Steven Retchless Comes to Rise

Androgynous singer/dancer, America’s Got Talent finalist and International Pole Dancing Champion, Steven Retchless returns to Act2PV. This is his third exciting year with another show featuring an incredible blend of singing, storytelling and dancing including tap dancing and pole-dancing in the first act. He continues to grow and explore new venues as any very good artist will do, always climbing the steps of the ladder leading in new directions. Steven has become a Showman. Watching him move gracefully across the stage reveals to the audience that they were before a star and one growing brighter every year.

“I’m gonna slip into something a bit more comfortable so you do not have to see my buns of steel”, he said as he placed a sheer colorful robe over his long-legged body. Describing a world of “Pure Imagination” from “Willy Wonka”, he floated into the clouds being free ‘if you truly wish to be’. Steven related stories from his childhood adoring the movie “Showgirls” at a very young age, delighting in the tale of a savvy drifter who climbed from stripper to showgirl. It was not long, he said, that the makeup came out and the dresses which fit his personality. Mother was a good supporter in his early life of confusion. “I was born to be a showgirl!” Tonight’s presentation “Rise” is a journey of ups and downs: “Believe in yourself. Face your fears. Make your dreams come true.”

Steven has designed a show of not only dancing and singing but a storybook of his life to date. In between songs, he revealed his inner thoughts of his growth and how his decisions changed his life, ever reaching for his dreams. He followed with a song containing lyrics which related to what he had been discussing. The show flowed, marvelous in that he took the audience on his path of life’s progressions, understanding his strong drive since if he did not succeed, he has no one to blame but himself.

Steven described his alter-ego and new best friend Stevie Hart as a wonderful woman who must be seen. Suddenly, the two side video screens flashed a person undergoing a facial who was finally convinced that it was indeed Steven calling her (from the stage). Stevie flashed into blond full hair and makeup glamorous as ever. A duet was discussed and the two broke into a very thankful “Lucky”. Steven has created an entire show for Stevie called “Shine” at this venue.

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He was born in Las Vegas and spent his very young age there before the family moved to Puerto Vallarta, of all places. Here he grew up, surrounded by this magical beauty, swimming in the Río Cuale, running on the beach, hanging with his Latino friends. He reminisced with singing “Paloma Negra” (Black Dove): “Making your dreams come true.” a sad song presented in fluent Spanish. “I want to be free, live my life with someone who likes me” is Steven’s dream which he desires.

He was invited to be on “America’s Got Talent” and was treated very well on the set. He scored with the judges sending him into the finals but lost. Immediately, he was invited down to Rio for work and made so many new friends and mastered the “Brazilian twerk”. Different from most others, he said that he would not be anything less to make others more comfortable.

After a brief intermission acknowledging that swinging acrobatically on a pole is exhausting, Steven returned and slid into (“When marimba rhythms start to play, Dance with me, make me”) “Sway”. This smooth, gliding song fit Steven’s style and mood exactly. Pulling up a terrific song from Amy Winehouse, he slithered into “You Know I’m No Good”, slowly rotating as he dispatched the tune, warning that he is trouble. He absorbed this tune and convinced the listeners to beware of his magic. Tap dancing appeared as during other segments and songs.

“Singing in the Rain” is one of Steven’s favorite tunes and he strutted the stage with a twirling umbrella to keep himself dry. True to the theme, he conveyed “Why am I smilin’ and why do I sing?

Why does December seem sunny as Spring?” He selected a hapless young lady to sit on a chair while he performed a lap dance. He exhibited mystery and eroticism as he told her “I Put a Spell on You”, because you’re mine. Steven is at the top of acrobatics and contortionism, indeed a sight to be seen. He expressed his versatility even further with (“You’re as smooth as”) “Tennessee Whiskey”, a Country music composition.

Time to slide into the Holiday season, he sang a naughty “Santa Baby”, with words not present in Eartha Kitt’s popular version. He changed some lines making them humorously apropos to his show, asking everyone to hurry down the chimney and “tip me”. The audience roared their enthusiasm for this song and the entire event tonight. Adios, but wait, encore? He ended with a song which summed up his message tonight: “Home” from “The Wiz”. As he ended, he urged “We must look inside our hearts to find a world full of love.”

Written, Directed, Choreographed and Produced by Steven Retchless.

Assistance from Marsha Ward Ross and Steven’s mother.

More photos are available on my Facebook Shows group below.

Puerto Vallarta OldTown/SouthSide: 
www.facebook.com/groups/837053096708212 

More of Beck’s Best: Theater, Cabaret and More!:

www.facebook.com/groups/PuertoVallartaShows