John Leguizamo‘s, 2018 Tony Award-nominated Broadway solo, Latin History for Morons, hit the stage in June for encore performances at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center after its extended Broadway engagement closed in February. Three performances of the one-man show were taped for an upcoming Netflix special.
Latin History for Morons traces the marginalization of Latinos in U.S. history and the vital roles they played — beginning with a satirical recap of Aztec and Incan history, to stories of Latin patriots in the Revolutionary and Civil War, to the present.
During the 72nd Annual Awards last month, Leguizamo along with Bruce Springsteen received 2018 Special Tony Awards. According to Playbill: Grammy and Oscar-winning rock icon Bruce Springsteen and Emmy winner John Leguizamo, the electrifying downtown theatre artist-turned-film star, can now count a Tony Award among their accolades. Both artists will receive[ed] Special Tony Awards for their solo runs on Broadway this season, each of which told a unique and compelling story about the American experience.
John Leguizano solo performance in LHFM
Leguizamo returned to Broadway last November with his irreverent and powerful solo show, a gift to audiences from all over the globe and a searing insight into the crucial roles Latino people have played in American history—a history that has been ignored in textbooks and classrooms across the country.
“MacMillan textbooks are made in Texas, so there you go. Arizona just blocked Mexican studies from their schools. How do you do that? Arizona was Mexico,” Leguizamo told Playbill. “A majority of the people there are Mexican. The fact that 20,000 Latin people fought in the American Civil war… and we had the first admiral in the United States Navy, David Farragut… Where is that? You don’t see any of that stuff.”
When Leguizamo was asked about some of the biggest surprises he encountered during his process in writing Latin History, he said, “There were a lot. I guess when I found out how much we have contributed to the world civilization. When the conquests came here, we were almost 100,000,000 Native American people—we Latin people are mostly Native American—I guess where it’s hard for Americans to comprehend that Latin people are mostly Native American.
But when I found out that the conquistadors came and they destroyed 95% of the people living here, and destroyed their books and the codices; they were all burnt. That’s how you destroy a culture. And now, the fact that we bounced back and we are sort of re-conquesting the Americas, I feel very empowered by that.”
John Leguizamo solo performance in LHFM
Leguizamo was just 26 years old when his explosive and incisive solo play Mambo Mouth premiered Off-Broadway to a flurry of rave reviews. Hailed as a promising playwright-actor with a preternatural ability to transform himself into a multitude of characters onstage, the fearless Colombian-born artist reshaped the definition of solo theatre, and has gone on to push artistic and cultural boundaries on stage and screen as a playwright, screenwriter, actor, and producer, and beyond.
Latin History for Morons marked Leguizamo’s sixth solo venture, following his success on Broadway with Ghetto Klown, Sexaholix…A Love Story, and Freak (he earned Tony nominations for writing and starring in the latter), as well as Off-Broadway’s Mambo Mouth, and Spic-O-Rama. Mambo Mouth, Spic-O-Rama, Freak, and Ghetto Klown all went on to be filmed for presentation on HBO.
Directed by Tony Taccone with Ben De Jesus as one of the producers. Netflix has not announced a premiere date for the live taping of Latin History for Morons.
Comments