Zoe Lewis 'A Band in a Body' Brings Vaudeville to Vallarta Gary R. Beck - Beck's Best
March 8, 2016

Landing on the stage here in Puerto Vallarta is a woman who defies characterization, a talented musician and storyteller. She plays the piano, guitar, harmonica, washboard with bell, ukelele, wooden spoon clacker, penny [tin] whistle, human trumpet and other unusual gadgets. All but one song she performed was self-penned. Her lyrics are mini stories, not sweet love ballads or dance rock tunes. She relates a story about something which happened in her life's journey and then sings a very well-composed song about the event. Many offerings concerned her home on Cape Cod while others revolved around her world travels: backpacking through Latin America up to San Francisco and a year in Thailand traversing that country by train and even performing music with an elephant orchestra.

She has the uncanny ability to pick up the audience and take them on a personal and intimate trip starting from her home Rottingdean, England, of which she wrote "Living on the Edge", extensive travels and her settling in Provincetown, Massachusetts in 1990. She is a package of several sticks of dynamite exploding her talent throughout the room. Having seen a multitude of live entertainment shows in the past ten years, this artist is most definitely "one of a kind" and extremely delightful. Her music ranges from Latin jazz to Celtic, swinging folk and funk. Smiles were difficult to erase as she sang compositions one after another. She said she has seven CDs to her name, which is astounding but believable. She has toured with the likes of Judy Collins and Pat Benatar, visiting over seventy countries.

"Rotary Phone" is amusing and memory-inducing while "Breakfast Blues" is a remarkable metaphor of food dishes. "Plastic Soup" sadly refers to the island the size of Texas in the Pacific Ocean where discarded plastic congregates with the currents. Even the fish dine on it, so when you eat them, it is actually a soup of plastic. "On My Bicycle" is a hilarious tale of her being passed by a ten-speed and she perseveres to catch up only to have the vehicle collapse except for the handlebars she clutched.

Her artistry is truly stunning and her songwriting astounding. Welcome to the circus of life she said as she spun a plastic plate on a stick. Images are conjured from her lyrics. "Your Eyelashes" was a wild story of a woman who added to her lashes making them full and fluttery. Edie came on stage with a short Can-Can outfit with huge blue feathers which she used flirtatiously as she danced. She was a beautiful addition to the evening.

Zoë described how she carried a record player on her kayak or rowboat, playing old 78's on the still water of the bay off Provincetown, the southern tip of Cape Cod, known for artists, gays and lesbians, cabaret, theater, lighthouses and seafood shacks.

It can not be overemphasized that this talented woman Zoë Lewis is one performer who must be seen to be believed. The concert was marked by high energy, great musicianship and fantastic self-penned compositions. She is a storyteller extraordinaire, refreshing and unique. Tracy Parks, manager of The Palm Cabaret, calls her music "Textbook Cabaret". Her publicity defines her as "A band in a body." It has been described that there is a large box you draw around her, but she never quite fits in. Words do not do justice to this special creation we are blessed to have in our presence. She said, "You are never too old to be young." Her show is not to be missed.

Zoe Lewis will be performing at The Palm Cabaret with 7:00 performances on March 8 & 11 and 9:30 shows on March 9, 15, 16, 19, 20 and 22.

Tickets may be purchased at the Palm Cabaret Box Office, Olas Altas 508 in Old Town Vallarta (opens daily at 10:00 am), telephone is (322) 222-0200, or you may purchase tickets online at Vallarta Tickets.