Pulitzer Prize-winning play 'Anna in the Tropics' returns to stage at Colony Theater
MIAMI - "Anna in the Tropics" is back on stage at the Colony Theater in Miami Beach, presented by Miami New Drama.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning play was written by Miami playwright Nilo Cruz, who for the first time, is directing this 3-week run.
CBS4's Lisa Petrillo asked Cruz how it felt to bring it back after 20 years.
"It's thrilling because this piece is about the power of literature and now there's so many states that are censoring works of art and this played does the opposite," Cruz said. "This play embraces literature, the power of the word, and how literature can change your lives."
The story is set in the 1920s at a Cuban American cigar factory in Florida, where "lectors" are hired to educate and entertain the workers by reading them books aloud as they handroll the cigars. One lector reads them Tolstoy's provocative novel, "Anna Karenina," and changes the lives of the family.
Back in September, the play itself was making headlines when Miami-Dade County Public Schools informed Miami New Drama it would not bus high school juniors and seniors to The Colony to see performances of the play.
"Of course, it was an absolute shock when they (Visual and Performing Arts Office of Miami-Dade Schools) decided that "Anna in the Tropics" for one reason or another was not deemed appropriate for students to see, and that literally depressed us. But it was a punch to Nilo Cruz," said Michel Hausmann, Founder and Artistic Director of Miami New Drama.
Hausmann worked quickly to resolve the issue.
"Almost 2,000 students are going to come see the show completely free to them and to the school system. Miami New Drama is paying for absolutely everything," he said.
Actress Saundra Santiago, who spent time in Miami back in the 80s, with a role on Miami Vice, saw the play on Broadway when Jimmy Smits played the patriarch of the family. In this production, she plays Ophelia, the matriarch.
"I'm honored. I saw the play on Broadway and I was so jealous of the girls because I wanted to be in it and now here I am getting to see these beautiful words and portrayed this wonderful part," she said.
For Cruz, who is the first Hispanic Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, bringing it back to this community means everything.
"I'm thrilled to be back here, especially with this piece which changed my life. It's lovely to be able to present work to these people who have been following me and my work for some time," he said,
"Anna in the Tropics" is on stage now at the Colony Theater through February 5th.
Click here for more info.
