Stephanie Pope is All About Love

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 and full of love and light, and giving her energy away to us as if we were the most critical audience in her life.

Maybe it’s the hot yoga she has been practicing and teaching in her native Spanish (East) Harlem since 2008. I can attest to the benefits of having studied with an Indian yogi here in Vallarta. In the summertime. When you leave the studio and hit the soaring temperatures and 85%+ humidity, and remark on the cool weather outside! Whatever has kept her fit, toned, and lovely needs another look-see!

Her master dance class was well-received, with a handful of students, including Steven Retchless, learning to dance like a multiple-award-winning Bob Fosse, who taught Stephanie all her moves. It cannot get much better than that.

I was fascinated watching Stephanie’s expressive face, hearing her sing lyrics like “I Wanna Be Wicked” and interpret Tina Turner to a tee, invoking the beautiful Diana Ross and revering the late Whitney Houston.

David Sabella and his charitable Foundation, Bella Vox, brought Stephanie Pope to us in Vallarta, and he has more Eastern Seaboard talent to share coming up this season. Sabella and Pope performed together in “Chicago” in Las Vegas over the millennium, from 1999 to 2000. Sabella recalls, “I arrived in the middle of 1999, I think in June. They had opened earlier in the year, and we all stayed till the end of 2000 or even the spring of 2001. “Chicago” in Vegas was the first full-length musical on the Vegas strip. Other than that, they would cut the shows down to a one-act review. This show has made history in so many ways, and the movie “Chicago” completely revitalized Hollywood’s interest in making movie musicals.”

I believe that Stephanie Pope walks in gratitude wherever she goes. After her premiere performance at The Palm, I asked her what she felt about Vallarta. She replied, “Warm, it feels warm, not the temperature,” as she crossed both hands over her heart, and continued, “I can feel the love everywhere.”