More People Weigh In On the Casting Controversy With the TheaterWorks Hartford Production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' The MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT

More people are weighing in on the casting controversy regarding TheaterWorks Hartford and their decision to cast non-Latinos in Latino specific roles in the Stephen Adly Guirgis play The Motherf**ker With the Hat. The roles were specified as Latino by the playwright but not posted as such on the casting breakdown sent out by the theater. While the production itself closed on Sunday, December 4, 2011, the controversy continues. Click on the links below to read more.

• Playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis attended the production in its closing weekend, as reported by Frank Rizzo of the Hartford Courant.

• Playwright (and HOLA Award winner) Quiara Alegría Hudes defended Guirgis, taking umbrage at TheaterWorks Hartford Artistic Director Steve Campo's comment that "It is a tribute to his skill that Stephen Adly Guirgis, though not Hispanic, is able to so credibly depict a culture not his own, as he does in The Mother[expletive] With the Hat. How gracious it would be of him to allow that actors (of whatever heritage) might succeed in acting, much as he has in writing.”

• Actor/playwright (and HOLA Award winner) Carmen Peláez wrote about the controversy on her blog Peacock Chronicles.

Pioneer Actress Marquita Rivera Honored By The Puerto Rican Senate

The late Marquita Rivera, a Puerto Rican pioneer on Broadway and in Hollywood, was honored by the Puerto Rico Senate on Thursday, December 1, 2011 for her career achievements as the first native Puerto Rican actress to dance on Broadway and to appear in a major Hollywood motion picture when she made her American movie debut as a specialty performer in Road to Rio (1947) with Bob Hope and Bing Crosby.

The activity included films of Rivera, an acclaimed actress, singer and dancer. The Fajardo-born, New York-raised entertainer studied dance and flamenco at an early age and was a childhood friend of bandleader Tito Puente.

The ceremony, attended by two of Rivera’s seven children, Eugene Biscardi III and Jessica Wolford, included the unveiling of a portrait of the multi-talented entertainer. The painting, by local artist Juan Cuevas, takes its title from one of Rivera’s nicknames, "Queen of La Conga."

Rivera toured the country as a dancer and produced her own shows on Broadway. She also had a successful acting career in Mexico before taking her talents to Hollywood.

Marquita Rivera, born María Heroína Rivera de Santiago on May 18, 1922 to Don Jesús Rivera de Pérez and Doña Clara Asunción Castro de Santiago in Fajardo, Puerto Rico, was an actress, singer, and dancer who rose to international prominence in the 1940s and became notably known as the "Queen of Latin Rhythm." She enjoyed a strong musical career in the United States, Mexico, and in her native Puerto Rico.

The youngest in her large family, she began to study flamenco and castanets at the age of six with Eduardo Cansino, the father of Hollywood actress Rita Hayworth.

She became the featured dancer in the original "Cuban Pete" soundie with her childhood friend, Tito Puente playing the drums and the Puerto Rican bandleader Noro Morales playing the piano.

At the age of sixteen, Marquita Rivera was chosen to dance before Britain's King George VI and his wife, Queen Elizabeth, during their visit to the 1939 New York World's Fair. This was an honor that she would remember for the rest of her life.

Marquita also shared stages with such illustrious stars as Frank Sinatra, Mickey Rooney, Ann Miller, Dean Martin, Jerry Lewis, Merv Griffin, and Betty Hutton. She was also a marquee name back in her homeland of Puerto Rico where she entertained at popular venues such as Zero's Nightclub with orchestra leader Miguelito Miranda and the El San Juan Theatre. She was dubbed "The Latin Hurricane" for her rapid and fiery dance routines.

In the mid-1940s, Marquita headlined at the infamous Lírico Theatre in Mexico City and was noticed by legendary film director Fernando Soler, who offered Rivera a movie contract with Azteca Studios. She acted for him in both the film drama Me persigue una mujer (1947) with José Torvay and David Silva, and the comedy El conquistador (1947), also starring Torvay and Enrique Herrera.

In 1948, Marquita Rivera was awarded the Key to the City of San Juan by Mayor Felisa de Rincón. in recognition of her achievements on Broadway as a dancer, and as an actress in Mexico, and Hollywood.

Marquita married and had seven children, Marquita, her namesake, Eugene, Jessica, Louis, Robert, Joseph, and Lucrezia.

In 1963, Marquita Rivera made a special appearance at Carnegie Hall at an International Mother's Day Gala Concert, to represent Puerto Rico.

Marquita Rivera, legendary performer and Latin icon, was the collective spirit and embodiment of her people.

Singer, actress, castanet player, flamenco dancer - all of these facets and more made up the lovely and talented "Latin Hurricane" Marquita Rivera, a trailblazing musical performer in her time and a legend in ours.

Through her legacy, people will remember Puerto Rico's contribution to the Arts in mainstream America.

During the 1930s and 1940s, Marquita Rivera gained international notoriety in the name of her beloved Puerto Rico that she always represented with pride in her heart and love in her soul for the island she called home.

She died in Los Angeles, California in 2002. In addition to her seven chilren, she left behind 17 grandchildren and a great grandchild.

For more information on Marquita Rivera, click here.

HOLA Member Bochinche

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

Malena Ramírez recently played Minerva Mirabal in the Caridad Svich play En el tiempo de las mariposas at Repertorio Español in the Rose Hill neighborhood of Manhattan. She followed this up with a role in the production Mujeres de par en par. Written by Indira Páez and directed by Alfonso Rey, the "café-concert" is scheduled for a December run in the Roy Arias Theaters in the theater district of midtown Manhattan and also features Beatriz Castillo, Mariana Buoninconti and Zulema Clares in the cast. She most recently wrapped up a role opposite Venuz Delmar in the short film In One's Blood (written and directed by Pepper Negrón).

Eduardo Ramos booked the modeling campaign for Ecko watches, where he was shot by famed photographer Peter Ruprecht.

Around the Block/Al Doblar La Esquina, in collaboration with The New York Public Library (NYPL), is presenting Clicks and Bricks. The series of short plays written by Emily Cohen, Nina Howes, Julius Landau, Thomas Eddy Moran and Paula Wolff are to be directed by Don Bill, Camille Monet and Gloria Zelaya. Scheduled for a December run, the production features Sandra Duque, Joe Albert Lima, Antonio Rubio and Mónica Walter in the cast and is slated to perform at the NYPL Grand Central Branch in Manhattan's Murray Hill neighborhood.

Teatro SEA and Manuel Morán is presenting La cucarachita Martina/Martina, the Little Roach. Written and directed by Morán, based on the work by Pura Belpré, the show is scheduled for a December run in its namesake theater in the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural and Educational Center (home to HOLA) in Manhattan's Loísaida neighborhood and features Indra Palomo, Ana Campos, Miron Gusso, Héctor Palacios, Daisy Payero, Enrique Suárez Olmos and Rolando Zúñiga in the cast.

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?

Powerful Latinas Make the Cut in The Hollywood Reporter (THR)'s "Women In Entertainment 2011: Power 100" List

The Hollywood Reporter recently listed its "Women in Entertainment 2011: Power 100" list. Included on the list are Latinas Nina Tassler, President, CBS (number 7, shown above at left); and Belinda Menéndez, President, NBCUniversal International Television Distribution and Universal Networks International (number 36, shown above at right). To find out who else made the list, the industry magazine's 20th annual edition, click here.

HOLA Member Bochinche

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

Alfredo Huereca, Gerardo Gudiño, Ana Grosse and Raul Durán will act in Giuseppe Manfridi's play La cena. Directed by Durán, the production is scheduled for a December run in the Stone Creek Bar and Restaurant in the Rose Hill neighborhood of Manhattan.

Laura Patalano e-mailed us to let us know that the film Mosquita y Mari (in which she stars), is an official selection of the Sundance Film Festival, scheduled to take place in January 2012. To know more about the movie (written and directed by Aurora Guerrero), click here.

Rodney Roldán booked a role in the film Battleships (directed by Thunder Levin).

Ángel Dillemuth nabbed a role in "The 2-2" (CBS).

Jeffrey Hernández stars in the musical Our Christmas. Directed by Cleo Vivas, the production is written by Hernández, Selina Hernández, Christin Cato, Melody Ortega and Edwin Palacio, features Cato, Hernández, Ortega, Larry Cerpas and Julio Méndez in the cast and is scheduled to run in December at the Casa Cultural de Navarrete in Manhattan's Washington Heights neighborhood.

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?

Latinos Can’t Enter Public Stage Left or Right

Check out this blog from Dr. José R. Sánchez regarding the casting controversy of the TheaterWorks Hartford production of the Stephen Adly Guirgis play The Motherf**ker With The Hat and its sociopolitical ramifications on our collective unconscious by clicking here.

Casting Director Stands With HOLA Regarding Controversy in Casting THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT at TheaterWorks Hartford

Press Release

December 2, 2011
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: María F. Nieto
(212) 253-1015 • MariaFNieto@hellohola.org

CASTING DIRECTOR NAMED IN THEATERWORKS OF HARTFORD, CT'S PRODUCTION OF THE MOTHERF**KER WITH THE HAT STANDS WITH THE HISPANIC ORGANIZATION OF LATIN ACTORS

(New York, NY) – The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA), which has denounced the inappropriate casting of two non-Latinos in the Latino-specific roles of “Jackie” and Veronica” in TheaterWorks of Hartford’s current production of The Motherf**ker with the Hat, has received additional information from Pat McCorkle that clarifies the highly respected casting director’s level of involvement in the casting of this production.

Especially troubling to HOLA was the fact that the casting breakdown for the production did not state the ethnicity of the play’s two lead characters, Jackie and Veronica, as Latinos-- despite having been written as specifically Latino-- an omission that stands in stark contrast to the accurate description of the character of “Cousin Julio” (who is Jackie’s cousin) who was cited as specifically Latino, most probably by virtue of the fact that his name makes his ethnicity hard to avoid. Given that the two actors hired to play Jackie and Veronica are also former students of the director, Mr. Thompson, it seems to indicate that the casting efforts made for this production may have been disengenous at best and exclusionary of Latino acting professionals at worst.

TheaterWorks Executive Director Campo’s statement to the New York Times, in which he names McCorkle as the theater’s casting director, read “... the decision not to specify any ethnicity for actors to play Jackie and Veronica was made by Mr. Thompson and the theater’s casting director, Pat McCorkle.... I know they deliberated hard on the casting breakdown language and on the casting decisions.” In her statement to HOLA, McCorkle states, “The entire casting breakdown was written by Tazewell Thompson along with Theaterworks Hartford without our involvement. I was in no way involved in writing the breakdown for The Motherf**ker with the Hat, and no actors were seen for the roles of ‘Veronica’ or ‘Jackie’ in our New York auditions. Offers had been made by the theatre prior to our appointment auditions. At the director’s request, we saw one actor for the role of 'Ralph’, even though the role was pre-cast with Royce Johnson. Other than that, we only saw candidates for the roles of ‘Victoria’ and ‘Cousin Julio’. I have gone through all of my notes, all of my session sheets, and all of my availabilities, and I am 100% certain that all of the information that I have given you is accurate.” McCorkle goes on to state, “I am very disappointed that my name was included in the New York Times article as I had no participation in the casting of ‘Jackie’ or ‘Veronica’.... the final decision on all the actors comes from the director and the theater.”

In addition, McCorkle states,“This situation has disappointed me greatly, because in my thirty plus years of casting, I have built my name and prided myself on my integrity and my belief that the playwright’s vision comes first.” HOLA is gratified at the casting director’s clarification of the casting procedures employed on this production and, further, at her support of HOLA’s efforts to advocate on behalf of the Latino acting community.

As the nation’s longest running arts service and advocacy organization, HOLA is dedicated to expanding the presence of Latino artists in entertainment and media through the cultivation, education and recognition of emerging artists. HOLA strives for accurate, informed and non-stereotyped portrayal of the full spectrum of Latino culture and heritage in all entertainment and media industries. As a trusted organization of the Latino community, HOLA was contacted by audience members were outraged at the casting choices made for the TheaterWorks’ production of Guirgis’ play at which time HOLA contacted TheaterWorks’ director of communications Fred McInerney, its General Manager Nicole LaFlair Nieves and its Executive Director Steve Campo as well as the production’s director, Tazewell Thompson, and the playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis to inquire into the casting of the production. HOLA has also contacted Actors’ Equity and the Casting Society of America to request that formal inquiries be made into the casting practices employed on this production and is awaiting their final determination.

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