Eden Espinosa to Take Part in Broadway Cares’ “Broadway Does Mother’s Day” Digital Fundraising Special

Posted on May 4, 2020 by Tom Castaneda

Eden Espinosais celebrating mothers everywhere…

The 42-year-old Mexican American actress and Broadway star, best known for her performances as Elphaba for the Broadway, Los Angeles, and San Francisco productions of the musical Wicked, will take part in Sunday’s Broadway Does Mother’s Day, a digital variety benefitting Broadway Cares’ COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund.

Cast members from Broadway’s Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Jagged Little Pill, Company,Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicago, Diana, Mean Girls, Girl from the North Country, Six, andMrs. Doubtfirewill take part.

The show is designed to replace some of the money usually raised by Broadway’s annual Easter Bonnet Competition, an event that was canceled this year due to the coronaviruspandemic.

The digital sketch show will include Broadway stars, their children and their mothers, with musical numbers, comedy and special guests planned.

In addition to Espinosa, scheduled guests so far includeJill Abramovitz, Kate Baldwin, Jenni Barber, Laura Benanti,Betty Buckley, Carolee Carmello, Victoria Clark, Chuck Cooper, Claybourne Elder, Beanie Feldstein, Harvey Fierstein, In The Heights’ Mandy Gonzalez, Celia Rose Gooding, Molly Griggs, James Monroe Iglehart, Judy Kaye, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Raymond J. Lee, Lesli Margherita, Ellyn Marie Marsh, Alexis Michelle, Vanessa Williams, Betsy Wolfeand LaChanze.

Sketches from Moulin Rouge! The Musical, Jagged Little Pill, Company, Tina: The Tina Turner Musical, Chicago, Diana, Mean Girls, Girl from the North Country, Six, andMrs. Doubtfire will also be included.

“We’re delighted to see the theatercommunity come together for Broadway Does Mother’s Day and honored to be a beneficiary of what promises to be such a special show,” said Tom Viola, executive director of Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS. “When crises hit, the Broadway community and theatre fans everywhere have always responded with generosity, compassion and action. We launched the COVID-19 Emergency Assistance Fund on behalf of and for those onstage, backstage and behind the scenes who need a helping hand during this pandemic.”

The broadcast will be streamed on Sunday, May 10 at 3:00 pm ET at BroadwayDoesMothersDay.com.

Rivera to Receive “Woman of Valor Award” from Victory Dance Project

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

It’s a special Victory for Chita Rivera…

The 84-year-old half-Puerto Rican actress, dancer and singer will be honored by the New York-based Victory Dance Project at its third anniversary celebration.

Rivera, a Broadway legend, will be presented with the company’s Woman of Valor Award at the celebration at the Manhattan Movement & Arts Center on June 15.

The award honors “a woman whose artistic excellence, advocacy, and legacy represents the highest level of integrity and artistic vision.”

The event, themed From This Movement On, will also include a world premiere piece choreographed by the company’s artistic director Amy Jordan, as well as pieces from the company’s repertoire.

Jordan and Rivera share a similar experience. Victory Dance Project was founded in 2014 by Jordan after she survived a bus accident that nearly claimed her life. She says she resolved that if she survived, she would do a “victory dance” to celebrate, and launched VDP Project with the mission to “Make the Impossible Possible with the Power of Movement.”

Rivera survived a 1986 Manhattan car accident that shattered her left leg. After therapy, she returned to the stage, winning the 1993 Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical for her performance in Kiss of the Spider-Woman. She had previously won a Tony for her performance in The Rink.

Her additional credits include the original Broadway productions of Guys and Dolls, West Side Story, Bye Bye Birdie, Can-Can, Chicago, Merlin, The Visit and her autobiographical musical, Chita Rivera: The Dancer’s Life.

“We are thrilled to be honoring the amazing Chita Rivera with Victory Dance Project’s Woman of Valor Award. I can’t think of a more apt recipient—Her incredible talent, spirit and strength inspire us on so many levels—she is truly a woman of valor,” said Jordan in an interview with Playbill.

Prince Royce to Serve as Judge on Univision’s “Pequeños Gigantes USA”

Posted on January 23, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Forget the jury, Prince Royce is ready to be the judge…

The 27-year-old Dominican American urban bachata star will serve as a judge on Univision’s childrens’ talent competition show Pequeños Gigantes USA.

Prince Royce will be joined on the panel by young regional Mexican heartthrob Luis Coronel.

The two singers, both bilingual and bicultural and born and raised in the U.S., will be joined in the judge’s podium by Mexican-born, U.S.-raised actress Bianca Marroquín, who played Roxi Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago.

Pequeños Gigantes USA, produced entirely by Univision, is a spin-off the popular Mexican version of the show, which aired in 2011. The new, U.S. version, which premieres February 6, is specifically looking for U.S.-based talent and is open to children 6-11 years old who are U.S. citizens or residents.

In naming Prince Royce and Coronel as judges, the production is also making a major effort to appeal to a younger, bilingual demographic.

“This is the kind of show I would have wanted to have as a child so it is awesome to be able to work with kids with so much talent and help guide them,” said Royce. The singer was also previously a judge on another kiddie competition, La Voz Kids, which aired on Telemundo.

Unlike La Voz Kids, which had a Sunday night slot, Pequeños Gigantes will be broadcast Monday through Thursday at 8:00 pm. Judges will give out scores after each presentation in categories divided in singing, dancing and talent, which includes actors, magicians and comedians.

Estefan Nominated for 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame

Posted on October 21, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Gloria Estefan has the write stuff…

The 59-year-old Cuban singer and former Miami Sound Machine vocalist has been nominated for the 2017 Songwriters Hall of Fame.

The Songwriters Hall announced the list of nominees Thursday, a day ahead of its official announcement. Other nominees that could be inducted next year are Jay Z, George Michael, Madonna, Bryan Adams, Vince Gill, Babyface, Max Martin, Kool & the Gang and more.

Estefan, a seven-time Grammy winner, found breakthrough success with her group’s 1985 single “Conga,” which made her a worldwide name.

She’s written several of the Spanish and English songs she’s performed, including “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Anything for You,” “1-2-3” and “Oye Mi Canto.”

Estefan has also written/co-written hits for other artists, including Shakira’s “Whenever, Wherever,” Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud” and Jon Secada’s “Angel.”

Eligible members can vote for three non-performing songwriters and two performing songwriters until December 16. Five songwriters, or songwriting groups, will be officially inducted at a gala in New York on June 15, 2017.

Other performing nominees include Cat Stevens, Sly Stone, Chicago, Jeff Lynne and David Gates.

Non-performing nominees are Kenny Nolan, Randy Goodrum, Tony Macaulay, William “Mickey” Stevenson, Allee Willis, Maury Yeston, Paul Overstreet and the songwriting duos Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, and Steve Barri and the late P.F. Sloan, who died last year.

Songwriters are eligible for induction after writing hit songs for at least 20 years.

Camil Makes Broadway History Opposite Bianca Marroquin in “Chicago”

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Jaime Camil is making historia…

The 42-year-old Mexican actor and Jane the Virgin star has made Broadway history.

With his performance in Chicago on Monday night, it’s the first time, two Mexican-born actors have lead a Broadway musical, as he plays Billy Flynn opposite Bianca Marroquin as Roxie Hart.

“One of my dreams has always been to be in a Broadway musical,” says Camil, who has led musicals in Mexico City including West Side Story, Hook and Aladdin. “I love the stage — the fact that you only have one take to get it right, the interaction with the audience, and how every show is different even though you’re doing the same thing.”

Eleven years ago, Camil nearly made his Broadway debut in The Mambo Kings —until producers pulled the plug on the musical adaptation just weeks before previews were to begin.

But Camil has finally had his moment on the Great White Way stage…

“Chicago is amazing because there’s no special effects or explosions. It’s just a group of talented human beings doing amazing things,” he says. “Billy Flynn is a character who manipulates these people like puppets. Everything happens because of him; it’s not a matter of if he’s going to win a case, it’s a matter of when. I love that he’s the mastermind behind everything that happens. He’s a fun character to play.”

In “All I Care About,” Camil even throws in a line in Spanish.

“That was the stage manager’s idea! When Eddie George was in this, he did his signature touchdown dance in ‘Razzle Dazzle.’ So when the girls are fondling me behind their feathers, I say in Spanish, ‘Oh please, stop it — you know I like it!’ It works nicely for the Spanish-speaking fans who come to the show.”

Camil will continue appearing in Chicago through July 31 at the Ambassador Theatre.

Carter Heading to the White House on the CW’s “Supergirl”

Posted on June 22, 2016 by Tom Castaneda

Lynda Carter is going from superhero to super leader…

The 64-year-old part-Mexican and part-Spanish American actress/singer, best known for starring as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince on the cult classic ABC/CBS series, will portray the President of the United States on the second season of the CW’s superhero drama series Supergirl.

It had long been rumored that Carter was being eyed for the role on the Melissa Benoist-starrer and mentioned as an idea by the show’s executive producers, and now it’s all official.

Carter joins other superhero alums to appear on the series. Lois and Clark star Dean Cain and Supergirl actress Helen Slater play Kara’s (Benoist) adoptive parents.

Carter, who played Wonder Woman in the 1970s television series, more recently starred as Matron Mama Morton in the London West End production of Chicago. Her television appearances have included The Muppet Show, Partners in Crime and Two and a Half Men.

She also has released three albums, including 1978’s Portrait, 2009’s At Last and 2011’s Crazy Little Things.

Based on the DC Comics characters, Supergirl also stars Mehcad Brooks, Chyler Leigh, David Harewood, Jeremy Jordan and Calista Flockhart.

Rivera Preparing for Broadway Return in “The Visit”

Posted on February 15, 2015 by Tom Castaneda

Chita Rivera is ready for you to make a Visit…

The 82-year-old half-Puerto Rican Broadway actress, dancer and singer and Tony Award winner, the first Hispanic woman and the first Latino American to receive a Kennedy Center Honors award, is starring in The Visit, one of the more daring musicals slated for Broadway’s spring season.

In the show, Rivera plays a billionairess who returns to the impoverished town she left in shame as a teenager, with a grotesque offer that her former neighbors prove unable to resist. Based on the 1956 play by Swiss author Friedrich Dürrenmatt, the musical with a book by Terrence McNally and co-starring Roger Rees, features one of the last scores created by the celebrated masters-of-darkness team of composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb (Chicago, Cabaret) before Ebb’s death in 2004.

The Visit begins previews March 26 at the Lyceum Theatre and officially bows April 23.

Ferrera Returning to Off Broadway…

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Tom Castaneda

It’s bye, bye Betty… and Hello, Bethany for America Ferrera…

The 28-year-old Honduran American actress will be returning to Off Broadway this season to play the lead in Bethany.

Written by Laura Marks, the dark comedy is set in an American community hit hard by foreclosures and economic woes, the play revolves around a woman who tests the limits of her own morality as she scrambles to regain her financial footing.

Produced by Women’s Project Theater, the world premiere will be directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch.

The play is scheduled to run January 11-February 17, 2013 at New York City Center Stage II.

The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning star of ABC‘s Ugly Betty’s last Off Broadway project was in the satirical Peanuts riff Dog Sees God: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead back in 2005. Ferrera recently did an eight-week stint as Roxie Hart in Chicago on London’s West End.

Ferrera’s latest projects include appearing with Michael Peña in End of Watch, She’ll next appear opposite Peña in the Diego Luna-directed biopic, Chavez, playing the wife of Latin American civil rights activist Cesar Chavez.

America Ferrera: West End Girl

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Tom Castaneda

Emmy-winning actress America Ferrera will be hitting London’s West End next month to show off her singing pipes…

According to Entertainment Weekly, the 27-year-old Honduran-American actress will join the London cast of “Chicago.” She’ll play the scene-stealing role of Roxie Hart in the long-running musical.

The former “Ugly Betty” star’s eight-week stint begins on November 7.

Following her London West End debut, Ferrera will make her Broadway debut in a revival of Beth Henley’s 984 play, “The Miss Firecracker Contest,” the story of a Mississippi woman entering a beauty pageant.

Ferrera will begin rehearsals for the production in March; the play is set to premiere next spring.

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