Nilo Cruz
Nilo Cruz | |
---|---|
Cuban-American | |
Education | Miami Dade College (BA) Brown University (MFA) |
Notable works | Two Sisters and a Piano |
Notable awards | Pulitzer Prize for Drama (2003) |
Nilo Cruz is a
Biography
Early years
Cruz was born in 1960 to Tina and Nilo Cruz, Sr. in
Career
In 2001, Cruz served as the playwright-in-residence for the New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he wrote Anna in the Tropics. Rafael de Acha, artistic director of the New Theatre, produced and directed the world premiere performance of Anna in the Tropics, which won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Steinberg Award for Best New Play.
After the play was awarded the Pulitzer and Steinberg awards, Emily Mann directed a production at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, New Jersey, and the play then had its Broadway premiere with Jimmy Smits in the lead role.
Some of the theatres that have developed and performed Cruz’s works include New York's
Cruz wrote the book of the Frank Wildhorn-Jack Murphy musical Havana. Its scheduled world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse has been delayed by the theatre's declaration of bankruptcy in 2010.[3]
Cruz has translated plays into both Spanish and English. His adaptation and translation of La vida es sueño (Life Is a Dream) in English premiered at South Coast Repertory in 2007.[4] He translated the script for Hamlet, Prince of Cuba at Asolo Repertory Theatre into Spanish for the 2012 production that ran simultaneously in English and Spanish on alternating nights.[5]
Cruz has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including two
Cruz is a frequent collaborator with Peruvian-American composer
Cruz penned the libretto to composer
Cruz's most recent work is Bathing in Moonlight, a world premiere featuring
Cruz is an alumnus of New Dramatists and has taught playwriting at Brown University, the University of Iowa, and Yale University. He currently lives in New York City and Miami.
Awards and honors
In 2003, Cruz received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play Anna in the Tropics.
In 2009, Cruz received the
In 2010, Cruz was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Whittier College.[7]
Work
Plays
- Dancing on Her Knees (1994)
- Night Train to Bolina (1995)
- A Park in Our House (1995)
- Two Sisters and a Piano (1998)
- A Bicycle Country (1999)
- Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams (2001)
- Anna in the Tropics (2002)
- Lorca in a Green Dress (2003)
- Capricho (2003)
- Beauty of the Father (2006)
- The Color of Desire (2010)
- Hurricane (2010)
- Soto Voce (2014)
- Bathing in Moonlight (2016)
- Exquisita Agonía (Exquisite Agony) (2018)[8]
Musicals
- Havana – music by Frank Wildhorn, lyrics by Jack Murphy, book by Cruz
Translations
- A Very Old Man With Enormous Wings – a children's play that is an adaptation of a short story by Gabriel García Márquez
- Doña Rosita the Spinster – by Federico García Lorca
- The House of Bernarda Alba – by Federico García Lorca
- Life is a Dream – by Pedro Calderón de la Barca
See also
- List of Cuban Americans
- List of Cuban American writers
- Cuban American literature
References
- ^ Hilton Als (23 January 2006). "Ghosts and Hosts: Two Troubled Households". The New Yorker. Retrieved 2008-12-25.
- ^ Abarbanel, Jonathan (July 9, 2003). "A Conversation with Playwright Nilo Cruz". Windy City Times. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- ^ "Pasadena Playhouse files Chapter 11 petition". Los Angeles Times. May 11, 2010. Retrieved May 11, 2010.
- ^ Verini, Bob (20 February 2007). "Life is a Dream". Variety Magazine. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
- ISBN 978-0-472-05577-7.
- ^ "Bel Canto". Lyric Opera of Chicago. Retrieved 26 June 2015.
- ^ "Honorary Degrees | Whittier College". www.whittier.edu. Retrieved 2019-12-06.
- ^ Collins-Hughes, Laura (3 August 2018). "Review: Exquisite Agony, a Heart-to-Heart With a Dead Man". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 January 2019.
External links
- Nilo Cruz at the Internet Broadway Database
- Nilo Cruz at IMDb
- Nilo Cruz at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- Nilo Cruz Interview by Beth Stevens on Broadway.com
- New Plays And Playwrights – Working in the Theatre Seminar video at American Theatre Wing.org, January 2004
- Bomb magazine interview
- Articles about Nilo Cruz and Life is a Dream at South Coast Repertory