NASHVILLE ||
DT: APRIL 14, 2016
FM: MIKE GOWEN//MITCH SCHNEIDER, MSO PR
 LUCHA VAVOOM AND CINCO DE MAYO:
A MATCH MADE IN HEAVEN
ANNUAL TWO-NIGHT CINCO DE MAYO ENGAGEMENT
“CINCO DE MAYAN”
SET FOR
THURSDAY, MAY 5 AND FRIDAY, MAY 6
AT THE MAYAN THEATRE IN DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES
“Celebrated more in the U.S. than in Mexico, Cinco de Mayo IS a celebration of the little guy over the big, well-armed, well-trained guy; something which resonates with almost everyone, including Lucha VaVOOM September 16th is of course the real Mexican Independence Day, but it is not celebrated widely in the U.S. Maybe it’s as simple as September 16th isn’t as catchy to say as CINCO DE MAYO with Americans. But it is still reason to celebrate–why not celebrate both? We’re working on it!”
So writes Rita D’Albert–who along with Liz Fairbairn is a co-founder of LUCHA VaVOOM–in the upcoming issue (out in late April) of the wrestling magazine Rudo Can’t Fail about why Cinco de Mayo resonates so profoundly with LUCHA VaVOOM. And who better than LUCHA VaVOOM–one of Los Angeles’ most celebrated variety shows since 2002 where mind-blowing Mexican masked wrestling, burlesque and comedy gloriously collide–to really bring the party with their popular annual two-night spectacular “Cinco de Mayan” on Thursday, May 5 and Friday, May 6 at The Mayan in downtown Los Angeles (1038 S. Hill St.)? Tickets for this 21+ event are on sale now at $48.50. For tickets and more information, visit: luchavavoom.com.
In this self-penned piece, Rita elaborates:
“At Lucha VaVOOM, we wanted to achieve two things by celebrating Cinco de Mayo. We wanted Los Angeles to have its special day, and, we wanted to celebrate Mexican culture. Spring/early summer has a very celebratory mood over back-to-school September. September is still about 150 degrees in L.A., but there is something about spring that makes people want to cut loose. It’s in our D.N.A.
“For these upcoming shows, we felt GUERRERO MAYA, JR. was the perfect headliner and he will face returning rudo MAGNO. We will do an allegorical re-enactment of the battle of Puebla expressed through the medium of Lucha Libre. We will have hula-hoops, aerial pole, and much more variety entertainment, and we have Mexican electro combo TITAN debuting their new single, sung by SIOBHAN FAHEY (talk about cultures colliding!). We love to push the envelope and take chances. Culture is constantly growing and changing and we aim to show it at itsbest. We dig deep to find new performers and all expressions of creative independence.
“So this ‘little guy’ big city, the little show (impossibly run by two women in a man’s world), and the somewhat maligned holiday came together like a rag-tag group of n’er do wells and put on a spectacle that is one of the most popular running events to this day. In addition to low-riders, Mexican garage-rock, the occasional stripping zoot-suit performer, we bring in Folkloricos, Mariachis and Aztec Dancers. We’ve brought in LOS MASTER PLUS from Guadalajara, botas trabaleras (pointy boot dancers), guest djs from Mexico; we feature Cumbia (Columbia/Mexico), Chicha (Peruvian), Mexican psychedelia and boogaloo music. All in addition to great Lucha Libre, our aerialists and dancers and our comedians. The great and diverse people of Los Angeles come out, many in costume, to celebrate and have fun with each other and us.”
Performers for the upcoming two-night engagement at the Mayan include:
– Lucha Librematches between Guerrero Maya, Jr.(CMLL luchador from Mexico City), the return of Mexican masked meanie Magno, Extreme Tiger(one-time TNA X Division Champion), Piñatita, Doctor Maldad and the Crazy Chickens
– Musical performance and world premiere of a new song from Mexican electro-pop band, Titán, featuring vocalist Siobhan, known mostly for her work with British girl group Bananarama
– The return of Multi-Guinness World Record holder Marawa The Amazing
– Burlesque performances from Leigh Acosta, Molly D’amour and Miss Marquez
– Plus, Folkloricos Grandeza Mexicana Folk Ballet, Mariachis, Aztec Dancers, Lowriders and plenty of tamales and tequila
About Lucha VaVOOM:
Founded in Los Angeles in 2002 by Rita D’Albert and Liz Fairbairn, LUCHA VaVOOM–the acclaimed and mind-blowing Mexican masked wrestling/burlesque/comedy ensemble voted Los Angeles’ “Best Burlesque Show” by LA Weekly for 2012 and 2013–is good vs. evil played out in quick, exhibition-style, one-fall Lucha Libre matches for maximum enjoyment and action. Arguably more rock than rock and more punk than punk, LUCHAVaVOOM has created a Los Angeles tradition: from the low-rider car parade escorting the performers as the crowd enters the iconic Mayan Theater, to the local luminaries they attract (Drew Carey and Jack Black have sat in), to burlesque (which was revived right here in Los Angeles), to Lucha Libre, where masked heroic wrestlers, in character-driven style, flip, fly and amaze. It all comes together to make one fun, surreal, glam-bam spectacle of raucous entertainment. You could say it’s a wrestling show for people that don’t like wrestling (and those that do). The Los Angeles Times said, “Far-out flamboyance always prevails at Lucha VaVOOM, a spectacle of Mexican freestyle wrestling with an L.A. twist (7/09/06).”
At LUCHA VaVOOM, they like a little sexo with their violencia. In between matches, the finest handpicked burlesque acts from around the world wow the crowds with their unique striptease skills, including raucous aerial acts, pogo-stick peelers and hula-hoop hotties. The Los Angeles-based performance troupe has regularly sold out 1,000-seat venues across the globe (Amsterdam, Calgary, Toronto, San Francisco, New York, Chicago, Seattle, Portland and Philadelphia, among many other cities), performed at Fuji Rock Festival in Japan and Big Day Out Festival in Australia since its birth in 2002 and call Los Angeles’ Mayan Theater–an elaborately appointed, 1927-built former motion-picture palace–home when not on the road. A sizzle reel featuring LUCHA VaVOOM highlights (high-octane Mexican-style lucha libre wrestling, traditional burlesque and blow-by-blow comedic commentary) can be viewed here: http://tinyurl.com/nswes3x. Click here for LUCHA VaVOOM‘s EPK.
 Above: Event artwork
“There’s no show that’s funnier, sillier or more entertaining than this one.”
—Eric Idle (Monty Python) “The over-the-top-wrestling-orgy of sexy ladies, masked men, and overall debauchery known as Lucha VaVOOM has long been a you’ve-either-seen-it-or-what-the-F-is-wrong-with-you proposition.” “…no one that puts on a better lucha libre show than the folks at Lucha VaVOOM. Far wackier and wilder than most professional wrestling…Lucha VaVOOM lets its freak flag fly…”
Tickets are available at ticketweb.com and these outlets:
Wacko, 4633 Hollywood Blvd – (323) 663-0122 BRAT, 1938 14th St, Santa Monica – (310) 452-2480 Garage Pizza, 100 1/2 W 7th Street, Downtown LA (213) 622-3390 For more info, visit:
Click here for past Lucha VaVOOM press releases and assets
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For press inquiries, contact MSO PR:
Mike Gowen: mgowen@msopr.com Mitch Schneider: mschneider@msopr.com
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