LAKESIDE LIVING

Sandy Olson
Phone: 331-283-8529
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January 2019

 

SUNDAY AFTERNOON
….is the time to go to the 2019 Jewish Film Festival in January and February. As usual, the movies are shown at 1:30  at Cinemas del Lago, Bugambilias Plaza. “Come by after Open Circle and lunch!” says Joe Gottesman, Lake Chapala Jewish Congregation President.
January 13 Operation Finale, a somber film about the plan to kidnap Adolph Eichmann. Lovers of history will thoroughly enjoy this true story.
January 20 The Life And Times of Hank Greenberg
As he was baseball’s first Jewish star, “Hammerin Hank’s” career contains all the makings of a true American success story.
January 27  The Producers  A startling, stunning, outrageous, and breathtaking movie by writer and director Mel Brooks, to celebrate its 50th anniversary.
February 3 Abe and Phil’s Last Poker Game
It’s never too late for life -- after moving into Cliffside Manor Dr. Abe Mandlebaum forms an improbable relationship with gambler and womanizer Phil Nicoletti.
February 10 Three Identical Strangers
Three strangers are reunited by astonishing circumstances after being born identical triplets, separated at birth, and adopted by three different families is a feel good story for everyone.
February 17 Crimes And Misdemeanors
The poignant, penetrating, and scathingly hilarious film by Woody Allen about the complexity of human choices is one of the watershed films of his career.
February 24 RBG
At age 85 Ruth Bader Ginsberg has developed a lengthy legal legacy while becoming an unexpected pop culture icon. This film presents her journey to the U.S. Supreme Court.
OPEN CIRCLE
Sunday morning finds Lakeside residents at the Lake Chapala Society and Open Circle, a forum on a variety of stimulating topics. A social hour with coffee and snacks at 10 am is followed by an interesting lecture and discussion at 10:30.
January 13   The Half-Opened Door
Presented by David Bryen
The deepening conflicts and chaos that are dividing our culture may not be signals of impending catastrophe, but signs of an approaching paradigm shift. Humans have always lived in the tension between the stability of the known and the evolutionary demands of human consciousness.  It takes time for individuals and cultures to accommodate the influx of ideas that drive us forward. Emily Dickinson said, “The truth dazzles gradually, or else the world would be blind.” How shall we decide whether to open or close the door when we are pulled to preserve and to advance?
David will present a model of how to live with the unavoidable paradoxes that arise when change and traditional values collide. David was a psychotherapist and motorcycle safety instructor before retiring to Ajijic nine years ago. He is a motorcyclist, woodworker, poet, writer, and Open Circle’s coordinator. He promises to make us think. 
January 20   The Inner Game of Tennis
Presented by Chris Wilshere 
The Janus Quartet is preparing for a major national string quartet competition in Mexico City. Come and learn what’s involved in that preparation. The similarities between how an artist prepares for a competition and how an elite athlete prepares are striking, such as the thousands of hours of repetitive physical work required and the mental and psychological preparation.
At Open Circle we will discuss the rigors of disciplined practice and the kind of mental games we play before an audition, competition or performance. The talk will conclude with a performance of Hayden’s string quartet Opus 20 #4 in D Major, which the Quartet is preparing for the Concurso Nacional Para Cuartetos de Cuerdas in Mexico City.
Chris Wilshere is the founder and artistic director of both the Northern Lights Festival del Febrero and the Festival del Lago, an intensive two-week workshop in August for advanced musicians. He is one of the most sought out violin teachers in Mexico and also teaches in Canada and the US. The Janus Quartet has performed multiple times for the Jalisco secretary of culture and at the Northern Lights Music Festival. They have gone on tour twice in Canada and are an Ajijic favorite. They have studied full time with Christopher Wilshere for the past three years. 
January 27  The Art of Keeping Vigil 
Presented by Loretta Downs
In our modern world, loved ones often live far apart. The frail among us are moved to long term care institutions. The unprepared die in hospitals.  Consequently, few of us experience the gift of meaningful presence while dying. Learn about the social significance of this sacred ritual and the benefits it provides long after a death. Loretta will share creative ideas for manifesting this final gift of love and compassion, whether near or far away.
Loretta Downs has a Master’s Degree in gerontology. She is Past-President of the Chicago End-of-Life Care Coalition and is a Certified Senior Advisor, Advance Care Planning Facilitator and Death Doula. She’s been a companion to the dying for 30 years and created the Chrysalis Room concept for nursing homes and hospitals to provide private rooms for loved ones keeping vigil with the dying. She raises Monarch butterflies in the summer. www.endoflifeinspirations.co
February 3  The Future of Food Production
Presented by Morris Schwarzblat


Morris Schwarzblat

The Food and Agriculture Organization estimates that by 2050 the world will have nine million inhabitants. Natural resources will not be enough to produce the amount of protein required, in addition to the high environmental damage that such production would produce. We will review the different alternatives available to feed our increasing population while maintaining a healthy environment.
Dr. Schwarzblat is a nuclear physicist with ample experience in academia, research and industry. He has worked in Mexico and in Canada, where he lived for 16 years. Morris represented Canada as a member of the Co-ordinated Research Program on Artificial Intelligence at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna. He recently finished his work at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and is now an entrepreneur. 
CAN’T WAIT TO SEE THIS DIRTY DEED
The next Lakeside Little Theatre production is Ghosts by Henrik Ibsen. It’s directed by Peter King.  Show dates are January 11-20.
Critic’s Notes: “Considering it was written in 1881, it’s amazing how Henrik Ibsen’s Ghosts can still shock. Dealing with such issues as free love, euthanasia, sibling incest, religious hypocrisy and venereal disease, it’s no wonder that the drama was greeted in its early years of production with such damning descriptions as ‘a dirty deed done in public’.”


The cast from left to right: Ken Yakiwchuk, Monnie King, Roger Larson, Johanna Labadie, Peter King


The plot: Ghosts is the story of Helen Alving, a widow who is haunted by the many mistresses of her deceased husband and by her son who has inherited syphilis from his philandering father. Ghosts is a scathing indictment of Victorian society in which Ibsen refutes the notion that if one simply fulfills one’s duty rather than following one’s desires then a good and noble life will be achieved. Scandalous in its day for its frank discussion of venereal disease and marriage infidelity, Ghosts remains to this day an intense psychological drama and sharp social criticism.
Tickets are $250 and are available at LLT’s Box Office from 10 to noon, every Wednesday and Thursday, also one hour before curtain. The evening shows are at 7:30 pm and matinees are at 4 pm. The first Saturday and both Sundays are matinees. 
For email reservations, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 376.766.0954. 
A PURPOSEFUL LIFE
A successful Denver stockbroker one day realizes he’s stuck in a life that doesn’t fit him. He quits his job, leaves his family, and retreats to the high mesa desert of Western Colorado to live the solitary life of a beekeeper. Here he searches for answers to life’s most pressing questions regarding the purposeful life and what matters most. He stays for 13 years and emerges as the Jim Tipton we remember.


Jim Tipton


There will be an intimate reading of beloved Lakeside poet Jim Tipton’s last book, The Alphabet of Longing and Other Poems, at Café Montaña on Wednesday, January 16, 2019, from 3:30-5:30 pm.
The slim book is the product of 13 years in the high desert mesa of Colorado where the author sustained himself as a beekeeper while seeking answers to life’s most pressing questions, namely what matters most and how to live a purposeful life. The poems will be read by veteran actor Fred Koesling. The book’s editor, Margaret Van Every, selected Koesling as having affinity with the material and the dramatic interpretive style closest to Tipton himself.
For close to 60 years Koesling has acted, sung and entertained in countless shows on both U.S. coasts, and for the past 14 years at Lakeside with Lakeside Little Theatre, the Naked Stage, and My, My How Nice! Productions. “Jim Tipton was a friend,” Koesling says. “It is singularly gratifying to give voice to Jim’s thoughts through his poetry.”
The event is free and open to the public. Arrive early and enjoy an artisanal beer, wine, coffee, or pastry before the reading begins. La Montaña will extend their hours after the reading for supper and socializing for those wishing to stay. 
MUSIC! SONG! DANCE!
The 11th rendition of the ever-popular Lip Sync show opens at the Auditorio on Friday, January 18 at 4 pm. Other performances are Saturday January 19 at 6 pm and Sunday January 20 at 2 pm.
A cast of 45  this year performs dance acts with everything from tap, ballet and modern along with a large variety of song numbers. Tickets at $250 are available at Diane Pearl Colecciones, Mia’s Boutique and online at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


ALBERTINE LOOKS BACK
The next reading at the Bare Stage is Albertine In Five Times by Michel Tremblay. The show runs January 25, 26 and 27.  It’s directed by Lynn Phelan.
The play begins with Albertine at 70 moving into a senior citizens’ home. It’s not the best of places (“It smells of death in dribs and drabs”) but she seems ready for it. After a harrowing life, she has developed a composure and wisdom as she tries to mediate between her explosive earlier selves. She remembers herself at 30, 40, 50 and 60.Albertine is a classic play by Canada’s most celebrated and produced playwright. It’s been said that he is their Tennessee Williams.  We hear that this is the first time Tremblay has been performed here at Lakeside.


The Cast, bottom left to right: Michele Lococo and Peggy Lord-Chilton
Top, left to right: Barbara Pruitt, Roseann Wilshere, Lynn Phelan (Director), Jayme Littlejohn and Diana Rowland


The theatre is at Hidalgo #261 on the mountain side of the carretera in Riberas del Pilar, across from the Catholic Church. Parking is available in the parking lot of the Baptist Church, behind the theater.
Donation is $100. The Box Office and bar open at 3 p.m. Reservations are by email at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  For those who use Facebook, look for Bare Stage Theatre 2018 for breaking news and updates. 
IF YOU DON’T LIKE POLITICS….
…..you’ll want to come and hear comedian Will Durst talk at Lakeside Little Theatre on January 31 and February 1 and 2 at 7:30 pm, or February 3 at 4 pm. He offers “political comedy for people who don’t like politics.”
Durst is a five time Emmy nominee, received seven nominations for stand-up comedian of the year, and has made numerous appearances on major TV shows.
Tickets are 500 pesos and are available at the LLT Box Office every Wednesday and Thursday from 10 to noon.  For online reservations, email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..


CARMEN WITH VIVA LA MUSICA
Viva la Music is running a bus trip to a Live at the Met production of Carmen by Georges Bizet. The performance is Saturday, February 2.
It features Clementine Margaine as Carmen the ultimate seductress, and Roberto Alagna as her lover Don Jose (200 minutes). The bus leaves at 10:30 for the noon show.
Viva bus trips to the Met Opera are $450 and $550 for non-members. Tickets are available at the LCS ticket area Thursdays and Fridays from 10 to noon, or by calling Rosemary Keeling at 766-1801.
OUR OWN KENNETH SALZMANN
The 7th Annual Beverly Hills Book Awards® recognized The Last Jazz Fan and Other Poems by Ajijic writer Kenneth Salzmann as finalist in the Poetry category.
The Last Jazz Fan and Other Poems was released in May by Gelles-Cole Literary Enterprises and has garnered accolades from such leading writers as poet and novelist Marge Piercy, who said, “Salzmann is a rare poet who can draft excellent and moving poems about nature and politics, about love and place, about old age, and friendship….you can feel in the poems the intelligence of the mind that created them and the compassion and wit of the poet.”

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