Tchaikovsky , Sondheim, and the masturbation song

Strange music weekend last week. I had anticipated the town would be rocking because it is a three-day holiday in Mexico – Monday is the birthday of Benito Juaréz, Mexico’s 26^th President and the first indigenous President of that country – and three-day holidays in Mexico usually mean party time.

Since Lake Chapala is a major tourist destination for “Tapitios” – residents of Guadalajara who live only an hour away and many of whom have apartments and second homes here – I expected the downtown clubs to be blasting away. But strangely, it was quiet, and my music choices went in different directions.

As I have pointed out here and in my Hot Half Dozen column, I am not a classical music fan. You can’t dance to it unless you are a ballerina, which last time I looked, I very much am not. But classical musicians, like rock and pop and blues and metal and other genre musicians, can play pretty much anything. And they often do. So I was not surprised when my wife showed me the program for a classical concert Saturday in which four of my musician friends were playing – one singing, one conducting, one on the piano, and one putting down his keyboard and picking up the euphonium (sometimes known as the tenor tuba).

Well, one of the rules in life is that you support your musician friends when they have concerts, even if they are playing classical. Four friends – I had to go, Besides, I could sit in the back and scroll Twitter during the stuffy parts.

The program was actually not all classical and not all stuffy. Actually, it is hard to be stuffy even in the presence of a full 40-plus member symphony orchestra when half the audience is wearing shorts and the conductor is wearing a leather vest over a paisley shirt and cracks jokes in between songs (movements?).

The program started with a Mexican children’s string group from a local village that was really good, moved on to Beethoven, Mozart, and Sibelius, and then to WWII songs by Vera Lynn (sung by Christy Caldwell), the John Williams’ opening theme to the Ken Burns film, JFK., James Horner’s music from the film Apollo 13, and ended, with Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture. No fireworks, but there were cannons, produced by a synthesizer.

Afterward, we talked with my musician friends, and in general, enjoyed the afternoon. It also reminded me, that even though classical music “ain’t got no rhythm”, getting 40-plus musicians to all play the same thing really well is an accomplishment that a lot of 5-piece rock bands don’t quite pull off. And I did get through some of my Twitter feed.

The next day was another kind of out-of-my-mainstream afternoon. The Lake Chapala Society is a 12-acre oasis in the middle of town, dotted with koi ponds, art studios, winding paths, lush vegetation, and 30 cats (more or less – no one is quite sure). It also boasts a large gazebo that seats 40 or so people overlooking a lawn where well over a hundred people can lounge at tables.

At the end of the lawn is a stage, sound system, lights, mixing board – the site of the LCS Concerts in the Park, the idea of Steve Balfour, former event and concert producer who has worked with Marc Anthony, Celia Cruz, the Grammy’s, and many other major events and stars. Balfour is now Chairman of the Board of LCS and put his talent to work to raise money through a Concerts in the Park series when Covid devastated the organization’s finances.

Sunday’s Concert in the Park was entitled “Me and My Gals” and it featured New York-based singer, Broadway director, and assistant director Seth Sikes, who reprised classic songs by Gershwin and Sondheim from Broadway musicals made famous by female singers such as Judy Garland, Barbara Streisand, and Liza Minelli, interspersed with jokes and stories of his working with the famous and not-so-famous of Broadway. Sikes happened to be in Puerto Vallarta, about 3-hours away and agreed to come to Ajijic to perform.

Since the local newspaper I write and edit for was the sponsor, and I was asked to shoot video, I had to go. Glad I did.

The audience of older musical fans loved every minute of it, but the highlight (or low point, depending on your point of view) was the SNL classic “Making Love Alone” about the orgasmic joy only you can provide yourself. The audience laughed and clapped, gave him a standing ovation, and shouts “otra” (another), which he did.