HOLA Member Bochinche

Bochinche refers to "gossip." In this sense, we use it to mention HOLA members who are getting acting and performance gigs.

Joseph Meléndez can be seen playing Chief of Police Alemeida in the Justin Lim-helmed film The Fast and the Furious 5. Also known as Fast Five, the film stars Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Dwayne Johnson, Elsa Pataky, Tego Calderón and Don Omar and will be released to U.S. theaters this weekend.

Mauricio Alexander can be currently seen playing Pablo in the webseries "East WillyB" For more info on the show, click here. He also recently screened his self-written and -directed short film Departure at the National Association of Latino Independent Producers (NALIP) NOW Conference in Newport Beach, California. For more info on the film (which boasts an all-Latino cast), click here.

José Yenque e-mailed us to say that the Gerardo Naranjo-helmed film Miss Bala, in which he plays DEA Agent Kike Cámara will have its world premiere at the prestigious Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France (he adds it his first time in France since he played Bernardo in West Side Story over 15 years ago). The film is produced by Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Pablo Cruz. In addition, he just found out that he will be receiving an Honorary Doctorate in Fine Arts from California State University at San Marcos. While California State University has given several honorary doctorates since they bestowed their first one on John F. Kennedy in 1963 (their alumni include Nicolas Cage, Rita Moreno and Nelson Mandela), the San Marcos campus has only honored 10 previous people with honorary doctorates. He is the 11th recipient of the honorary doctorate and the first Latino to receive the honor. (¡Felicitaciones, Dr. Yenque!)

La luz de un cigarrillo started performances at Teatro LATEA, located in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (home to HOLA) in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood. Written and directed by Marco Antonio Rodríguez, the cast includes Susanna Guzmán, Ismael Cruz Córdova, Arisleyda Lombert, Teresa Yenque and Laura Patalano and features costume design by Lorraine Rodríguez. The production is scheduled for a six-week run, running now through June.

Gilbert Cruz will be reading two plays at the María Irene Fornes Hispanic Playwrights Lab in May at INTAR Theatre, located in the Hell's Kitchen/Clinton section of Manhattan. For more info, click here.

Nominations for the 56th Annual Drama Desk Awards, which honor the best in Broadway and Off-Broadway theater were announced April 29, 2011 at the Algonquin Hotel in midtown Manhattan. Nominees include Bobby Cannavale (Outstanding Actor in a Play, The Motherf**ker With The Hat), Yul Vásquez (Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play, The Motherf**ker With The Hat), John Leguizamo (Outstanding Solo Performance, Ghetto Klown, Moisés Kaufman (Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo) and the team of Trey Parker, Robert López and Matt Stone, (Outstanding Book and Outstanding Lyrics, respectively, for the musical The Book of Mormon). The Drama Desk nominees will receive their Official Nomination Certificates at a gala cocktail reception May 2, 2011 at Bombay Palace Restaurant. The annual ceremony will be held May 23, 2011 at Hammerstein Ballroom at the Manhattan Center.

If you are an HOLA member and want to submit a bochinche item, send us an e-mail at holagram@hellohola.org. If you are not an HOLA member, why not join?