Viva Broadway: Celebrating the Creative Journey

This panel brings together some of the most visionary Latiné and Hispanic creatives in the Broadway industry to explore their background, the importance of representation, and the role of mentorship. The conversation will focus on attracting Latiné and Hispanic audiences to Broadway, empowering the community, and what currently fuels their creative passions. Moderated by Bianca Marroquìn, featuring Maija Garcia, Moisés Kaufman, Sammy Lopez, and Sergio Trujillo.

MAIJA GARCIA
Maija García is a theater director, cultural innovator and advocate for equity in the arts. She recently directed I am Betty, a world premiere hit new musical at History Theater by Cristina Luzarrága and Denise Prosek; VALOR, a Spanish golden-age play by Ana Caro; and OUR HOOD, a bi-lingual cineplay by John Leguizamo. Director of Movement for Spike Lee's Oscar award-winning Blackkklansman, CHI-RAQ and She’s Gotta Have It on Netflix, and Executive Producer of Art of Dance, a documentary film, García generates original work at the intersection of theater, music, dance, film and tv. Having worked alongside Bill T. Jones to choreograph FELA!, the Tony award winning musical on Broadway and at the National Theater of London, she became Creative Director of FELA! world tours in the US, Europe, Africa, Australia and New Zealand.  Directing credits include CRANE: on earth in sky by Heather Henson and Ty Defoe and Salsa Mambo Cha Cha Cha in La Habana Cuba. Regional Theater credits include original choreography for West Side Story at the Guthrie Theater; Kiss My Aztec by John Leguizamo and Tony Toccone at Berkeley Rep, and La Jolla Playhouse; Snow in Midsummer by Frances Ya-Chu Cowhig at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Cuba Libre by Carlos Lacámara at Artists Repertory Theater (PAMTA Award); and Fats Waller Dance Party with Jason Moran and Meshell N’degeocello at Harlem Stage, SF Jazz and the Kennedy Center.  Garcia founded Organic Magnetics in 2007 to generate urban folklore for the future.  She wrote, directed and produced Ghosts of Manhattan: 1512-2012 - an interactive history and immersive experience in Fort Tryon Park, and I Am NY: Juan Rodriguez at El Museo del Barrio.  Director of Education and Professional Training at the Guthrie Theater since 2018, Maija curates programming for UMN/Guthrie BFA Acting and leads A Guthrie Experience for MFA actors and theater makers. Maija earned a degree in Sustainable Development from the California Institute of Integral Studies in 2002.  Member of SDC since 2009, Tony Nominating Committee and McKnight Foundation Panel, she serves on the advisory boards of Melrose and Toro Center for Principled Leadership and Latiné Musical Theater Lab, and is an original signatory of We See You White American Theater.

MOISÉS KAUFMAN 
Broadway credits include PARADISE SQUARE (10 Tony Award nominations), revival of Harvey Fierstein’s TORCH SONG, Rajiv Joseph’s BENGAL TIGER AT THE BAGHDAD ZOO with Robin Williams, the revival of THE HEIRESS starring Jessica Chastain, 33 VARIATIONS starring Jane Fonda (Tony Award nomination for Best Play), and Doug Wright’s I AM MY OWN WIFE(Obie Award and Tony, Drama Desk Award, Outer Critics Circle Award and Lucille Lortel Award nominations). West End: GROSS INDENCENCY, I AM MY OWN WIFE, THIS IS HOW IT GOES. Off-Broadway / Regional: HERE THERE ARE BLUEBERRIES (Pulitzer Prize for Drama Finalist, La Jolla, NYTW), LAS AVENTURAS DE JUAN PLANCHARD (Miami New Drama), SEVEN DEADLY SINS (Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience, Tectonic Theater Project/Madison Wells Live), ONE ARM by Tennessee Williams (Tectonic Theater Project/The New Group); THE LARAMIE PROJECT (writer/director; Theater in the Square, Drama Desk nomination); GROSS INDECENCY (writer/director; Lucille Lortel Award for Best Play, Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play and the Joe A. Callaway Award for Direction); MACBETH with Liev Schreiber (Delacorte Theater); Master Class with Rita Moreno (Berkeley Repertory Theatre). Opera: EL GATO CON BOTAS (New Victory Theater). Film/TV: THE LARAMIE PROJECT (HBO; two Emmy nominations for writing and directing, Opening Night Selection at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival, National Board of Review Award, the Humanitas Prize); THE L WORD. Kaufman is the Artistic Director of Tectonic Theater Project, a Guggenheim Fellow in Playwriting, and an Obie Award and Lucille Lortel Award winner. In 2015, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama, which he accepted in a ceremony at the White House.

SAMMY LOPEZ

Sammy Lopez (he/him) is a Tony Award-winning theatre producer and co-founder of P3 Productions, a company dedicated to building productions from the ground up with artists to support new voices and communities. P3 recently produced HOW TO DANCE IN OHIO and JOB on Broadway, with the upcoming Broadway-bound musical GUN & POWDER in development. His recent co-producing credits include SUNSET BLVD., NEXT TO NORMAL, JUST FOR US, and A STRANGE LOOP. Additionally, he serves as the Creative Producer at New York City Children's Theater and is a co-founder of The Industry Standard Group (TISG), an organization committed to increasing BIPOC representation among producers and investors in the entertainment industry. Sammy mentors for Theatre Producers of Color (TPOC) and is a partner and educator with The Business of Broadway. He is a proud graduate of Syracuse University and serves on the boards of New 42, TYA/USA, The Broadway League, and CO/LAB Theater Group. www.sammy-lopez.com @shlopez21

SERGIO TRUJILLO

Internationally renowned theater choreographer and director, Sergio Trujillo is the first ever Latinx recipient of the Tony Award for Best Choreography. Sergio was honored with the Tony Award in 2019 for Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. In addition, he won the Olivier Award in 2015 for Best Theatre Choreographer for Memphis. He was previously nominated for several awards including a Tony Award for On Your Feet!, multiple Drama Desk Awards for Hands on a Hardbody, Leap of Faith, Memphis, and Jersey Boys, a Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Saved, and won an Ovation Award for Empire. In 1999, Sergio made his Broadway debut dancing in Jerome Robbins’ Broadway. As a dancer, he has performed on Broadway in Guys and Dolls, Victor/Victoria, Kiss of the Spider Woman, and Fosse.  Sergio made his choreographic debut in 2005 with Broadway’s All Shook Up. His success expanded from there with Jersey Boys — which continues to grow in popularity worldwide. In 2011, four of his productions ran simultaneously on Broadway: Next to Normal (2010 Pulitzer Prize), The Addams Family, Memphis (Olivier Award, Outer Critics Circle Award, NAACP Award, Drama Desk Award nomination, Astaire Award nomination), and Jersey Boys (Greenroom Award, Olivier Award nomination, Drama Desk Award nomination, Dora Award nomination, Outer Critics Circle Award nomination). Adding to his list of Broadway choreography credits are Summer: The Donna Summer Musical (Chita Rivera Award, NAACP Award nomination), A Bronx Tale (Chita Rivera Award nomination), and Guys and Dolls (Astaire Award nomination). Over his 25-year career, his list of international theater hits has expanded exponentially, to the point where he has had over 15 productions running at the same time globally. His work on Disney’s Tarzan ran for 12 years in Europe, Jersey Boys continues a successful run all over the world — simultaneously in Europe, Asia, Australia, South Africa and the US. The Addams Family found homes in Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico. Tony-Winning musical Memphis played in movie theaters nationwide concurrently with its Broadway run, and streamed on Netflix soon after. Sergio works and resides in New York City. He is proud to be the first choreographer ever invited to serve as a voting member of the American Theatre Wing’s Advisory Committee for the Tony Awards, and serves on the advisory boards of Ballet Hispanico, R.Evolutión Latina and New York Theatre Barn. He is an active member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. He is Colombian born, and was raised in Toronto. He studied science at the University of Toronto. Later on he pursued further education by attending chiropractic school. Notably, he was distinguished as one of the Top 100 Colombians in the world by President Juan Manuel Santos and was voted twice as one of the top 50 Creative Colombian Artists in the world by Forbes Magazine. Since 1990, he has been in a loving and inspiring relationship with actor Jack Noseworthy. They married in 2011 and were ecstatic to welcome their baby boy, Lucas Alejandro Truworthy, in March 2018.