The 75^th Annual Tony Awards will air on June 12 from Radio City Music Hall. The 2022 broadcast will be hosted by Latina superstar, Ariana Debose. The winner of this year’s Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a BAFTA, Critics Choice, and SAG Awards for her show-stopping performance as Anita in West Side Story.  DeBose herself was nominated for a Tony Award in 2018 for her performance as Donna Summer in Summer The Donna Summer Musical.

Debose’s dynamic presence as host will surely add some Latino magic to the awards show that also includes four Latino Tony Award nominees for a Tony Award from all the numerous and varied categories for the highest honor for work on a professional stage. They include

LILIANA BLAIN-CRUZ

Blain-Cruz has garnered a nomination for Best Director for the play The Skin of Our Teeth.  The play is a 1942 Pulitzer Prize winner by Thornton Wilder. The Skin of Our Teeth is an epic comedy-drama, a three-part allegory about the life of mankind, centering on the Antrobas family of the fictional town of Excelsior, New Jersey. Blain-Cruz is a  recipient of a Lincoln Center Emerging Artist Award and an Obie Award for Mary Seacole.

RUBEN SANTIAGO-HUDSON

Nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in Lackawanna Blues is the actor and playwright of Puerto Rican descent, Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Lackawanna Blues is the true story of Santiago Jr. growing up in Lackawanna, New York. The story celebrates all those strong women who raised him in this solo play. He has previously won a Tony Award for his performance in Seven Guitars.

EMILIO SOSA

Emilio Sosa is a Dominican costume designer and Chair of the American Theatre Wing Board of Trustees in New York City. Sosa has earned a nomination this year in the category of Best Costume Design in a Play for his work on Trouble in Mind, the play that focuses on sexism and racism within the American theater industry. Sosa was a contestant on season seven of Project Runway and became the first color designer for the Radio City Music Hall Spring Spectacular

ARNULFO MALDONADO

The New York city-based designer, Arnulfo Maldonado,  is nominated for Best scenic design in a Musical. The musical, A Strange Loop is Michael R. Jackson‘s Pulitzer Prize-winning, a blisteringly funny masterwork that exposes the heart and soul of a young artist grappling with desires, identity, and instincts he both loves and loathes. 

Maldonado has worked on dozens of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows. He is the winner of a Tony, Obie, and several Henry Hewes Design Awards. The 75th Tony Awards Show will be broadcast on June 12 (8:00 – 11:00 PM, Live ET/5:00 – 8:00 PM, Live PT), from Radio City Music Hall on CBS and streaming on Paramount+.

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The 2021 Film Independent Spirit Awards is ready to make you laugh out loud as Saturday Night Live’s Melissa Villaseñor has been tapped to host. 

Due to the Covid pandemic, this year the show will not be live from Santa Monica Beach, as usual. The show will air on Thursday, April 22on IFC and AMC+ at 10 p.m. ET. 

“We’re thrilled to welcome Melissa Villaseñor into the club of smart, funny film lovers to host the Spirit Awards. The time to laugh has definitely arrived, and not a moment too soon,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. 

Villaseñor began her comedic journey as a stand-up comic in Los Angeles and gained further recognition after being a semifinalist on the 2011 edition of America’s Got Talent. The stand-up comedian, actress and impressionist is the first-ever Latina cast member of SNL. 

“As someone who considers herself a pretty dependent person, I’m truly honored to host the Film Independent Spirit Awards,” said Villaseñor. 

The Mexican talent is best known for her impersonations of Owen Wilson, Jennifer Lopez, Gwen Stefani, Lady Gaga, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and more.

Outside of SNL, Villaseñor has provided voiceovers in films such as Toy Story 4; Ralph Breaks the Internet, Family Guy and American Dad. She is currently working on her first book, a creative self-help journal forthcoming from Chronicle Books. 

Said Blake Callaway, Executive Director, IFC and SundanceTV, “Melissa and the unique circumstances of now will make this year’s ceremony like no other. It will certainly be a departure from the past, but with Melissa, the chances of Dolly, Ariana Grande, Bjork, Gwen Stefani, Julie Andrews and Lady Gaga showing up have skyrocketed.”

Film Independent, a non-profit organization cultivates the careers of emerging filmmakers and promotes diversity and inclusion across the film industry. For the first time, the Directors Close-Up, an annual series featuring in-depth panel discussions with the year’s lauded filmmakers, will only have Spirit Award nominees as panelists. The series, which will be available for streaming, will include nine sessions over two months, featuring the best directors from indie film, documentary, and television. This year’s Spirit Award nominations include a new TV section. This year’s Best Feature nominees include First Cow, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Minari, Never Rarely Sometimes Always, and Nomadland. The full list of nominees can be found HERE:

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