By Cris Franco

Playwright/Screenwriter Josefina López holds a singular place in both American theater and Hollywood—an artist whose voice has reshaped the narrative around Latinas on stage and screen.

In 1990, her signature play Real Women Have Curves, about an ambitious, 18-year-old, plus-sized Latina battling her family’s oppressive gender and cultural norms, became a major hit. In 2002, after a bidding war, HBO adapted the play into an award-winning film with America Ferrera in her first starring role.

So enduring is López’s semi- autobiographical tale, that for the last 23- years, both the play and film have consistently drawn large audiences, taken by López’s funny and insightful depiction of the immigrant struggle. Not resting on her laurels, more plays followed. 

López used her college loans to establish a community theater, CASA 0101, which offers multiple performing arts programs and world class theater. Lopez initially opened a nearby restaurant, CasaFina Restaurant to complement the theater experience.  Both her theater and the restaurant are located in the neighborhood that fueled her creative spirit, Boyle Heights. It was this same spirit that drove her to not give up on a career-long dream — to see her play morph yet once again, into a full Broadway musical.

Now, in a full-circle moment, López’s dream of bringing Real Women Have Curves to Broadway has finally become a reality. On April 27, 2025, the musical adaptation of her iconic play will make its long-awaited debut.

I had the privilege of speaking to Ms. López who was in NYC attending a show rehearsal. We discussed why her musical is more than just entertainment, how a “sewing factory sings”, and the importance of keeping Real Women Have Curves real.

CRIS FRANCO (CF): Josefina, I’ve streamed the many rehearsals, promos and preview clips from Real Women Have Curves, the musical — and I’m very excited!    

JOSEFINA LOPEZ (JL): Me, too! It’s got all that I loved about the play and movie but heightened with singing, dancing and an expanded story. Lisa Loomer, who adapted it, has done such a great job. 

CF: How has the original plot changed? 

JL:  We’ve added to it.  Revisiting the world allowed us to delve deeper, go back in time and bring in characters with backstories true to the times. We now meet Guatemalan (Itzel) and Salvadorian (Rosalí) refugees, a cholita (Flaca) trying to remake her life and a woman who hasn’t yet come out. These real people were part of my factory experience and now we’ve included them. It’s beautiful.

CF:  It sounds wonderful — and daunting.  Was it challenging adapting Real Women into a musical?

JL: Yes. I had tried twice before — but decided to let Lisa Loomer take-on this third attempt because when you create a successful play and movie, as I did, you get attached.  But for the project to grow, you have to be able to see beyond what already exists.  And to create new moments where it lends itself to song and dance.  I knew I had to just let go and tell myself, yeah, that moment is possible, too.  And that was the challenge. 

CF: It appears there are new male characters in the musical. 

JL: Yes. The original play featured only women and there were a few men in the film. But we added more men into the musical.  And that’s part of the challenge, too. Knowing what characters to add — without adding too many. You don’t want to overpower the narrative because Broadway often relies on spectacle and I didn’t want us to lose sight of the story.  

CF: I get it. You wanted to keep Real Women, real.

JL: Yes.  

CF: The master of musical theater, Stephen Sondheim, stated that when he was approached about musicalizing a story, he’d ask himself: “Does it sing?” Did you think Real Women would sing?  

JL: I knew it would. All the way back, when I was in the (sewing) factory, I knew that Real Women  was a musical because the factory itself was musical. The sewing machines each had a distinct, humming sound depending on how old the machine was or if it needed oil. The steam iron made a rhythmic hiss. Cutting the fabric had a percussive tick-tick-tick. The radio was always playing. Outside the cars would zoom by and you could hear all the “loncheria” trucks horns honking — da-da-da-da-daaaa!

CF: “La cucaracha, la cucaracha” — 

JL: The factory was always alive with sound and motion – moving the dresses, shaking them, sewing them, ironing them.  There was always action throughout the workroom and choreography to the assembly of the garments.  Even when I was writing the original play, I thought to myself, this story could be a musical. I imagined the women dancing with the mannequins. I had all these ideas but I was only 18-years-old and, frankly, I didn’t know how to write a musical. But I could definitely hear and see it come alive as a musical.

CF: What are your favorite musicals?

JL:  I didn’t like musicals growing up because they were not relevant to my life in Boyle Heights. It wasn’t until years later when I experienced that moment in Miss Saigon where (Vietnamese) Kim and this white (American) soldier’s souls connect through a song, that I thought, ‘Oh my God — musicals can be about anything’. They don’t have to be about two white characters falling in love in a world where everything’s rosy. Those plots were so completely relatable to me living as an undocumented girl in East L.A. So, Miss Saigon got me interested in musical theater and then I saw Next To Normal —

CF: O.M.G. That show is so daring. It’s about how a wife and mother whose mental disorder destroys and — in a way — unites a suburban family. 

JL: Next To Normal showed me that musicals can go deep and be profound. That’s when I thought, I really want my play to be a musical. At first that was just a dream, but after our film won so many awards, I started actively working with my manager seeking theater producers. And I’ve been pursuing this goal until I finally met Sergio Trujillo who won the Best Choreographer Tony in 2019.  I thought Sergio could direct it. He’s an immigrant, so he gets it and understands the pain of being undocumented.  And it slowly all came together. 

CF: There are so many elements involved in creating a musical, that a director can make or break your show.  How did you select your collaborators: Lisa Loomer and Nell Benjamin (book), Joy Huerta and Benjamin Velez (score)?  

JL: Selecting the right creatives is a big decision. But when I met Barry Wessler, the producer of Chicago, I thought — well he must know what he’s doing. His show’s have been running for over 20 years! Lisa Loomer was the smartest choice because she knows my world of Boyle Heights and she knows me.  Sergio is the one who came up with Joy Huerta. I had heard some of her songs and had heard of her.   

CF: She’s a Grammy winner. 

JL: Yes. I just had never put Joy’s name and her wonderful songs together. I thought — Oh, my God, this woman’s a poet.  She is an incredible, soulful human being — amazing.  And I thought, yes, she could write the songs for the show.   

CF: I very much like the songs I’ve heard.  They’re on story, tuneful and energetic. 

JL: I agree.  Once the creatives were lined up, I guess my big contribution was insisting that our casting agent, or at least their consultant, be a Mexican-American.  So that Mexican-American actors would be the first to be considered for the roles.  

CF: That is very important because today’s discerning Latinx audience are very familiar with the cultural and linguistic nuances of a México-American vs. a Puertoriqueño vs. a Cubano, etc. Casting still lumps us together into playing a generic Hispanic that comes across as inauthentic because a generic Hispano doesn’t exist.  But what does exist in your show is a cast that can all act, sing and dance.

JL: Well, you have to be a triple threat to be on Broadway, right?

CF: Was it a challenge finding Latinx triple threats?

JL:  It was hard to find men and women of a certain age who could sing and act and dance because until shows like In The Heights — thank goodness for In The Heights — our actors had limited opportunities to develop their musical talents. But we have assembled an amazing cast. But, the biggest challenge was getting the word out in the search for our lead, Ana, because, once again, not enough Latinos get to train, especially Mexican-Americans.  But we finally found Tatianna Córdoba who can do it all.  Plus, she’s got incredible comedic timing and she’s a great singer. Tatianna graduated from Boston Conservatory of Music at Berklee in 2022.  She’s beautiful, charming and she looks 18-years-old!  

CF: But finding her took work? 

JL: We had over one-thousand submissions for the role.      

CF: Although the original Real Women was written in the 1980s, the themes are more pressing than ever: body image, femininity vs. feminism, women’s rights, the immigrant experience. What do you think that says about our present society?

JL: Those things have only gotten worse. It’s sad. When I first wrote the play, I thought that twenty-years later, the story would be irrelevant because society would have progressed beyond these racist and sexist assumptions.  But it’s only gotten worse for women and the undocumented. It’s gotten worse for everyone. Immigrants have been dehumanized. So, it’s divine timing that this play is now on Broadway so it can challenge the narrative that we are the bad guys. That we’re taking rather than contributing. I’m very proud to share my story because it’s not just mine. It’s the story of so many others. Me, our director and the whole cast feel that telling this story is now necessary.  It’s not just entertainment.  It’s us fighting for our humanity.

I was talking to a reporter earlier and I realized — hey, by opening a theater and a restaurant, I’ve created hundreds of jobs. I didn’t take anyone’s job away. Immigrants create jobs. I’ve always been very proud and public about the fact that I am a formerly undocumented person who at age18 worked in a sewing factory.  And today I get to walk to a Broadway show where I get to see myself portrayed as a worker in that sewing factory. In a way, I’m the embodiment of the American Dream.  

CF: You certainly are. And, I too, can’t understand anyone who can’t relate to the cause of the undocumented worker.  I mean, they are just like you. They are you in different circumstances. It’s disparaging to refer to them as “aliens.”

JL: Which is code for “non-human.” And for me, that term really hurts. So I wanted to explore and celebrate my humanity through the story and say, no, I’m not an alien, I’m a human being. That’s why the play’s undressing scene is so important.  It says — look at me!  I’m flesh and blood and curves and fat and everything.  How much more real can I be than this?  

And, yeah, it’s a story of defiance, of self-acceptance because that’s me, too. But it’s also a personal feminist story about how we women are made to feel that we’re not good enough by a system that makes us feel inferior. I used to blame myself thinking, I just need to work on myself.  Until I realized that every freaking woman has the same program running in her head. And I got sick of it.  That’s why I wanted to share this story, so the other women could see it and think — wait a minute. I’m going through the same bullshit. Oh my God, everyone’s going through this!

CF: Speaking as a male — yeah, it’s true. Society does allow us to be uncaring, sloppy, vulgar, aggressive, blunt and demanding.  While women are heavily judged if they display those very human traits. Society will forgive the most vile man of almost anything if he’s a good provider. Which brings me to money and the economics of Broadway. 

JL: Oh, yes.  Mounting a show here is crazy expensive. 

CF: Currently, some orchestra prime tickets to Othello starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington list at $900 each with the cheapest ticket at $221.  But I’ve noticed that Real Women sells some balcony seats for under $50.  

JL: I think they’re listed at $48. We’re doing our best so that our audiences can afford to see the show. I always just go to the half-price TKTS booth and get them at 50% off but that still adds up to $100 for a pair of tickets.  And that’s because it takes about twelve-million dollars to get a show on Broadway. So it requires many investors who are primarily white men — even at my backers’ auditions.  

CF: How do you think that affects what shows get produced? 

JL: Well, if this is the group that decides what musicals make it to Broadway, it eliminates many shows that don’t appeal to this very specific funding base. I know that without a hit play we wouldn’t have had the hit movie. And without the movie we wouldn’t have had a shot at becoming a musical.  

CF: It’s very significant that you are finally here. 

JL: Especially this season when, for the first time in history, we have two new Latino musicals on Broadway: Buena Vista Social Club and Real Women Have Curves. 

CF: Do you think that says something positive about Latino stories breaking into the mainstream market? 

JL: Yes, because by bringing people into our experience they can see how beautiful we are. Broadway’s not seen a world quite like Real Women Have Curves. We present my working-class neighborhood the way I saw it.  Colorful murals, life, creativity, resilience, hope. Which is contrary to what most have heard about Boyle Heights which was at one time labeled the “drive-by shooting capitol of the world.”  That’s what captures the national headlines — not that our city has a long history of activism for civil rights and social justice. 

That’s the truth, just like the musical truly depicts how much fun it was working in the factory.  The day was filled with so much laughter and juicy chisme (gossip) that I really looked forward to going to work. So, while my friends all went off to college, I went to work in a factory where I got a real education about what it meant to be a woman. 

CF: So, your journey to Broadway began way back then. And now you’re here. 

JL:  It’s incredible to walk to Times Square and to see a giant billboard for Real Women Have Curves. 

CF: (my phone’s alarm goes off) Josefina, there’s so much more I wanted to ask you but I know our time is over and you’ve gotta go back to rehearsal. I’m gonna jump to my final question: What advice do you offer to young playwrights? 

JL: To keep telling the truth. Write about what they know, and to write about the wisdom they’ve [writers] gained from their pain and suffering, because nobody needs any more tragedies. And if they haven’t yet learned from their life lessons, wait a couple of years to write your story.  We need to hear about what they’ve gained from the losses. 

To experience what Josefina López learned from her storied life, get ready to experience Real Women Have Curves:  the Musical currently in previews wiht opening night on April 27th at the James Earl Jones Theater, NY, NY.  

The full cast includes: Tatianna Córdoba, Justina Machado, Florencia Cuenca, Shelby Acosta, Carla Jimenez, Aline Mayagoitia, Jennifer Sánchez, and Sandra Valls, Mauricio Mendoza, with Ana’s boyfriend played by Mason Reeves. with the ensemble cast consisting of Zeus Mendoza, Claudia Mulet, Christopher M. Ramirez, Monica Tulia Ramirez, Quincy Hampton, Ariana Burks 

For all show info and tickets, log onto: https://www.realwomenhavecurvesbroadway.com

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Considered one of the top-selling tropical/salsa singers of all time, the multiple Grammy and Latin Grammy winner will launch the Marc Anthony Tour Aug. 27 in San Antonio, Texas. He’s reportedly the first artist to perform at the AT&T Center since the venue shuttered early in the pandemic in March of 2020.

San Antonio will be the first stop of the artist’s tour, visiting 23 American and Canadian cities through the end of this year.

The “Vivir mi vida” singer will then visit Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Washington D.C., Charlotte, Uncasville, New York City, Chicago, Kansas City, Tulsa, Denver, Las Vegas, San Diego, Ontario, Phoenix, Fort Myers, Orlando, Miami. He’ll cross into Canada to perform in two cities, Montreal and Toronto, before coming back for two performances in California, first in San Jose and then Los Angeles, where he’ll end the portion of his American tour Dec. 18. 

New York-born Puerto Rican Marc Anthony has sold more than 12 million albums worldwide and won three Grammys and six Latin Grammys. He has 26 Billboard chart hits like “Vivir Mi Vida” which has more than one billion views on YouTube and “Flor Pálida” with more than 142 million plays on Spotify. The singer also holds the Guinness World Record for best-selling tropical/salsa artist and the most number-one albums on the Billboard Tropical Albums year-end charts, an honor he shares with Romeo Santos and Eddie Santiago. 

The Boricua superstar was named after the Mexican balladeer Marco Antonio Muñíz. While a global salsa icon for a long list of Spanish-language hits, he started his recording career singing English, performing a dance music genre known as freestyle. That changed when he switched to salsa in 1993 and put out three commercially successful salsa albums in four years, Otra Nota, Todo a su Tiempo, and Contra la Corriente. 

But he also found success in the mainstream American market. Marc Anthony’s eponymous English-language album debut went triple-platinum in the U.S., becoming part of the nation’s so-called “Latin boom” in music during the waning years of the past millennium. 

Marc Anthony has received a total of 29 Premio Lo Nuestro awards, the ASCAP Founders Award, 12 Billboard Latin Music Awards and three Billboard Awards.

The singer also turned to acting in the mid-1990s. His film credits include Big Night, Bringing Out the Dead, In the Time of the Butterflies, Man On Fire. He played Puerto Rican salsa legend Héctor Lavoe in the 2007 biopic El Cantante. Additionally, he performed on Broadway, starring opposite Rubén Blades and Ednita Nazario in Paul Simon’s The Capeman in 1998.

In In the Heights, Marc Anthony has a small role. He plays Gapo, the alcoholic father of Sonny, the cousin of central character Usnavi, played by Anthony Ramos. The salsa legend is also part of the soundtrack. He lends his vocals to the song “Home all summer,” written by Lin Manuel Miranda and also featuring vocals by Ramos and Leslie Grace, who plays Nina.

Featured Photo: Marc Anthony in concert in New York last year (Credit: Magnus)

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As Broadway and Hollywood made Lin-Manuel Miranda a household name, the Puerto Rican artist has used his fame and platform for public service. The Hamilton and In the Heights star’s advocacy for Latinos and the arts has now earned him recognition from the National Association of Broadcasters Leadership Foundation.

The Tony Award-winning and Oscar-nominated Miranda is set to receive the foundation’s 2021 Service to America Leadership Award next month. The honor recognizes “individuals and organizations responsible for improving the lives of others through extraordinary public service,” according to the organization. It is the Leadership Foundation’s highest individual honor.

“As the creative force behind some of the most successful stage and screen productions in recent memory, Lin-Manuel Miranda  has left an indelible mark on our culture,” says NAB President and CEO Gordon Smith. “He has matched his outstanding success with an outspoken advocacy for Puerto Rico and the arts, and a steadfast commitment to helping communities grow, learn and thrive.”

An actor, singer, songwriter, rapper, producer, and playwright, Miranda is the creator and original star of Hamilton and In the Heights, two multiple Tony Award-winning Broadway musicals that have also been made into movies–the latter currently playing in theatres nationwide. His artistic work has also picked up a Pulitzer Prize, three Tony Awards, three Grammy Awards, two Olivier Awards, and an Emmy Award, among others. 

The New Yorkis also the recipient of the 2015 MacArthur Foundation Award, the 2018 Kennedy Center Honors and the 2019 Portrait of a Nation Prize. Furthermore, he received nominations for an Oscar and for four Golden Globe awards for his work in films like Moana, Mary Poppins Returns and the television miniseries Fosse/Verdon. He has also been featured in the TV series His Dark Materials and Duck Tales and has written the New York bestsellers “Hamilton: The Revolution” and “Gmorning, Gnight!: Little Pep Talks for Me & You.”  

And now he’s adding director to his resume by helming the upcoming Netflix “Tick, Tick… Boom!” set for release later in 2021.

Arguably one of the busiest starts on the planet, he has also managed to remain involved in causes close to his heart.

He has been an active partner with the Hispanic Federation to help Puerto Rico’s relief and recovery efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria since 2017. He launched Raise Up, a digital fundraising campaign to support the Hispanic Federation Emergency Assistance Fund, which serves Latino communities throughout the nation. The fund has reportedly donated more than $14 million to 250 community-based organizations focusing on reaching the most impacted and vulnerable communities. It is said to be the most far-reaching Latino Covid-19 emergency relief effort in the country.

Miranda is also an advocate for the arts. He and the Flamboyan Foundation launched the Flamboyan Arts Fund in 2018, which has raised more than $15 million to support the arts and artisans in Puerto Rico. Last year the fund launched the Arts Innovation and Management Puerto Rico program to fund bilingual management training, business consulting, and natural disaster response resilience training for arts organizations.

Furthermore, Miranda partnered up with Jeffrey Seller and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History for the creation of the Hamilton Education Program five years ago to empower educators to integrate the arts and creativity in the study of the revolutionary and founding era. The program relies on original historic documents to inspire artistic pieces and has served about a quarter-million high school students. During the pandemic, it was expanded recently for use by middle school students as a free online program.

“We are delighted to commemorate (Miranda’s) storied accomplishments and dedication to public service with the Service to America Leadership Award,” says Smith, the NAB president.

Miranda will receive the award on July 10.

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The film that has been generating a lot of buzz leading up to today’s theatrical release is In the Heights, written by Lin-Manuel Miranda (Hamilton) and directed by Jon M. Chu (Crazy Rich Asians). It releases today June 11 in theaters nationwide and on HBO Max. Its a film to be appreciated to the fullest on a “big screen” for many reasons.

Almost every single critic has raved about the film, the direction and the casting. You will see an amazing cadre of “new” talented actors (at least on he big screen), starting with the lead Anthony Ramos. Ramos is on his way up with a bullet. Ramos met Miranda when he was cast in his hit play Hamilton. Since then he has worked on four project with him. Even before the release of In the Heights, which is his first starring role in a movie, Ramos’ talent has already led to roles in HBO’s In Treatment, and the Paramount Pictures upcoming untitled Transformers project.

In addition to Ramos, the two female leads Melissa Barrera (Vida) and singer Leslie Grace make their film screen debut and they do it spectacularly! These are now two talents that will be getting a lot more work in Hollywood. As a matter of fact Barrera has already landed her next three films. She just finished shooting Carmen where she plays the lead in the Sony Pictures Classics while also just wrapping Scream for Paramount pictures. The actress just signed a deal to star in Breathe, a six-episode drama series for Netflix.

Grace is a Latin Grammy Award-nominated singer who in 2015 signed a distribution deal with Sony Music Latin and a worldwide contract with Sony/ATV. After her performance in In the Height, where she shines as Nina, we predict you will be hearing about her next role soon.

There is a wave of support for In The Height, which is literally “opening up” theaters with it’s release this weekend. Celebrities who have seen the movie and asking people to go see it include Oprah, Dwayne Johnson, Ariana Grande and Hugh Jackman among others.

Social media is a-buzz with excitement for the premiere with several organizations coming out in full force to support.

NALIP, an organization that addresses the professional needs of Latino filmmakers content creators, launched #LatinxGoldOpen Theater Buyout Movement. An extension of the campaign that began with Asian films, it is now expanding to help secure box office success for Latino movies.

Joining to the supporters are Eugenio Derbez who said, “Thanks to NALIP and Gold House we get behind our creative community and Lin Manuel Miranda is one of the creators we are all most proud of. I’m also in Atlanta shooting our next movie and selfishly want to see In the Heights on the big screen ASAP!”

Actress Tatyana Ali of The Young and the Restless fame stated, “Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jon M. Chu’s upcoming film, In the Heights is a much needed celebration of the diverse perspectives and identities that make up our Latinx communities. To experience the sounds and sights of one’s own culture on the big screen is a balm to the soul. This film is also an invitation to listen to the dreams of others—a declaration of the sueñitos we all share. Join the #LatinxGoldOpen movement to ensure that more stories like In the Heights are told!”

Several multi-cultural organizations including CAPE, African-American Film Critics Association, Define American, The Blackhouse Foundation, and more have joined the effort behind #LatinxGoldOpen.

“Countless studies have demonstrated that films with diverse casts in front and behind the camera tend to do better at the box office,” says Benjamin Lopez, executive director of NALIP. “While Hollywood knows this to be true, there is still a long road ahead for proper diverse representation. We’re excited to work with Gold House for the #LatinxGoldOpen initiative promoting Jon M. Chu’s film In the Heights, based on the stage musical by the same name by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes. Added Lopez, “This partnership is a strong example of multicultural organizations coming together to support one cause, amplifying and supporting authentic stories and diverse talent in the media and proving that there is a worldwide audience for them.”

For decades studios and the Latino community have had high hopes for Latino themed film to succeed at the box office, only too see them fail. This time around there is also support from other communities, and even mainstream media. This time it feels different.

There is already buzz about Oscar nominations. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves and just get out there, especially if you are vaccinated, and enjoy In The Heights where it was made to be seen, on the “big screen”.

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In In the Heights, Smits plays Kevin Rosario, the overprotective father of Nina, a struggling Stanford University student. The son of farmworkers, Kevin tries to avoid the same mistake his father did and owns a taxi cab company.

Directed by Jon M. Chu, of Crazy Rich Asians, the film is based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Broadway musical hit, with music and lyrics by Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story takes place in New York’s largely Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights.

Not a professional dancer nor singer, Brooklyn-born Smits had extra help in his performance for the film. In an interview on ABC’s  Live with Kelly and Ryan, with Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, Smits self-deprecatingly revealed he had “four vocal coaches for seven lines” in a musical number and laughed about it.

The unveiling of Smits’ Star on the Walk of Fame came just days before the world premiere In the Heights, playing theatres nationwide starting June 11.

With a show business career spanning over three decades, the Latino thespian is an accomplished film, TV and theatre performer.

Smits’ star is near the one of Gregory Peck, an Oscar-winning legend with whom the Latino actor co-starred in the film 1989 Old Gringo and whom he considers a “kind of a mentor” that helped him stay on the right path in his career. “That means a whole lot (to me),” he said in the same TV interview with Kelly and Ryan. 

“The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce is thrilled to be honoring one of the hardest working actors in show business,” said Ana Martinez, producer of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. “The fact that we placed his star near the star of his favorite actor and co-star Gregory Peck makes this ceremony even sweeter. We are proud to add Jimmy Smits to our Walk of Fame family.” The star is located at 6100 Hollywood Blvd. near the Pantages Theater.

The Golden Globe and Primetime Emmy-winning actor has appeared in over 20 feature films like Old Gringo and Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones and about 30 television projects such as L.A. Law and NYPD Blue. He is also a consummate stage performer whose credits include the Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Anna in the Tropics as well some Shakespearian works.

In a long, prolific career, Smits has earned more than 40 award nominations and critical acclaim and worked with renowned directors and Hollywood stars. His early filmography includes Peter Hyams’ Running Scared with Gregory Hines and Billy Crystal, John Schlesinger’s The Believers, Blake Edwards’ comedy Switch; and the critically acclaimed My Family/Mi Familia, directed by Gregory Nava, for which he received an IFP Spirit Award nomination.   

Smits’ later works include Carlos Ávila’s Price of Glory, George Lucas’ Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith and Star Wars: Rogue One and Robin Swicord’s The Jane Austen Book Club. Other credits include El Traspatio (Backyard) by director Carlos Carrera and Who We Are Now, written and directed by Matthew Newton.

Smits, however, may be best known for his television work. He received six consecutive Emmy nominations, winning in 1990, for his role as Victor Sifuentes on the multi-award-winning drama L.A. Law. He received a Golden Globe Award and five consecutive Emmy nominations for his role as Bobby Simone on the critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning drama, NYPD Blue, and earned an Emmy nomination for his guest star arc in season three of Showtime’s hit series Dexter. 

Additionally, he received an ALMA Award and an Imagen Award for Best Actor in The West Wing, has four Golden Globe nominations and eleven SAG Award nominations, receiving the honor in 1995 for NYPD Blue. His highly-touted departure from New York police drama also won the Humanitas Award.

Smits last starred in the NBC-TV series Bluff City Law as a civil rights lawyer in Memphis and appeared in a season-long guest arc opposite Viola Davis on How To Get Away With Murder. Before that he co-starred in 24: Legacy, opposite Corey Hawkins and Miranda Otto, as a powerful and ambitious U.S. Senator. He also co-starred in Baz Luhrmann’s music-driven drama for Netflix The Get Down, a mythic saga of how New York at the brink of bankruptcy gave birth to hip-hop, punk and disco. He also portrayed Neron “Nero” Padilla in the final three seasons of the lauded FX show Sons of Anarchy and takes a comedic turn in NBC’s Brooklyn Nine-Nine.

In 2009, he finished a guest-starring stint in season three of Showtime’s hit series Dexter, for which he was recognized with his 12th Emmy nomination. In 2008, Smits’ El Sendero Productions company co-executive produced the CBS series Cane, which he also starred in. The show was critically acclaimed for its cutting edge and dramatic reflection of the family dynamic within a modern-day Cuban-American family. In 2006 Smits completed his role in the long-running and critically-acclaimed NBC series The West Wing. As President Matthew Santos, Smits brought to the show his infusion of energy and added even more depth to the well-written and politically relevant plotline.

Smits has involved himself in various charitable organizations over the years, such as Stand Up 2 Cancer, the Saban Community Clinic, Homeboys, St. Jude’s Hospital for Children among others. He has consistently been a strong advocate for education and co-founded the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) in 1997 along with actors Esai Morales and Sonia Braga and Washington attorney Felix Sanchez, to promote Hispanic talent in the performing arts. The organization offers graduate scholarships and cash grants at prominent colleges and universities to expand career opportunities and increase access for Hispanic artists and professionals while fostering the emergence of new Hispanic talent.

Featured Photo: In the Heights (Credit: Warner Bros.)

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Beginning on Monday, June 7th, Anthony Ramos who plays the lead role of Usnavy, and who is already known to tens of thousand Broadway fans from his role in the Tony award-winning plays In The Heights, will start off the week talking to Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest on Monday, June 7^th. We will get some insight into shooting the film and what we can expect. Already the buzz is strong, with the reviews to discuss the film adaptation of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical 

On Thursday, June 10, fresh off receiving his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, Jimmy Smits joins Kelly and Ryan for some insight into why he agreed to smaller role in the major production. On Friday, two-time Tony Award nominated Daphne Rubin-Vega will close out the week of In The Heights talks, the day before the film’s premiere on June 11.

There is much buzz on In The Heights and which has a 99% score on Rotten Tomatoes while movie critics seem to be all on point with their praise of the film. “Movies and Shakers” summed up the critics’ consensus well when they said, “With Lin Manuel-Miranda’s genius, Jon Chu’s direction, and the fusion of talented cast and crew, this production, filled with exhilarating energy, more than translates from stage to screen.”

Jon M. Chu’s directs the much anticipated Warner Brothers’ adaptation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Broadway hit musical In the Heights, which opens nationwide on June 11, 2021. 

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LALIFF launched with the opening film 7 & Union directed by Anthony Nardolillo. The cast and friends came out to shine on that night. The special premiere screening of In The Heights was a fast seller. We hope some of you were able to see the amazing film. There are still in-person and virtual screening still left to see. One of those films is the virtual screening of the documentary Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to To For It, about her life story and Hollywood. The documentary was directed by Mariem Pérez Riera.

Closing out the festival on Sunday, June 6 is the film Women is Losers, another American selection. Set in working-class San Francisco of the ’60s, the coming-of-age drama marks the directorial debut of Lissette Feliciano, who also wrote the screenplay.

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Academy Award-nominated star Edward James Olmos may be the ultimate actor/filmmaker/activist and the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival one of his main causes.

For two decades, LALIFF has been a major platform for both U.S. Latino and Latin American filmmakers to showcase their works in the heart of Hollywood, which not even the pandemic has been able to derail. The fest starts today with in-person and online programs and runs through June 6. The lineup features more than 40 films in English, Spanish and Portuguese, including 18 features, 6 episodic series and 24 shorts. The selections hail from about a dozen countries from the Americas, from the U.S. down to Tierra del Fuego and also the Caribbean.

Olmos is proud of how LALIFF has weathered the challenge posed by COVID. “The pandemic really hit us hard in 2020,” says the Battlestar Galactica star. “We were all scheduled to go (last June). Then the pandemic slammed us in March and everything closed down. So, two days later we created a virtual stream of the whole LALIFF Festival which launched in June 2020 and it worked.” The entire festival was streamed live, the first international film festival to accomplish this, according to Olmos. 

Now with pandemic protocols more relaxed, LALIFF is ready to welcome screenings at movie theatres along with a virtual showcase. Olmos is excited about the fest’s 20th edition this week. “It will be even better this year because more people will be able to go into the theatre and experience this live,” he says, noting that the fest doesn’t just serve the Latinos but diverse communities, with people coming from all over the state, country and world. “The key to the whole thing is the exposure all these films will receive from the 2nd of June to June 6th,” he states.

LALIFF is centered in Hollywood/Highland Complex, utilizing Grauman’s Chinese Theatre and two adjoining TCL Chinese Theatres. “We have a compact schedule of professional events, including scriptwriting, distribution, pitching, film scoring and masterclasses,” says Olmos. 

The lineup included 18 feature films, beginning with the June 2 premiere of the U.S. feature 7th and Union, written by Oscar Torres and directed by Anthony Nardolillo. The cast features Omar Chaparro and Edy Ganem. 

LALIFF will present one on the first in-theater screening of the much-anticipated films of the summer, In The Heights. The Jon M. Chu directed film musical, an adaptation of Lin Manuel Miranda’s Broadway, Tony award-winning stage production, premieres on June 4, In-Person at the TCL Chinese Theater in the heart of Hollywood.

Also screening will be Brazilian feature La Botera (Boat Rower Girl), written and directed by Sabrina Blanco and featuring Nicole Rivadero, Sergio Prina, Alan Gómez and Gabriela Saidon, and Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go For It, directed by Mariem Pérez Riera and featuring Gloria Estefan, Morgan Freeman, Whoopi Goldberg, Eva Longoria, Justina Machado and Karen Olivo.

Olmos seems particularly happy about the new fellowship series the festival has created with Netflix, which offers $20,000 fellowships to five Latino filmmakers. This year’s fellows are Lorena Durán, Justin Floyd, Kase Peña, Monica Suriyage and Tamara Shogaolu, who will each produce a short film and receive individualized mentorship, as well as one-on-one meetings with industry leaders. Their completed films will premiere at next year’s fest. “This relationship with Netflix and LALIFF is continuing for another three years,” says Olmos. 

Netflix will also offer support to the filmmakers throughout the development of their films. The mentors are executive producer Alicia Marie Agramonte, director of development of film at Revelations Entertainment; writer, director and producer Jhonny Hendrix Hinestroza (Candelaria); writer, director and producer Diana Peralta (De lo Mio); producer Cisely Saldana, co-founder of Cinestar Pictures; and writer-producer Oscar Torres (Innocent Voices).

Founded in 1997, LALIFF is arguably the preeminent Latino film fest in the nation and the only one of its kind taking place on the so-called movie mecca of the world. Its website boasts of being “recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for its discovery of emerging Latino talent.” The annual event has been home to debut films by Oscar-winning directors such as Guillermo del Toro, Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro G. Iñarritu and Pablo Larrain and of movies starring Golden Globe-winning actresses America Ferrera and Gina Rodriguez.

The festival is just a highlight in the prolific career of Olmos, who showed interest in community causes, sports and even politics at an early age. Born in East Los Angeles, he ran for student body president at Montebello High School but lost to future California Democratic Party Chair Art Torres. He also joined the L.A Dodgers’ farm system at age 13 and a rock and roll band at 15. 

But when he took classes at East Los Angeles College, he developed an interest in acting. 

In the early 1970s, he appeared in many small stage productions around L.A. He finally got his big break when he was cast as El Pachuco in Luis Valdez’s landmark Zoot Suit, which dramatized the World War II tensions between Mexican-Americans and local police in L.A. When the play premiered at the Mark Taper Forum in 1978, it was the first professionally produced Chicano play presented by Center Theatre Group. The production moved later to Broadway and Olmos received a Tony nomination. He repeated his role in the subsequent 1981 film, also written and directed by Valdez.

As he forged a successful career in film and television, Olmos became a crusader for more diversified roles and images of Latinos in the U.S. media as an actor, director, producer and activist. 

He gained notoriety for his roles in the crime series Miami Vice in the second half of the ‘80s and also starred in Stand and Deliver based on the true story of math teacher Jaime Escalante, which earned him an Oscar nomination. He then directed, produced and starred in the 1992 drama feature American Me and other landmark works such as The Burning Season. He again gained prominence starring as William Adama in the re-imagined cable series Battlestar Galactica that became a TV phenomenon. Other film credits include the 1982 sci-fi drama Blade Runner and its sequel Blade Runner 2049 more than a decade later as well as Roosters in 1992 and My Family/Mi Familia in 1995. 

Since 2018, he’s played the father of two members of an outlaw motorcycle club in the FX series Mayans MC. 

Despite the financial rewards of working in commercial films and TV, Olmos became enamored with the great diversity offered by the Public Broadcasting System, appearing in American Playhouse productions of The Disappearance of Garcia Lorca in 1998. 

In 1998, he founded Latino Public Broadcasting and currently serves as its chairman. LPB funds public television programming that focuses on issues affecting Hispanics and advocates for diverse perspectives in public television. 

Olmos was one of the driving forces that created Americanos: Latino Life in the U.S., a 1999 book project featuring over 30 award-winning photographers that later was turned into a Smithsonian traveling exhibition.

The actor/filmmaker makes frequent appearances at juvenile halls and detention centers to speak to at-risk teenagers. He has also been an international ambassador for UNICEF. In 2001, he was arrested and spent 20 days in jail for taking part in the Navy-Vieques protests against the U.S. Navy’s target practice bombings of the island of Vieques, Puerto Rico. In 2007, he criticized the United States government for not cleaning up Vieques after the Navy stopped using the island. 

During the course of his career, Olmos has become known not only for his straightforward, uncompromising opinions but also for his droll sense of humor. When the 2004 remake of the popular 1970s series, Battlestar Galactica, was being presented at the bi-annual meeting of the Television Critics Association before the series made its public debut, Olmos calmly stated to the gathered 250 TV scribes, “If you loved the ‘70s version of Battlestar Galactica, you’re going to hate ours.” Olmos just smiled as he heard the collected groans of the show’s executives sitting at the back of the room. Actually, Olmos knew the series would be a success. And it did, running until 2009.    

When asked what else is going on in his life, Olmos smiles broadly and says, “You have got to catch my latest film, Walking with Herb. It is a lovely piece of work, also starring George Lopez and Kathleen Quinlan.” Released this year, this comedy is directed by Ross Marks and executive produced by Olmos. 

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Slated for Sat., May 29 from 6 to 9 p.m., the fest’s music headliners include reggaeton artist Jay Wheeler, norteña group La Original Banda Limon, urbano star Rafa Pabon, pop singer Tefi Valenzuela and L.A.-based band La Santa Cecilia. Other confirmed performers are Dafne, Diego Latoo,  El Chapo de Sinaloa, Grupo G, ICC, Jessi Uribe, Jawn Darko, Lady Vixxen, Los Dioses del Ritmo, Los Wizzards, Melanie Pfirrman, Paola Jara, and Yanet Guadalupe. 

A well-known “artivist” and movie star, Dawson is a co-founder of Voto Latino, a nonprofit that encourages young Latinos to vote and get politically involved, and has also supported various causes from the environment to farmworkers. Coincidentally, she was cast as Dolores Huerta in the 2014 biopic Cesar Chavez about the late labor union leader, which won her a special achievement Alma Award. Her film and TV credits include Sin City, Rent, Seven Pounds and the series Jane the Virgin. She will star in the upcoming series Ahsoka Tano, a spinoff of the series The Mandalorian.

Barrera, who got her start in the U.S. as one of the leads on Starz’s Vida. Soon after the series was canceled, Barrera landed the lead in the upcoming musical feature, In The Heights, based on Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musical. The Mexico-born artist starred in telenovelas like Siempre Tuya Acapulco and Tanto Amor before coming to the U.S. She also co-stars in the upcoming installment of the horror franchise Scream. 

The fest’s fashion segment is curated by Adriana Pavon, a Mexican designer and founder of México Cultura y Orgullo, a nonprofit initiative supporting indigenous artists.

Cinco de Mayo LA will also feature a comedy skit by MexicanGueys, an L.A.-based duo composed by cousins Jairo Orozco and Bryan Rojo of the podcast Spilling the Frijoles. 

The fest will also include mixology segments and recipes, highlight the importance of getting the COVID vaccine and spotlight In the Heights, the movie.

A production of Brilla Media, the event is presented by the Latino Community Foundation and will raise funds for the California Rural Legal Assistance, a legal aid nonprofit serving farmworkers.

“Cultura, Musica y Arte – it’s the medicine we all need right now, and that’s why LCF is honored to support the Cinco de Mayo LA Festival,” says Jacqueline Martinez Garcel, LCF’s CEO. “As we celebrate, let’s also make sure our loved ones get vaccinated. We miss those fuerte abrazos!”

The festival will be broadcast on the VMe national network, Viva Live TV’s OTT platform and streamed on the Facebook fan pages of Spanish Broadcast System stations like New York’s La Musica Mega 97.9 and 93.1 Amor, Los Angeles’s 97.9 La Raza and Mega 96.3, Miami’s El Zol 106.7, Zeta 92 and Ritmo 95.7, San Francisco’s 93.3 La Raza, Maria Marin Live and Cinco de Mayo L.A., among others.

Organizers hope the fest will also be am in-person in the streets of Los Angeles next year in addition to its webcasting.

Other festival sponsors are Converse, WSS, Disney and Pixar’s upcoming animated film Luca, the Friends of the National Museum of the American Latino and MyCajita.

Strategic partners, producers and media allies for this year’s Cinco de Mayo L.A. festival include EsTiempo, Latin Heat Media, Viva Live TV, The Cerro Group, La Plaza de Cultura y Artes, Dustelli Music. 

For more information, visit https://www.cincodemayola.com.

Featured Photo: Melissa Barrera (Credit: Barrera IG) and Rosario Dawson (Credit: ABC)

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While attending Wesleyan University Miranda wrote the draft of what would become his first hit Broadway musical, In The Heights. The play, about a Latino neighborhood in New York, premiered on Broadway in 2008 and was nominated for 13 Tony Awards, winning four: Best Musical and Best Original Score and a Best Actor Tony Award for Miranda, and a  Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album.

The world-renowned musical Hamilton about President Alexander Hamilton was Miranda’s next Broadway hit.  The idea for the play started with a rap about Hamilton which he wrote and performed for the White House Evening of Poetry, Music and the Spoken Word in 2009.  

On the first night of the Hamilton previews (prior to opening), over 700 people were lined up for tickets. The play opened on Broadway in 2015 to rave reviews and sold-out houses.

Hamilton won the Tony Award for Best Musical; Miranda won the Tony Awards for Best Original Score and Best Book of a Musical and received a nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. Miranda won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for the musical, and the Hamilton cast album won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album. 

While these two groundbreaking musicals launched his career, they do not uniquely define the artistic genius of Miranda.  He has had numerous musical collaborations, appeared in TV shows, and was in the film Mary Poppins Returns.  In 2021 Miranda makes his directorial debut with the musical drama film tick tock, BOOM based on a musical by Jonathan Larson. 

Featured Photo: Grammy Awards

— Latin Heat News Service

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