Blue Man Group, Santa, Chippendales, showgirls in Las Vegas Christmas wrap

We hit the streets especially hard this weekend, marking the holidays and NFR scene. From downtown to Boulder City, off-Strip but oddly not the Strip itself.

We had Blue Men, a Nutcracker mascot, the former Duke Fame, Ozzy’s onetime bassist and troupe of classic Vegas showgirls.

A chronology of Saturday’s events:

— 8:30 a.m.: A trip to the 21st annual Las Vegas Great Santa Run at Downtown Las Vegas Event Center. I just missed Mayor Shelley Berkley as she was spirited away after her onstage appearance. But I catch Opportunity Village CEO Bob Brown “interfacing” with an assemblage of Las Vegas’s pro-sports mascots. Even Nevada Ballet Theatre was represented, with “The Nutcracker” character (“George Balanchine’s The Nutcracker” opens Saturday at The Smith Center).

There was a dance-off, which (of course) Nutcracker won. Chance from Golden Knights was not on hand, but the Knights were represented by Silver Knights black-horse mascot, Lucky. He’s a cousin of Chance, I think.

Blue Man Group served as grand marshals and inspired the blue-option Santa suits, which looked purple in the sunlight but stood out nonetheless. Chippendales; Murray Sawchuck with his wife, Dani Elizabeth; the“Spice Wannabee” lineup of Casey McConachie, Malia Rae Blunt, Deena Cary, Yvonne Cavaco and Sarah Jessica Rhodes; “The Last Show” cast members Megan Wilson and Paul Bradley; The O.V. Elvi and members of Clark County Fire Department (in a calisthenics warm-up) performed.

Members of BMG posed with Santa, which happens never. The event drew about 6,000 participants, raising about $312,000. This was a financial, and also artistic, success. O.V. set records for fundraising this year.

— 2:30 p.m.: Toys For Tots/Christmas parade in Boulder City’s historic district (all of B.C. is a historic district, really). the pre-parade concert starred local entertainment luminaries Lorena Peril, Paul Shortino, Frank Dimino, George Pajon, Heidi Shepherd, Danny “The Count” Koker, Stoney Curtis, Barry Barnes, Jeff Tortora, Ronnie Mancuso and Erik Gloege. Vegas entertainment bookerAlice Goldstein coordinated this crew.

This was a wild performance, with Peril — the lead in “Fantasy” at Luxor — blasting through Chuck Berry’s “Run Run Rudolph.” Shepherd sang “Cherry Bomb,” altering some of the saucy lyrics for the family crowd. Shortino, who played Duke Fame in the original “This is Spinal Tap,” and his wife, Carmen Shortino, have recently weathered a “squatters’ crisis in their Las Vegas neighborhood (the home in which people were squatting was sold). We all agree Shortino should have been in the “Spinal Tap II: The End Continues,” as a grizzled rocker wearing an “Enormodome” tour jacket.

— 7:30 p.m.: “A Very Vegas Christmas” at The Smith Center. The second of Saturday’s two shows. George Daugherty conducted the Las Vegas Philharmonic, and co-produced the show with his husband, David Ka Lik Wong. The couple won a Primetime Emmy Award as producers of their television movie “Peter and The Wolf” for ABC (which won Best Primetime Children’s Program, Series, or Movie), and also for their 80-episode PBS children’s animation series “Sagwa The Chinese Siamese Cat.”

Michelle Johnson and Naomi Mauro, sisters Amy and Ellie Smith, Jonathan Karrant, soprano Cecilia Violetta López, and hula-hoop specialist Mat Plendl performed. Just an abundance of talent. “The Prayer” duet by López and Ellie Smith was an inspired move that paid off. Clint Holmes, who performed four times Saturday (two of his own shows at Myron’s, and two drop-ins in this one) sang the Nat King Cole classic “The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas To You).”

The stylish crooner Karrant serenaded the lineup of classic showgirls Lou Anne Chessik, Cindy Doumani, Marla Gomes, Suzanne Jipson, Seri Mirault, Terry Ritter, Joni Sailon, Ramona Shaw, Lauri S. Thompson, Teri Thorndike and Diane Michelle Varney.