Tag Archives: Tony Award

Patricia Delgado Wins Tony Award for Best Choreography for “Buena Vista Social Club” Musical

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Patricia Delgado is celebrating her Buena suerte…

The Cuban American ballet dancer, répétiteur and teacher earned her first-ever Tony Award alongside her husband Justin Peck during Sunday’s 78th Annual Tony Awards—presented at Radio City Music Hall.

Patricia Delgado, Justin Peck, Tony AwardsDelgado and Peck won the Best Choreography award for their work on the acclaimed musical Buena Vista Social Club.

Delgado and Peck are longtime collaborators who have been with Buena Vista Social Club since the beginning of its development.

They’ve worked together on various projects, including Steven Spielberg’s 2021 West Side Story.

Buena Vista Social Club marks their first co-choreographer credit.

Set in Havana during the 1950s through the 1990s, Buena Vista Social Club tells the story of the effect of the rise of communism and Fidel Castro on local musicians. It follows four prominent musicians and their eventual collaboration on the 1997 landmark album Buena Vista Social Club. The show’s music is entirely in Spanish. Ali served as its director when it premiered Off-Broadway in 2023 at the Atlantic Theatre Company.

Buena Vista Social Club earned four Tonys. 

Here’s the full list of winners:

Best Musical: Maybe Happy Ending
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical: Nicole Scherzinger, Sunset Blvd.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical: Darren Criss, Maybe Happy Ending
Best Revival of a Musical: Sunset Blvd.
Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play: Cole Escola, Oh, Mary!
Best Direction of a Musical: Michael Arden, Maybe Happy Ending
Best Direction of a Play: Sam Pinkleton, Oh, Mary!
Best Revival of a Play: Eureka Day, Jonathan Spector
Best Play: Purpose
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Musical: Natalie Venetia Belcon, Buena Vista Social Club
Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play: Kara Young, Purpose
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical: Jak Malone, Operation Mincemeat: A New Musical
Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play: Francis Jue, Yellow Face
Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play: Sarah Snook, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Original Score (Music and/or Lyrics) Written for the Theatre: Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson (music and lyrics) and Hue Park (lyrics)
Best Costume Design of a Musical: Paul Tazewell, Death Becomes Her
Best Costume Design of a Play: Marg Horwell, The Picture of Dorian Gray
Best Scenic Design of a Musical: Dane Laffrey and George Reeve, Maybe Happy Ending
Best Scenic Design of a Play: Miriam Buether and 59, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Lighting Design of a Musical: Jack Knowles, Sunset Blvd.
Best Lighting Design of a Play: Jon Clark, Stranger Things: The First Shadow
Best Choreography: Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, Buena Vista Social Club
Best Orchestrations: Marco Paguia, Buena Vista Social Club
Best Sound Design of a Musical: Jonathan Deans, Buena Vista Social Club
Best Book of a Musical: Maybe Happy Ending, Will Aronson and Hue Park
Best Sound Design of a Play: Paul Arditti, Stranger Things: The First Shadow

Hudes Claims Pulitzer Prize for Drama

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Quiara Alegría Hudes is probably still celebrating her professional success by the spoonful…

The half-Puerto Rican playwright and author has won the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for drama with her play Water by the Spoonful, according to Columbia University.

Quiara Alegría Hudes

Hudes, best known for writing the book for the Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights, was awarded $10,000 for the play that reflects the return to civilian life of an Iraq War veteran.

The jury of the 96th annual Pulitzer Prizes wished to honor Hudes’ “imaginative playwhich is set in her native Philadelphia.

Water by the Spoonful was produced last fall at the Stage Company in Hartford, Connecticut.

Hudes, who earned a bachelor’s degree  in music from Yale University and an M.F.A. in playwriting from Brown University, was a finalist for the 2007 Pulitzer with Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue. She’s also the creator of other musicals like Barrio Grrrl!, which premiered in 2009 at Washington’s Kennedy Center.

At the age of 12, Hudes’ first play was produced by the Philadelphia Young Playwrights Festival and she still returns home to lead workshops for young scribes.

Ruehl Cast in Fox’s “El Jefe” Pilot

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HBO’s Luck may have run out of suerte… But that doesn’t mean Mercedes Ruehl’s luck has.

The 63-year part-Cuban actress, who was promoted from guest star to series regular or the second season of HBO’s recently cancelled drama series, will star opposite Ryan Hansen in Fox’s comedy pilot El Jefe.

Mercedes Ruehl

From writers David Guarascio and Moses Port, the project centers on the affable but lost upper-class 30-year-old Josh (Hansen) who, tossed out of his Brentwood home, moves in with his adoring longtime Latina nanny Delmi (Ruehl), a vibrant woman and a real life force “of sturdy peasant stock.”

Ruehl has experienced a rollercoaster week… After spending several years looking after her family, the Oscar and Tony winning actress was prepared to return to acting when she signed on as a series regular on Luck. But HBO suddenly ended the series on Wednesday following the death of a third horse on the set.

Ruehl wasn’t down and out though. After reading the script for El Jefe and meeting with the writers, Ruehl decided to sign on for the project. She’s expected to start production on the pilot on Monday, less than a week after Luck was cancelled.

In addition to Ruehl, Jessica Camacho has been cast in the pilot. She’ll play Lucia, the girlfriend of Delmi’s son (Victor Rasuk).

Cannavale Headed to HBO’s Bowardwalk Empire

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After guest-starring on Modern Family and Nurse Jackie, Bobby Cannavale is officially heading back to television. Only this time he’ll a regular on a Golden-Globe winning dramatic series.

The 41-year-old half-Cuban American actor has joined HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. He’ll star as Gyp Rosetti, who is described as “a charming but ruthless gangster who challenges Steve Buscemi’s character Nucky,” in the hit period drama.

Bobby Cannavale Modern Family

Cannavale’s casting comes just months after Boardwalk Empire’s sophomore season saw the series kill off Michael Pitt‘s well-likd character Jimmy Darmody—a former confidant-turned-rival for Nucky.

The Emmy-winning actor’s hiring will now provide a high-profile counterpart to Buscemi.

Boardwalk Empire, which HBO renewed for a third season in October, recently won a second Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding ensemble in a drama series.

Cannavale recently completed production on his upcoming 10-episode arc on Showtime‘s Nurse Jackie and he recently wrapped shooting on the film Lovelace with Amanda Seyfried.

In addition, he co-starred with Chris Rock on Broadway’s The Motherf—er With the Hat, snagging a Tony Award nomination for his work.