Cuba connection continues with ‘Passions’

Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2004 | 8:15 a.m.

A second wave of Cuban performers will arrive in Las Vegas this week for a four-day engagement at the Las Vegas Hilton.

But these singers and dancers are from Miami not Cuba and aren't likely to seek political asylum, unless they are perchance Democrats fleeing the Republican-controlled state of Florida.

"Tropical Passions" premieres Wednesday, just a few blocks from the Stardust, where Vegas' first Cuban production, "Havana Night Club The Show," continues through Jan. 11.

Suddenly, Las Vegas is the Cuban Entertainment Capital of the World.

Both shows feature more than 50 performers and musicians, but that may be where the similarities end.

"Havana Night Club The Show" traces the history of dance in Cuba, spanning centuries of culture from the earliest days of the native inhabitants to the influence of the Spaniards and the Africans and ending with modern dance.

And the cast is made up entirely of Cubans. All but three of them asked for political asylum last month.

"Tropical Passions," for 75 minutes, focuses on a variety of music popular in Cuba during the '50s not only the Latin sound but pop and rock 'n' roll as well.

The cast members are mostly either ex-patriot Cubans or Cuban descendants who live in Florida, with a few non-Cubans thrown in.

"We have a show with Cuban music as well as American," said Jesus Sanfield, who fled Cuba 25 years ago and eventually settled in Las Vegas. He is "Passions' " choreographer and artistic director, a driving force behind the production.

He says there is no competition between the two productions.

"We don't try to compete with anybody," Sanfield said.

"Passions" will feature classic Cuban sounds including mambo, cha-cha, guaracha, rumba, as well as blues and rock 'n' roll -- all backed by a 23-piece orchestra (the Latin Grammy nominee Tropicana All Stars), Sanfield said.

Music that will be covered includes that of Cuba's Benny Moore as well as Peggy Lee, Nat King Cole, Elvis Presley and Josephine Baker.

Featured vocalists in "Passions" will include Israel Kantor, John C. Halbour (also the show's host) and Jessie Garon, in a tribute to Elvis Presley.

German Piferrer is the musical director. Rolando Moreno is the costume designer. Miami-based Recaredo Gutierrez and his company, Regu Productions, are producing the show.

Sanfield says the revue focuses on Cuba in the '50s "because it was an era of glamour and elegance."

"It was a very significant era."

It was one that saw dictator Fidel Castro rise to power at the end of the decade, in 1959.

"This production is what I have always dreamed of," Gutierrez said in a prepared statement, "and Las Vegas is the perfect place to present this level of artistic quality, international flavor and grand scope."

Gutierrez says the production will combine "music, the rhythm and cadence of our lives, combined with memories of the '50s to some and a window of that era to others."

Sanfield, a ballet master, said when Gutierrez called him and asked him to be part of the extravaganza, he quickly accepted.

"I thought it would be a beautiful show," said Sanfield, who is on the faculty of the Nevada Ballet Theatre and the Performing Arts Dance Center.

He said the show will be filled with Cuban and American dancing and singing, interspersed with comedy.

"This show has everything," Sanfield said. "It's exciting and enjoyable from the opening to the finale."

There have been no definite plans made for the production when it closes Saturday.

"My wish is for it to find a home and stay in Las Vegas," Sanfield said.