Viva! El Paso facts for kids
Viva! El Paso is a fun musical show that happens every year. It celebrates the amazing history of El Paso through dancing, acting, stories, and songs. The show has been performed almost every year since 1978. It even got new words and music in 2016. You can watch this musical play outdoors at the McKelligon Canyon amphitheater.
The show in 2020 was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. So, the 43rd show happened in 2021 instead.
Discovering El Paso's History
This exciting show tells the story of El Paso's history, going back more than 400 years! There have been two different versions of the musical play.
The Original Show
The first show was made by Hector Serrano. It was performed for the very first time in 1978. A group called Los Pobres Bilingual Theatre Repertory Company first put it on. In 2014, Viva! took a break because there wasn't enough money to keep it going.
The New Version
A new story was written by Marty Martin for the show that started in 2016. The new show was put together by several groups working together. These included the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), El Paso Live, the El Paso Community Foundation, and the El Paso Community College (EPCC).
The new story has more music and dance. It also makes the original story easier to follow. The 2016 show focuses more on characters. It follows two people who travel through time. They start with the first native people to live there, all the way to today. Jim Ward and Cody Ritchey created the new music for the show.
See also
