Lorena Peril

Lorena Peril (born December 21 ) is an American singer. She is the lead vocalist for the topless revue Fantasy at Luxor Las Vegas and frequently performs the United States national anthem at sporting events.

Born in San Francisco, Peril graduated from Oceana High School in 1993 or 1994 and attended Skyline College. Starting at 18 years old, she worked for four years as a housekeeper at a nursing home in San Francisco and later as an administrative assistant in the Financial District. On a family vacation on a Carnival Cruise Line ship, she sang karaoke during an open mic. The cruise director urged her to apply for a role as a production singer. Peril sang for Carnival Cruise Line for over four years. On a friend's recommendation, she moved to Las Vegas in 2005 to seek job opportunities there after wanting a change from the cruise ship life. In mid-2005, Peril became the lead vocalist for the rock musical group Sunset Strip, which later became the show Sin City Bad Girls at the Las Vegas Hilton. She performed as Christina Aguilera in Stratosphere's tribute show American Superstars between 2007 and 2009 and in Sin City Bad Girls until 2010.

Peril became the lead vocalist and host of Fantasy between 2010 and 2013. She left in 2013 to perform as Sandy in a European tour of the musical Grease. On her return to Las Vegas, she was a lead vocalist in 2014 in the David Saxe production Vegas! The Show at Planet Hollywood. Peril left Las Vegas again to star in 2015 and 2016 with her husband in the cabaret production Married and Looking in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. When she returned to Las Vegas, Peril started her second stint as lead vocalist of Fantasy in 2016. Reviewers of Fantasy praised her strong vocals, comedic stage presence, and ability to make the audience feel at ease. Peril created and starred in the 2023 musical production Housekeeper To Headliner about her life story.

Early life Lorena Peril was born on December 21 in San Francisco and is of Mexican–American heritage. Her mother is Ofelia Baker and her father is Barry Baker. She has a younger brother, Marco Anguiano. In her early childhood, Peril lived in poverty in the Mission District of San Francisco with her single mother, a housekeeper born in Guadalajara. By the time, she was nine years old, she had a stepfather. That Christmas, her Christmas gift was a card telling her she would be visiting Disneyland. Peril said, "I screamed and cried and jumped up and down for 20 minutes. I thought only rich people went to Disneyland."

As a child, Peril gathered her family members to watch her imitate vocalists and dancers she admired. She played songs by Linda Ronstadt, who she said had a profound effect on her. Upon graduating from Pacific Heights Middle School in Pacifica, she attended Oceana High School, where she graduated in 1993 or 1994. She described her high school self as "the quiet, insecure shy girl" who was "thin and tiny" and given the nickname Olive Oyl. Phil Serrano, a guitarist who also worked at the facility, heard her singing and proposed that they team up to play at local venues in the city. They founded the musical group the Perilous Partners. Her mother suggested that she participate in the karaoke during the cruise's second evening.

Move to Las Vegas: Sin City Bad Girls and American Superstars George Bryant, a drummer in her supporting band on the Carnival Cruise Line ship, recommended that Peril become an entertainer in Las Vegas, where he hailed from. When she vacationed in Las Vegas, Peril yearned for a change from the cruise ship life, so she moved to Las Vegas in 2005 to pursue her career there. She was unemployed and lived on the east side of the Las Vegas Strip at a Tropicana Avenue Motel 6. During the topless revue, Peril sang the Police song "Roxanne", the Gretchen Wilson song "All Jacked Up", and the Christina Aguilera song "Nasty Naughty Boy". Mike Weatherford of the Las Vegas Review-Journal praised Peril's performance on "Roxanne" but found that her vocal style did not match the country song "All Jacked Up". After Barry Manilow watched a performance, he recruited the musical group to be his opening act while he toured on the East Coast. Along with the group's seven other members, Peril toured for 10 days.

Her performances attracted notice from the people producing Stratosphere's tribute show American Superstars, who recruited her to join. Peril attributed her ability to purchase a home to the show, the first in which people paid to watch her perform. She imitated Christina Aguilera in American Superstars. To prepare herself for the role, Peril closely examined Aguilera's habits and slightly oversang. She said when males inquire why, she answers, "Would you even be listening to me if I was singing a ballad topless?" Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist Mike Weatherford found that Peril's addition shifted the show to an energetic pop style containing Latin elements. He thought that the topless scenes, which she did not participate in, felt "a little less hot and bothered". In one scene, she chooses an audience member to wear an Elvis Presley outfit and lip sync and lightly mocks male sex organs. Las Vegas Weekly reviewer John Katsilometes lauded her rendition of the Shakira song "Hips Don't Lie" alongside comedian Sean E. Cooper. In her first stint on Fantasy, she performed her last show on July 22, 2013. Peril received the position without needing to audition. The director, Bart Doerfler, gave her it after Peril previously had used an Italian accent to sing "The Italian" for his European show Speed. Peril left Fantasy in 2013 to star in the tour. To prepare for her character, Peril straightened her hair and wore hair extensions. After declining a Las Vegas job opportunity, the couple accepted his offer and began performing the cabaret production Married and Looking in 2015 and 2016. The duo returned to The Red Room Cabaret for three shows in 2017. White praised Peril's "powerful" vocals, "dazzling" outfits, and "stunning" theatrical presence.

After six months in Mexico, Peril was finishing up her Married and Looking contract. Peril said that compared to other shows where she was unable to stray from the script, in Fantasy she could speak extemporaneously and bring merriment to the audience. Peril engaged in light-hearted teasing in English and another language, quipping that "the dude sections are always really quiet" and chuckling uproariously at her playful remarks where she declares, "I just snorted. It's on now!" She ventured into the aisle to interact with spectators. The Las Vegas Sun reviewer John Katsilometes called her a "great fit" for Fantasy with her "powerful, rangy voice" and for having an "engaging personality" that smoothly charms spectators.

Terry Bradshaw performed his show Terry Bradshaw: America's Favorite Dumb Blonde … A Life in Four Quarters—featuring him telling stories and singing—for two days in 2013 at The Mirage. Peril was a backing singer and dancer for the show, which Fantasy choreographer Anita Mann directed. She and the three other supporting singers and dancers were dubbed the IQties. Peril performed on the show again in 2019, 2020, and 2021 after it was renamed to The Terry Bradshaw Show and housed in the Atrium Showroom, where Fantasy is performed. Peril performed with Anne Martinez, a Fantasy substitute singer who also sang in Bradshaw's show, in 2022 at the Italian American Club. She took her neighbors' song suggestions on social media and performed the songs. Peril played music from loudspeakers mounted on her husband's truck, a Dodge Ram 1500. The production began with a video of Peril doing housekeeping work. As the video finished, she appeared and sang and danced. She performed rock and roll and mariachi songs.

National anthem performances Las Vegas Sun columnist John Katsilometes in 2011 called Peril "one of the great national anthem singers in the city". Peril has performed the United States national anthem in multiple settings. When Oscar Goodman, the Mayor of Las Vegas, gave his final State of the City address, she sang the national anthem at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. She performed it before UNLV Rebels matches held at Thomas & Mack Center and before Las Vegas 51s matches held at Cashman Field. At the Staples Center, Peril sang the national anthem for Los Angeles Clippers and Los Angeles Kings games. She performed the anthem for the San Francisco Giants and Vegas Golden Knights and at T-Mobile Arena for the PBR World Finals.

In her youth, she accompanied her family to San Francisco 49ers games.

Held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in 2012, the boxing match Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Márquez IV was Peril's debut national anthem performance at a primary bout. Peril sang the national anthem at the Manny Pacquiao vs. Keith Thurman boxing match that was held at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in 2019. Stephanie Sanchez, an entertainment executive at MGM Resorts International who had previously been Fantasys lead vocalist, had called her the day of the event, one hour ahead of the soundcheck, to invite her to perform. That day, she had already sung the national anthem for a Vegas Rollers tennis game. Peril, who had been heading to a Smith's Food and Drug supermarket outlet, agreed and headed to the arena. MLive Media Group praised her performance as a "fine rendition".

Personal life Peril is married to Ray Jon Narbaitz III, who is from Chico, California. The couple had two dogs in 2016. Peril's father died in 2022.

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