Getting Ready for Dancing in the Streets : Musical Variety--and Tighter Security--Are on Tap for Sixth Annual Fiesta Broadway

Stir up some pop, ballads, ranchera and banda. Spike it all with some hot salsa and a dab of Tex-Mex. Add a sprinkle of reggae and flamenco for some exotic flavor, and you start to have the sangria that is L.A. Fiesta Broadway.

The nation’s largest Cinco de Mayo celebration reaches its sixth year on Sunday amid a flurry of anticipation at the gathering of some of Latin music’s biggest names--salsa queen Celia Cruz, Mexican soap star and balladeer Eduardo Capetillo and Tex-Mex sensation La Mafia, among others--tinged with the slight unease left over from last year’s early closure of the street fest because of disturbances stemming from rowdy fans.

This year’s Fiesta Broadway is expected to bring more than 500,000 people to Broadway between Olympic and First streets for a day of food, games and free performances by close to 50 entertainers encompassing all genres of Latin music. And measures have been taken, including tightening security, to ensure that the fest’s traditional family-orientation will not be jeopardized again.

The bombastic affair is a far cry from the original Fiesta Broadway proposed in 1990 by Estela Lopez, executive director of Miracle on Broadway, a nonprofit organization that works toward the redevelopment of the downtown area.

“Every downtown that is in the process of revitalizing has an event that draws people to celebrate its history once a year,” Lopez says. “I thought we should start modestly, so I went to (Spanish-language network) Univision and said, ‘How about a little heritage parade?’ And (then-network president) Joaquin Blaya said, ‘Think big, think big!’ ”

From the onset, Lopez’s little parade became a huge festival celebrating not only Mexican American heritage but the Latino diversity of Los Angeles.

This year’s headliner, in fact, is Cuban salsa singer Celia Cruz, who comes to the fiesta for the first time. (Coincidentally, Cruz’s first Los Angeles appearance, in 1958, was in the historic Million Dollar Theater, located in the heart of Broadway.)

From its beginning, Fiesta Broadway has always attracted crowd-pleasing performers, but this year’s talent hits new musical heights.

Although there is a fair share of feel-good popsters and balladeers, such as soap stars/singers Thalia and Capetillo and dancing pop groups Mestizzo and Garibaldi, there are also international heavyweights like Cruz, mariachi singer Pedro Fernandez, La Mafia, salsa crooners Marc Anthony and Rey Ruiz and Spanish flamenco group Jaleo. Conspicuously absent from this eclectic lineup is rap music, which is partly to blame for last year’s disturbances.

The trouble site was the stage of radio station KPWR-FM (105.9), which drew such big crowds that its show was canceled. Angered by the decision, alleged gang members threw bottles and rocks at the stage. The end result was 14 arrests, 18 people injured (none seriously) and the early closure of the fiesta.

The way to avoid such trouble in the future, said Lopez at the time, was to make the fiesta “family oriented,” and it’s a line organizers are repeating like a mantra.

In the name of security, this year’s fiesta will have more police, close monitoring of alcohol sales (which are not part of the fiesta but can be purchased in establishments in the area), fewer stages (five instead of last year’s nine) and a reduced schedule, from noon to 6 p.m., instead of the usual 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

What organizers have not been able to eliminate is the habit of allowing lip-syncing, or bringing performers who sing over backing tapes, as will Thalia, Tatiana and Panamanian El General. According to Abraham Contreras of UNO Productions, the company in charge of booking most of the talent, using tracks is unavoidable because the fiesta can’t afford to bring all accompanying bands, “so we have to decide who needs their backup band the most,” he says.

Cruz, for example, will bring her band, but like many other performers, her time onstage will be limited to approximately 15 minutes. Again, says Pietro Carlos of Uno Productions, it is unavoidable. “It would be nice if they could sing longer, but this is the only way we can get this selection,” he says.

Carlos also points out that artists receive air fare and expenses to come to the fiesta but are not paid for performing. Their incentive is the huge publicity the event generates, “so it would be unfair to ask them to perform a whole show.”

Then again, perhaps performers wouldn’t mind. After all, while time is limited on the main stage at Broadway and Olympic, where the television special is filmed, acts on the smaller stages can perform for up to an hour.

“Everybody’s just getting into the show and then you’re out, and it doesn’t give you a chance to really entertain the people,” says Oscar De La Rosa of La Mafia.

“But we get such a rush anyway,” he adds. “It’s not only the promotion. It’s being able to play for people who might not have the money to pay to see our show. So this way we can give something in return.”