Tag Archives: Memphis

Sergio Trujillo to Direct & Choreograph The Broadway-Bound “Studio 54 The Musical”

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It’s a disco inferno for Sergio Trujillo…

The 61-year-old Colombian Tony Award-winning theater director, choreographer, dancer and actor will direct and choreograph the Broadway-bound Studio 54 The Musical.

Sergio TrujilloProducers Robert Greenblatt and Neil Meron are developing the new work with a book by Chad Hodge.

The musical, which will feature a full playlist of hits from the disco era, will trace “the astonishing ascent and sudden downfall of the most legendary club in nightlife history.”

“Neil Meron and I started talking about the amazing story of Studio 54 as a possible series years ago,” said Greenblatt in an exclusive statement to Deadline, “but we finally came to our senses and realized we had the perfect musical right under our noses.”

Add Meron, “And with book writer Chad Hodge and the incredible Sergio Trujillo, who came of age during the disco dance craze in Toronto and New York, we have the perfect team to bring it to life.”

Casting details and production schedule are to be announced.

The synopsis: “In staggeringly short order, two scrappy impresarios turned an abandoned west side theater into the hottest club in the history of New York– utterly transforming music, nightlife, and celebrity culture in the process. It also transformed the lives of everyone who made it past the door, whether for one extraordinary night or every night. Until it all abruptly came to an end. Studio 54 The Musical will bring audiences past the velvet rope and into a world of unfathomable decadence, set to the thumping sound of the most iconic disco hits of the 1970s and populated by a cast of unforgettable characters, all having the time of their lives. Welcome to Studio 54.”

The legendary disco nightclub was opened by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in 1977 and quickly become a cultural sensation. Andy Warhol, Liza Minnelli, Truman Capote, Bianca Jagger and countless other celebrities made the venue their nighttime home-away-from-home, along with New York City’s most fabulous collection of gay, straight and trans nightclubbers. The club on West 54th Street in Manhattan is currently a Broadway theater operated by the Roundabout Theatre Company.

Trujillo has an impressive roster of Broadway credits, including Ain’t Too Proud, Memphis, Jersey Boys, The Addams Family, On Your Feet! and Summer: The Donna Summer Musical.

He was most recently Director/Choreographer of the new musical Real Women Have Curves, which debuted at American Repertory Theatre, and he served as choreographer for the upcoming movie musical Kiss of the Spider Woman starring Jennifer Lopez.

He was Emmy-nominated for his choreography for NBC’s Annie Live!

Villafañe to Portray Gloria Estefan in the Broadway Musical “On Your Feet!”

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It’s a Miami Sound Machine moment for Ana Villafañe…

The Cuban-American singer, dancer and actress has been cast as Gloria Estefan in On Your Feet!, the highly anticipated Broadway musical about the Latin music superstar and her equally talented husband, producer Emilio Estefan.

Emilio Estefan, Gloria Estefan, Ana Villafañe and Josh Segarra

Villafañe, who attended the same Miami high school as la Estefan, wasn’t able to make the open casting call last fall but sent a video audition, according to an announcement Monday from the production team. She got the call to audition for director Jerry Mitchell (Kinky Boots, Hairspray) and the Estefans, and was cast in the show.

She’ll star opposite Josh Segarra, who will portray Emilio.

The musical — a rare Latino-themed Broadway offering that will surely benefit from Estefan’s global status — is based on the life story of the seven-time Grammy-winning singer and her husband, who owns 19 of his own Grammys. It’s slated to open at Broadway’s Nederlander-operated Marquis Theatre on November 5, following previews beginning October 5. I

n addition to staging by Mitchell, the show will have choreography by Sergio Trujillo (Jersey Boys, Memphis), with a book by Oscar winner Alexander Dinelaris (Birdman). Prior to Broadway, the show will try out at Chicago’s Oriental Theatre from June 2-July 5.

“She walked into the room, and I immediately thought to myself – ‘this is it’,” Mitchell said of Villafañe in a prepared announcement. “Not only was she beautifully reminiscent of a young Gloria, but she embodied her energy and spirit in such a captivating way. And then she fully rose to the occasion by giving a sensational audition.”

Villafañe’s film and television credits include Magic City Memoirs (executive producer Andy Garcia), Los Americans and the upcoming Hulu original series South Beach: Fever as well as the female lead in Max Steel (Mattel), set for global release this summer.

Segarra has appeared in New York in Second Stage Theater’s Dogfight and Lysistrata Jones. On television, he stars in USA’s comedy series Sirens and has a recurring part on NBC’s Chicago PD as well as PBS’ The Electric Company, and guest appearances on Showtime’s Homeland and FX’s The Following. This summer, he’ll appear in the Judd Apatow feature film Trainwreck.

The company will also feature Andréa Burns (In The Heights) as Gloria Fajardo (Gloria’s mother); Alma Cuervo (Beauty And The Beast) as Consuelo (Gloria’s grandmother); Alexandria Suarez as Little Gloria; and Noah Johnston as little Emilio.

David Rockwell (Kinky Boots, On The Twentieth Century) has designed the sets, with costumes by Emilio Sosa (Porgy & Bess), lighting by Kenneth Posner (Wicked, Hairspray), sound by Steve Kennedy and projections by Darrel Maloney. The show is produced by James L. Nederlander and Estefan Enterprises Inc., in partnership with Bernie Yuman.

In anticipation of a wide-ranging social media campaign to publicize the show, the production also released three videos about the Estefan’s and the making of the musical.