LATINOLOGUES CAST

Rick Najera is an award-winning writer-actor-director and producer with credits in film, television, theatre and Broadway. Najera is one of the most powerful voices in the Latino world today. Most notably, his writing/acting credits include LATINOLOGUES™ on Broadway, his latest comedic stage play Sweet 15 Quinceañera, and groundbreaking television comedies such as MAD TV and In Living Color.  He has been honored twice as one of the ‘100 Most Influential Latinos in America’, and is undeniably one of the most sought after comedic writers in the industry today as well as one of the most produced Latino playwrights in the country.

As one of the few Latinos to reach Broadway, Najera made his Broadway debut with his very own award-winning sketch comedy show, LATINOLOGUES™. The show, directed by Cheech Marin, made its home on Broadway next to Spamalot and The Producers in New York City at the Helen Hayes Theatre for 16 weeks, (137 performances with an extension), which was a historical achievement for a Latino oriented show. More than 75 different guest actors have performed in the show nationally making it the only showcase of its kind. 

Najera’s latest comedic stage play, “Sweet 15 – Quinceañera”, which he wrote, created and performs in, is already another theatrical success with standing ovations and sold out houses. A full production of this play recently made its world premier at San Diego REPertory Theatre, making it Najera’s fourth play produced at this theater. Look for a national run of this production coming soon.

‘How the Garcia Girls Spent Their Summer’, a feature film about three generations of Mexican American women, will be released in theatres nationally in May 2008 and stars Rick Najera, Steven Bauer and America Ferrera, among others.  Najera can also be seen in the Spanish-language movie ‘Ladron Que Roba A Ladron’ by Panamax Films, now out on DVD.  "Humboldt Park", a feature film penned by Najera starring John Leguizamo (Sexaholix) and Freddy Rodriguez ("Grindhouse", "Six Feet Under”) is currently in production and due out in 2009.

On the corporate entertainment side, Najera is currently Vice President of Development for LATV, a national bilingual television network and is creating new original content. He recently created, developed and executive produced four new cutting edge comedies for the LATV network: ‘L.A.T.N. (Latino Ahora Today Now) ‘The Homies Hip-Hop Show’, ‘Ceasar and Chuy’(co-creator), and Mas Comedy.  L.A.T.N. is a brand new half hour sketch comedy news program hosted by Najera himself.  ‘The Homies Hip-Hop Show’ is a half-hour sketch comedy and hip-hop show using the internationally popular two-inch ‘Homies’ figurines, and is the first nationally syndicated Latino stop-motion animation series on LATV.  ‘Ceasar and Chuy’ is a half-hour series based on two animated characters that provide comedy relief to a host of today’s popular videos, with Najera playing the voice of ‘Chuy’. Mas Comedy is a half-hour compilation of Latino stand-up comedians and hilarious comedy sketches. Najera lends writing and vocal talents to the series and has led efforts in creating a new genre for this network.

Najera grew up on the stage and graduated from The American Conservatory Theatre (ACT) and the Warner Bros. Comedy Writing Program. From there, he landed writing assignments such as the groundbreaking comedy sketch show, In Living Color, as well as Robert Townsend Television and Culture Clash for FOX. He moved on to Dr. Quinn Medicine Woman and Ponderosa for Pax Television, for which he was nominated for and ALMA Award for Best Writer. He also wrote a comedy special with Whoopi Goldberg that was filmed in San Diego and a telenovlea (soap opera) for the Spanish network Televisa, which was filmed in English. In addition, other writing credits include MAD TV, for which he was nominated for two consecutive Writers Guild of America Awards in 2004 and 2003. Najera has written four pilots for the major networks, animated pilots for Disney and for ‘Condorito’ (Latin America’s #1 cartoon) and more. 

Najera has authored numerous plays including, Latin’s Anonymous, Peculiar People, A Quiet Love, The Pain of the Macho, Latinologues™, and most recently Sweet 15 - Quinceañera.  Three of his playsare compiled into his book, ‘Pain of the Macho’ which is required reading in several universities. His award-winning comedy, Latinologues™ ran on Broadway in New York City and has been featured at SiTV’s Latino Laugh Festival, Showtime’s Latino Laugh Festival, HBO’s Aspen Comedy Festival, at the Big Stinking’ Comedy Fest in Austin.  Latinologues has had successful theatrical runs at major theatres across the country including The Bailiwick Theatre in Chicago, South Coast Rep, San Diego REP, Coronet Theatre, Alley Theatre and dozens others which can be found on the www.latinologues.net website.

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION:

·          Jerry Lester Award for Theatrical Performance (Sweet 15) 2008

• ‘Hispanic Pioneer of America’ - Discovery Channel en Español  (2006)
• ‘Top 10 Celebrities to Watch’, San Diego Latino Film Festival (2006)
• ‘Father of the Year’ – Telemundo, Miami (2006)
• ‘100 Most Influential Latinos in America’ - HISPANIC Business Magazine (2005)
• Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award Nomination, Television Writing Achievement for Outstanding Script in a Comedy / Variety Series (2004)
• Image Award, Best Live Theatrical Production, Rick Najera’s LATINOLOGUES™ (2004)
• Writers Guild of America (WGA) Award Nomination, Television Writing Achievement for Outstanding Script in a Comedy / Variety Series (2003)
• ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) Award Nominee, Best Writer for a Television Drama, ABC
• Nosotros Golden Eagle Award, Best Writer, Latino Laugh Festival for Showtime
• ‘50 Most Influential in Hollywood’ – VARIETY
• 100 Most Influential Latinos in America’ - HISPANIC Business Magazine (1996)

Rick Najera has been featured in publications such as Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Hispanic Magazine, San Diego Magazine, Hispanic Business, Latino Leaders Magazine, Latina Magazine, Bello, Latin Style, Latin Heat, Sister Cities, Hispanic Outlook and on television shows such as A&E’s Breakfast with the Arts, PBS’s Life and Times, NBC’s Hispanics Today, Univision’s Aqui y Ahora, Despierta America, Escandalo TV, Primer Impacto, El Gordo y La Flaca, LATV, Mun2, Perfect Image TV, American Latino among others.  During his four month run on Broadway,
Rick Najera joined Broadway’s brightest, most influential and well-loved personalities when his caricature was placed on Sardi’s exclusive ‘Wall of Fame’ in midtown Manhattan.

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