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Showing posts with label La Havana Madrid. Show all posts
Showing posts with label La Havana Madrid. Show all posts

Thursday, April 4, 2019

SANDRA DELGADO’S HIT LA HAVANA MADRID RETURNING MAY 11-JUNE 22 AT THE DEN

ChiIL Live Shows on our radar

CAST, PRODUCTION TEAM ANNOUNCED FOR RETURN OF 
LA HAVANA MADRID, 
SANDRA DELGADO’S LIVE THEATER+MUSIC SENSATION ABOUT AN ACTUAL 1960s CHICAGO NIGHTCLUB AND LATINO MELTING POT, 
MAY 11-JUNE 22 AT THE DEN

New Teatro Vista/Collaboraction co-production pairs
much of the original cast with rising new Latinx talent,
in an even more immersive nightclub setting

La Havana Madrid stars (top, from left) playwright Sandra Delgado as La Havana Madrid, Marvin Quijada as Carpacho, Tommy Rivera-Vega as Henry, Ayssette Muñoz as Maria, (bottom) Mike Oquendo as Tony, Ilse Zacharias as Myrna, Alix Rhode as Maruja and
Victor Musoni as Carlos. 

I caught the initial opening of La Havana Madrid, and was completely enchanted by Sandra Delgado's delightful, music filled immigrant story. It's a heartfelt ode to a beloved Chicago gathering space, where the displaced found community, support, love, and a melding of song and dance from numerous cultures. I'll be out again for the press opening of La Havana Madrid's enhanced remount May 17th. Check back soon after for my full review.


Anticipation is building for the spring return of 
La Havana Madrid, 
Chicago Latinx playwright and actor Sandra Delgado’s 
smash hit, all-immersive theatrical event 
inspired by true stories of a 1960’s Chicago nightclub 
and immigrant melting pot, La Havana Madrid.


La Havana Madrid, returning as an an enhanced co-production between Teatro Vista and Collaboraction, will be remounted May 11-June 22 in the Heath Mainstage at the Den Theatre, 1331 N. Milwaukee Ave., in Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. 

Tickets, $30-$60, are on sale now. Visit thedentheatre.com or call the Den Theatre Box office, (773) 697-3830, for tickets and information.

Back by popular demand, La Havana Madrid transports audiences back to a popular 1960s Chicago nightclub of the same name, where Latin0 immigrants new to Chicago found refuge to gather, meet, sing, dance, dine, find love and discover their destinies. Inspired by real stories of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Colombian immigrants, La Havana Madrid recreates a special time and place in Chicago history by immersing audiences in the lively music of that decade. Throughout, La Havana Madrid reveals how and why Latinos originally migrated to the shores of Lake Michigan, only to be pushed further west – away from the lake – by the forces of gentrification and racism.

Today, Collaboraction and Teatro Vista announced the cast and design team for the return of La Havana Madrid. Sandra Delgado, both a Teatro Vista ensemble member and a founding company member of Collaboraction, will reprise her role as La Havana Madrid, the evening’s lead singer and mystical mistress of ceremonies who channels audiences through a series of true stories of Latino immigrants in Chicago, how and why they arrived here, the barriers they overcame, and their lasting impact from generation to generation still today.

Teatro Vista ensemble members Tommy Rivera-Vega and Marvin Quijada will return as young immigrants new to Chicago who each met, danced, loved and lost at La Havana Madrid. Chicago actor and comedian Mike Oquendo also returns as Tony Quintana, the once owner of La Havana Madrid and host of the 1960s Chicago radio show “Tony’s Latin A-Go-Go.”

Also back is legendary Colombian-American musician Roberto "Carpacho" Marin and his band of 30 years, Carpacho y Su Super Combo. Together with Delgado and the cast, Carpacho y Su Super Combo chronicles the history of Caribbean Latino music, live, from mambo, to cumbia, to the birth of salsa. And yes, by the end of the show, audience members need little encouragement to get on their feet and dance right along.

New to the cast are Teatro Vista ensemble members Ayssette Muñoz as Maria, one of 14,000 unaccompanied minors who made a mass exodus to the U.S. in the early 1960s as part of Operation Peter Pan, and Ilse Zacharias as Myrna, a force-of-nature Puerto Rican beauty queen with big plans to break through the glass ceiling of Chicago’s Latino community. Victor Musoni is cast as Carlos, a streetwise Puerto Rican teen from Lincoln Park who has a political awakening through his photography. Alix Rhode will play Maruja, Henry’s long-distance Colombian bride who he saves and sends for to join him in Chicago.

Teatro Vista ensemble member Cheryl Lynn Bruce, who directed the 2017 world premiere, returns to re-stage Delgado’s theatrical, cinematic and musical history of Latino Caribbeans in Chicago.

Planned updates to the physical production include a reimagined, more immersive set and video design that will evoke an actual night out at a real Chicago 1960s Latino nightclub, complete with cabaret seating, a dance floor and a small stage for the live band.

Original designers returning to help Bruce, the cast and the band re-realize this enhanced immersive environment are Collaboraction company members Elsa Hiltner (costumes) and Liviu Pasare (projections), along with Heather Skye Sparling (lights) and Teatro Vista ensemble member Jennifer Aparicio (production manager). New to the La Havana Madrid production team are Jose Manuel Diaz (set), Robert Hornbostel (sound) and Collaboraction company member Caitlin Body (stage manager). 



Original Production Photos: credit Joel Maisonet

Teatro Vista’s 2017 world premiere of La Havana Madrid resonated deeply with Chicagoans from all different backgrounds and ages. It played to capacity crowds at Steppenwolf’s 1700 Theatre and The Miracle Center in Hermosa and then transferred for an extended summer run in the Goodman’s Owen Theatre that drew record attendance.




Chicago’s leading Latinx newspaper Hoy wrote “La obra tiene la magia de conectar a la comunidad, de revivir recuerdos” (“the work has the magic of connecting to the community, of reliving memories.”) New City and Time Out Chicago hailed La Havana Madrid one of the “Best of 2017.” Time Out’s readers named it “Best New Work.” The Chicago Tribune hailed La Havana Madrid “heartfelt and fascinating…bursting with music and warmth." 

“I am thrilled that my two artistic homes are coming together to bring
La Havana Madrid back to life. Both companies have a long history of collaborating and La Havana Madrid fits perfectly into their complementary missions, that of telling Latinx stories and uniting Chicagoans,” said Delgado.




“I am especially excited to be in the Heath Mainstage at the Den Theatre for the evolution of the La Havana Madrid experience. This malleable space is exactly what I have always envisioned for La Havana Madrid. With the combined strength of two companies, we will be able to fully realize the vision I have always had in mind, complete with immersive staging and evocative projections, that will transport audiences back to 1960's Chicago.”


PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFORMATION

Previews of La Havana Madrid are Saturday, May 11 at 7:30 p.m., Sunday,
May 12 at 3 p.m., and Wednesday and Thursday, May 15 and 16 at 7:30 p.m. Press opening is Friday, May 17 at 7:30 p.m. Performances run though June 22: Thursdays and Fridays at 7:30 p.m.; Saturdays at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m.

Tickets are $30 general admission, $50 table seat and $60 front row table seat. Tickets are on sale now at thedentheatre.com or call the Den at
(773) 697-3830. Group discounts available.

The Den Theatre is located at 1331 N. Milwaukee Avenue in the heart of Chicago’s Wicker Park neighborhood. Metered street parking is available on Milwaukee and surrounding side streets. Street parking can be difficult to find, so arrive early to secure a spot and then come by The Den for a pre-show drink at the bar. The Den is close to the CTA Blue Line Division Street stop, and the 9 Ashland, 70 Division and 56 Milwaukee CTA bus lines. For more information, visit thedentheatre.com.

 Sandra Delgado | La Havana Madrid
"This is ultimately a Chicago story. This is our story, our story as a city." - Sandra Delgado

Flash back to Goodman Theatre's video trailer for La Havana Madrid, circa summer 2017:




ABOUT TEATRO VISTA

Teatro Vista shares and celebrates the riches of Latinx culture with Chicago audiences. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theatre artists, with special emphasis on the company’s ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theater.

Teatro Vista was founded in 1990 by Edward Torres and Henry Godinez with a primary focus to produce new works by Latinx theatre artists and classic plays featuring artists of color. The company’s current leadership team is Ricardo Gutiérrez, Executive Artistic Director, and Sylvia Hevia, Managing and Development Director.

Teatro Vista is supported by Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events of the City of Chicago, Art Works, Illinois Arts Council, Lester and Hope Abelson, The Shubert Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Bayless Family Foundation and Vidal & Associates. Purple Group is Teatro Vista’s Headline Season Sponsor.

For more, visit teatrovista.org, or follow the company on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.


ABOUT COLLABORACTION

Collaboraction, Chicago’s social contemporary theater, collaborates with a diverse community of Chicagoans, artists and community activists to create original theatrical experiences that push artistic boundaries and explore critical social issues. Since the company’s founding in 1996, Collaboraction has worked with more than 3,000 artists to bring more than 60 productions and events to more than 150,000 audience members.

For the past five years, Collaboraction has partnered with the Chicago Park District through their Night Out in the Parks program, returning each year to cultivate relationships and theater in Englewood, Austin and Hermosa through the Crime Scene, PEACEBOOK and Encounter tours. Production highlights also include its series of Crime Scene productions responding to Chicago’s crime epidemic; 15 years of the SKETCHBOOK Festival; and the YO SOLO Festival of Latino Solo Shows, co-produced with Teatro Vista in 2012.

Collaboraction is led by Artistic Director Anthony Moseley, Managing Director Dr. Marcus Robinson, a company of 20 talented Chicago theater artists, and a dedicated staff and board of directors. The company’s vision is to utilize theater to cultivate dialogue and action around our most critical social issues throughout Chicago.

Collaboraction is supported by The Chicago Community Trust, The Joyce Foundation, The Field Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, DCASE and the Wicker Park & Bucktown SSA #33 Chamber of Commerce. This program is partially supported by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency.

For more, visit collaboraction.org, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube or Instagram, or call the Collaboraction box office, (312) 226-9633.

 
Sandra Delgado by Joe Mazza/brave lux. Photo 

Sandra Delgado is a Colombian-American actor, writer, and producer born and raised in Chicago. She wrote and starred in La Havana Madrid, a Teatro Vista production at both the Steppenwolf Theatre and The Goodman Theatre. La Havana Madrid, Teatro Vista’s best-selling show in its 25-year history, played to sold out houses, and deeply resonated with Chicagoans from all different backgrounds. La Havana Madrid received recognition as one of the best plays of 2017 by Time Out Chicago (including the audience award for Best New Work) and New City Chicago. It was nominated by the Alliance of Latinx Theatre Artists (ALTA) for the Maria Irene Fornes New Play Award and received an ALTA Award for Best Production.

In addition to her writing, Delgado is also a respected veteran of the stage, with a career spanning almost two decades. She most recently starred in La Ruta at Steppenwolf Theatre. Acting highlights include Jocasta in Oedipus El Rey at The Public Theater, the titular character in La Havana Madrid, the epic five-hour 2666 at The Goodman Theatre, her star turn as Veronica opposite Jimmy Smits in Motherf**ker with the Hat at Steppenwolf Theatre, and Mojada at Victory Gardens Theater, where her portrayal of Medea earned distinction as one of the Top Ten performances of 2013 by the Chicago Tribune.

Delgado is also deeply committed to mentoring, advocating, and creating opportunities for her fellow Latinx theatre artists as a producer. Her groundbreaking YO SOLO Festival of Latino Solo Shows, co-produced by Collaboraction and Teatro Vista in 2012, was the first of its kind in the country. She co-curated Steppenwolf’s LookOut series during the run of her show La Havana Madrid, bringing dozens of Latinx artists to perform at Steppenwolf for the first time, and in the process creating community and a cultural hub for Latinx Chicagoans. Saints and Sinners, her new storytelling and music series, is also an extension of her drive to create more opportunities for writers and performers of color and provide a space to cultivate connection and understanding. Her advocacy work also includes serving on the Actors’ Equity Association EEO Committee since 2005 and co-chairing their annual Spirit, A Celebration of Diversity for the last three years as well as serving on the Latinx Theatre Commons advisory committee, a national advocacy organization for Latinx Theatre artists, since 2014.

In addition to being an ensemble member of Teatro Vista (Associate Artistic Director from 2006-2008), Delgado is a founding ensemble member of Collaboraction (est. 1997), and is devoted to their mission of creating new works around Chicago’s most critical social issues. She is the recipient of a 2018 3Arts Award, the Joyce Award, The Theater Communications Group (TCG) Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship in the Extraordinary Potential Category, a two-time Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events grantee, a 3Arts 3AP Project Grantee, and received the 2017 Latina Professional of the Year Award from the Chicago Latino Network. Delgado is a resident playwright at Chicago Dramatists, a member of ALTA's Semillero Playwright's Circle, and a 2015/2016 member of the Goodman Theatre’s Playwright’s Unit. She is one of the 20 women of Chicago arts and culture honored in Kerry James Marshall's mural RUSH MORE on the facade of the Chicago Cultural Center. Her new play, Felons and Familias, the inaugural "In the Works" commission for Theatre on the Lake, received a workshop production as part of TOTL's 2018 season and was featured in The Goodman Theatre’s New Stages Festival this past fall under the new title, Hundreds and Hundreds of Stars. sandradelgado.net


Cheryl Lynn Bruce (director) is a Teatro Vista ensemble member, and like Delgado, she is one of the 20 women of Chicago arts and culture honored in Kerry James Marshall's mural RUSH MORE on the facade of the Chicago Cultural Center. She directed the world premiere of La Havana Madrid, and served as assistant director of Teatro Vista’s productions of Tamer of Horses and A View From the Bridge. She recently won the African American Arts Alliance Black Excellence Award and a 2018 Jeff nomination for directing Congo Square’s Jitney. She has performed on stages across the country and internationally, including recently at Steppenwolf Theatre in Familiar. Bruce created the role of Elizabeth Sandry for Steppenwolf’s Tony Award-winning production of The Grapes of Wrath, adapted and directed by Frank Galati for Broadway’s Cort Theatre, Britain’s National Theatre and La Jolla Playhouse. She also workshopped and premiered in RACE, Lookingglass Theatre’s inaugural production directed by David Schwimmer and Joy Gregory.

Bruce received a 3Arts Award (2010), a 3Arts fellowship to support a five-week Rauschenberg residency (2015), a Jane Addams Hull House Association’s Woman of Valor Award (2010) and a Yale Research Residency (2011). She was awarded the 2002 African American Arts Alliance Black Excellence Award and Black Theatre Alliance Award for Outstanding Direction of Endesha Ida Mae Holland’s From The Mississippi Delta at Congo Square Theater. Other directing credits include Resurrection by Daniel Beaty and Drip by Gloria Bond Clunie at eta Creative Arts Foundation, Milkweed: A Solo Play by Misty De Berry for Columbia College at Links Hall and Northwestern University, Spunk by Zora Neale Hurston at University of Illinois at Chicago and Congo Square Theater, Cage Rhythm by Kia Korthron for University of Illinois at Chicago and Theatre School at DePaul University, and Permanent Collection by Thomas Gibbons for Indiana University Northwest. In 2006 she was an Inaugural Fellow of the Institute for the Study of Women and Gender in the Arts and Media at Columbia College. In 2007 Bruce traveled to Japan to study Bunraku puppetry for her staging of Rythm Mastr, Kerry James Marshall’s urban comic which premiered at the Wexner Center for the Arts.

 
Marvin Quijada (Carpacho) is a Chicago based electronic music producer/composer, iOS musician, DJ, theatrical actor, and a clown/mime. He's excited to return to the world of La Havana Madrid. His theatrical credits in Chicago include: Pericles, Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet, and Othello (Chicago Shakespeare) Season on the Line (The House Theatre), The Dueling Gentlemen (Silent Theatre Company) which he wrote and directed, among others. His New York credits include: Lulu: A Black and White Silent Play (Silent Theatre) which won best play at the NY Fringe Festival in 2005. TV credits include Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. He is an ensemble member with Teatro Vista and Silent Theater. Follow him on soundcloud and instagram at SILENT MARVIN.

 
Tommy Rivera-Vega, Teatro Vista ensemble member, recently played Ezekiel in Goodman Theatre’s Lottery Day. Chicago credits include La Havana Madrid, Parachute Men, Between You Me and the Lampshade, A View From the Bridge and Momma’s Boyz (Teatro Vista); Support Group for Men, Mother Road (Goodman Theatre); Frederick (Chicago Children's Theatre); West Side Story (Drury Lane); In the Heights (Skylight Music Theatre); In the Heights and My Fair Lady (Paramount Theatre); Three Sisters (Steppenwolf); Kiss of the Spiderwoman (BoHo Theatre); Augusta & Noble (Adventure Stage); Pippin (Music Theatre Company) and CATS (Theo Ubique Cabaret Theatre). Puerto Rico credits include Spring Awakening and Footloose (Black Box Theatre).

 
Ayssette Muñoz moved to Chicago in 2013 from a small Texas border town in the Rio Grande Valley. She was featured in the Chicago Tribune's “Top 10 Hot New Faces of Chicago Theatre” in 2015, due to her appearance as Catherine in A View From the Bridge with Teatro Vista. She quickly became an Artistic Associate with the company in 2014, and is now a proud ensemble member. Since then, she originated the role of Miranda in Ike Holter’s Wolf at The End of the Block, Amparo in Raul Castillo’s Between You, Me, and the Lampshade, and Maria Teresa in Caridad Svich's In the Time of the Butterflies. Other Chicago credits include Muriel McComber in Ah Wilderness (Goodman Theatre) and Mary Whitney in Alias Grace (Rivendell Theatre Ensemble). She understudied and performed in Steppenwolf’s critically acclaimed production The Doppelganger, alongside Rainn Wilson and fellow Teatro Vista ensemble member Sandra Marquez. Other understudy credits include Lookingglass Theatre's Plantation!, and Chicago Shakespeare Theatre’s Romeo and Juliet. TV/film credits include Chicago P.D. and the award-winning feature En Algun Lugar (Iconoclast Films).


 
Mike Oquendo is a Chicago born comedy show host and theater producer who stages over 80 shows a year in Chicago and across the country. His shows have been featured on The View, Telemundo, Univision, People en Español, Broadway World and the Chicago Tribune. He is one a handful of Latinos to have trained in New York’s Commercial Theater Institute. His recent production of the off-Broadway hit Made in Puerto Rico with Comedian Eli Castro sold out seven weeks in New York City. He continues to host his Mikey O Comedy Shows in Chicago.

 
Ilse Zacharias (Myrna) is thrilled to be returning to Teatro Vista. Chicago credits include The Abuelas, The Madres and Wolf at the End of the Block u/s (Teatro Vista), Anna Karenina (Lifeline Theatre), Crime and Punishment (Shattered Globe); Into the Beautiful North (16th Street Theater); and Shrewish u/s (Artemisia Theatre). She has also worked with Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Court Theater, American Blues Theater, Water People, The Bridge Theater and Something Marvelous. TV credits include The Exorcist. Zacharias received her BFA in Acting from Roosevelt University. She can currently be heard as the title role in BRAVA, a podcast produced by the co-author of Hamilton, Jeremy McCarter and the Make-Believe Association.

 
Alix Rhode, a Chicago native, is making her professional debut in La Havana Madrid. She is currently a junior at the Chicago College of Performing Arts pursuing her BFA in Musical Theatre.


Victor Musoni is a freshman at UIC studying to receive his BFA in theater. He is an ensemble member of The Yard Theatre Company. He was last seen in The Q Brothers Rome Sweet Rome (UIC main stage). He has recently appeared in Back The Night (UIC Studio Theatre), Fun Harmless War Machine (The New Colony), NO CHILD (Definition Theatre Company), Blood at the Root (Jackalope Theatre), Columbinus (Steppenwolf/The Yard),The Toilet (Haven Theatre), Race to the Finish (Kuumba Lynx), Snack Break 1&2 (The Yard), staged reading of Cardboard Piano (Timeline Theatre), How We Got On (Haven Theatre), staged reading of The Stories of us (Visión Latino Theatre Company). Film credits include Run Boy Run Girl, Brujos Web Series and 6x9 (Cinema Libertad). Music videos include Young Lost Love by Appleby and Sinner by Ric Wilson.

Monday, July 3, 2017

REVIEW: Teatro Vista's La Havana Madrid To Play Goodman's Owen Theatre 7/21-8/20!

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

Get tickets now for Teatro Vista's La Havana Madrid—starts July 21!


***TEATRO VISTA ENSEMBLE MEMBER PLAYWRIGHT SANDRA DELGADO STARS IN THE TITLE ROLE FOR A CELEBRATION OF CHICAGO’S VIBRANT LATINX COMMUNITY***


TICKETS START AT JUST $30
  
Here at ChiIL Live Shows, we had the great pleasure of catching opening night at Steppenwolf and highly recommend La Havana Madrid! This is not only a compelling collection of immigrant stories, but a stellar slice of Chicago history and a moving commentary on community. It's easy to forget how difficult it is for displaced people to find a home in a foreign land, learn a strange language and culture, and make new friends after loss and separation, and this production is a poignant and powerful reminder. 

We were enthralled with Sandra Delgado's writing and her soaring vocals as this multifaceted performer takes center stage and bring her own script to life. Through talented musicians, song, dance and spoken word, La Havana Madrid brings back a bygone era and a message that is all too timely today. This is an absolute must see.

Hot off the heels of a sold out run at Steppenwolf Theatre Company, La Havana Madrid comes to the Goodman's Owen Theatre 
July 21 - August 20.


Chicago’s legendary 1960s nightclub comes bursting back to life in a "heartfelt and fascinating" (Chicago Tribune ) musical celebration of the city’s Latino community. Step back in time and into La Havana Madrid, the long-gone Caribbean night club that drew throngs of newly-arrived Latinos to the city’s north side. Inspired by real stories, this intimate recreation of the vibrant music venue immerses audiences in the pulsing sounds of live mambo and salsa. Don’t miss it!


GOODMAN THEATRE PRESENTS TEATRO VISTA’S WORLD PREMIERE LA HAVANA MADRID, THE SOLD-OUT SMASH HIT “BURSTING WITH MUSIC AND WARMTH” (CHICAGO TRIBUNE), IN THE OWEN THEATRE, JULY 21 - AUGUST 20

On the heels of critically-acclaimed sold-out runs at Steppenwolf Theatre Company and The Miracle Center in Logan Square, Teatro Vista’s La Havana Madrid by Sandra Delgado extends its run at Goodman Theatre this summer, July 21 – August 20. Chicago’s fabled 1960s nightclub, La Havana Madrid, comes bursting back to life in “an immersive, wholly enjoyable experience” (Chicago Reader) complete with live music and “enough dancing and bonhomie to tempt you away from your little table down front” (Chicago Tribune). Directed by Teatro Vista ensemble member Cheryl Lynn Bruce, the production was inspired by true stories of Cuban, Puerto Rican and Colombian immigrants who found refuge in the nightclub. Delgado leads the eight-member cast (a full list appears below) as a mystical woman who conjures stories and vibrant songs performed live onstage each night by Colombian-American musician Roberto "Carpacho" Marin and his band of 30 years, Carpacho y Su Super Combo. 

La Havana Madrid appears July 21 - August 20 in the Owen Theatre (Opening Night is Wednesday, July 26 at 7:30pm). Tickets ($30-$50; subject to change) go on sale Wednesday, June 28; visit GoodmanTheatre.org/LaHavanaMadrid or call the box office at (312) 443-3800. La Havana Madrid is recommended for ages 12 and up.

“My journey with La Havana Madrid is a dream come true. It has been an absolute joy and honor to share this story with my fellow Chicagoans and I am incredibly grateful that we get to keep the love alive this summer,” said playwright and co-star Sandra Delgado. “It is especially sweet to come home to Goodman Theatre, where I wrote La Havana Madrid as part of the Playwright's Unit in the 2015/2016 Season. I cannot wait to invite audiences into the Owen Theatre, which will be transformed into the La Havana Madrid nightclub, night after night.”

In addition to Delgado, the eight-member cast also includes Teatro Vista ensemble members Tommy Rivera-Vega and Marvin Quijada; and newcomers Mike Oquendo, Donovan Diaz and Krystal Ortiz, who round out the cast as Cuban, Colombian and Puerto Rican patrons, staff and musicians who all met, danced, loved and lost at La Havana Madrid. Original cast members Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel and Phoebe González are unable to continue with the production and their roles are being recast for the Goodman remount. The design team includes Ashley Woods (set), Elsa Hiltner (costumes), Heather Sparling (lights), Mikhail Fiksel (sound), Liviu Pasare (projections and video design) and William Carlos Angulo (choreography).



A Brief History about La Havana Madrid Nightclub (Originally Located on Belmont and Sheffield)

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, Latinos from Caribbean countries such as Puerto Rico and Cuba settled all along Chicago's lakefront, from North Avenue to Devon. Although from different countries, music brought them together. Their shared rhythms—African rhythms—became the guaguanco, the mambo and the merengue. Now in the United States, these rhythms merged with traditional big band sounds and eventually became salsa. On the North side of Chicago, a handful of Latino music clubs opened up: Coco Loco on Lincoln Avenue, The Mirror Lounge on North Avenue and La Havana Madrid on Belmont and Sheffield. Luis “Witto” Aloma, a Cuban-born player for the Chicago White Sox, opened the club in the early 1960s to create a place for his Cuban friends to drink coffee and play cards and dominoes. Along the way, La Havana Madrid grew into a more lavish supper club with live Cuban musical acts, before it changed hands and Puerto Rican TV and radio host took over the club. La Havana Madrid closed in the late 1960s and later became the popular folk club The Quiet Knight. Today, the same second floor space is occupied by Milio’s Hair Studio.

About Teatro Vista

Teatro Vista’s 2017/2018 season opens with The Goodman Theatre remount of La Havana Madrid.

Teatro Vista produces, develops and commissions plays that explore the wealth and variety of the human experience from a Latinx perspective. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theater artists, with special emphasis on the company’s ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theatre. Teatro Vista was recently celebrated as one of “Chicago’s Cultural Leaders” by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and received the League of Chicago Theatre’s Artistic Leadership Award.

For the development of La Havana Madrid, Teatro Vista and Delgado received from The Chicago Community Trust, and the 2015 Joyce Award. Delgado also received a 3Arts 3AP Project Grant and developed the script as a member of the 2015/2016 Playwright’s Unit at Goodman Theatre.

Teatro Vista is supported by The Joyce Foundation, the Chicago Community Trust, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events of the City of Chicago, The Shubert Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, the Chicago Latino Theater Alliance, Purple Group, Cumberland Irving and Vidal & Associates, Inc. and The Saints.

For more information, visit TeatroVista.org, on Twitter (@TeatroVista), Facebook and Instagram.



About Goodman Theatre

America’s “Best Regional Theatre” (Time magazine) and “Chicago’s flagship resident stage” (Chicago Tribune), Goodman Theatre is a not-for-profit organization distinguished by the quality and scope of its artistic programming and civic engagement. Founded in 1925, the Goodman is led by Robert Falls—“Chicago’s most essential director” (Chicago Tribune), who marks 30 years as Artistic Director this season—and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, who is celebrated for his vision and leadership over nearly four decades. Dedicated to new plays, reimagined classics and large-scale musical theater works, Goodman Theatre artists and productions have earned hundreds of awards for artistic excellence, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards, nearly 160 Jeff Awards and more. Over the past three decades, audiences have experienced more than 150 world or American premieres, 30 major musical productions, as well as nationally and internationally celebrated productions of classic works (including Falls’ productions of Death of a Salesman, Long Day’s Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy). In addition, the Goodman is the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson’s “American Century Cycle.” For nearly four decades, the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has created a new generation of theatergoers. 

The 2016 opening of the Alice Rapoport Center for Education and Engagement (“the Alice”) launched the next phase in the Goodman’s decades-long commitment as an arts and community organization dedicated to educating Chicago youth and promoting lifelong learning. Programs are offered year-round and free of charge. Eighty-five percent of the Goodman’s youth program participants come from underserved communities. Goodman Theatre was founded by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth, an important figure in Chicago’s cultural renaissance in the early 1900s. The Goodman family’s legacy lives on through the continued work and dedication of Kenneth’s family, including Albert Ivar Goodman, who with his late mother, Edith-Marie Appleton, contributed the necessary funds for the creation of the new Goodman center in 2000.

Today, Goodman Theatre leadership includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Dael Orlandersmith, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Joan E. Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre’s Board of Trustees, Cynthia K. Scholl is Women’s Board President and Justin A. Kulovsek is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. 

Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org—including OnStage+ for insider information—and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.







Wednesday, March 29, 2017

OPENING: TEATRO VISTA'S LA HAVANA MADRID AT STEPPENWOLF'S 1700 THEATRE 4/14-5/21

Chi, IL LIVE Shows On Our Radar:

TEATRO VISTA PRESENTS
LA HAVANA MADRID, 
SANDRA DELGADO'S IMMERSIVE RECREATION OF A 1960s LATINO CHICAGO NIGHTCLUB, 
APR. 14-MAY 21 
AT STEPPENWOLF'S 1700 THEATRE


Sandra Delgado, Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Phoebe González, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Donovan Diaz, Mike Oquendo, Krystal Ortiz and Marvin Quijada 
to star indocu-play based on true story of Chicago nightclub 
La Havana Madrid.

La Havana Madrid, Sandra Delgado's world premiere reincarnation of an actual 1960s Carribbean Chicago nightclub is debuting April 14-May 21, 2017 at Steppenwolf's new 1700 Theatre.

ChiIL Live Shows will be out for the press opening on Thursday, April 20th, so check back soon for our full review.
In addition to conceiving and writing La Havana Madrid, Delgado will play the title role of La Havana Madrid, a mystical woman who conjures vibrant songs and true stories in this immersive, documentary-style tale of La Havana Madrid, a popular 1960s melting pot for Caribbean Latino immigrants at the corner of Belmont and Sheffield in Chicago.

Well-known Chicago comedian and producer Mike Oquendo will portray Tony Quintana, the one-time owner of La Havana Madrid and host of the 1960s Chicago radio show "Tony's Latin A-Go-Go."

Rounding out the cast as Cuban, Colombian, Caribbean and Puerto Rican patrons, staff and musicians who all met, danced, loved and lost at La Havana Madrid are Teatro Vista ensemble members Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Tommy Rivera-Vega and Marvin Quijada, and, in their Teatro Vista debuts, Donovan Diaz, Phoebe González and Krystal Ortiz.
                                        
Legendary Colombian-American musician Roberto "Carpacho" Marin, joined by his band of 30 years, Carpacho y Su Super Combo, will perform live at every show. In fact, Carpacho's own story is one of the play's inspiring true vignettes. 
With Delgado as lead singer, Carpacho y Su Super Combo will chronicle the history of Caribbean Latino music, live, from mambo to the birth of salsa. 

Cheryl Lynn-Bruce, also a Teatro Vista ensemble member, will direct Delgado's theatrical, cinematic history of Latino Caribbeans in Chicago. 

The design team charged with crafting an intimate, immersive recreation of a lively 1960s music club in Steppenwolf's new 1700 Theatre - complete with cabaret seating, a bar, a dance floor and a small stage for a live band - are Ashley Woods (set), Elsa Hiltner (costumes),Heather Sparling (lights), Misha Fiksel (sound), Liviu Pasare (projections and video design) and William Carlos Angulo (choreography).

La Havana Madrid will premiere April 14-May 21, 2017 at Steppenwolf's 1700 Theatre, 1700 N. Halsted, Chicago, Steppenwolf's casual, intimate and flexible 80-seat space dedicated to showcasing the work of its ensemble and local theater companies like Teatro Vista. It is located immediately behind Front Bar: Coffee and Drinks, Steppenwolf's new 2,500 square ft. café & bar.

Previews are April 14-19: Wednesday through Saturday at
8 p.m.; Sunday at 4 p.m. 

Performances run through May 21: Thursday-Saturday at
8 p.m.; Sunday at 4 p.m. 
Single tickets are $15-$45, and go on sale February 3. Regular tickets are $35 (all previews and weekdays during the regular run) and $45 (Saturdays and Sundays). Student rush tickets are $15. Seniors 62+ and military tickets are $20. Steppenwolf Red and Black Card holders may use their cards as per Steppenwolf policies. For
tickets and information, visit Steppenwolf.org, TeatroVista.org or call (312) 335-1650. 

*Thursday, April 20 is an updated press date, rescheduled from the previously announced press opening, Saturday, April 22.

Following its run at Steppenwolf, Teatro Vista will present La Havana Madrid at The Miracle Center, 2311 N. Pulaski Rd., in Chicago's Belmont-Cragin neighborhood. This residency, funded by The Chicago Community Trust, is part of Teatro Vista's new program TEATRO VISTA, TEATRO VECINO (Spanish for "neighbor).



Behind the scenes of La Havana Madrid

"La Havana Madrid is about recapturing a lost chapter in Chicago history, and as a born and bred Chicagoan, this play is my love letter to the city I cherish," said Delgado, a Colombian-American actor, writer, and producer, well-known to Chicago audiences. 

In the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s, Latinos from Caribbean countries such as Puerto Rico and Cuba settled all along Chicago's lakefront, from North Avenue to Devon.

Although from different countries, music brought them together. Their shared rhythms -  African rhythms - became the guaguanco, the mambo and the merengue. Now in the United States, these rhythms merged with traditional big band sounds and eventually became salsa. 

On the North side of Chicago, a handful of Latino music clubs opened up: Coco Loco on Lincoln Avenue, The Mirror Lounge on North Avenue and La Havana Madrid on Belmont and Sheffield. While the history of La Havana Madrid may be fuzzy, what is known is Cubans opened it in the early 1960s and the club became a busy melting pot for newly arrived Latinos in Chicago. It's believed La Havana Madrid closed in the mid-1970s.

In addition to support from The Chicago Community Trust, Delgado received a 2015 Joyce Award and a 3Arts 3AP Project Grant to support the development of La Havana Madrid. She developed the script as a member of the 2015-16 Playwright's Unit at Goodman Theatre.



About Teatro Vista

Teatro Vista (TeatroVista.org) produces, develops and commissions plays that explore the wealth and variety of the human experience from a Latinx perspective. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theatre artists, with special emphasis on the company's ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theatre. 

Teatro Vista was recently celebrated as one of "Chicago's Cultural Leaders" by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago and received the League of Chicago Theatre's Artistic Leadership Award.                                                                        
Teatro Vista's primary focus is producing new works by Latinx theatre artists and presenting classic plays featuring artists of color. Its artistic vision is shaped by the company's ensemble members, a group of multi-generational, multi-ethnic and multi-disciplinary artists. They inform Teatro Vista's artistic aesthetic by devising original works as well as by selecting plays with themes that are engaging and relevant to Chicago's diverse population.

Teatro Vista founded in 1990 by Edward Torres and Henry Godinez. As Teatro Vista's first Artistic Director, Godinez guided the company during the formative years. He helped stage successful productions and establish vital relationships with other theatre companies and artists. When Godinez stepped down, Torres was appointed Artistic Director. Under Torres' direction, Teatro Vista used the stage to engage, connect and challenge audience members using the company's mission as his guide. In 2012, Torres moved to New York and the Board of Directors promoted longtime Associate Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez to the position of Executive Artistic Director.

In addition to Gutiérrez, Teatro Vista ensemble members include Charín Álvarez, Max Arciniega, Desmín Borges, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Ramón Camín, Ivonne Coll, Laura Dahl, Sandra Delgado, Liza Fernández, Khanisha Foster, Erik Juárez, Jon Lyon, Sandra Márquez, Joe Minoso, Christina Nieves, Marvin Quijada, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Gabriel Ruíz, Cecilia Suarez and co-founder Edward Torres. 

Teatro Vista's Board of Directors includes Ezequiel "Zeek" Agosto, President; Rodrigo García and Rosanna Márquez, Vice Presidents; Joan Pantsios, Secretary; Tom Vega-Byrnes, Treasurer; and Bhuvana Badrinathan, José Antonio Cruz, Edgar Delgado, Ricardo Gutiérrez, Yolanda Hardy and Kareem Mohamednur.

Teatro Vista is supported by The Joyce Foundation, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events of the City of Chicago, The Shubert Foundation, TheGaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation and The Saints.

Purple Group and Cumberland Irving are Teatro Vista's Headline Season Sponsors. Teatro Vista is a Victory Gardens Resident Theater.

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