By John Amodeo***The vibrant cabaret scene in Puerto Vallarta’s Zona Romantica offers something for everyone. Venues such as Incanto, The Palm Cabaret and Bar, Act2PV and Nacho Daddy offer live music every night, with a mix of local instrumental musicians, drag artists, comedians, cover bands and cabaret—but the rece
nt closing of Incanto left a wide gap in Vallarta’s night life.
Enter David Sabella, Broadway star (Chicago) and two-time MAC-Award winner, who had begun performing in Vallarta in 2022, both as himself and as his drag persona Amanda Reckonwith. Relocating to Vallarta, he has been Act2PV’s General Manager since April 2024. Magically, he has dramatically transformed Vallarta’s night life using his experience as an actor, singer, producer and arts administrator. “I spent three years as Executive Director of the Broadway Theatre Project that Ann Reinking had developed,” notes Sabella. “The administrative part of it is something I knew how to do, from contracts to curriculum. I didn’t know that at first, but I knew how to do this.”
Using his theater and cabaret connections to bring in more talent from New York and beyond, Sabella has single-handedly shifted the center of gravity for Vallarta’s cabaret scene to Act2PV. This summer and early fall alone, Sabella has presented an impressive lineup of Broadway and cabaret performers. His connections from his more than 40 years in the business continue to yield dividends as he books the 2025 season at Act2PV. “I have three series: Broadway, Cabaret and Drag Legends,” Sabella reports. “And the people I immediately booked are all my friends, people I know from the business.” The upcoming lineup is as luminous as his recent fall season.
The Broadway Series will present Brent Barrett (Chicago, Grand Hotel)—and his husband Bernie Blanks—Karen Mason (Sunset Boulevard, Mamma Mia!), Bianca Marroquin and Sally Mayes (She Loves Me). Sabella is especially excited to bring back Mexican-born Broadway actress Bianca Marroquin (Chicago, The Pajama Game, In the Heights). “Last fall, [Bianca] blew the roof off the place,” says Sabella. “She broke the internet in this area.” More than that, Marroquin was a powerful force within Sabella’s youth workshops. “She was so inspirational for the Mexican National students,” says Sabella. “They want to follow her footsteps, but they didn’t know how. Then they watched her perform and rehearse and it showed them a path.”
The Cabaret Series will present Natalie Douglas, Dawn Derow, Eden Casteel, Jeff Harnar, Philip Officer, Sue Matsuki, Marieann Meringolo and Ann Talman. Talman will perform her show, Elizabeth Taylor and the Shadow of her Smile, a natural given that Taylor once lived in Vallarta and is considered a local cultural icon. Taylor’s former home Casa Kimberly is now a posh hotel and restaurant. “Ann was in Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor and developed a lifelong friendship with her; I’m trying to arrange a dinner at Casa Kimberly as a tie-in,” notes Sabella.
The Drag Legends Series will include Fantasia Royale Gaga, Steven Brindberg as Simply Barbra, Dorothy Bishop performing her Dozen Divas show, and the Kinsey Sicks, among many others. The Alternative Cabaret Series will include Act2PV’s own Cate Valcic with pianist David Maiocco. Adult film star Jonah Wheeler and his husband John Coons will be performing their cabaret show Nocturnal Omissions.
In November, director-pianist (and longtime Vallarta stalwart) Mark Hartman created and co-produced with Sabella Fiesta De Cabaret,
a 10-day event at Act2PV with Broadway and cabaret performers as teachers. “People came from U.S. and Canada as well as Mexican Nationals, some of whom came up to me sobbing and told me ‘This changed my life,’” remarks Sabella. “That’s what jazzes me up: the impact this has had on the locals. The managerial stuff doesn’t thrill me half as much as the teaching.” One of the keys to his success is the Ovations Piano Bar. Since Act2PV opened, this space had been an underutilized lounge serving merely as the Red Room’s and Mainstage’s waiting area “The first thing I said to the owners was this is your money maker,” he says. “This needs to be open every night of the week,” With Hartman’s invited mics on Saturdays and Maiocco’s open mics on Sundays, as well as booked shows on week nights, the piano bar has become so popular that Sabella turned a nearby terrace into overflow, and that gets filled now, too.
Sabella attributes some of Vallarta’s appeal and Act2PV’s success to ley lines. “The earth’s magnetic core throws off these ribbons of magnetic energy called ley lines that hold the earth together. There’s a map of this. It’s real science,” he says with conviction. “These ley lines connect very spiritual places to each other [such as] Stonehenge to the Pyramids. They have something to do with energy we haven’t yet fully understood. Six of them intersect in Puerto Vallarta’s Bay of Banderas. People get off the plane when they arrive here say ‘Ah, I must live here.’ Vallarta has an energy you can’t explain.”
For a full calendar of events at Act2PV, click here.
Photo Key: Top-David Sabella, Middle-Brent Barrett and Bernie Blanks, Bottom-David Sabella as Amanda Reckonwith
