Gala Navidena at the Angela Peralta Theatre

Marion and I were off to the Christmas Gala this evening.  We stopped out front at 6:30pm and caught a green bus downtown.  I always enjoy the bus ride as you can see everything that is happening along the way and the cost is about 67 cents Canadian….how cheap is that!   The performance was to start at 8pm and we hoped to sit outside and have a cocktail in the square if we arrived early enough.   Below is a description of the evening from the net……

Passing through the lobby of the harbor's highest artistic scene, the audience was greeted by a giant Christmas tree full of ornaments, gifts and lights for family photos along with the grumpy "Grinch" and the always smiling "Santa Claus" and his wife The Mrs. Claus. " After saying goodbye to these endearing characters, the public entered the theater to watch him covered with foquitos and Christmas wreaths on their balconies.

As in other editions, the "Christmas Gala" Was supported by the collaboration of the Camerata Mazatlán, directed by Percival Álvarez; The Children's Choir of Culture, directed by Mariela Angulo, and the Angela Peralta Choir, by Antonio González, who for almost two hours accompanied the talented singers Andrés Carrillo, Celia Gómez, Radha Murillo and Sarah Holcombe who shone next to the international star Scott Coulter, from the United States.

Besides having a large number of voices and instruments, the "Gala Christmas" boasted an emotional repertoire of ballet centered on songs like "Sing a Christmas Carol" and "Merry Merry Christmas" by the dancers basic level and technical level Of the Municipal School of Classic Ballet of the Institute of Culture of Mazatlán, directed by the teacher Zoila Fernández.

Among the 18 Christmas songs that created an atmosphere of love and family reunion, they highlighted "A Wondrous Christmas" which gathered on stage seven guest vocalists, "Candy Man", in which Scott Coulter astonished all present appearing in the stage on a hot air balloon, and "Dance of the flutes" a suite quintessential Christmas classic, "the Nutcracker" by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.

The stage showed different faces as interpretations passed: the audience was received by a scenery that showed a snowy forest; Then it was changed by hanging light spheres; Later there were lit candles in front of the choirs and a starry sky in the background, and the last scene was composed of a giant Christmas tree adorned with foquitos and ornaments that was complemented by a set of Christmas candies.

Almost half of the "Gala Christmas" video "Sleigh ride" was screened for the tramoyeros set the stage for the second part of the show, which began with a small block of Christmas songs in Spanish: "Campana sobre campana" "the child drum" and "Fish in Rio".

In the interpretation of "Silent Night" by Celia Gómez and José Miguel Valenzuela, the artists of the Cultural Institute of Mazatlan recreated the scene of Jesus ' birth and the visit he received from the three kings Melchor, Gaspar and Baltazar .

Meanwhile, in the interpretation of "Jingle Bells", a group of elves rappel down to the balconies and made their own throughout the theater.

In the final stretch of the show Scott Coulter gave a rendition of "It's the most wonderful time of the year" and the ballet company of Sinaloa pride, directed by Zoila Fernandez and Guillermo Carrillo, closed with a flourish night with "Christmas Medley "performed by Sarah Holcombe, Radha Murillo and Andres Carrillo.

At the end of this piece the Teatro Ángela Peralta was struck by a long applause that did not cease until the directors Zoila Fernández, Guillermo Carrillo, Percival Álvarez, Antonio González and Mariela Angulo met on stage and received with their groups and soloists the Recognition for having given life to another edition of the "Gala Navideña", the most anticipated event of the year that in its function of this Friday, at 20:00 hours, will close the Festival Cultural Mazatlán 2016.

On leaving TAP, the public celebrated their own inn by enjoying delicious sneakers, pineapple tamales, fruit punch, fritters and churros, then hit the piñata and return home with a small bag of sweets.

It is about 7pm when we arrive at the Plazuela Machado which is lit up beautifully for Christmas.

There are white cloths on the many tables in the restaurants that surroud the Plazuela.  The evening is soft and warm with no wind and we sit down to have a Pina Colada.  A lovely start to the evening.

When we enter the theatre Santa and Mrs. Claus are waiting.  Marion sends me to have my picture taken. 

The theatre is lit for Christmas and the crowd is being seated.  We are on the right hand side of the theatre on the first balcony.  By the time the performance starts the theatre is full.

My camera will have a hard time from this distance and I have to use the zoom but….no flash as it’s not allowed. 

The Angela Peralta choir sings as do the full host of musical stars of the evening.

Ballet dances were performed while the cast sang musical numbers.

The voices were superb and most of the songs were in English.   I would have preferred a little more Spanish but….that’s just me.

The colours and sets were lovely as was the lighting.

The one major glitch…..this was a projection movie of Santa and his workshop but….the top was on the bottom and the bottom on the top.  No one seemed to notice or fix it!  Odd!

Mary and Joseph arrive with baby Jesus.

The real baby was a perfect touch.

The wise men arrive with gifts for the baby Jesus.

Scott Coulter performing one of his solos….” It’s the most wonderful time of the year.”

Right in front of us the elves arrived.

Accomplished rappelers who then joined the audience and entertained. 

 

I couldn’t figure out from the program who this singer was but…she was my favorite.

The cast gathered for the finale.

A standing ovation and then a final song. 

The choir.

In the lobby we were treated to hot drinks, churros and other treats.  Outside the theatre the children were beating the pinata.  Some of the little boys were really vicious!   Santa gave each participant a bag of treats. 

There wasn’t much left of the pinata by the time they were finished.

A final look at the lovely lights of the square and then we head up Benito Juarez St. to the west side of the mercado to catch a bus home. 

We were home by about 10:30 and Genaro was waiting to open the gate and let us into the park.  A lovely evening with a friend.