AMAS MUSICAL THEATRE
TO CELEBRATE 51st ANNIVERSARY
AT GALA “BLAST FROM THE PAST” BENEFIT CONCERT
NANCY SANTIAGO NEGRÓN AND LILLIAS WHITE
TO BE HONORED WITH THE 2020 ROSIE AWARD
“4 GUYS NAMED JOSE…AND UNA MUJER NAMED MARÍA!”
CONCEIVED BY DAVID COFFMAN AND DELORES PRIDA
DIRECTED BY MARIA TORRES
MUSICAL DIRECTOR GRANT STROM
FEATURING: DANNY BURGOS, MAURICIO MARTINEZ, VINCENT ORTEGA,
LINEDY GENAO AND ELISEO ROMÁN
A SPECIAL APPEARANCE BY “THE ACADEMY TEENS”
GRAMMY AWARD-WINNING LATIN MUSIC ARTIST RUBÉN BLADES IS HONORARY CHAIR
TONY AWARD-WINNER PRISCILLA LOPEZ IS MISTRESS OF CEREMONIES
BARUCH PERFORMING ARTS CENTER
EAST 25TH STREET (BETWEEN LEXINGTON & THIRD AVENUES, NYC)
MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2020
New York, NY (February 20, 2020) – Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer), New York City’s award-winning pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since 1968, will celebrate its 51st Anniversary at its annual Gala Benefit Concert on Monday, April 6, 2020 at the The Baruch Performing Arts Center (East 25th Street – between Lexington & Third Avenues, NYC). Honorary Chair for the event is Grammy Award-winning Latin recording artist and activist Rubén Blades. Tony Award-winner Priscilla Lopez will be Mistress of Ceremonies for the evening.
The gala evening will begin at 6:00pm with a reception featuring Latin-inspired fare and a silent auction. At 7:30pm the show begins with the students of the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Amas’ flagship education program, presenting a sneak peek of their upcoming spring production of Into The Woods, followed by a performance of 4 Guys Named Jose…and una mujer named María!, conceived by David Coffman and Delores Prida, directed by Maria Torres, with music direction by Grant Strom with a cast including Danny Burgos (On Your Feet!, The Band’s Visit), Linedy Genao (On Your Feet!), Mauricio Martinez (On Your Feet!), Vincent Ortega (On Your Feet!, Mamma Mia) and Eliseo Román (On Your Feet!, In the Heights). 4 Guys Named Jose… premiered at Amas 20 years ago and quickly moved off-Broadway for a limited run.
The evening will culminate with the presentation of the 2020 “Rosie” Award to Honorees Latin activist/philanthropist Nancy Santiago Negrón and Lillias White, Tony Award-winning singer/actress and member of the Amas family. A scholarship in the name of Amas founder Rosetta LeNoire will also be given to a college-bound student attending the Amas Teen Academy.
“The Rosie Award is given every year to outstanding individuals who are leaders in their fields. Our Honorees exemplify the spirit of Rosetta LeNoire, not only because of their extraordinary accomplishments and dedication in bringing our world more closely together, but because they help show the way to others who would follow. We are very proud to be honoring Nancy Santiago Negrón and a cherished member of the Amas family, Lillias White,” says Donna Trinkoff, Amas Artistic Producer.
The evening will benefit Amas Musical Theatre’s education programs and a portion of the proceeds will go to Hispanics in Philanthropy.
Tickets are $600 and $350 plus a limited number of show-only $175 seats are available and can be purchased online at www.amasmusical.org, or by calling (212) 563-2565. More information is at www.amasmusical.org.
Since 1968, Amas has been a force in New York City, developing and producing new American musicals, a pioneer in non-traditional casting and multiculturalism, and a forerunner of theatre arts education for underserved young people.
Amas Musical Theatre was the inspiration of a pioneering figure in the American theatre, Rosetta LeNoire (1911-2002), an African-American actress who began her career as a child performer “planted” in audiences by her godfather, the legendary Bill “Bojangles” Robinson. Rosetta founded Amas (Latin for “you love”), a non-profit performing arts organization, to combat racism, proclaiming “We are all flowers in God’s glorious bouquet, every one of us, every color!”
From the beginning, Amas has sought to bring together people of all backgrounds, colors, and ethnic origin through musical theatre, and education programs have always been integral to the mission. Amas became the first voice of multiculturalism in theatre, and America’s founding exponent of diversity, long before the term became a corporate mantra. Rosetta insisted on multi-ethnic casting in every show she produced and, in a few seasons, Amas emerged as an influential new force in the theatre, especially after she conceived the groundbreaking Bubbling Brown Sugar in 1973, which became a Broadway and touring sensation.
In 1999, President Clinton awarded the National Medal of Arts to Rosetta as “an individual deserving of special recognition by reason of her outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support, and availability of the arts in the United States.” Actors’ Equity Association acknowledges Rosetta and Amas’ contribution to the American theatre by annually bestowing the Rosetta LeNoire Award (“The Rosie Award”) on producers and theatre companies who exemplify her commitment to multicultural production and casting. Following in Rosie’s footsteps, for the past 25 years, artistic producer Donna Trinkoff has continued to engrave the unique Amas trademark with musical theatre works that embrace different cultural perspectives while reaching out to underserved audiences.
Countless dramatists, composers, lyricists, directors, choreographers and actors have graced Amas stages over the past 51 years, including Maya Angelou, Micki Grant, Galt McDermott, Sheldon Epps, John Rando, Tom O’Horgan, Ossie Davis, Billie Allen, Lynne Taylor-Corbett, Andre deShields, Leslie Uggams, Phylicia Rashad, Brad Oscar and Christopher Jackson. The contributions of these alumni, as well as the dedication of the talented roster of early career artists, speaks to the unique and important work of Amas – a laboratory for artists who share its vision of cultural equity and tell timeless stories that resonate deeply.
“We are enormously proud of our rich legacy over the past fifty years” says Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer. “We will continue to honor Rosie’s vision as we look to the next 50 years.”
Bios
Nancy Santiago Negrón (Honoree) is a seasoned professional with over two decades of experience in the areas of education, economic development, federal policy, and philanthropy. She served for two terms in the Obama Administration and has been instrumental in the design and execution of key public policy and federal programs. Focused on aligning capital with justice, her leadership skills have been employed across the public and private sectors. Nancy’s most recent projects include leading strategic initiatives at Hispanics in Philanthropy which included the development of a philanthropically sourced investment fund for Latino led enterprises. Nancy has also provided external affairs and strategic partnership development for former First Lady Michelle Obama’s education initiative, Reach Higher. Nancy served in several senior leadership positions as an appointee in the Administration of President Obama including chief of staff for strategic partnerships for former U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, and deputy director of the Women’s Bureau at the U.S Department of Labor. Additional White House efforts included serving on President Obama’s White House Task Force on Puerto Rico, the National Equal Pay Task Force, and various intergovernmental, cross-agency efforts that focused on issues including economic development, place-based investments, homelessness, and military sexual assault, among others. After her time with the Obama Administration, Nancy served as the chief external affairs officer for the Opportunity Finance Network, the leading network of community development financial institutions. Nancy’s volunteer experience spans sectors and states. She currently serves on the board of Parallel 18, a tech accelerator in Puerto Rico, and board member of the Esperanza Charter School system in Philadelphia. She has been involved in economic development activities in Puerto Rico prior to Hurricane Maria and continues to organize recovery activities post-hurricane; recently coordinating her fourth service delegation to the island with former presidential appointees, philanthropic foundations, and private sector partners. An inspirational activist and speaker, she has received numerous awards and recognitions including the Aspen Institute España 2018 Programa Cervantes, Aspen Institute’s 2015 Salinas Scholar, the Belfer Institute’s Seminar in Israel for Latino Policy Leaders; the Diversity Journal’s Women Worth Watching 2015; the Spanish Embassy’s Hispanic Leaders Program in Madrid, Spain; the U.S. Secretary of Labor’s Exceptional Achievement Award; and the Woman of Distinction award from El Diario La Prensa, New York city’s largest Spanish-language newspaper.
Lillias White (Honoree) is a singer and actress of stage, television, and film. In 1989 she won an Obie Award for her performance in the Off-Broadway musical Romance in Hard Times. In 1997, she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical for portraying Sonja in Cy Coleman’s The Life. She was nominated for a Tony Award again in 2010 for her work as Funmilayo in Fela Kuti’s Fela!. She made her Broadway debut in Barnum in 1981. She understudied the role of Effie in the original 1981 production of Dreamgirls and played the part in the 1987 revival, for which she won the Drama League Award for Best Actress in a Musical. She has also appeared on Broadway in Cats, Carrie, Once on This Island, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Chicago. White is also known for voicing Calliope on the Disney animated series Hercules, portraying Evette in the film Pieces of April, and for her work as Fat Annie (Cadillac’s mother) in the Netflix series “The Get Down.” She has also starred as Bloody Mary in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific on PBS’ Great Performances with Reba McEntire and in the PBS documentary In Performance at the White House. She is also an active cabaret singer and has appeared in concert with the Boston Pops Orchestra, the Brooklyn Philharmonic, and at Carnegie Hall.
Rubén Blades (Honorary Chairman) Latin Music icon Rubén Blades was at the center of the New York Salsa revolution in the 1970’s. His landmark albums in classic Afro-Cuban salsa are touched with rock, jazz, pan-Latin, and worldwide influences. Blades has collaborated with rock, jazz, pop, hip-hop, reggaeton, and salsa artists, and has composed hundreds of songs and dozens of hits, known for their eloquent, socially charged lyrics, colorful characters, and memorable melodies. His 2017 album Salsa Big Band was named the Latin Grammy Album of the Year. He is the subject of the 2018 award-winning documentary Yo No Me Llamo Rubén Blades directed by Abner Benaim. He has won 17 Grammy and Latin Grammy Awards, and this year returns to star in the AMC television series “Fear the Walking Dead.” He has starred in Hands Of Stone opposite Robert De Niro, and in Safe House opposite Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds. Blades has played memorable roles in films with such acclaimed directors as Robert Redford in The Milagro Beanfield War, Robert Rodriguez in Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Spike Lee in Mo’ Better Blues, Alan Pakula in The Devil’s Own, and Jack Nicholson in The Two Jakes. He was nominated for three Emmys for his roles in the television movies “The Josephine Baker Story,” “Crazy From The Heart,”and “The Maldonado Miracle.” His work has been honored with Cable ACE, Independent Spirit, and ALMA Awards, and honored with the Raúl Juliá HOLA Founders Award and the Hispanic Heritage Foundation’s Arts Award. Beyond Blades’ artistic success, he holds degrees in political science and law from the University of Panama, and an LLM from Harvard Graduate Law School. He ran for President of his native Panama in 1994 and served as Minister of Tourism 2004-2009. The Loeb Music Library at Harvard University formed The Rubén Blades Archives in 2008 to collect his work and papers. New York University Steinhardt appointed him Scholar in Residence for the 2018/2019 academic year.
David Coffman (Co-Conceiver) is the co-conceiver of the hit Latino Off Broadway musical 4 Guys Named José… which is represented in the Music Theater International catalog. He also co-conceived and produced the musical Blackbirds of Broadway which started at the National Alliance of Musical Theater Festival and continued on to play with great success in theatres across the U.S., the Montreal Jazz Festival and two European tours. David is also the Managing Director of Sundance Productions Inc, which is the New York office of BB Promotion GmbH. BB is one of the leading firms providing high quality musicals and live entertainment in Europe including: West Side Story The Harlem Gospel Singers. Based in Mannheim, Germany, the group’s field of responsibility and line of business includes concerts, national and international tours of musical theatre productions as well as premieres of German productions. Also, David is the New York representative for Scandinavia’s largest theatrical stage rights agency, Nordiska ApS, David has negotiated international licenses the foreign language live stage rights for many Broadway musicals including: The Addams Family, Flashdance, Hairspray, Spring Awakening, The Full Monty, Avenue Q (Helsinki), Wicked (Helsinki), The Last Ship, Next To Normal, among many others. Additionally, he has negotiated licenses for Cats and Rock of Ages in Mexico. David speaks at CTI and at the seminars on the international licensing of Broadway musicals.
Dolores Prida (Co-Conceiver) was a Cuban-American columnist and playwright. Born in Caibarién, Cuba, she immigrated to New York City after the Cuban Revolution where she attended Hunter College, taking night classes while working at a bakery. She later entered the publishing industry and became a journalist where she wrote for a weekly column of the El Diario La Prensa) and contributed to Latina magazine (for which she was a founding member) and the New York Daily News. At Latina she wrote her “Dolores Dice” (“Dolores says” in Spanish) column. In the 1970s and 1980s she became the senior editor of Nuestro magazine, the managing editor of El Tiempo, Visión_ magazine’s New York correspondent, the director of information services of the National Puerto Rican Forum, the literary manager of the International Arts Relations (INTAR), and the publications director of the Association of Hispanic Arts (AHA). Prida published her first play in 1977. For her playwrighting she won the Cintas Fellowship Award for Literature in 1976, the Creative Artistic Public Service Award for Playwriting in 1976, and the Excellence in Arts Award in 1987, which was presented by the Manhattan Borough President. Mount Holyoke College granted her an honorary degree, a Doctor of Humane Letters, in 1989.
Maria Torres (Director) is a world-renowned director, producer, choreographer, coach and philanthropist whose contributions have led the way for Latinos and emerging artists in the arts. Recent film, Television, music video and stage credits include the new musical Havana Music Hall (2019 Carbonell Award nominee, Director/Choreographer), and Pasion (Immersive theater); On Your Feet: The Life of Emilio and Gloria Estefan (Associate Choreographer, Tony Award-nominee); Swing! (Tony-Award nominee, Featured Performer & Specialty Choreographer); “So You Think You Can Dance” (USA, Spain & Canada Tours, Choreographer and winner of the Choreography medal award); Global smash hit “Bailamos” by Enrique Iglesias music video; Amazon’s “The Tick” (Choreographer). She is currently the choreographer of the CBS new series, “Evil;” AMC TV’s “Turn Washington’s Spies” (Choreographer); Latin Billboard Awards (Grammy award winner Don Omar Telemundo – Creative Director & Choreographer). Off-Broadway credits include Four Guys Named Jose (Choreographer, nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award and Carbonell Award), the multiple award-winning musical The Donkey Show (Choreographer, A.R.T.), Mambo Kings (Lead Dancer & Associate Choreographer), and Celia: The Life & Times of Celia Cruz (Director & Choreographer); Don Omar’s “King of Kings” (Co-Director & Choreographer, National Tour); and Disney’s Golden Mickeys (Choreographer,International Tour). Regional credits: Luis Valdez’s Zoot Suit (Choreographer, Ovation Award nominee, The Mark Taper Forum; Man Of La Mancha (Choreographer, The 5th Avenue Theater). Additional choreography and performer credits from feature to independent films include the global smash and film Disney’s Enchanted ( with Amy Adams & Patrick Dempsey, 3-time Academy Award, 2-time Golden Globe nominee), Grammy Award winner El Cantante ( with Jennifer Lopez & Marc Anthony, Choreographer & Performer), Fugly ( with John Leguizamo & Rosie Perez, Choreographer). Maria carries an impact across new media platforms whether it’s creating choreography interactively on Jordan Roth’s periscope “Making Mondays,” or the recently launched podcast “Hourglass: Time To Talk” offering insight into the professional performing arts industry while focusing on connections to humanity and life. Maria is a philanthropist with a strong desire to encourage aspiring artists, and create connections between supporting organizations, cultivating a reliable network that will uplift, inspire and “pay it forward.” After years of teaching, mentoring and advocating, she co-founded with her husband John O’Connor and award-winning actress and singer Vanessa Williams the Maria Torres Emerging Artists Foundation (MTEAF, also stands for Mentorship, Teaching, Education, Action, and Fellowship). She is an active board member for the prestigious director/choreographer union, SDC, and the League of Professional Theater Women where Maria serves as a consultant and advocate for artists. Additionally, Torres also serves as a committee member for the Callaway Awards.
Grant Strom (Music Director) Music Supervisor/Orchestrations/Arrangements: Seesaw (Off-Broadway), No Strings (Off-Broadway), A Class Act (Off-Broadway), PMJ on Deck (RWS). Assistant Music Supervisor: The Sound Of Music (NETworks). Pianist: Carousel (Broadway), Hello, Dolly! (Broadway), Holiday Inn (Broadway), West Side Story (Film), Last Days Of Summer (Regional).
Amas Musical Theatre (Donna Trinkoff, Artistic Producer) now in its 51st year of continuous operation is New York City’s award-winning pioneer in diversity and multi-ethnic casting in the performing arts since 1968. Amas (“you love” in Latin) is devoted to the creation, development and professional production of new American musicals through the celebration of diversity and minority perspectives, the emergence of new artistic talent, and the training and encouragement of underserved young people in the New York area. In recent years, Amas has emerged as a leading not-for-profit laboratory for new musicals, including Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona & Brooklyn, Broadway and the Bard, starring Len Cariou and Red Eye of Love, which was awarded the Joseph A. Callaway Award for Outstanding Choreography. Its production of The Other Josh Cohen received six 2013 Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Musical, a 2013 Lucille Lortel nomination for Outstanding Musical, and a 2013 Off-Broadway Alliance nomination for Best New Musical. Other shows that Amas has developed include A Taste of Chocolate, Triassic Parq, The Countess of Storyville, Distant Thunder, Marry Harry, Me and Miss Monroe, Aesop & Company, Signs of Life, Wanda’s World, Shout! The Mod Musical, Lone Star Love, From My Hometown, Zanna, Don’t!, 4 Guys Named Jose and Stormy Weather: Reimagining Lena Horne. Amas education programs include the Rosetta LeNoire Musical Theatre Academy, Lens on Live Theatre and in-school theatre arts residencies designed in partnership with elementary, middle, and high schools.
www.amasmusical.org
http://www.facebook.com/Amas-Musical-Theatre
www.twitter.com/AmasMusicalThea
www.richardhillmanpr.com