Highly Recommended Off-Broadway: FARÁNDULA (Jazz Vilá Comedy at Repertorio Español)

Farándula  is a contemporary play that uses love as a knot to address universal themes such as fraud, emigration, addictions, and sexuality. For 70 minutes, the viewer will discover how the last 24 hours of the protagonists’ lives have passed and what has led them to a police station. The minimalism defined this production by a sofa as a common element of the locations and colorful costumes that mark the psychology of each character.

Jazz Vilá, for the first time since its premiere, will play  Lorenzo, the photographer who is the protagonist of the story.  Sian Chiong  will be  Yoyo, a character he has already assumed in the play’s film version. The female roles will be in the hands of  Yeni Martínez, who has played  Sara  for several seasons, and  Catherine Nuñez, who was  Helena  during the play’s premiere in Texas.

These performances are part of a series of presentations that  Jazz Vilá  will be doing in New York City with several of his plays throughout September and part of October. The comedy will be performed in Spanish with English subtitles.

PERFORMANCES
Thursday, September 28, 2023, 7:00 PM
Friday, September 29, 2023, 8:00 PM
Saturday, September 30, 2023, 8:00 PM
Sunday, October 1, 2023, 3:00 PM

A talented photographer has a secret relationship with an undocumented young man. Moved by his love, the artist organizes an exhibition financed by his best friend, a prestigious doctor who is struggling with a strong addiction. Everything will take an unexpected turn when, on the opening night, a “stranger” becomes the instrument used by destiny to expose a complex plot of sex, trafficking, and lies.

JAZZ VILÁ – PLAYWRIGHT & DIRECTOR
Actor, Director, producer and playwright. He graduated in Acting from the National School of Performing Arts of Cuba. Founder and CEO of the company Jazz Vilá Projects. He made his directorial debut at 17 with his adaptation of  The house of Bernarda Alba  at the Alicia Alonso Theater in Havana. He has written and directed several plays in different countries such as  A midsummer night’s dream  and  The last night  in Spain,  Frontera  and  Life is a Dream in the U.S. His productions Rascacielos,  Eclipse,  Farándula  and  Candela  have been consecutive box office successes and garnered excellent reviews, making Vilá a benchmark for contemporary Cuban theater.

In 2016, Vilá won the “Theater Special Mention” at the Casa Teatro International Literary Contest in the Dominican Republic. In 2019 he was a jury member of the Cuórum de Morelia Film Festival (Mexico) and in 2017 he was awarded the “Incubator Artist Program” in Texas (USA). He has been invited to prestigious events such as the Avignon Festival, the “Talent Corner” of the Cannes Film Festival (France), the “Talent Guadalajara”, the Platino Awards (Mexico) and the “Berlinale Talent” (Germany). In 2023,  Farándula, his film debut, premiered at the Havana Film Festival in New York (USA). He also is committed to training new talent, supporting social projects, and working as a cultural ambassador through his foundation “Jazz Vilá Por Dentro”.

Jazz Vilá  – Graduated as an actor from the National School of Performing Arts of Cuba. He achieved international recognition thanks to the film  Juan de los muertos. He stands out in the Netflix series  Paquita Salas, and the films  El Acompañante,  Fátima o el parque de la Fraternidad,  The Mick and the Trick  and  Hotel Coppelia, released on HBOMAX. For the latter he was nominated for “Best Lead Actor” at the Dominican Film Association awards. Theater: Ícaros,  La loca de Chaillot,  Calígula  and  Carmen Jones.

Catherine Nuñez  – Is a stage actress from Cuba’”a company member at Gala Hispanic Theater in Washington, DC. She has appeared in  Exquisita Agonía,  El Perro del Hortelano,  Doña Rosita la Soltera,  La vida es sueño,  En el tiempo de las Mariposas  and  Que las hay… las hay  (Gala Theater). Other regional theater credits includes:  Decamerón,  Francisca y la Muerte  (Synetic Theater)  Oyeme,  The Beautiful  (Imagination Stage)  La vida es sueño  (Teatro Circulo)  Las lloronas  (Westchester Theater)  Havana Fengshui  (Hostos Repertory).

Yeni Martínez:  Actress, model, radio and television host. She has starred in plays such as  Pogolotti-Miramar,  Pedro Navajas,  Esta cubana en Madrid,  Zorras,  Farándula,  Político de alcoba, the latter in Mexico, where he also worked for Televisa on the tv shows  Desmadruga2,  Estrella2  and  La cantina. After his return to Cuba, he leads some of the most popular shows of Cubavision Internacional such as  Somos Multitud,  A romper el coco  and  Clip.cu.

Sian Chiong:  Actor and singer, graduated from the National School of Performing Arts of Cuba. He was one of the members of the popular Boy Band “Ángeles” and has an extensive career on television, highlighting:  Santa maría del Porvenir,  Like la Leyenda,  El corazón nunca se equivoca,  Súbete a mi moto,  La mexicana y el Güero,  Corazón guerrero,  Ella soy yo. In cinema we can see him? in:  Castro’s Daughter  and  Farándula. In theater he has participated in  Fresa y Chocolate,  Requiem por Yarini.