Premiering Sunday, April 16 at 10 PM (ET) on MSNBC
If anyone can bring attention to the dynamics of what it is to be a US Latino in America on a national scale, its John Leguizamo. It is what he has basically done all his career, only this time it will be the focus of a new six-part TV series from NBC News Studios, Leguizamo Does America, which he hosts and will begin airing Sunday, April 16 at 10 PM (ET) on MSNBC.
Each episode will feature a different city where Latinos have a large presence, or in the case of Los Angeles are almost 50% of the population. He will be visiting six cities in total, New York, Miami, Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Puerto Rico, and we interview some high profile Latinos about what it’s like to be a U.S. Latino and the culture.
If you are a fan of Leguizamo, you know his acting career includes stage, TV and film you know his work from some of his more high profile roles in To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar (1995), Moulin Rouge!, and more recently The Menu.
But it was through the theater that Leguizamo got the attention of audiences with his half-dozen his one-man shows on Broadway (and off Broadway). His topic most generally were bio-autobiographical or he would spoof his family and friends.
In 1991, Leguizamo wrote and performed in the Off-Broadway production mostly focused on is life and being Latino. In Mambo Mouth, he played seven different characters and went on to win an Obie Award and an Outer Critics Award. He was listed as one of 12 “Promising New Actors of 1991” by John Willis’ Screen Worlds. His next theater production was Spic-O-Rama, where he made fun of the stereotyping of Latinos in the United States, several of his shows became HBO specials as well as Freak. In 2002, he wrote and performed Sexaholix… A Love Story. His most current theater piece was in 2017, when he debuted Latin History for Morons a show about the participation of Latin Americans throughout US history. It was also in 2017 that he was presented with a Special Tony Award for his body of work and for his commitment to bringing diverse stories and audiences to Broadway for three decades.
And Leguizamo he takes his affinity for setting the record straight on the contribution of US Latinos seriously, hence the latest of his projects where Latinos are front and center.
In Leguizamo Does America, which premieres this Sunday, April 16 at 10pm (ET) on MSNBC Leguizamo travels across the country to celebrate the rich and diverse Latino cultures in six different destinations, exploring food, politics, music, and everything in between along the way.
Director Ben DeJesus (Latin History for Morons), a frequent collaborator of Leguizamo directed the series said in a recent NBC article, “It’s a lot of Latin themes and people, but this is really a show for all kinds of audiences”. He also credits the show as being a “life-changing” experience for him.
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