As part of program coordinator Ren Lexander’s Word and Music series, the PCEC members and guests at the Sunday, March 4, meeting were treated to a local Pattaya icon, siren singer Mary Sanvictores. By the middle of her fly by wire performance she had the members literally ‘dancing in the isles’. Mary is a legend who has performed all over Pattaya and internationally with a wonderful soulful voice.
Just a note about the Words and Music series. Just entertainment is rare for morning meetings and difficult for the performer as well, so it was thought that the concept of having some dialogue to accompany the music would be more beneficial to the audience and allow the entertainer broader expression.
Mary, originally from Manila, has been performing professionally since the age of 14. She sings, dances, plays drums and speaks five languages. She has been the front lady for a wide variety of bands and been a regular guest on TV shows where she won a ‘Stars in Your Eyes’ type award for doing her own adaption of Tina Turner.
Despite the early on technical glitches, it was obvious from the power point presentation of her biography that Mary has performed at more venues than can be either numbered or remembered, even by her. As a live performer, she normally does her work at night here in town and when she was told she would be needed at the club at 9:15am, she questioned whether there ‘was’ such a time. To emphasize this truth in her life her first words to us, the PCEC morning crowd was ‘good evening ladies and gentlemen’. Early warm ups are hard for all singers.
Despite the initial glitches, all these little bumps in the road were resolved and Mary warmed to her audience and they to her, and by the third song, a soulful, heart turning rendition of Dancing with my Father, the reason for her success became clear; the song was charming.
When Mary got to her crowd-pleasing rendition of Mustang Sally, she called all able-bodied dancers to their feet and the party really got started. Members and guests were dancing in the aisles while others beat the tempo at their tables. She also invited everyone to join in on portions of the lyrics, which they did with gusto. Her singing of the familiar song Sorrento was nice indeed and she ended her morning concert by singing a Tina Turner style ‘Proud Mary’.
It was definitely a fun day at the PCEC with the activities being more like being out for Pattaya’s nightlife rather than a breakfast morning meeting. Reluctantly returning to their seats, PCEC members and guests gave Mary a resounding ovation for her performance.
MC Ren Lexander then brought everyone up to date on current events. This was followed by the “Open Forum” portion of the meeting, where questions are asked and answered and comments made about expat living in Thailand. For more information on the Club and their activities, visit www.pcec.club.
