Puerto Rican talent storms mainland
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) -
New York Yankees Bemie Williams,
Ricky Ledee and Joige Posada helped
win tho World Series. Singer Ricky
Martinas burning up the-charls.
Boxing champ Felix ‘Tito” Trinidad
just unseated golden boy Oscar de la
Hoya.
They all hail from the Spanish
speaking U.S. territory Puerto Rico -
part of a wave of new stars that also
includes New York-born singers
Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.
Although some Puerto Ricans
lament that it is their athletes and
singers - not scientists and writers -
who are achieving all the fame, many
more are loving their day in the pop
culture sun.
“It’s like the world is suddenly dis
covering the talent we have,” said Tito
Peraza, owner of the Milagros
Barbecue in Cupey, Puerto Rico,
where Trinidad grew up eating sea
soned red beans and sweet yellow
plantains.
Trinidad’s upset of Mexican
American Oscar De La Hoya in
September was watched by millions.
Martin' Lopez and Anthony have
stormed Billboard charts, and 10
-Puerto Ricans were nominated for
Grammys this year.
Puerto Rican successes are not
unprecedented. They include baseball
great Roberto Clemente, actor Raul
Julia, singer Jose Feliciano and boxer
Wilfredo Gomez. But the magnitude
of the current crop is impressive con
sidering there are only 4 million Puerto
Ricans here and 2 million on the main
land.
The phenomenon is rooted in
social and cultural factors.
Puerto Ricans credit their wealth of
athletes to strong sports leagues,
including six professional baseball
teams.
The island is also fertile ground for
musicians. Official news conferences
often feature live music, and no politi
cal rally is complete without a roster of
bands.
Small recording studios chum out
jingles for a booming radio market and
inexpensive albums featuring salsa,
merengue, plena, bolero and rap-reg
gae groups.
The U.S. Hispanic population will
become die largest minority group by
2010, according to the Census Bureau,
and such growth feeds demand and
easier artist access to producers and
scouts.
“It is all linked with the rise ol
Hispanics in the. United States,” said
Martin’s manager, Angelo Medina.
Martin and Anthony have also
expanded their audience with English
language albums.
The cultural successes have
accompanied a surge of Puerto Rican
nationalism, fueled by the release from
prison of 11 Puerto Rican indepen
dence activists and the controvers>
about live U.S. Navy bombings on the
populated outlying island of Vieques.
Martin, Trinidad and others have
pushed for the closure of the bombing
range.
Martin - whose World Cup soccei
anthem, “La Copa de la Vida,” was
adopted by Puerto Rico’s pro-state
hood party - has promised to bring up
Vieques when he meets President
Clinton in January.
Sociologist Ricardo Alegria com
plained that while the United States
knows the island’s athletes and musi
cians, the language barrier, and igno
rance of Latin American culture, has
blinded Americans to other contribu
tions.
Writer Luis Rafael Sanchez, for
example, is one of Latin America’s
most acclaimed writers but has pub
lished only one book in English.
Novelist Rosario Ferre was barely
known in the United States until her
first book in English, “The House on
the Lagoon,” was nominated for a
National Book Award in 1995.
The island also boasts historians
and political theorists, a small group of
respected filmmakers and a flourish
ing art scene led by internationally
known painters Rafael Tufino, Arturo
Martorell and Luis Alonzo.
ree-wee producer Shapn*o
to present lectures at UNL
By Shelley Mika
Staffwriter
“Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” isn’t
exactly a journey to the heart of the
American dream. OK, it’s about a guy
who wears too much rouge and wants to
fmd his bike.
Nevertheless, it represents one
man’s climb to the top of the ladder of
success. - (
“Pee-wee’s Big Adventure,” along
with “Empire of the Sun” and “My
Favorite Martian,” were produced by
Robert Shapiro’s own production com
pany,tRobert Shapiro Productions.
Friday, Shapiro will visit the
University of Nebraska-Lincoln to talk
about his experiences in film.
Shapiro’s career didn’t start at the
top. Instead, his own journey towarthhe"
American dream began in the mailroom
of the William Morris Agency, a talent
and literary agency whose clients
include Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Whitney Houston and Tom Clancy.
Shapiro quickly worked his way
through the ranks at William Morris,
eventually working as head of its televi
sion talent department and vice presi
dent of its motion picture department
By age 28, he was the managing direc
tor ofWilliam Morris’ London office.
Then, in 1974, after moving back to
the United States, Shapiro became the
head of the international motion picture
department at William Morris. In this
position, Shapiro counseled writers and
directors about their material in order to
get it closer to the production process.
But he could stay on the periphery
of production for only so long.
After several years at William
Morris, Shapiro left the agency to form
his own production company. At the
same time, Warner Bros, hired him as
president of its theatrical production
division. There, he maintained a close
relationship with writers, directors and
actors.
Shapiro’s previous experience
taught him about the process prior to
filming, but his years at Warner taught
him about the process beyond that,
including the physical production, mar
keting and distribution of films.
After six years at Warner, Shapiro
decided to focus on his own company.
Since then, Robert Shapiro Productions
has released a number of films. Shapiro
has also been nominated for a Golden
Globe Award and received the
Christopher Award and the Genesis
Award for best picture for “Black
Beauty.”
Friday, Shapiro brings his experi
ence to the Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery as part of the Harris lectures,
sponsored by Chris and Ron Harris. The
free lecture series is designed to expose
students to working professionals in the
areas of film and television, but it is also
open to the public.
Shapiro, who has lectured at univer
sities such as Harvard in Cambridge,
Mass., and New York University, should
provide a well-rounded and realistic
view of the film industry. Shapiro’s lec
tures will be held on the first floor of the
Sheldon on Friday at 10:30 and 11:30
a.m. and at 2:30 p.m.
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Play deals
with desire
for better life
PLAY from page 11
this purpose, because the characters
are equal throughout, Dobson said.
Although the play may sound as if
it is serious, it has a definite comic
undertone. Chekhov himself even
described it as a comedy.
Dobson said, “The way these peo
ple deal with their longing and suffer
ing provides a little bit of comic
relief.”
Serious and funny, the play will
continually make reference to one
theme, which points to humans as
always being unsettled.
Chekhov wrote, “We struggle to
change life so that those who come
after us might be happy, but those who
come after us will say as usual: ‘It was
better before, life now is worse than it
used to be.’”