Tag Archives: Sesame Street

Los Lobos to Release “Kiko (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition)” on Record Store Day

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Los Lobos will be celebrating the 30th anniversary of their classic album with a special Record Store Day release.

Among the more than 170 exclusive titles for the annual Black Friday event this fall, the Mexican American rock band, comprised of David Hidalgo, Louie Pérez, Cesar Rosas, Conrad Lozano and Steve Berlin, will release a deluxe edition of Kiko on Record Store Day.

Los LobosKiko (30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition), the long original album, has been spread across two LPs for better fidelity, with a third disc of never-before-released demos.

Released in 1992, Kiko was the sixth studio album from Los Lobos.

With the exception of La Bamba‘s 2 million units sold, Kiko sold more units (vinyl, CDs, cassettes) than any other album in their 46-year career of original songs. Roughly 450,000 units were sold worldwide.

A year after the album’s release, Los Lobos performed a version of the song “Kiko and the Lavender Moon,” as “Elmo and the Lavender Moon,” on the PBS series Sesame Street.

This year’s Record Store Day will take place on Friday, November 24, 2023.

The full list of titles can be found on the RSD website here.

Television Academy Names Rita Moreno to This Year’s Hall of Fame Class

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Rita Moreno is entering a special hall…

The Television Academy has announced its 26th Hall of Fame class, with the 90-year-old Puerto Rican entertainer among the honorees.

Rita Moreno,Moreno will be joined by choreographer and actress Debbie Allen, documentarian Ken Burns, BET founder Robert L. Johnson, CBS executive Bob Daly and cinematographer Donald A. Morgan.

Moreno, an EGOT winner (Emmys, Grammys, Oscars, Tony Awards), is a two-time Emmy winner for The Muppet Show and The Rockford Files.

She has starred in series including The Electric Company, Sesame Street, Nine to Five, Oz, Cane, Happily Divorced, Jane the Virgin, and the Latinx reimagining of Norman Lear’s One Day at a Time.

Moreno’s many accolades also include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Arts, the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the Kennedy Center Honors and the Peabody Award.

Moreno is among two of the honorees who’ve already received honorary awards from the Television Academy. She was awarded a “Televisionary Award” in 2008. Allen received a Governors Award last year.

The Hall of Fame event will take place on Wednesday, November 16, at the Television Academy’s Saban Media Center in North Hollywood, California.

In addition to the induction of the 2022 Hall of Fame recipients, the event will include the presentation of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award to actor/director/activist Sean Penn and the unveiling of new busts of four previous inductees.

“These legendary performers, creators, craftspeople and television executives are luminaries in our industry,” Frank Scherma, chairman and CEO of the Television Academy, said in a statement. “Their work has influenced and immeasurably elevated the current television landscape and culture. We are proud to induct these trailblazers into the Hall of Fame and honored to celebrate their extraordinary contributions to our industry.”

“This year’s honorees have told the American story through television in ways that will forever shape our history and culture,” said Rick Rosen, Hall of Fame selection committee chair (who is also WME co-founder and head of television). “Whether they reshaped the industry itself through visionary leadership or created pieces of work that have had a lasting legacy, these individuals will forever be remembered for the impact they’ve had on the medium.”

The 2022 Hall of Fame honorees join more than 150 individuals previously inducted into the Hall of Fame since its inception in 1984. The honors were presented every year from 1984 to 1993, but the Academy has skipped 13 years since then for various reasons. This is the first induction class since 2019.

In addition to Rosen, this year’s Hall of Fame selection committee included Marcy Carsey, Emmy-winning producer; Pearlena Igbokwe, chairman of Universal Studio Group; Peter Roth, former chairman of Warner Bros. Television Group; Nina Tassler, co-chief executive officer of PatMa Productions; and Dana Walden, chairman of Disney General Entertainment Content.

Rita Moreno to Take Part in This Year’s Sundance Film Festival Semi-Virtual Edition

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Rita Moreno is ready to rock Sundance…

The 2021 Sundance Film Festival has announced a schedule of the talks and events to be presented on the Sundance platform, with the 89-year-old Puerto Rican actress, dancer and singer set to participate.

Rita Moreno

The festival, which runs from January 28 to February 3, opted for a semi-virtual option in lieu of its traditional exhibition in Park City, UT. Among the guests taking part in this year’s virtual “Cinema Cafe” talks are Moreno, Questlove, Robin Wright and others.

Moreno will be joined by beloved Sesame Street alum Sonia Manzano for a little café talk on Saturday, January 30 from 10:30-11:15 am.

The EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscars & Tony Awards) winner will also take part in the Conjuring the Collective: Womxn at Sundance Speakeasy later that night, from 8:00 – 9:00 pm.

The virtual speakeasy will feature performances from an array of talented women from the Festival and beyond, honoring a multiplicity of perspectives through our myths and stories, dance, art, music, and culture.

In addition to Moreno, guests include poet Apiorkor, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (Ailey), actor Marlee Matlin and director Siân Heder.

The following is the roster of scheduled events. All talks and events are free to view, and all times are U.S. Mountain time.

2021 Sundance Film
Festival Opening Night Welcome
Thursday, January 28,
5:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

The Sundance Dailies
#SundanceDailies
Friday, January 29–Tuesday, February 2,
9:00 a.m.–9:30 a.m.

2021 Cinema Café guests:

Shaka King & Ahmir
“Questlove” Thompson
Friday, January 29, 10:30-11:15 a.m.

Sonia Manzano & Rita Moreno
Saturday, January 30, 10:30-11:15 a.m.

Rebecca Hall & Robin Wright
Sunday, January 31, 10:30-11:15 a.m.

Tyson Brown, Patti Harrison & Emilia Jones
Monday, February 1, 10:30-11:15am

The Big Conversation
#SundanceBigConversation
Friday, January 29-Monday, February 1,
1-2 p.m., individual slots TBA
The Big Conversation tackles science, art, culture, and the movements that are fueling the imaginations of today’s independent artists. A compelling selection of speakers discuss topics centered on the themes of this year’s program and explore broader trends in art and culture around the world. In considering how
artists — through their practice and their work — make meaning of the world, we’re reminded that it’s the big conversation that connects us to the big ideas. The topics are “Barbed Wire Kisses Redux,” “Come Together” and “The Past In the Present: A Personal Journey through Race, History and Filmmaking.”

Power of Story
Timing TBA
The Sundance Film Festival’s Power of Story looks to deepen public engagement with storytelling, delve into cinema culture, and celebrate artists whose work propels the form and reinvents storytelling as we know it.

Power of Story: Speculative Fiction Is the Place
Black speculative fiction and historiography, Afrofuturism, and utopian/dystopian visions speak to an enduring, evolving, and vibrant storytelling sensibility.

Conjuring the Collective: Womxn at Sundance Speakeasy
Saturday, January 30, 8-9 p.m.
A virtual speakeasy featuring performances from an array of talented women from the Festival and beyond, honoring a multiplicity of perspectives through our myths and stories, dance, art, music, and culture. Guests include: poet Apiorkor, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and Artistic Director Emerita Judith Jamison (Ailey), actor Marlee Matlin and director Siân Heder (CODA), actor Rita Moreno (Rita Moreno: Just A Girl Who Decided to Go For It), actor SOKO (Mayday, The Blazing World), and more TBA.

Awards Night
Tuesday, February 2, 6 p.m.
Free and open to all, the event will be live-streamed on our online screening platform.

It’s a Wrap
Wednesday, February 3, 9-9:30 a.m.
Festival director Tabitha Jackson leads a ceremonial end to this all-new Sundance experience by bringing audiences together for one last moment together in the virtual space.

Carmen Osbahr-Vertiz’s Rosita to Participate in “Sesame Street” & CNN’s “Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism” Town Hall

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Carmen Osbahr-Vertiz is helping raise awareness on racism in America…

The 58-year-old Mexican puppeteer’s beloved Sesame Street character, Rosita, will be part of the long-running PBS series town hall addressing racism in partnership with CNN. The event comes in  response to protests around the world after the death of George Floyd in Minnesota.

Carmen Osbahr-Vertiz's Rosita

Big Bird will join CNN’s Van Jones and Erica Hill to moderate the Coming Together: Standing Up to Racism town hall, which will cover topics of racism, protesting, embracing diversity, and being more empathetic and understanding.

In addition to Rosita and Big Bird, Sesame Street’s Elmo and Abby Cadabby will join experts to answer questions from parents and children.

The 60-minute special will air on Saturday, June 6, at 10:00 am ET. The town hall will air on CNN, CNN International, and CNN en Español. It will also stream live on CNN.com and on the CNN app, without requiring a cable log-in.

Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, died on May 25 in Minneapolis after a white police officer kneeled into his neck for nearly 9 minutes. The incident was caught on video by multiple bystanders and released across social media, leading to an intense response from residents in cities across the U.S., as well as other countries, calling for justice and an end to police brutality against black people.

Osbahr-Vertiz’s Rosita is a 5-year-old turquoise Hispanic female monster Muppet character on the children’s television series. Fluent in English and Spanish, she’s the first regular bilingual Muppet on the show. Osbahr-Vertiz has voiced Rosita since 1991.

Sesame Street and the news network also combined forces in May for a town hall discussing COVID-19.

To help combat systemic racism, please consider donating to these organizations:

  • Campaign Zero, which is dedicated to ending police brutality in America through research-based strategies.
  • Color of Change, which works to move decision makers in corporations and government to be more responsive to racial disparities.
  • Equal Justice Initiative, which provides legal services to people who have been wrongly convicted, denied a fair trial, or abused in state jails and prisons.

Manzano to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys

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Sonia Manzano is getting her Emmy moment…

The 65-year-old Puerto Rican actress and writer will receive the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ 43rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards on May 1 in Los Angeles.

Sonia Manzano

Manzano is best known for playing Maria on Sesame Street from 1971 until her retirement in 2015.

During her 45 years on Sesame Street, Manzano picked up 15 Emmys for her work as a writer on the groundbreaking public television show.

“My children and just about every child in America has grown up learning their ABC’s from the iconic character of Maria on Sesame Street played by Sonia Manzano,” said NATAS President Bob Mauro. “Sonia not only brought the life events of marriage, having a baby and being a mother to viewers young and old, she also brought a seldom-seen diversity, a Latin role model, unlike anything on television at the time.”

A borinqueña daughter of the South Bronx and graduate of NYC’s famed High School of the Performing Arts, Manzano made her professional debut in the original off-Broadway cast of Godspell before joining Sesame Street in 1971. Her own life — from teenager through growing up, marrying and becoming a mother — was integrated into the complex social fabric of Sesame Street, the Peyton Place of the pre-pubescent set.

A community activist, occasional stage actress and author, Manzano wrote a memoir, Becoming Maria: Love and Chaos in the South Bronx, that was  published in August by Scholastic Press.

Miranda Contributes Cantina Music for “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”

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The Force has awakened Lin-Manuel Miranda…

The 35-year-old Puerto Rican actor, composer and writer, currently earning raves on Broadway for his latest award-winning musical, Hamilton, has partnered with Star Wars’ latest direct J.J. Abrams to make some music.

Lin-Manuel Miranda

Theater and sci-fi geeks alike freaked when Abrams let the news slip on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon (Nov. 30), revealing that Miranda will be lending his talents to new cantina music for Episode VII, aka Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“I go to see [Hamilton] with our son and at intermission, Lin-Manuel Miranda comes up to me and says, ‘Hey if you need music for the [Star Wars] Cantina, I’ll write it,” recalls Abrams. He notes that composer John Williams, who helmed the original cantina scene in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, declined to tackle the task this go-round.

Miranda, who’s Hamilton is currently dominating Broadway — and the Billboard charts — with its R&B, pop and rap-influenced take on the story of Alexander Hamilton, described the process via Twitter.

“We did. Worked on it between 6pm & 7:30 on 2 show days for the past 2 months. JJ is the best. Can’t wait to see,” tweeted the In The Heights creator to his followers.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens in theaters in three weeks (opening December18).

Miranda is responsible for Disney’s upcoming animated film Moana. His other composing credits include The Electric Company and Sesame Street.

Blacc to Appear as a Musical Guest on the New Season of “Sesame Street”

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Can you tell Aloe Blacc how to get, how to get to Sesame Street?

The 36-year-old Panamanian American singer-songwriter is set to guest star on the long-running educational program for its upcoming 46th season, which premieres in January and has been revamped for HBO.

Aloe Blacc

Blacc is set to appear as a musical guest, performing the song “Everyday Hero.”

In addition to Blacc, this season’s musical guests on television’s most iconic street include Fifth Harmony, Gwen Stefani, Pharrell and Nick Jonas.

This season also promises a new set, new opening and closing songs and a new character named Nina.

It all begins on January 16 at 9:00 am ET on HBO. The new episodes also will air on PBS, although at a later date.

Here’s the full lineup of musical guests and their songs:

Gwen Stefani, “Be a Good Friend”
Pharrell, “B Is for Book”
Nick Jonas, “Check That Shape”
Fifth Harmony, “That’s Music”
Sara Bareilles, “Just Like Magic”
Ne-Yo, “You’ve Got a Body, So Move It!”
Aloe Blacc, “Everyday Hero”

Univision to Begin Airing “Sesame Amigos” in Saturday Children’s Programming Block

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There are some new Amigos heading to Univision…

The Spanish-language network will begin airing Season 1 of Sesame Amigos, a new 30-minute Spanish-language program from Sesame Workshop, on August 1 at 8:30 am ET/PT as part of Univision’s Saturday children’s programming block “Planeta U.”

Sesame Amigos

The network has scheduled 26 episodes featuring Elmo, Cookie Monster, Bert & Ernie and other familiar denizens of Sesame Street.

Along with signature segments promoting learning, cooperation and being nice, each show will also feature the characters interacting with a Univision celebrity, among them Sal y Pimenta hosts Carlos Calderon and Lourdes Stephen, Primer Impacto correspondents Tony Dandrades and Jackie Guerrido, Despierta América’s Maity Interiano and William Valdez and Univision Deportes’ Pablo “La Torre de Jalisco” Ramirez.

Non-Univision Hispanic celebrities will also appear, including Vahdir Derbez, Diego Luna and Leslie Grace.

“Sesame Amigos is a new and innovative show designed specifically for Spanish-speaking families in the U.S.,” said Alberto Ciurana, president of Programming & Content, Univision Communications Inc. “While versions of Sesame Street air in more than 150 countries, Sesame Amigos will provide Spanish-speaking preschoolers the tools they need to succeed in the United States.”

Cruz Cordova to Star in “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk”

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Ismael Cruz Cordova has his walking papers…

The 28-year-old Puerto Rican actor has been cast in the upcoming film adaptation of Ben Fountain’s novel Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk.

 Ismael Cruz Cordova

The film follows a unit of decorated Iraq War soldiers who, at the height of the war, survive a bloody battle and come out of it hailed as heroes. Brought back stateside to participate in patriotic events to boost support for the war, they become disillusioned with the military and noncombatant civilians when they learn that despite their service, they’re going to be sent back for another tour.

Directed by Ang Lee from a script by Simon Beaufoy and Jean-Christophe Castelli, the film is being shot using state-of-the-art Sony cameras in native 3D, promising high resolution and an unprecedented frame rate.

Cordova, who gained national attention playing Mando on Sesame Street, joins a cast that includes Arturo Castro, Barney Harris, Beau Knapp, Mason Lee and Brian “Astro” Bradley. In addition, Makenzie Leigh will play Faison, a Texas cheerleader and love interest to main character Billy Flynn. They join actor Joe Alwyn, already cast in the title role.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk hits theaters November 11, 2016.

Cruz Cordova’s credits include several appearances on The Good Wife.

Miranda Wins His First-Ever Emmy at Saturday’s Creative Arts Emmys

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Lin-Manuel Miranda has some new hardware for his mantel…

The 34-year-old Puerto Rican composer, rapper, lyricist, and actor was awarded his first-ever Emmy at this year’s Creative Arts Emmys, which were held Saturday night at Los Angeles’ Nokia Theatre L.A. Live.

Tom Kitt & Lin-Manuel Miranda Emmys

The awards show took place just over a week before the Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, set for Monday, Aug. 25.

Manuel, a Tony Award– and Grammy-winner for writing the hit Broadway musical In the Heights, won the Emmy for Outstanding Original Music And Lyrics
 for penning the lyrics to the song “Bigger!” from the 67th Annual Tony Awards. He shares the award with Tom Kitt, who wrote the music to the seven-minute song.

The track was performed by host Neil Patrick Harris on the live Tony Awards telecast on CBS.

Earlier this year, Manuel was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Song for penning the Sesame Street song “Rhymes with Mando.”