Drama Queen

Moving on

Marco Ramirez, the South Florida playwright whose very clear talent (and string of honors) got him into the highly competitive play-writing program at Manhattan's Juilliard School, has landed a gig writing for the FX television series Sons of Anarchy.  He has left New York for Los Angeles, and if the TV thing works out, who knows how much time/interest he'll have in continuing to write plays?

One Ramirez play that has already had a production by Miami's Mad Cat Theatre Company -- Broadsword, about guys in a heavy metal band who reunite when one of their own vanishes -- is coming back this spring, this time in a larger venue.  Mad Cat will revisit Broadswordin a coproduction with Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts.  The show plays the Carnival Studio Theater April 29-May 9. 

Alex Fumero, Ramirez's pal and sometime collaborator in the Foryoucansee Theater company (it presented the original reggaeton/sci fi show Toners in Timein June),has also relocated to L.A.  Fumero is attending the Atlantic Theater Company's conservatory, where students study with the likes of David Mamet, William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman.  

"In the Heights" on TV and the road

Just a quick late-afternoon heads up, in case the rainy day has you thinking TV tonight:  In the Heights creator and star Lin-Manuel Miranda (and his Tony Award-winning show) will be featured from 8 to 9 p.m. on PBS's Great Performances (Ch. 2 in South Florida).  Watch as Miranda talks about the evolution of a hit show that began as a college project at Wesleyan University.

In more Heights-related news, two South Florida actors have been cast in the show's touring company, which begins its journey around the country in Tampa in October.  Both Natalie Caruncho (who will understudy the young female leads) and Oscar Cheda (he'll fill in as the dad/car service owner and the piragua vendor) will be be part of a cast that will play Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center for the Performing Arts March 16-28, 2010.  The two will deepen South Florida's already strong connections to the show:  Musical director/arranger Alex Lacamoire won a Tony for his work on In the Heights, and former Miamians Janet Dacal, Andrea Burns, Carlos Gomez, Nina Lafarga, Tony Chiroldes, Joshua Henry and Afra Hines were all part of the original Broadway cast.

TV stars hit South Florida stages

Three Latino stars from current television shows have decided to exercise their stage chops in South Florida in April and May.

First up is Lauren Vélez, who has been multitasking lately as both Lt. Maria LaGuerta on Showtime's Dexter and the love interest of Betty Suarez's dad Ignacio on Ugly Betty.  Vélez is coming to Miami Beach's Colony Theater for a single performance of La Lupe, James Manos Jr.'s solo show about Cuban diva Victoria Guadalupe Yoli, aka La Lupe.  The show's producers are hoping to drum up financing for a feature film about the woman known as the "Queen of Latin Soul."   The show is in English, but Vélez also performs some of the Spanish-language numbers La Lupe sang as lead singer with Tito Puente's band.  La Lupe happens at 7:30 p.m. April 15 at the Colony, 1040 Lincoln Rd.  Tickets are $35, available through Ticketmaster

Also headed to a South Florida stage for a much longer run are Danny Pino of TV's Cold Case and Tony Plana of Ugly Betty (yes, the guy who's been romancing Vélez's character).  Both men will star in the Actors' Playhouse production of Carlos Lacámara's Havana Bourgeois, a play set in a Cuban advertising agency from 1958-60.

Pino, who plays Detective Scotty Valens on Cold Case, is a guy who knows Miami well.  He grew up in South Florida, graduating from Coral Park High School and Florida International University -- and he still has lots of family in Miami.

Havana Bourgeois will be at Actors' Playhouse, 280 Miracle Mile in Coral Gables, from May 13 to June 7.  Performances are 8 p.m.Wednesday-Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday (and there's an extra matinee May 20).  A talk-back session follows the performance May 22.  Tickets are $48 Friday-Saturday evening, $40 other performances, $35 for previews May 13-14.  Call 305-444-9293 or visit the Actors' web site for information.