Written by Roberto Leal

Since its streaming-only debut on HBO Max during Father’s Day Weekend, Father of the Bride has grown into a critically acclaimed mega-hit not only in Latin America, but world-wide. HBO proudly announced that Father of the Bride categorically has had the largest viewing audience of any streaming-only movie on their platform to date.

So why has this third retelling of a popular iconic family romantic comedy struck such a resounding emotional chord globally? What’s in the secret salsa of this wildly popular and successful film? Let’s check out some of the special ingredients that went into the making of Father of the Bride.

The Latino Reimagining

Father of the Bride has been described as a “reboot” or a “remake”, of the classic 1950 original Father of the Bride with Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor or the subsequent 1991 remake with Steve Martin, Diane Keaton and Martin Short. The only common thread connecting the three films is the basic plot and the title of the movie. 

As written by Matt Lopez (Race to Witch Mountain, Bedtime Stories) and directed by Gary Alazraki(Club de Cuervos, We Are the Nobles) this incarnation of Father of the Bride is not a reboot in the sense they took an old existing movie and simply replaced the old cast with an all Latino one. Additionally, the vision of both Lopez and Alazraki in Father of the Bride was told through the cultural lens of two vibrant Latino communities in the U.S. The Cuban-American and Mexican take on the story make it more than just a mere remake but rather a complete reimagining and creation of a unique, standalone story.

Authentic storytelling from the top creatives who happen to be Latino and know the culture is not lost at all in the success of this film.

Lopez and Alazraki also cleverly start the story with what is often referred to as a “McGuffin” which is an object or device in a movie that serves merely as a trigger for the plot. In this case, the McGuffin is the opening scene in which Billy Herrera played by Andy Garcia (Ocean’s Eleven, The Godfather, Part III) and his wife of 30+ years, Ingrid played Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman and seven-time Grammy winner, Gloria Estefan, decide in one of their marriage counseling session to divorce. 

This turns on the emotional current that influences Billy’s reaction to his daughter, Sophie, Adria Arjona (Pacific Rim: Uprising, Emerald City) who comes home announcing she has proposed and will marry Adan Castillo a Mexican EMO man played by Diego Boneta (Terminator Dark Fate, Luis Miguel: The Series). The couple plans to move to Mexico to work at non-profit which helps immigrants along the border.

The Cuban/Mexican Culture Clash

The wedding surprise announcement set off Billy’s traditional protective and cautionary Cuban sensibilities on how the wedding will proceed. His cultural alarm bells are further set off when he meets his future in-laws from Mexico.

The oft-heard claim that Latinos are not a monolith is brought into sharp scrutiny in Father of the Bride in a playful, tongue-in-cheek comic clash of cultures between Mexico and Cuba that delightfully stands every stereotypical portrayal of Latinos on its collective head.

Sophie’s fiancé Adan is the complete antithesis of the stereotypical macho Mexican male. He practices yoga, is a tree-hugger, doesn’t like sports, wears glasses and looks more European than mestizo.

Adan’s flamboyant father, Hernan Castillo, Pedro Damián (Showtime, Like, la leyenda), turns out to be to Billy’s surprise, a bombastic but affable, multi-millionaire business tycoon who owns a super luxury yacht that is so big it has five zip codes and three time zones. Hernan also has a very young trophy wife and child, but still maintains a relationship with his ex-wife. These are different but positive Latino representations rarely seen in Hollywood movies.

Unstereotypical Matters, Matter

Garcia’ career has mostly veered from playing the typical Hollywood Latino stereotypes, but it is a practice that has negatively affected the image of U.S. Latinos around the world and that is an important issue to Garcia. He sees Father of the Bride as a movie that moves the needle forward in the right direction.

“There was both an honor and an obligation to deliver a story that’s within the Latin cultures, in this case, the Cuban and the Mexican, trying to relate to one another,” Garcia told Entertainment Weekly in trying to make the point of the importance in the representation of Latinos in film.  “There’s an obligation to do it right without stereotypes that represent universal themes”

Comedic Chemistry 

The on-screen chemistry and comedic timing between Garcia and Estefan are the result of a 30-year personal friendship and growing up in the Cuban-American culture of Miami. Estefan, who has won more Grammys than the NY Yankees have won World Series proves herself to be as good an actress as she is a singer. As Ingrid, Estefan is strong, funny and loving. Garcia, as the stubborn, tradition-bound, conservative Cuban who came to America as an exile and became the most sought-after architect in Miami, now feels his world crumbling around him. It’s a role and performance Garcia has grown into as an actor. It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing Billy Herrera or being married to anyone other than Gloria Estefan as his beloved Ingrid.

Father of the Bride ReDux

Because of its enormous popularity and streaming numbers after just one week in release, there is already talk of a sequel to Father of the Bride.  In the current film Cora  (Isabela Merced (Transformers: The Last Knight, Instant Family) Billy’s younger daughter designed and designed the wedding and bridesmaid dresses for Sophie’s wedding. The sequel could have Cora designing her own wedding gown for her nuptials. The question is, will Billy Herrera have the energy and financial wherewithal in  Father of the Bride 2 for another wedding?  One can only hope so.

CLICK HERE for video.

Father of the Bride is currently streaming on HBO Max.

The post Film Review:  Five Reasons ‘Father of the Bride’ Is a Hit first appeared on .

Co-Creator/Executive Producer/Director of Netflix’s Club de Cuervos Gaz Alazraki directs the Garcia is the lead role of the father and singer Gloria Estefan who plays his wife.

Dealing with change and accepting modern times are issues that Garcia’s character ‘Billy’ experiences difficulty with, but he is learning to embrace his future. This rom-com has all the makings of a classic rom-com while tackling generational differences. But isn’t that always the case with weddings? Crazy families, clashing cultures and competing traditions — it is a wedding ride we all want to take.

Also cast in the film are Adria Arjona, Isabela Merced, Diego Boneta, Chloe Fineman Enrique Murciano and Laura Harring.

The film was written by Matt Lopez based on the novel by Edward Streeter and  is executive produced by Brad Pitt‘s Plan B, Andy Garcia, Ted Gidlow, and Jesse Ehrman.

The film is set for release on June 16

The post Trailer: Andy Garcia is the ‘Father of the Bride’ first appeared on .

Oscar-nominated actor stars in Rebel, a series inspired by Erin Brockovich‘s story, the legal clerk that was the subject of the 2000 film Erin Brockovich starring Julia Roberts. That role won Roberts an Academy Award. However, the TV series is “inspired by the life of Erin Brockovich today,” according to a network press release. Back in the early 1990s, Brockovich helped win a multimillion-dollar lawsuit in 1993 against Pacific Gas & Electric Company of California—that despite the fact she didn’t have any legal education. The consumer advocate and environmental activist is now a media personality who has a consulting firm and has even hosted television shows. 

Rebel centers on Annie “Rebel” Bello, played by Katey Sagal (Married With Children), a blue-collar legal advocate without a law degree. She’s described as a “funny, messy, brilliant and fearless woman who cares desperately about the causes she fights for and the people she loves,” hence the series’s title. “When Rebel applies herself to a fight she believes in, she will win at almost any cost,” reads a press statement.

Garcia plays Julian Cruz, a powerful but down-to-earth attorney for whom Rebel consults. Recently widowed, Cruz is still recovering from the loss. He is often pressed by Rebel to take on activist cases and represent the oppressed. 

Rebel marks Garcia’s return to a television series after having appeared in Quibi’s Flipped and Amazon’s Modern Love and being the voice of King Fialkov in the Netflix animated sci-fi 3Below: Tales of Arcadia. He is set to direct and star in the biographical drama Hemingway & Fuentes about the acclaimed novelist Ernest Hemingway and Gregorio Fuentes, the Spanish man who reportedly inspired the American writer to pen the famous short novel The Old Man and the Sea.

The Cuban-American leading man rose to prominence in Brian De Palma‘s 1987 The Untouchables, a mafia film that received an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Garcia went on to star in other features like the education drama Stand and Deliver and the crime thriller Internal Affairs. In 1990, he was featured in Ford Coppola‘s crime movie The Godfather Part III, opposite Al Pacino and Diane Keaton. That performance won Garcia an Oscar nomination for best supporting actor. Other feature films the Rebel actor has starred in are When a Man Loves a Woman, opposite Meg Ryan, and Desperate Measures, opposite Michael Keaton. 

Garcia is also featured in the film trilogy Ocean’s—Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen—and Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again. 

Joining Garcia on the Rebel cast are John Corbett (Sex in the City), James Lesure (Las Vegas), Lex Scott Davis (Toni Braxton), Tamala Jones (Castle), Ariela Barer (Runaways), Kevin Zegers (Fear the Walking Dead), Sam Palladio (Nashville) and Karina Noelle Castillo (Superstore).

Krista Vernoff (Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19) is the creator and showrunner of Rebel. The series is executive produced by Vernoff and Alexandre Schmitt of Trip the Light, John Davis and John Fox of Davis Entertainment, Andrew Stearn, Marc Webb and Adam Arkin. Brockovich herself is also a producer. 

The series is produced by ABC Signature in association with Sony Pictures Television.

Rebel is part of the ABC’s Thursday lineup starting April 8.

The post Andy Garcia Returns to TV as a Lawyer first appeared on .

Key Largo, a film noir style theatrical production, co-adapted by actor Andy Garcia and Jeffrey Hatcher, is an admirable and stunning production that is well served by its ensemble cast who bring vibrant layered portrayals to the stage drama.

Set in a small hotel in the Florida Keys in the late 1940s where mobster Johnny Rocco is hiding out waiting to complete a criminal deal while a Hurricane is brewing. The drama unfolds when a former soldier arrives to visit the father and widow of a fallen World War II comrade, with the resulting interaction with Rocco and the other hotel residents.  The rising storm outside reflecting the rising tensions among the unwilling participants caught in a dire situation in the hotel.

One of the most important leading Latino film actors of his generation, Garcia is stepping on stage for the first time in four decades and this is a rare opportunity to see him in a superb live performance.

Garcia takes center stage and is a commanding presence as Rocco. He is stylish, brash, cunning and deadly, interacting with the other players with confidence as the gangster all the while displaying a controlled maturity.

Danny Pino (Mayans M.C., Law and Order SVU) is quite effective and has a quiet reserve as the veteran Frank Mcloud and Tony Plana (Mayans M.C., Resurrection Blvd.) as Mr. D’Alcala, the aged and blind owner of the hotel gives a standout performance. Joely Fisher as Rocco’s aged alcoholic girlfriend Gaye, elicits empathy in a nuanced portrayal. 

The rest of the seasoned cast delivers the goods. John Lee Beatty’s scenic design evokes a rundown tropical hotel of the era. The costumes by Linda Cho are spot-on for the time period and locale. The lighting, special effects and sound design are exemplary. Ten-time Grammy award and Emmy recipient musician and composer, Arturo Sandoval contributed an atmospheric underlying trumpet laden musical score that sets the tone and punctuates the drama. 

The production is based on Maxwell Anderson’s play and the Warner Bros’ 1949 film Key Largo which is now recognized as a classic, starring Edward G, Robinson, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall and Claire Trevor. Garcia and stage production cast have managed to make their imprint on the material. Bogey and Gang would be awfully proud. 

The Geffen Playhouse and producer Frank Mancuso should be commended for their total and unsparing support of Latinx artists, giving American Theater a new perspective.  The smaller Geffen Theater venue allows for a richer more intimate theatrical experience. Garcia co-adapted along with Mancuso and is also listed as one of the producers of Key Largo, with Doug Hughes directing.

Key Largo runs through December 15th at The Geffen is located in Westwood just across the street from the UCLA Campus and Medical center. Tickets are going fast and are sure to sell out. This is a rare opportunity to see notable Latinx actors at work, up close and personal in a wonderful theatrical production that won’t disappoint.  For early birds, there are 2:00 P.M. afternoon performances scheduled for Saturdays and Sundays, otherwise, shows are Tuesday through Sunday 8:00 P.M. For more information: Contact the Geffen Playhouse at 310-208-5454.

The post Stellar Cast Drives “Key Largo” at The Geffen first appeared on .

Previews Begin Nov. 6th Opening Night is Nov. 14th

Los Angeles  – Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its world premiere adaptation of Key Largo, directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes (Doubt, Farragut North) and featuring Academy Award nominee Andy Garcia (Mama Mia! Here We Go Again, The Godfather: Part III) as Johnny Rocco. The Geffen Playhouse production is adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and Garcia, based on the play by Maxwell Anderson and the screenplay by Richard Brooks & John Huston. Original music is composed by 10-time GRAMMY Award winner and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient Arturo Sandoval.

In addition to Garcia, the cast features Stephen Borrello (Seminar, Desire Under the Elms) as Toots, Joely Fisher (Cabaret, Grease) as Gaye Dawn, Rose McIver (iZombie, Masters of Sex) as Nora D’Alcala, Louis Mustillo (Sticks and Stones, Bartenders) as Curly, Danny Pino (Mayans M.C., Measure for Measure) as Frank McCloud, Tony Plana(The Boys of Winter, Zoot Suit) as Mr. D’Alcala, Richard Riehle (Straight White Men, The Iceman Cometh) as Sherriff Gash and Bradley Snedeker (Red Ryder, The Last Supper) as Ziggy.
Previews for Key Largo begin Wednesday, November 6 in the Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse.

Welcome to the eye of the storm! Key Largo is a bold reimagining of Maxwell Anderson’s Broadway hit that became the iconic noir film starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall. Returning from World War II, disillusioned Frank McCloud travels to a hotel in Key Largo to pay his respects to the widow of a fallen friend. What McCloud doesn’t count on is an entirely different battle with mobsters who have overtaken the hotel, led by the ruthless Johnny Rocco. As a hurricane barrels toward the Keys, McCloud must face his demons in order to take down a monster.

Adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and Andy Garcia, Produced in association with Frank Mancuso and Andy Garcia, Directed by Doug HughesBased on the play by Maxwell Anderson and the Warner Bros. film. Produced by special arrangement with Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures Previews: Wednesday, November 6 – Wednesday, November 13, 2019. Opening Night: Thursday, November 14, 2019. Closing Night: Tuesday, December 10, 2019

LOCATION: Gil Cates Theater at Geffen Playhouse10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024

TICKET INFORMATION

Tickets currently priced at $30.00 – $145.00. Available in person at the Geffen Playhouse box office, by phone at 310.208.5454 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.
Rush tickets for each day’s performance are made available to the general public 30 minutes before showtime at the box office. $35.00 General/$15.00 Student.

COLLEGE AUDIENCES

Through a variety of events and other opportunities, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes college students to experience the live storytelling presented on our stages. We are proud of our association with UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, and open our doors to all college students throughout Los Angeles. More information is available at www.geffenplayhouse.org/college.

Connect with Geffen Playhouse

Website: www.geffenplayhouse.org

Media Center: www.geffenplayhouse.org/media-center

Facebook: www.facebook.com/geffenplayhouse

Twitter: www.twitter.com/geffenplayhouse

Instagram: www.instagram.com/geffenplayhouseYouTube: www.youtube.com/user/GeffenPlayhouseMedia

The post Andy Garcia Stars In the Geffen Playhouse Adaptation of “Key Largo” first appeared on .

Andy Garcia Cast in His First TV Broadcast Role

Although Andy Garcia has been offered roles on TV pilots in the past he has always passed, until now,  Garcia will be starring alongside Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live) on NBC’s comedy The Kenan Show. It will be a single-camera comedy with Kenan playing a newly widowed dad striving to be the best dad to his kids and fending off his father-in-law (Garcia), a retired police officer, on becoming more involved in their lives. Garcia on board gives the series more of a liklihood of being picked up.

The pilot is produced by Lorne Michaels and was written by Jackie Clarke (Superstore) both will be executive producing as will be Kenan.

Garcia will soon be seen in an episode of Modern Love on Amazon.  He is repped by CAA.

Freddie Prinze Jr. Back in The Lead

Freddie Prinze Jr. (24) has been cast as the lead in CW’s, as yet untitled, Nancy Drew pilot.  The pilot will revolve around an 18 year-old Nancy Drew (Kennedy McMann) after she has graduated from high school.  When a family tragedy makes it impossible for her to leave her hometown, she finds herself involved in a ghostly murder investigation.  Prinze will play Carson Drew, Nancy’s father as he attempts to reconnect with his daughter.

Prinze, who has been MIA for a few years comes back in full force.  He recently starred as one of the male leads in CBS’s I Mom So Hard for Warner Bros.  Prince is repped by Gersh Agency.

Christy Haubegger Appointed to the Board

It was announced today that media and entertainment executive Christy Haubegger, has been appointed to the company’s Board of Directors. Effective March 14, 2019, Haubegger succeeds outgoing board member Michael Nash of Blackstone.

Haubegger has served in multiple senior positions in the publishing and entertainment industries. Most recently, at one of the biggest talent agency Creative Artists Agency (CAA), where she leads multicultural business development for the agency and provides insights on diverse markets to CAA’s clients.

Prior to her work with CAA, Haubegger founded Latina Magazine in 1996 and served as publisher, president, and CEO until 2001. Additionally, Haubegger has served as a producer on several motion pictures, including Spanglish in 2004. She currently also serves on the board of NYSE-listed company RTW Retailwinds, Inc.

Congrats to PR Extraordinaire Mariluz Gonzalez

Vesper Public Relations, founder Mariluz Gonzalez is featured in Billboard magazine’s article “The PR Ladies Behind Latin Superstars” & the only San Fernando Valley ( L.A.) raised of Mexican origin on the list.

Mariluz Gonzalez was acknowledged for her work in the promotion and marketing of Latin music and entertainment in the U.S. She is responsible for media campaigns of many Fonovisa recording artists (the Regional Mexican powerhouse a division of Universal Music Entertainment) based in Hollywood.

Asked what she has learned as as a Latina business owner, promoting Latin music for over decade, she said: “Over the years I’ve learned not to take myself for granted, [and] not to undervalue my work.”

#LatinosInTheLead #TheFutureIsLatina

The post Andy Garcia in First TV Series Role; Freddie Prinze Back as The Lead; Latinas Moving on Up first appeared on .