Viajeroart - The Metamorphosis of PASANDO

One of the great pleasures of having this blog is not only sharing the history of those who came before us but also to expose new artists contributing to our culture. One such artist is Adrian Daniel Roman, aka Viajero. I came upon him while searching the internet for more information on Rafael Tufiño, a great Puerto Rican artist.
You can visit his website http://viajeroart.com/ for more information on this talented artist.

Rita Moreno - Archive Interview Part 1 of 6

An interview with the Archive of American Television with the great Rita Moreno. Despite the stupidity of the interviewers first question, stating that Rita was not born in America (which Rita clears up with annoyance) it's a revealing interview about her professional life.

Pura Belpré -Writer, Editor and Librarian

Born in Cidra, Puerto Rico, circa 1899 and died on July 1, 1982 in New York City. Like many Puerto Rican women of the time, she moved to New York in 1920 and worked in the garment industry. Shortly after that, she became the first Puerto Rican hired by the New York Public Library. She was hired as the Hispanic Assistant in the Harlem branch on 135th St., while working at the library she studied to become a librarian and developed a passion for storytelling. She was transferred to the 115th Street branch in Spanish Harlem, in 1929, and became and advocate for the Spanish-speaking community. She instituted bilingual story hours, bought Spanish books and began programs based around traditional holidays. Her first book Pérez and Martina: a Portorican Folk Tale, based on a traditional children’s story from the Caribbean, was published in 1932. She was one of the first Puerto Ricans to be published by a major publishing company. She went on to write more stories and eventually compiled the first book of Puerto Rican folk tales published in the United States. She became an author, editor and translator, collecting children’s tales from all countries but she her primary concern was the preservation of Puerto Rican folklore.
She lived throughout her life in Harlem participating in cultural and civic organizations. In 1996, the Pura Belpré Award, was established by REFORMA, an American Library Association affiliate. The award is presented to Latino/Latina writers and illustrators whose work portrays and affirms the Latino experience in children’s literature.
The Center for Puerto Rican studies of Hunter College has her papers and archives. For more information on this great Puerto Rican woman, visit the Center’s website. http://www.centropr.org/prwriters/belpre.html

Edgardo Vega Yunqué (1936-2008)

On August 25, 2008, controversial writer Edgardo Vega Yunqué passed away. He was the founder of the Clemente Soto Vélez Cultural Center in the Lower East Side. His obituary can be found here in the Daily News. One of the most honest obituaries I have read.
I have known Ed since the early '80s and it did not surprise me that it took two weeks for the news of his death to be released. He was one person I can truly say made up his own rules in life. He will be missed.
Here is a link to someone who had a recent encounter with Ed.
On a side note, it was approximately two weeks ago that I picked up his last published novel, Blood Fugues. Have not had a chance to read it yet but looking forward to spending some time with the book.

Juano Hernandez, Actor

“This is an article adapted from one that I wrote for my personal website. I have seen the article on other websites without any credit. I thought Mr. Hernandez is one of those talents that deserve recognition for their contributions and accomplishments to the arts.”

Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico (anywhere from 1896 to 1901 according to several sources) he achieved success playing African Americans or Africans on the screen.
Orphaned at an early age he ended up in Brazil where he joined a circus as an acrobat. Never having any formal education he taught himself to read and write in several languages. Besides the circus he worked in vaudeville and minstrel shows. Studying Shakespeare he developed perfect diction enabling him to become a radio voice actor. His first Broadway show was Showboat in 1927.

After making a few all black films with Oscar Micheaux he received recognition for his first mainstream film in 1949, Intruder in the Dust based on a Faulkner story. His performance as Lucas Beauchamp, the poor southern sharecropper unjustly accused of murder. The performance received great praise and most thought he deserved an Oscar nomination if not the award itself.

What made him stand out is that he never took any roles that he felt were demeaning or stereotyped. Among his other roles were the jazz musician in Young Man with a Horn, They Call Me Mr. Tibbs, The Pawnbroker and Trial in which he played a judge. For an African-American to be given a role as a judge in 1955 was no small event.
In later years, he retired to Puerto Rico and formed Puerto Rico Films, Inc. to stimulate film production on the island.
Mr. Hernandez died on July 17, 1970 and is buried at Cementerio Buxeda Memorial Park in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico.

Jacobo Morales

The Film Society of Lincoln Center is presenting Latin Beat 2008, their annual survey of Latin American Cinema. In this series, they are presenting a tribute to Puerto Rican auteur, Jacobo Morales, three of his films will be shown with an introduction by the director.
The three films to be screened are “Angel” (his most recent film), “What Happened to Santiago” (1990 nominee for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Film) and “Linda Sara” (starring popular Puerto Rican singer Chayanne and former Miss Universe Dayanara Torres).
Jacobo Morales was born in Lajas, Puerto Rico in 1934. He began his career as an actor in theater and radio when he was fourteen years old. In 1954 he began working in television as an actor, writer and director. He worked in Hollywood, as an actor in the 1970’s then became a film director in 1979. He has written and directed six films.
If anyone is in the New York City area the Latin Beat 2008 is running from September 5-September 25. In addition to the tribute to Jacobo Morales, there will other panels and film series. For more information click here.

Diverse Reality: New York International Latino Film Festival

For my coverage of the Film Festival go to my other blog . Diverse Reality: New York International Latino Film Festival

Jose Rivera - Writer, Producer and Director

Back in 1986, I remember tuning in to PBS’ American Playhouse to see a TV adaptation of a play, “The House of Ramon Iglesia” by Puerto Rican playwright Jose Rivera (born in San Juan, PR on March 24, 1955). The story totally drew me in, as it was one of the rare occasions where I felt that I was watching something I could relate to. The story revolves around a Puerto Rican family living in Long Island. Retired, Ramon wants to sell the house and move back to Puerto Rico. The eldest son graduated from college and comes back to inform his family that he will not be moving back to Puerto Rico. With a twist in the dream, the story of assimilation and cultural pins father against son.
The playwright, Jose Rivera wrote other plays but I personally had not seen anything recent from him, or so I thought. It turns out that he moved to Hollywood and wrote for television and film. He was the screenwriter for “Motorcycle Diaries”, the story of Che Guevara’s motorcycle trip with a friend when he was younger. The screenplay won an Oscar nomination for best adapted screenplay, making Mr. Rivera the first Puerto Rican to have that honor.
In addition to his film work, his television work includes writing for sit-coms such as “Diff’rent Strokes”, “Family Matters” and “Goosebumps”. He was also co-creator, writer and producer of the acclaimed but short-lived series “Eerie, Indiana.”
Currently he has two movies in production, a remake of the Korean movie “Failan” and a screen adaptation of the Jack Kerouac book “On the Road”, the latter with the same director as “ The Motorcycle Diaries”, Walter Salles. In addition to writing, Mr. Rivera has directed and written a short movie, “The Tape Recorder.”

Bilingual "West Side Story"

With the success of "In The Heights" on Broadway, it was inevitable that someone would try to duplicate the Latino theater experience. One would think that they would be searching Latino theaters and talent to bring something new. That would be too much effort for a Broadway that has made its business with revivals and musicals based on movies.
The new big idea, ironically by the same producers of "In The Heights", is to do a revival of West Side Story but to have the Puerto Ricans speaking Spanish! This would have been innovative about ten years ago.
As much as I appreciate "West Side Story" as a classic musical, it has haunted my life as well as most Puerto Ricans who grew up in New York in the sixties and seventies. When I was younger, I could not tell you how many people I met who upon learning where I was born, brought up the fact that they loved "WSS". The ones who felt the impact most were Puerto Rican women, especially if they had the misfortune of having the name Maria.
The one positive aspect of this revival is that, hopefully, some Latino talent will be hired for the starring role and not just the chorus line.
To read the story click here. Registration may be necessary to read the article in The New York Times.

La Bloga: Review: South by South Bronx.

Here is a review of a book I am currently reading, "South by South Bronx" by Abraham Rodriguez, author of "Spidertown" and "The Buddha Book"

La Bloga: Review: South by South Bronx.