15 times Spanish and Latin artists made history on Broadway

The National Hispanic Heritage Month is being observed in the US from September 15 to October 15 to celebrate, Playbill looks back at some of the important achievements of the Spanish and Latin artists in Broadway.

Of course, different theater artists often do not recognize and underrepresent, and it would be virtually impossible to create an extensive list of every mypanic and Latin artists in the theater. With that in mind, we have collected a non-outdoor list of some of the many historical achievements-and we still celebrate those who now represent the community on stage, such as Romeo + Juliet‘ Rachel Zegler, Hell’s Kitchen Book writer Kristoffer DiazTony nominee Kevin del aguila in Yellow faceand many more.

For the purposes of this timeline, we noticed my milestones that were reached by artists with lineage of Spain, Mexico, the Caribbean and Central and South America, in accordance with the National Hispanic Heritage Month website. With this list, we hope to honor the achievements of the Spanish and Latin theater artists from the past and present, while emphasizing the importance of further representation on Broadway in the future.

1947
Puerto Rican actor José Ferrer Win the Tony Award for Best Actor in a play during the first awards ceremony. Ferrer was honored for playing the title role in Cyrano de Bergeraca performance he would surprise on television and in a 1950 film adjustment, for which he won an Oscar Award for Best Actor. Ferrer would later win four more Tony Awards, one for acting and three for directing.

1974
Miguel Piñero’s Short eyes Open in the Vivian Beaumont Theater, Make Piñero, who was born in Puerto Rico, the first well -known Spanish playwright in Broadway. Piñero wrote the play during his lead in Sing Sing Prison. The work was nominated for six Tony awards, including Best Play.

1975
Rita moreno Becomes the first well -known Spanish woman to win a Tony award and took home the best actress title for her performance as Googie Gomez in Terrance McNally The ritz.

Also in 1975, A choir line Open on Broadway with a book written together by Puerto Rican writer Nicholas Dante, who makes him the first well-known Spanish artist who wrote a Broadway musical, and the first to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. He also received the Tony Award for the Best Book of a 1976 musical. Dante based A choir linecharacter Paul On his own experience As a dancer who grew up in New York. A choir line Priscilla Lopez, who created the role of Diana Morales and received a Tony nomination for her performance.

1977
Moreno becomes the first Latina (and only second wife ever) to become an egot winner when she receives a first Emmy award for her actions in The muppet show. The legendary actor had previously taken home an Oscar to portray Anita West Side Story In 1962, a Grammy was a proposed soloist on the winner of the best children’s album of 1972 The electrical companyand her aforementioned Tony Award for The ritz in 1975.

1979
Luis Valdez‘ Zootpak Open on Broadway. The work is based on the sleepy beach murder at 1942 and the Zoot Suit riots of 1943 in Los Angeles. “While Zootpak Say a lot about relationships between Anglos and Chicanos – or rather a lot – it’s also a play about the search for identity, ”the production’s production Original Playbill read. ‘[It is] About rebellion against respectability, about the clash between generations in a Chicano family, and the clash between cultures in society as a whole, about alien hatred during the early 1940s, about the war all over the world and the one in the Barrios-over the power of the press, about cultural schizophrenia in a time of tension, about hysteria, racism and the creation of stereotipes as a brief to understand, and battle between the warriors as a short-cut to understanding, and to work the struggle as a short-term, and to work the struggle as a short-lived, and to work the struggle as a short-term, and to work the struggle, and the struggle of the stripes as a short-stone, and to work the struggles as a short-lived as a short Everyday life, then play out, regardless of the consequences. “

Zootpak Was the first play written and directed by Chicano artists in Broadway, and was nominated for one Tony Award for actor Edward James Olmos. It would be adjusted later in a 1982 film.

1990
Argentine-American Graciela Daniele serves as director and choreographer for the original Broadway production of Once on this island. Theater legend Daniele has held several creative positions for several other Broadway performances at the same time, including Chronicle of a death foretold (which she directed, choreographed and devised), Annie gets your gun, Marie Christineand Chita rivera: The dancer’s lifeamong many other acting and choreographic credits. She received a Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2020.

2002
Chita Rivera is the first Latina and the first Latin American to receive the prestigious Kennedy Center honors. She previously won a Tony award for her performances in The lane and Kisses from the Spider Womanand its origin the role of Anita in the Broadway production of 1957 of West Side Story. Rivera also received a special Tony Award for 2018 for lifelong achievement.

2003
Nilo Cruz becomes the first Latin playwright to be the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Anna in the tropics. The show follows Cuban immigrants in a cigar factory in Florida. It played in Broadway in 2003 and was nominated for two Tony Awards: Best Play and Best proposed actress in a play for Daphne Rubin-Vega.

2008
In the heights Open on Broadway with a concept, music and lyrics through Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Qiara Alegría Hudesboth of which are of Puerto Rican descent. The production is in Washington Heights, and celebrated the Spanish and Latin culture on the Broadway stage and took home the Tony Award for Best Musical. The work was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 2009, and a film adjustment was released in 2021.

The work establishes Miranda and Hudes as important theater voices from the 21st century. Miranda would continue to write Spanish lyrics for the 2009 Broadway revival of West Side Story and create a little musical called Hamiltonwhile Hudes won a Pulitzer Prize later in 2012 Water at the spoonful.

2015
HamiltonWith a book, music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, open on Broadway. In addition to Miranda itself, the original Broadway role distribution of Hamilton contains multiple Spanish and Latin actors, including but not limited to Anthony Ramos, Ariana debos, Javier Muñoz, Carleigh Bettioland Jon Street. With his dedication to diverse cast, Hamilton continued to employ Spanish and Latin actors on Broadway and in his other iterations. The original production broke the record for most Tony Awards through a single show with 16 nods, which eventually took home 11 awards, including best musical.

Also in 2015, On your feet!the musical based on the lives and music of Gloria and Emilio EstefanOpen on Broadway. The Jukebox Music Belly shows beloved songs from the collective 26-time Grammy winners, such as ‘Get on Your Feet’, ‘Conga’ and ‘1-2-3’, while they are an almost entirely Latin and Spanish cast, led by Ana villafañe As Gloria.

2021
Matthew López‘ The heritage Win the Tony Award for Best Play, which makes him the first well -known Latin playwright to receive the award. “This is the 74th Tony Awards, and yet I am just the first Latin writer to win in this category,” López said in his Acceptance speech. ‘I say that not to elicit your applause, but to highlight the fact that the Latin community is underrepresented in the American theater, in the New York Theater, and especially at Broadway. We form 19 percent of the US population, and we represent about 2 percent of the playwrights playing on Broadway over the past decade. That should change. ‘

Also in 2021, Bianca MarroquínAna Villafañe, and Paulo Starting performances in Broadway’s Chicago Revival as Velma Kelly, Roxie Hart and Billy Flynn, respectively. The trio brought a powerful representation to production as it celebrated for 25 years on Broadway – Marroquín is of Mexico, Villafañe is of Cuban and Salvadoran descent, and Szot is Brazil.

2023
Bad Cinderella Open in the Imperial Theater and make its star Linyo Geano the first Latina that has the leading role in a Andrew Lloyd Webber musical. “To be his first Latina leading lady to play a role and play a princess, I never got so big, a princess I could relate to,” On the opening night. “It’s very overwhelming and something I know is much bigger than me, and I just pray that it opens doors to other possibilities for people.”