Raising Money for Vallarta’s Street Dogs
Casa Yvonneka was resplendent with over a hundred people gathered on its multi-levels of luxury to raise money for Vallarta’s street dogs. Yvonne Kalman, dueña of the casa, in black sequins and Frida Kahlo-like hair accessory, held court, smiling and welcoming her guests to the 9th annual Frida Fiesta overlooking the city. Cocktails began the evening while people mingled and nibbled on giant shrimp, everyone dressed beautifully, posing for photos and catching up with old friends and easily acquiring new-found ones.
The silent auction items were well-organized and laid out in their own space, and plenty of help was available to explain the many items of value and beauty. The donations of live auction items included stays at some of Banderas Bays’ most luxurious and expensive resorts, like The St. Regis Punta Mita Resort and Four Seasons Hotels on the other coast and Sierra del Mar, a little closer to home.
The dining room spilled out around the outdoor swimming pool and was dripping with bowls of fresh, fragrant roses, crisp white linens, and copper chargers at every place setting with name cards.
Tall, fabulous Stevie Hart entertained, hot off her continuing run at Coco Cabaret in her ‘Woman in Me’ tribute to Britany Spears. Brent Lane and Jessy Ruiz from CPS Media kept the evening moving along, energetically pitching the live auction items enthusiastically while we enjoyed dinner. Vichyssoise was followed by filet mignon or chicken and ended with delicious vanilla ice cream (that tasted homemade) with chocolate truffles. It was an elegant evening from start to finish; bravas to Yvonne, her dedicated staff, and the phalanx of volunteers.
Did you know there was a cult in Vallarta? One made up of four guys (three gay, one straight) who, every now and again, don skirts, very high heels, wigs, extremely long fingernails and become four despondent Disney princesses who get together 15 years after marrying their respective princes to bitch and complain about still – after all these years – being princesses and not queens, (well…).
Every show is well-written and scripted and ends up going sideways as things occur onstage that send the ‘girls’ into laughing jags that feed the audience’s laughter, and everyone leaves the theater exhausted from having so much fun!
This year, an unexpected present arrived to celebrate Princesas Desesperadas’ 10th anniversary. A short film capturing snippets of various performances by the troupe over the past decade was made by sound and light wizard Janathan Rios, who was with the company at their inception at a now-defunct event space. The Princesas have played The Palm Cabaret and Bar, Nacho Daddy, Incanto Vallarta, Act2PV Theater, Teatro Vallarta and are now at Plataforma 322 in Colonia Los Sauces. They have won State contests, individually and as an ensemble. PD is still directed by Ramiro Daniel and produced by Alain Perreault of PerroBravo Productions. The characters (and are they ever!) are Cesar Bravo as Snow White, Cesar Trujillo as Sleeping Beauty, Juan Carlos Ramirez as Cinderella, and Juan Pablo Hernandez as Bella.
Another thing this cult project has done is sell-out every single performance in the last decade. The show is in Spanish, and after seeing them more than a dozen times, I STILL can understand only about every fifth word. Will I go back? Yes! Every performance is different and wildly wonderful, and, after love, laughter is all we need.