The Best Effie Has Ever Been
For nearly five years, I have been saying the same thing, “That was her best concert YET!” after every performance in Vallarta, and the consensus is the same. Nobody argues and says, no, no, last week at The Palm Cabaret was better because…blah, blah, blah.
However, that may change in a year, and the fan conversation might go something like this…
“Wow! That was the best Effie has ever been!”
“Clearly, you did not attend the Sydney Opera House, Royal Albert Hall, or Carnegie Hall last year with Branden and James.”
That’s where our Francesca Bavaro is destined, this October in NYC and the other two venues next year with Postmodern Jukebox. And then she comes home, plays piano, and sings for us for tips in La Catrina Cantina, swearing that’s where she is happiest.
That’s where we are the happiest, at whatever venue can squeeze her into a guaranteed sellout. We have watched her grow, listened to her outrageous stories with calamitous lovers here and around the world and loved the songs that leap out of those heartbreaks from being simply happy to fu**ed in a forest, and the devil is a Mexican.
Thoroughly buoyant, Rob Burton, Jan Dorland, and I left La CC for Act2PV to catch a bit of Open Mic. We watched Cherry DeLorenzo reprise a duet with David Maiocco singing and accompanying on piano, and the beautiful Cate Valcic giving us a preview from her upcoming show this Thursday, ‘Guys and Doll,’ starring this duo plus David Sabella.
I again attended the Voice Workshop in Mary Ann’s Ovations Bar on Saturday morning at Act2PV. It kept me spellbound (again!) for three hours. Student participation is limited to ten singers, but anyone can go, listen, and learn an enormous amount of information for only 400 pesos, that will benefit them enormously. David Sabella leads this innovative, fun workshop that has taught me the importance of posture, breathing, and muscle control; it has become my favorite “show” of the week.
This last Saturday, Sabella insisted that each singer pay acute attention to the lyrics and applied the Who, What, Where, When, and Why of journalism, and dove into the atmosphere of Cabaret where each person in the audience connects with the singer onstage. The difference after this particular lesson left a couple of singers unable to continue; the emotions were so overwhelming. All of us in our small audience were impacted by this intimacy. As singer Yoalli Guerrero said to me after the master class, David Sabella should offer Kleenex on every table. Happily, I always carry some and can share! I can’t wait for the weekend!
Bingo followed a few hours later, and Sharon and I won nothing! It was a shock but fun!
Yesterday was Sunday, and I spent it bent over my sewing machine, ironing board, and work table in my studio, chopping up a chiffon ball gown and remaking it into a lightweight jacket. It has been years since I made a jacket and never out of a dress. I screwed up so many times, sewing badly and cutting stuff I should not have, but it was a good workout for my brain, and I might even be able to wear this thing.