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Rachel Crosby, AKA Nanny, a matronly Black woman from the South who knows how to throw down more ferociously than any battle-hardened boxer or grifter. Friedman Theatre, as he seamlessly transforms into 24 individuals from his childhood as a ward in a rooming house in Lackawanna, New York ― all this while meticulously embodying their every hope and disaster.Įach character in the play is sensational and original, but the show’s heartbeat resides in the pillar of the community: Ms. It may not have been his natural family, but it has to be said, that Ruben Santiago-Hudson shows all the signs of a good family upbringing.Setting off fireworks may be illegal in Broadway theatres, but Ruben Santiago-Hudson unleashes them continually in the Manhattan Theatre Club production at the Samuel J. In 2013 he won a Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Director and a Direction OBIE for August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson.” He is an Emmy nominee, and won a Tony award for acting in August Wilson’s “Seven Guitars” (1996). Ruben has done a lot of television and Broadway.
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He made it through the maze of being perceived as too Puerto Rican or not Puerto Rican enough, too Black or not Black enough. He successfully navigated an acting career in the last thirty years when there have been few opportunities for actors of color. Santiago-Hudson started acting in 1988 in “Coming to America” of all movies. Santiago-Hudson wrote “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” which eloquently tells the jazz story of how the music industry steals the work of Black artists. He doesn’t speak Spanish, but he gets it. She couldn’t raise a child, but her last name helped Ruben launch his career. The young man was left to his own devices because his father was always working or looking for work, and his mother had mental health issues. Santiago-Hudson’s father was Puerto Rican and his mother was African American. Ruben Santiago-Hudson Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Hollis King/BBB) It’s an American story about how we come together to overcome whatever life throws at us. “Lackawanna Blues” isn’t just a story about one person, one community, or one place. All of this originates in America’s African Diaspora – even American Country music.
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From the Blues, we got Gospel, Jazz, Country, Swing, Rock, Salsa, Hip-hop, Reggaeton and Trap. In the States, they took away the drum, and we got the Blues.” That’s what we do.Īs Latin jazz legend Eddie Palmieri once said at the 92nd Street Y: “The Spaniard brought the African. The Blues is the root of most American popular music. Junior Mack performs in the Broadway play. (1949-2019) wrote the soundtrack and used to play it onstage. The Bluesīlues music plays an important role in the play.
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Epatha Merkerson won a Golden Globe for Best Actress, an Emmy, and a Screen Actors Guild award.
#LACKAWANNA BLUES MOVIE#
Santiago-Hudson turned the play into an HBO movie in 2005 with different actors playing the various characters. The Public Theater produces a lot of good work that goes on to greatness. It won an OBIE Award special citation, and another OBIE for bluesman Bill Sims Jr’s music. The one-man show premiered at the Public Theater in 2001. In telling the story, Santiago-Hudson plays over twenty different characters based on the people who came in and out of his and Miss Rachel’s life. This kind of woman doesn’t just hold together an extended family, she holds together her entire community with nothing but love. Many of us know this strong character from our own neighborhoods. She ran a boarding house, but opened her doors to anyone who needed help. Lackawanna Blues is the story of Miss Rachel, “Nanny,” the woman who raised the young Ruben. Like many of us, Santiago-Hudson was raised by woman who wasn’t his mother. It is a biodrama in which Santiago-Hudson tells and embellishes the story of his own upbringing in Lackawanna, a suburb of Buffalo, New York. The story is by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, an American actor and playwright of Puerto Rican descent. The Lackawanna Blues Lackawanna Blues (BBB) Lackawanna Blues is on Broadway at the Friedman Theatre, in previews Sep 14, opening Sep 28, for a limited run to Oct 31, 2021.