Friday, May 06, 2005 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Mariachis and Mayhem

Traditional music and masked wrestlers are featured in Cinco de Mayo festivities this weekend

Two commercial events continue the celebration of Cinco de Mayo into the weekend. Mascara Sagrada and the Blue Panther are part of Mexican wrestling's first A-list event in Las Vegas. Folk dancers are part of "Mariachi, the Spirit of Mexico," which condenses a mariachi festival into a theatrical showcase similar to "Riverdance."

Many a Mexican celebration in Las Vegas has revolved around boxers such as Julio Cesar Chavez and Oscar De La Hoya. But this year, the ring belongs to the sons of Santo and the Blue Demon.

Mexican wrestlers muscle in on the usual mix of pop and mariachi music in this weekend's Cinco de Mayo festivities, which extend Thursday's holiday into a weekend party.

The two large commercial events are today's mix of big-name singers and lucha libre wrestling at the Thomas & Mack Center, and the U.S. premiere of "Mariachi, the Spirit of Mexico," a theatrical celebration of Mexican folk arts continuing today through Sunday at the Aladdin.

Producer Fabian Saul doesn't resent any comparisons of "Mariachi, The Spirit of Mexico" to the Irish-themed hit "Riverdance."

The two-act stage production attempts to "give a proper theatrical production" to a mariachi variety show, as an alternative to long, drawn-out festivals featuring one act at a time.

This one offers two mariachi bands, Mariachi Nacional and Mariachi de America, augmented by 18-to-20 orchestra players and choreographed folk dancers. Three guest vocalists share the spotlight: Manuel Vargas, Rafael Palomar and Shadan Guerrero.

Saul says he was already putting his concept together when he discovered the opportunity to license the title of a popular 2002 PBS documentary, which was filmed at the International Mariachi Festival in Guadalajara, Mexico. "Spirit" was first staged in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the fall.

The producer started his career as an orchestral musician, having studied viola from an early age. That may explain why Saul says his show blurs the line between the composed, concert-hall music that opens it and the more improvised folk music of the streets that takes over.

"Not every symphony violinist could do these tunes so easily," he says. Mariachi is "very warm-hearted and happy music," he adds. "Country music always talks about very sad things. Mariachis talk about love, but in a happy way."

The Thomas & Mack event is tied to the city's centennial celebration. The first half's star is no stranger to Las Vegas. Juan Gabriel is one of Mexico's most prolific and enduring singer-songwriters, and the evening honors his 34 years in show business. His status rivals that of Elton John, down to the acceptance of his flamboyant ways in a country known for its machismo.

Lupillo Rivera rounds out the musical bill with his traditionalist school of "Norteno," the country sound of Northern Mexico.

Then, the decks are cleared at intermission to make way for the masked wrestlers of lucha libre. Promoter Johnathan "Iceman" Knudsen says it's the first lucha event in Las Vegas, and is packed with A-list talent.

The main event features the sons of Santo and the Blue Demon, both of whom are enjoying a revival among B-movie enthusiasts through the DVD reissues of '60s flicks such as "Santo y Blue Demon Contra los Monstruos."

"The tradition is just hugely entrenched," says Keith Rainville, the Los Angeles publisher of From Parts Unknown, a specialty imprint devoted to lucha. Like Superman, Santo "wears the same costume he had in the 1940s."

"The character identities are carried from one generation to the next," he adds. "We're just now getting into the grandsons" of some of the most iconic names. And in the audience, "you will see four generations of one family filling up a row."

"This is not Western wrestling," Knudsen explains for the uninitiated. "This is like talking Cirque du Soleil and doing everything they do in the air and putting it into an 18-by-18 foot ring. ... It's really a stunt show, moving at speeds you can hardly imagine."

"It's like watching the Ultimate Fighting Championship filtered through a Vegas chorus show," Rainville agrees. "I can't watch American wrestling again."

While WWE develops its soap-opera story lines outside the ring, lucha unfolds within the action and is "all about playing to the crowd. You can't count on TV telling the story for you," Rainville says.

Lucha events in Los Angeles sell most of their tickets to Mexican-American audiences. But there has been a movement in recent years to introduce lucha to English-speaking hipsters through events such as "Lucha VaVoom," which combines wrestling, burlesque and surf bands.

"When you see the limos roll up, you know it's definitely a different crowd," Rainville says.

Other events tied to the extended Cinco de Mayo weekend:

• Pop singer Jon Secada performs at The Mirage at 8 p.m. today. Secada had English pop hits such as "Just Another Day" in the '90s.

• Sunday brings an outdoor festival to Freedom Park, East Washington Avenue at Mojave Road. The event, co-sponsored by the Las Vegas Mexican Patriotic Committee, runs from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Admission is $5; children 12 and under are admitted free.

• The West Las Vegas Arts Center, 947 West Lake Mead Blvd., hosts a 2 p.m. reception Saturday for the exhibit "Remember the Mexican Revolutionary Heroes."