Anna in the Tropics

Latino Leaders: The National Magazine of the Successful American Latino, Dec, 2003 by Kerri Allen

A play by Nilo Cruz

Language: English

Currently playing at the Royale Theatre in New York City.

For tickets, call 1-800-432-7250

When playwright Nilo Cruz won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Anna in the Tropics, he not only made an important step in his career--he made history. The first Latino playwright to take home the coveted award, Cruz is the second playwright in the Pulitzer's 85-year history to win without the benefit of the selection committee seeing the play in production.

Set in Depression-era Tampa, Anna in the Tropics charts the lives of seven cigar factory workers transformed by the words of Leo Tolstoy's novel Anna Karenina. The Russian love story swirls into the workers' thoughts from the lips of Juan Julian, a lector employed to read while they roll cigars--an important tradition from the heyday of Cuban cigar manufacturing. The long-awaited Broadway production at the Royale Theatre boasts stage and screen stars Jimmy Smits (L.A. Law, N.Y.P.D. Blue) and Daphne Rubin-Vega (Rent) among the all-Latino cast, a rarity on the Great White Way.

"I remember not seeing people of my complexion on the stage when I was a young kid," Cruz explains. "So now I'm providing roles for people that look like me. I'm hoping that Anna will open doors for other Hispanic playwrights. It's about time."