As ¿Que Pasa, U.S.A.? Today rolls up to it's 2nd (and final) weekend at the Adrienne Arsht Center's Sanford & Dolores Ziff Operahouse it's a celebration of all that our Cuban community in South Florida is and has been. Gen ñ founder Bill Teck spoke to fantastic actresses Martha Picanes and Vivian Ruiz about their standout roles as Violeta's momther and aunt, Encarnacion and Asuncion - their lives and careers in theater and on screen, and Gonzalo Rodriguez, who's been directing ground breaking theater in Miami for decades - about bringing their craft to both Que Pasa and the South's greatest stage.
Martha has starred in Spanish language versions of plays like Uncle Vanya and The Women among many more and national soap operas like Mariaelena, Anita no te rajes, and plus her show a radio show on Radio Marti for over 20 years to her scores of fans in Cuba and her show on Radio Caracol cement at her reputation. She has a leading role in Tric o tri , a Spanglish film premiering this Halloween.
Vivian has also been acting on stage all her life, she was the voice of Cartman, Kyle and Chef on South Park in Spanish, starred in A Dolphin's Tale with Morgan Freeman and Pain and Gain with The Rock as well as appearing as Soladad Diaz on the Netflix series Bloodline.
Gonzalo Rodriguez has staged acclaimed Spanish language productions of works like The Diary of Anne Frank, Steel Magnolias, Agnes of God and groundbreaking productions of Man of La Mancha and Cecelia Valdes and his adaptation of the Cuban film Fresa y Chocolate was greatly lauded. With interests in the world of production, lighting and post production, in this conversation we celebrated his side as maverick and visionary theater director.