Yahoo! August 21, 2001.
Latin Grammys to Be Moved to L.A.
By Brendan Farrington, Associated Press Writer.
MIAMI (AP) - Fear that Cuban-American protesters would threaten the safety
of guests at the Latin Grammys (news - web sites) next month prompted organizers
to pull the event from Miami and move it to the Los Angeles area.
The move dealt a blow to Miami officials who had been lobbying hard to bring
the Latin Grammys to the city this year. The show was expected to pump an
estimated $35 million into the area economy.
Michael Greene, president and chief executive of the National Academy of
Recording Arts & Sciences and the Latin Recording Academy, made the
announcement Monday after Miami officials agreed to let protesters demonstrate
in a three-block area near the arena where the ceremony would have been held.
Organizers wanted protesters to be kept farther away.
"The safety issues and reliability of delivering a live international
telecast were the determining factors,'' Greene said.
Greene cited protests held in 1999 when the Cuban group Los Van Van
performed in Miami. Thousands of protesters turned out, some throwing refuse,
and police used pepper spray to control one small group of people who hopped
barricades and tried to run to the entrance of the arena.
About 60 anti-Castro exile groups had planned to protest against Cuban
musicians and artists attending the Sept. 11 ceremony. Cuban nominees include
Francisco Cespedes, up for song of the year for "Donde Esta la Vida,'' and
Chucho Valdes, who got two nominations including best Latin jazz album for "Solo:
Live in New York.''
Protesters also planned to infiltrate the ceremony, Greene said in a
statement: "The Academy was made aware that protesters had secured tickets
to the show and were organizing a disruption to the live telecast itself.''
Miami-Dade County Mayor Alex Penelas offered to create a half-block buffer
between the protesters and a security zone established for people attending the
event, but the offer was not enough.
Officials at CBS, which plans to air the show live, supported the academy's
decision.
"We support the Recording Academy's decision to do what they believe is
in the best interest of the performers, the guests and the event itself,'' the
network said in a statement.
Organizers had considered holding the inaugural show in Miami last year, but
civic leaders rejected the idea because Cuban artists would be part of the
event. They cited an ordinance barring the county from doing business with those
who have dealings with Cuba. The show was held in Los Angeles instead.
A federal judge issued a permanent injunction in July 2000 barring the
county from enforcing the ordinance.
Cuban American National Foundation leader Jorge Mas Santos participated in
the Latin Grammy nomination ceremony last month but within two weeks, about 20
foundation members resigned, citing the foundation's failure to discuss the
decision with them.
Mas Santos said he didn't agree with the decision to move the awards show
and said it would have been "the perfect opportunity to talk about lack of
freedom of expression in Cuba.''
"This was handled very badly from the beginning,'' Miami City
Commissioner Tomas Regalado said. "Whoever gave Mr. Greene guarantees
should have known better that this would have happened. We should have discussed
this from the beginning and not at the last minute.''
Police and fire officials in California said they should have been notified
far earlier about such a change, giving them more time to work out overtime
schedules and a public safety plan. The event will be held at the Great Western
Forum in Inglewood, a Los Angeles suburb.
"Right now, we don't have anything like that,'' Inglewood police
spokesman Heilano Mayorga said.
On the Net:
The 2nd Annual Latin Grammy Awards official site:
http://www.grammy.com/awards/latin-grammy/
'Havana is Waiting' for OB's Cherry Lane; Machado Play Starts
By David Lefkowitz, Playbill On-Line. August 20, 2001.
Prolific dramatist and writing teacher Eduardo Machado took some time off
last year to go back home ‹ a place he hasn't been since he was nine years
old. The place: Cuba. The timing: just after the whole Elian Gonzalez mess. The
result: a new play, Havana is Waiting, scheduled to start performances Oct. 9 at
Off-Broadway's Cherry Lane Theatre.
Michael John Garces, who staged Havana at KY's Actors Theatre of
Louisville's Humana Festival, will again do the honors in New York. Designing
the show, which opens (tentatively) Oct. 22, are Kirk Bookman (lighting),
Elizabeth Hope Clancy (costumes), Troy Hourie (sets) and David Margolin Lawson
(sound).
A "Peter Pan Airlift" kid in 1961, author Machado hadn't seen his
native Havana since then. Though Castro's Cuba is still politically on the outs
with Uncle Sam, thawing cultural relations have led to such watersheds as "The
Buena Vista Social Club" film, CD and concert tour and more and more exiled
Cubans able to visit their homeland. According to spokespersons at
Springer/Chicoine, Machado penned Havana four months after visiting the title.
The play looks at discovering one's roots, finding growth and maturity, and
defining oneself as a man.
A work of fiction, Havana is Waiting tells of a man coping with a storm of
emotions as he revisits Cuba for the first time in forty years. As ever,
politics intrudes on the personal.
Author Machado is primarily known for his "Floating Island" plays,
a series of four tragic comedies on a Cuban family's destiny and assimilation
into America. Modern Ladies is the first in the "Floating Island"
cycle, which follows the Marquez family to present day Los Angeles through
Fabiola, Broken Eggs and In the Eye of the Hurricane. His Crocodile Eyes was
staged at Theatre for the New City in 1999. and The Modern Ladies Of Guanabacoa
was read at NH's American Stage Festival in 1997. Other plays by Machado include
Once Removed, Steve Wants To Play The Blues, Rosario And The Gypsies.
As if playwriting wasn't keeping Machado busy enough, he's also been heading
the Playwriting Program at Columbia University's School Of The Arts Theatre Arts
Division. He teaches first, second and third year graduate students, as well as
an undergraduate dramatic writing class. He's taught at NYU, Sarah Lawrence and
the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis.
And where does Machado find the time to be teacher and writer? "I'm a
workaholic," he told PBOL in 1997. "The film I directed is being
edited now, and I'm even acting in one of my students' plays: Partial Complex
Syndrome, which is about Cuba now... Also, my latest play was written for
Wingdancer Productions; it's called The Day I Left You." Machado does admit
to one career stumbling block: "Oddly enough, my plays are never produced
in Latin-America. I thought that would change when they started getting done in
New York, in Spanish, but it didn't happen, which is incredible to me. Ah well,
but the truth is, I love working."
For tickets ($55) and information on Havana is Waiting at the Cherry Lane
Theatre, 38 Commerce St., call (212) 239-6200. | 
