Oct 8th through Nov 7th, 2010.
Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre opens the 2010 – 2011 season with The Color of Desire, a world premiere play by Pulitzer Prize-winner Nilo Cruz, author of Anna in the Tropics. Born in Cuba and raised in Miami’s Little Havana, Cruz is one of the country’s most produced Cuban-American writers and the first Latino to be honored with a Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Nilo Cruz creates a world full of lyricism in his new play, The Color of Desire, set in Havana, 1960. As the revolution heats up, a dashing American businessman hires a young Cuban actress for a role unlike any she has ever played: the woman he loved and lost. Reminiscent of Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard, Cruz’s The Color of Desire captures the last moments of an island on the brink of change. A story of intrigue, seduction and the pursuit of freedom with both great humor and profound emotional resonance, The Color of Desire is a vibrant exploration of the lost love affair between America and Cuba.
“Actors’ Playhouse is very pleased to work with Pulitzer prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz to produce the world premiere of his play The Color of Desire,” said Executive Producing Director Barbara S. Stein. “It is our company’s goal to present new works that have significant meaning to our diverse South Florida community. We think that The Color of Desire is just that play.”
Mr. Cruz’s other works include Lorca in a Green Dress, Night Train to Bolina, A Bicycle Country, Dancing on Her Knees, A Park in Our House, Two Sisters and A Piano and Hortensia and The Museum of Dreams. The author’s plays have been developed and performed across the United States, including: McCarter Theatre Center, NYSF/Public Theater, NY Theatre Workshop, New Theatre (Coral Gables), South Coast Repertory (Costa Mesa), Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Florida Stage, Alliance (Atlanta), Studio Theatre (Washington D.C.), Magic Theatre (San Francisco), Victory Gardens (Chicago), Coconut Grove Playhouse (Miami), Children’s Theatre of Minneapolis, Lee Strasberg Theatre (L.A.) and Salt Lake Acting Company. An alumnus of New Dramatists, Cruz has taught playwriting at Brown University and Yale School of Drama. Cruz is the recipient of the 2003 American Theatre Critics/Steinberg New Play Award, TCG Artist in Residence Grant, Alton Jones Award, AT&T Award, Barrie Stavis Award and the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays.
Actors’ Playhouse Artistic Director David Arisco worked closely with the playwright this summer, traveling from Cape Cod to New York and home to Miami, to select the perfect cast for The Color of Desire. Hannia Guillen, best known for her role as “Paloma Lopez-Fitzgerald” on the NBC soap opera Passions, stars in the play as the beautiful young actress, Belén. Hannia has also appeared on the hit USA Network series Burn Notice and had a recurring role as Elena on The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien (2009) in the popular comedic romp, “Noches de Pasión con Señor O’Brien.” Cast as Preston, the American businessman who commissions Belén for the role of a lifetime is Jim Ballard, a Carbonell Award-winning actor who can be remembered from previous Actors’ Playhouse productions of 1776 and Urinetown (Carbonell Best Supporting Actor Award). Teresa Maria Rojas (Albertina) was born in Havana, Cuba, and passionately learned about theatre at Prometeo, a rigorous, poor, and small theatre kingdom located in the heart of the Cuban capital, and has since performed across Central and South America; and in her new hometown, Miami, FL. Isabel Moreno (Leandra), an actress who started her career in Cuba in the early 60’s and quickly became one of the most prominent actresses of the Cuban stage, has continued to work in television. Barbara Sloan (Caroline), last seen at Actors’ Playhouse during the production of Thumbs, has received Carbonell nominations for her regional roles in Wit, The Book of Ruth, Strange Snow and Burn This. Sandor Juan (Orlando) made his theatrical and big screen debuts appearing alongside Marisa Tomei in The Perez Family, a film directed by Mira Nair and the 1995 Hispanic Theater Festival, and has recently appeared on Burn Notice and The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien. Michael Serratore (Oscar) last appeared on the Florida stage in The Odd Couple, a co-production between the New Vista Theatre Company, and Philadelphia’s Walnut Street Theatre. Michael has performed alongside the author, in the world premiere of Israel Horovitz’ Fast Hands, (Gloucester Stage Company/Actor’s Studio). Rounding out the cast is Nick Duckart (Waiter/Emcee/Young Man) a recent graduate of New World School for the Arts who has already made his mark on the South Florida theatre scene in numerous productions.
“We feel incredibly fortunate to be producing the world premiere of The Color of Desire with this remarkable cast,” said Artistic Director David Arisco. This beautiful new play has spent the last four years in development, through readings at Arena Stage in Washington D.C., Manhattan Theatre Club, Florida Stage (where Barbara Sloan read Caroline for the first time), The Goodman Theatre in Chicago (where Hannia Guillen came on board for the first time reading the part of Belén), The Pubic Theatre in New York and finally this summer at The Cape Cod Theatre Project. The development of this play has been closely monitored by Mr. Cruz through a series of readings at these well-established theatre companies, I am delighted to be the first to produce and stage The Color of Desire for Nilo’s home audience in Miami.”
Preview performances of “The Color of Desire” will be held Wednesday and Thursday, Oct 6th and 7 at 8 p.m. The show will open Friday, Oct 8th at 8 p.m. and play through Nov 7th. Performances will be held Wednesday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. A special weekday matinee is scheduled on Wednesday, Oct 13th at 2 p.m.
Actors’ Playhouse at the Miracle Theater
280 Miracle Mile
Coral Gables, Florida 33134
305.758.6844
www.actorsplayhouse.org
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