The 2009 Ultimate Latina Theater Festival

What is The Ultimate Latina Theater Festival?
Is a festival that celebrates the Latina woman artist as it relates to the peforming arts.

Where is The Ultimate Latina Theater Festival?
The festival will take place at the legendary Nuyorican Poet’s Café located at 236 3rd Street (between Avenue B&C) in the lower east side of Manhattan.  www.nuyorican.org

What makes this festival different from other theater festivals?
The Ultimate Latina Theater Festival is different than most theater festivals in that its main objective is to focus on the Latina actor, director and/or writer-her experiences and her disclipine.   Its intention is not to create a competitive platform that displays winners, losers or runner ups, instead it strives to create a collective voice that explores the experiences and many faces of the Latina woman.  The festival is also an opportunity for a Latina artist to convey and share her story while developing and showcasing her individual talents.

Who is participating in the 2009 Ultimate Latina Theater Festival?
This year we are producing a different event for every night of the festival.  Here is a tentative schedule of shows:

June 4th - 7pm

"PLEASE HOLD" written and directed by Jenny Saldana

From the caller who doesn't understand the concept of "lather, rinse and repeat" to the wife who calls the sex line to get advice for her husband; PLEASE HOLD is a hysterical behind the scenes look at the world of customer service call centers and the people who work in them.

June 5th - 7pm

"BROWN GIRLS CHRONICLES" written and directed by Yolanda Nieves



The play tells the tale of women who are the daughters of Puerto Rican immigrants that arrived in Chicago during the 1950’s and 1960’s. None of the women reflected in the play have ever lived on the island of Puerto Rico. Directly taken from interviews with second generation Puerto Rican women, The Brown Girls’ Chronicles: Puerto Rican Women & Resilience has a specific intent: to center the voices of Puerto Rican women who lived in Humboldt Park in a way that has never been done before while adapting Ntozake Shange’s concept of the choreopoem in a new fashion. The lived experiences of the women are detailed in the compilation of poetry, choral poems, chants, and monologues that reveal the women’s relationship to the self, family, men, their bodies and sexuality, their struggles with spirituality, and the way they resist invisibility.

June 6th - 7pm

"21" written by Mimi Lee and directed by Tiffany Vega

Looey, a college senior is so tired of finals, softball practice and rules that she just wants to quit school to hang out with her new loser boyfriend. When the ghost of Roberto Clemente visits her she learns a lesson or two about life, death and quitting.

June 7th - 3pm

"THE JEDI PAPI CHULO AND THE POWER PANSA" written by Vanessa Benitez and Ura Yoana Sanchez. Directed by Lisandra Sanchez-Payan.

The Jedi Papi Chulo and The Power Pansa is an award winning* original one-act play by Ura Yoana Sanchez and Vanessa Benitez. The play tells the story of Lucas, an insecure bakery worker who attains a very unique power from a magical source. The play shows the power a charming man can have over two intelligent but very different women. (* 3rd place winner of TEATRO LA TEA's 1st annual bilingual playwrights festival)

June 11th - 7pm

"ULTIMATE LATINAS OUT LOUD: EPISTLES" conceived by Linda Nieves-Powell
e·pis·tle
1. a long formal letter that often serves to instruct (formal)
2. a literary work in the form of a letter

"SEXY SHAKESPEARE" conceived by Jenny Saldana and Antonia Marrero and directed by Eva Stapleton.
Sexy Shakespeare s an hour long production consisting of several Shakespearean scenes intertwined with burlesque dance. The intention of the production is to entertain and to create Shakespearean scenes with an all female cast. In Shakespearean times, all roles were played by men. Now, in the new millennium it will be introduced with this sexy twist.

June 13th - 7pm

"SEX, LIES and ADAM & EVE" by Linda Nieves-Powell directed by Mercedes Vasquez. 

Three funny, sexy and honest vignettes explore the ramifications of Adam and Eve's descent in modern relationships.

Closing Event – "GRACIAS MUJERES" produced by Latino Flavored Productions Inc. and R.Evolucion Latina. R.Evolucion Latina is honored to once again collaborate with Latino Flavored Productions to celebrate the love, beauty and passion of all women.

Directed by Luis Salgado, The 2009 "Gracias Mujeres Performance" combines the talents of young performers, who Dare To Go Beyond, with some of the most empowering artists representing Latinos today, to say thank you through music, dance, comedy and poetry.

Featured performers include Johary Ramos (Fosse), Modesto Lacen and Sunilda Caraballo  (Celia The Musical), Noemi Del Rio and Luis Salgado (In The Heights) and Gabriela Garcia (Chicago The Musical). Also performing are some of the R.Evolucion Latina new projects such as The Shakespeare Project, and the R.Evolucion Latina Choir Project. As a special guest we would like to highlight Genesis Barriento, Miss Hispanic USA 2009, Going Beyond with the Amazing Afro Puerto Rican Youth Project BOMBAYO.

R.Evolucion Latina and Latino Flavored Productions will also honor an extraordinarily talented, seasoned Latina, Elise Santora.

Latino Flavored Productions is thrilled to announce that with the collaborations of "Gracias Mujeres" a portion of the proceeds of this event will help support some of the new programs developed by R.Evolucion Latina.

PRESS:
http://www.nochelatina.com/Articles/3419/Ultimate-Latina-Theater-Festival-Hits-the-Stage
Jenny Saldana and Linda Nieves-Powell on the Victor Cruz's Morning Show!
MiApogeo.com
Ultimate Latina Festival: Where Iris Chacon is smarter than Shakespeare
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/prsunradio Interview with Linda Nieves-Powell
Bronxnet Interview with host Rhina Valentin
Ultimate Latinas lead by Linda Nieves-Powell

Thank you to the following organizations/websponsors for making the 2009 Ultimate Latina Theater Festival a huge success!