by Antonio Mejías-Rentas
Juanes
VIDA ONTHE ROAD: The year’s most anticipated Latin music tour got underway last week with a peace message from Juanes.
The Colombian singersongwriter began his La vida world tour on March S in Uncasville, Connecticut.
Playing New York’s Madison Square Garden the following night, the 35-year-old Medellín-born artist addressed the diplomatic crisis over Colombia’s cross-border raid into Ecuador that was harshly criticized by Venezuela.
“As a Colombian, I want to extend my right hand and embrace all myEcuadorian brothers, I want to extend my left hand and embrace all my Venezuelan brothers,” he said in front of a projected Colombian flag with a peace sign. Only we can come together under a single flag, the flag of peace.
Juanes’ much awaited tour in support of La vida es un ratico, his first recording since the 2004 smash Mi sangre, will visit over 20 U.S. venues through mid-May and then hits Africa and Europe, with dates set in Morocco, Spain, England, Germany, Belgium and France. In his fi rst tour since 2006, Juanes is expected to take on Latin America in the second half of 2008.
BACKON BROAD WAY: ALatina trail blazer has returned to the New York stage this month in a hit play partly inspired by her.
Priscilla López
Tony-winner Priscilla López, the original Morales on the long running musical A Chorus Line, now plays the mother character in In the Heights, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s play about a family in a Hispanic community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood. It opened last week on Broadway, following a successful off Broadway run.
The 28-year-old author credits López, 60, as an inspiration. “She’s the reason we’re all here,- he recently told AP. Morales was the fi rst three-dimensional Puerto Rican character we’ve had in musical theater.
In 1975, López was nominated for a Tony award for her portrayal of Morales, who sings Nothing and What I Did For Love, two of the landmark show’s most memorable numbers.
That character, an aspiring Latina actress who sings about feeling out of place in an all-white acting class taught by a close-minded teacher, was based on L6pez’s real-life experiences. She was part of A Chorus Line creator Michael Bennet’s original workshop, in which he interviewed several Broadway performers about their experiences.
López was originally paid $1 for the interview. Bennett, who died in 1987, later amended the agreement to include some royalties.
Terms of that agreement were in dispute until last month, when the original cast settled for undisclosed gains.
López won her Tony in 1980, for A day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine.
In a related item, a younger López is joining the cast of the most recent Broadway revival of A Chorus Line, but he won’t have to sing or show any the skills he displayed on Dancing With the Stars. Mario López will play Zach, the show’s demanding director and the only character without a musical number.
The 34-year-old actor makes his Broadway debut on April 15.
Hispanic Link Weekly Report.
