. I caught the middle of the three ”Dreamboys” shows on the calendar for The Palm Cabaret. The last one is on Wednesday,…

Luna Rumba Productions brought together two of Banderas Bay’s finest musicians a couple of nights ago at Casita & Garden, and the concert sold out immediately after the announcement. Geo Uhrich, on violin, and Eduardo ”Lalo” Leon, guitarist, were mesmerizing, stirring deeply embedded emotions in all of us, yearnings for a primitive gypsy, nomadic life.…

I had the best morning yesterday at the International Friendship Club’s Home Tour. I know, I know, what took me so long, and I am sorry it did; however, I am grateful to the IFC for the opportunity to poke my head into four spectacular residences. I took so many pictures! And, bonus, I knew…

I always wonder, when I listen to BIG voices, how they would sound singing a lullaby. Most of them don’t bother, preferring to steamroll over the audience with power, often hiding behind the sheer force of it all, and lots of people applaud it. Ava Nicole’s second song at her Palm Cabaret debut was the…

With Kevin Anthony as host for the fourth year running, ”Stars with a Heart” kicked off yesterday afternoon at Teatro Vallarta with a short movie about the Vallarta School for Girls. This fundraiser, put together again by Mary Porter, from North Carolina, snagged virtually every entertainer in Vallarta who wasn’t already singing on another stage.…

The Wonderland Gala is over. All in all, it was a smashing success. The interior of Oscar’s Restaurant on the Island was decorated with huge playing cards hanging from the roof beams, and small vases with red roses dotted the tables with clever centerpieces created from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. There were a couple…

Our Lady of Guadalupe filled up after Mass last night for a fundraising concert for the Church led by David Boz, a Victoria, Canada trumpeter. David has been putting together these free classical concerts annually for over a dozen years. A difficult task from an organizational standpoint – different countries, languages, and conflicting schedules. David…

The Broadway Boys debuted at Coco Cabaret on Monday, and if you missed them, run to get tickets for their show tomorrow at 5 pm. These four tremendous singers have all been in Broadway shows and share some of their stories with the audience. This quartet is part of the Broadway Boys collective (30 of…

This tall, majestic 61-year-old wife and mother is used to big crowds seeing her perform in such productions as Chicago and Pippin. And here she was onstage at The Palm with her Musical Director, Mark Hartman, on piano, Hamlet CV on percussion, and Jared Garcia on bass guitar. Doing a cabaret show that was intimate…

The staff – more like the family that comprises La Catrina Cantina – gathered their friends and customers together to their collective heart to say goodbye to their bartender, Manuel Betancourt. Last Friday, La Catrina Cantina was filled to overflowing with tearful guests and friends who wanted to pay their respects to a young man…

Trovasi again for breakfast? And why not! Delicious food, an interesting location, excellent wait staff, a charming owner, and new friends with expansive ideas and fresh outlooks; a lovely way to start the day. New residents like Berl and Caleb can spot missing pieces because most of us who live smack in the middle of…

One of my favorite shows of all time returns today at 5 pm at Coco Cabaret. I have seen the real-life brothers Dahl from Ontario perform their international tribute to the Blues Brothers whenever they have been in Vallarta, and I am so looking forward to seeing it again. One time, when they were performing…