Except for San Diego Chamber Orchestra’s redemptive, palate-cleansing “Messiah,” heard at California Center for the Arts Dec. 16, and Lyric Opera San Diego’s glorious “Amahl and the Night Visitors,” the culminating arts events in this year’s season of joy were a mixed bag.
A return visit to San Diego Symphony’s Winter Pops was evidence that Mariachi Champana Nevin’s charming “La Fiesta de la Nochebuena” has deepened and become a truly wondrous entertainment over the past few years. The rich-voiced, lovely and sincere Monica Abregos was once again on stage singing “O Holy Night.” Imagine the climactic moments of Adolphe Adams’ ubiquitous song, accompanied by an obligato of mariachi trumpets and you get some idea of the thrill. “Nochebuena” also includes baritone/guitarist Oscar Amezcua and Jeff Nevin’s take on the traditional, a catchy number titled “Navidad, Navidad.”
Nevin’s group is the crème de la crème in the world of mariachi, spoiling one’s ears for any other group. They are that excellent, in tune and especially gifted in the tenor singing. To be fronted with Abregos makes them even more appealing. An excellent trumpeter, Nevin is one of the city’s cultural assets. Holder of a Ph.D. from UCSD and a professor of mariachi at Southwestern College, he sat in with the symphony most of the evening, and indeed, a few of the Champana players came from symphony ranks as well, lending even more camaraderie to the occasion.
Attended by many families, the program also included portions of “The Nutcracker” with dancers from San Diego Civic Youth Ballet, a select group from San Diego Master Chorale (now, that’s singing!) and an array of traditional Christmas orchestral music as well as principal pops conductor Marvin Hamlisch’s lovely “Chanukah Lights.”
On the podium, popular pops maestro Matthew Garbutt was resplendent in red plaid Christmas trousers.

Theatre de Noel
How confusing is this?
Two Latino theatre troupes ” William Virchis’ established Teatro Mascara Magica and Mauricio Mendoza’s new Hispanic Arts Theatre ” presented differing versions of a traditional Christmas story on the same weekend, side by side in the theaters at San Diego Repertory. And the titles of both were P words.
The juxtaposed events, both of which drew capacity audiences, presented a marketing and logistical nightmare (the Horton Plaza parking garage was bursting at the seams), audience bewilderment, general disgruntlement and a kind of anger when people found themselves seated in Mascara Magica’s “Pastorela” and realized just before the 7:30 curtain that they were in the wrong auditorium and intended to be in the Space Theatre for the 8 p.m. curtain of “La Posada Magica.”
The former has been a San Diego fixture for many years; the latter, though well performed, dragged a bit, making attendees wish it had been performed in 90 minutes without interval. Our unhappiness increased during Act II, fraught with potato chip eaters/package rattlers and a raucous group of overindulged fans ” examples of liberal food and drink carried to thoughtless extremes.
Feliz Navidad anyhow, and here’s to better planning next year.