Cast Set for Jose Rivera and Hector Buitrago's ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY at Goodman Theatre

Goodman Theatre announces casting for ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY, a world premiere music-filled work by Academy Award nominee Jose Rivera with music by Grammy Award winner Hector Buitrago. Directed by Steve Cosson and developed through a co-commission between the Goodman and the New York-based theater company The Civilians, ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY is inspired by the true stories of the inmates at El Buen Pastor womens prison in Bogota, Colombia, who compete in a beauty pageant intended by their jailers to motivate and rehabilitate them.

The prisoners and the events and circumstances that led to the womens' arrests are brought to life by a cast including Stephanie Andrea Barron (Yolanda), Helen Cespedes (Xiomara), Monique Gabriela Curnen (Marilin/Magnolia), Dan Domingues (Danny/Maurico/Arturo), Danaya Esperanza (Luzmery), Zoe Sophia Garcia (Nora), Marisol Miranda (Carmen/Tatiana), Yun Pardo (Jeimi), Socorro Santiago (Ciliana), Heather Velazquez (Maikelyn/Eva) and Carmen Zilles (Isabelle). Visit the Press Room for more information.

ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY appears January 16 - February 21 in the Albert Theatre (opening night is Monday, January 25). Tickets ($25 - $77; subject to change) go on sale to the general public Friday, December 4 and are available at GoodmanTheatre.org, by phone at 312.443.3800 or at the box office (170 North Dearborn). ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Plays Award.

In conjunction with ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY and Roberto Bolano's 2666 (adapted for the stage by Artistic Director Robert Falls and Seth Bockley), Goodman Theatre will present an in-depth look at the remarkable range of contemporary Latino writers working in theater with the Latino Theatre Celebration. Working in tandem with some of Chicago's outstanding smaller theater companies, the Goodman will present free staged readings and panel discussions that highlight the extraordinary careers and influential writings of Rivera and Maria Irene Fornes, two of America's most accomplished writers for the stage. Additional programs in the celebration will focus on the extraordinary poetry of Bolano, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and other seminal writers. The Latino Theatre Celebration will take place February 15 through 29 at Goodman Theatre, Northwestern University and other Chicago locations.

Award-winning playwright Rivera, who marks 20 years working with Goodman Theatre, describes ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY as "a deeply human story. I want audiences to understand the basic humanity of these women-to really have assumptions and stereotypes challenged and exploded. The whole point of good theater is to give a voice to those who don't have a voice and articulate whatever is in the air in that society at the time. We hope to raise the consciousness of who these incarcerated women are: three-dimensional human beings beyond the cliche?s of a hooker, a drug mule, etc."

ANOTHER WORD FOR BEAUTY was developed using The Civilians' signature investigative process. Rivera, Director Steve Cosson (who is also Artistic Director of the Civilians) and a team of artists visited El Buen Pastor to research and interview inmates, guards, prison staff, pageant consultants and members of the Colombian justice system to fully understand the role the pageant plays. From this research, Rivera constructed the original new play, punctuated with music from Buitrago-a founding member of the seminal Latin Grammy Award-winning Colombian band Aterciopelados.

About the Artists:

Jose Rivera is a recipient of two Obie Awards for playwriting for Marisol and References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, which were both produced by The Public Theater in New York. His plays Cloud Tectonics (Goodman Theatre and Playwrights Horizons), Boleros for the Disenchanted (Goodman Theatre and Yale Repertory Theatre), Suen?o (Manhattan Class Company), Sonnets for an Old Century (The Barrow Group), School of the Americas (The Public Theater), Massacre (Sing to Your Children) (Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre and Goodman Theatre), Brainpeople (ACT, San Francisco), Adoration of the Old Woman (INTAR Theatre) and The House of Ramon Iglesia (Ensemble Studio Theatre), have been produced across the country and around the world. In the works are The Last Book of Homer, Scream for the Lost Romantics and The Gamma Forest. Rivera's screenplay The Motorcycle Diaries was nominated for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar in 2005. His screenplay based on Jack Kerouac's On the Road premiered at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and was distributed nationally in the winter of 2013. His film Trade was the first film to premiere at the United Nations. Television projects in the works include an untitled HBO pilot, co- written and produced by Tom Hanks, as well as a 10-hour series for HBO tentatively titled Latino Roots. Celestina, based on his play Cloud Tectonics, will mark his debut as a feature film director. He is the writer/director of the short film Lizzy and recently completed his first novel, Love Makes the City Crumble. His next film project will be a biography of famed baseball player Roberto Clemente for Legendary Films.

In his 25 years in the music industry, Hector Bultrago has toured the globe, released many critically acclaimed albums and become an ambassador for Colombia's burgeoning music scene. Aterciopelados is considered one of the most successful bands to break out from Colombia. Parallel to his musical pursuits, Buitrago also spearheaded many ecological and social initiatives in Colombia such as Cantoalagua, which focuses on the protection of water sources. Buitrago united his two passions-music and the environment-with his solo musical project ConEctor. The project was met with international acclaim and is considered a pioneering work in Colombia's musical evolution. His albums La Pipa De La Paz, Caribe Atomico, Rio, ConEctor I &II and Ninos Cristal are a reflection of his calling to preserve his land, his roots and the environment, and to empower his people to affect change in the world.

Led by Artistic Director Steve Cosson, The Civilians creates new theater from creative investigations into the most vital questions of the present. Recent credits include Pretty Filthy, Mr. Burns, A Post-Electric Play and The Great Immensity. Last season, the company was the first-ever theater company in residence at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Since its founding in 2001, the Obie award-winning company has been produced at The Public Theater, Vineyard Theatre, BAM Next Wave Festival, Barrow Street Theater, Playwrights Horizons and nationally at Center Theatre Group, A.R.T., La Jolla Playhouse, HBO's US Comedy Festival, the TED Conference and Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others. Visit www.thecivilians.org for more information.

Tickets ($25-77) -GoodmanTheatre.org/Beauty; 312.443.3800; Fax: 312.443.3825; TTY/TDD: 312.443.3829 Subscriptions - Four-play Albert Theatre subscriptions start at $100 (GoodmanTheatre.org/Brilliant)
MezzTix - Half-price day-of-performance mezzanine tickets available at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) $10Tix - Student $10 day-of-performance tickets; limit four, with valid student ID (promo code 10TIX)
Group Sales - Discounted tickets for parties of 10+ - 312.443.3820
Gift Certificates - Available in any amount (GoodmanTheatre.org/GiftCertificates)
Box Office Hours -12noon - 5pm; on performance days, the office remains open until 30 minutes past curtain.

Called America's "Best Regional Theatre" by Time magazine, Goodman Theatre has won international recognition for its artists, productions and programs, and is a major cultural, educational and economic pillar in Chicago. Founded in 1925 by William O. Goodman and his family in honor of their son Kenneth (an important figure in Chicago's cultural renaissance in the early 1900s), Goodman Theatre has garnered hundreds of awards for artistic achievement and community engagement, including: two Pulitzer Prizes, 22 Tony Awards (including "Outstanding Regional Theatre" in 1992), nearly 160 Joseph Jefferson Awards and more. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Robert Falls and Executive Director Roche Schulfer, the Goodman's artistic priorities include new plays (more than 150 world or American premieres in the past 30 years), reimagined classics (including Falls' nationally and internationally celebrated productions of Death of a Salesman, Long's Day's Journey into Night, King Lear and The Iceman Cometh, many in collaboration with actor Brian Dennehy), culturally specific work, musical theater (26 major productions in 20 years, including 10 world premieres) and international collaborations. Diversity and inclusion have been primary cornerstones of the Goodman's mission for 30 years; over the past decade, 68% of the Goodman's 35 world premieres were authored by women and/or playwrights of color, and the Goodman was the first theater in the world to produce all 10 plays in August Wilson's "American Century Cycle." Each year the Goodman's numerous education and community engagement programs-including the innovative Student Subscription Series, now in its 30th year-serve thousands of students, teachers, life-long learners and special constituencies. In addition, for nearly four decades the annual holiday tradition of A Christmas Carol has led to the creation of a new generation of theatergoers in Chicago. Goodman Theatre's leadership includes the distinguished members of the Artistic Collective: Brian Dennehy, Rebecca Gilman, Henry Godinez, Steve Scott, Chuck Smith, Regina Taylor, Henry Wishcamper and Mary Zimmerman. Joan Clifford is Chair of Goodman Theatre's Board of Trustees, Swati Mehta is Women's Board President and Gordon C.C. Liao is President of the Scenemakers Board for young professionals. Visit the Goodman virtually at GoodmanTheatre.org, and on Twitter (@GoodmanTheatre), Facebook and Instagram.