Felix Sanchez

The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) has announced the creation of the Latinx Story ARC Writer's Room program. Thanks to a $100,000 grant from The ArcFord Foundation, NHFA will be developing a writing program that will help create a strong television and film Latinx writer pipeline. a?oeNHFA is uniquely equipped to bring together the best and the brightest of next generation Latino writers,a?? said Noel Greene, whose ArcFord Foundation has made this program possible. The ArcFord Foundation is a family organization named in memory of Noel Greene's grandparents: Andy Candelaria, Rose Norton Greene, Charlie Greene, William Alexander and Fannie Lee Ford. a?oeUntil more Latino writers are able to achieve representation and guild membership, Latino on-screen and behind-the-camera presence will continue to lag behind,a?? said Greene.

The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts (NHFA) is proud to announce the creation of the Latinx Story ARC Writer's Room program.  Thanks to a $100,000 grant from The ArcFord Foundation, NHFA will be developing a writing program that will help create a strong television and film Latinx writer pipeline.  “NHFA is uniquely equipped to bring together the best and the brightest of next generation Latino writers,” said Noel Greene, whose ArcFord Foundation has made this program possible.  The ArcFord Foundation is a family organization named in memory of Noel Greene's grandparents:  Andy Candelaria, Rose Norton Greene, Charlie Greene, William Alexander and Fannie Lee Ford.  “Until more Latino writers are able to achieve representation and guild membership, Latino on-screen and behind-the-camera presence will continue to lag behind,” said Greene.

The National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts is proud to present the 2019 Raul Julia Award for Excellence to former United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development JULIAN CASTRO. Additionally, NHFA will present the Spotlight Award to JUSTINA MACHADO; MELISSA BARRERA and ALFONSO a?oePONCHOa?? HERRERA will be honored with the Horizon Award. This year's NOCHE DE GALA takes place on Wednesday, September 18 at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, DC. This Gala benefits the foundation's various activities that include its scholarship program.

NATPE, the National Association of Television Program Executives, will present the first ever “Living the Dream: A Career in Content” event in partnership with the NAACP, (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) and the NHFA (National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts). The event will be held on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Monday, January 21, 2019, one day before NATPE Miami 2019 commences, at the Fontainebleau Hotel in Miami Beach Florida.

The award-winning series MetroFocus premieres new episodes in the New York and tri-state region weeknights at 5 p.m. on WLIW21, 5:30 p.m. on NJTV and 6 p.m. on THIRTEEN. All episodes are available at metrofocus.org following the broadcast.

The award-winning series MetroFocus premieres new episodes in the New York and tri-state region weeknights at 5 p.m. on WLIW21, 5:30 p.m. on NJTV and 6 p.m. on THIRTEEN. All episodes are available at metrofocus.org following the broadcast.

Lois Braverman, President & CEO, Ackerman Institute for the Family, announced today that actor Jimmy Smits will be honored with the Ackerman Leadership Award at the Moving Families Forward annual gala which will take place at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel at 301 Park Avenue on Monday, October 26th in New York City.

The 2012-2013 season at Houston Grand Opera (HGO) has been filled with stunning performances of astounding operatic talent; however, their current production of Richard Wagner's TRISTAN AND ISOLDE may be the sparkling gem of this fascinating season. Every aspect of the production gels with perfection, making this production remarkable and truly unforgettable.

Houston Grand Opera (HGO)'s 50th World Premiere Opera had its first public performance last night at Asia Society Texas Center. This enchanting chamber opera is a gorgeous and stirring piece that examines the power and necessity of memory for the advancement of the human species. It opens with rollicking thunder and a stunning, breathtaking image that is representative of the destruction of Japan in wake of the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. As a woman sings about various terrible and destructive moments from Japan's rich history, the scene shifts to the tea room in Houston's Japanese garden. Here the non-linear opera explores how such tragedies affect Japanese-Americans and immigrants from Japan, deftly playing on the emotions, sympathy, and empathy of the assembled audience. The compelling opera elicited several gasps of sorrow, pain, and understanding from the opening night audience as the beauty of the piece spoke to our hearts, minds, and souls.

Houston Grand Opera's 41st World Premiere Opera CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA/TO CROSS THE FACE OF THE MOON premiered in the Brown Theater at the Wortham Center on November 13, 2012. The performance played in front of 2,400 patrons, the largest-ever audience in the Brown Theater. Following that rousing premiere, CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA and its original cast opened the 2011 season at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Paris. The production ran for six performances. Upon arriving in Paris, 80% of the tickets were already sold, and word of mouth lead to complete sell outs for the final three performances. Last night, the gorgeous and stirring CRUZAR LA CARA DE LA LUNA opened in the Wortham Center's Brown Theater again, earning thunderous applause and sincere admiration from the audience.

Running opposite the bright and colorful SHOWBOAT in Houston Grand Opera's winter repertoire is an austere and dark production of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Lorenzo Da Ponte's DON GIOVANNI. This atmospheric and melodramatic opera presents the audience with the lecherous Don Giovanni, who has hired Leporello to keep a little black book of each of his numerous conquests and sexual assaults against the women of Europe. The show opens with Donna Anna escaping the man and crying out about his assault. Her father rushes to protect her and is unapologetically slain by Don Giovanni. Moving on, Don Giovanni stupefies the naïve Zerlina with his Casanova-like charms and lures her away from her husband Masetto. Meanwhile, Donna Anna, her fiancé, Don Ottavio, and Donna Elvira, an embittered woman that is one of Don Giovanni's conquests, all strive to bring his transgressive improprieties to public light.

Houston Grand Opera presents SHOW BOAT, which opened January 18. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the production below.

Houston Grand Opera opened their Winter Repertory offerings with an impressive and rousing production of Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II's iconic book musical SHOW BOAT. The musical historically changed the face of American Musical Theatre and introduced a genre of entertainment that many feel OKLAHOMA perfected and solidified. Despite it's classification as a musical, the show's score is incredibly operatic and requires many classically trained voices to effectively pull off a production.

According to the Associated Press, The Kennedy Center's process for selecting the Kennedy Center Honors is under review after the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts said in September that Latinos have long been excluded.

Patrick Carfizzi has a lot of future projects lined up. Yet, Houston audiences are lucky enough to have the opportunity to see him perform as Mustafa in Rossini's THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS, playing now through November 11, 2012. When Patrick Carfizzi isn't on stage he is teaching (which is something he loves and plans to do more of as time and schedule permits), volunteering for community groups, and working with the elderly from time to time. He is "delighted, honored, and grateful" to do what he does for a living. Despite his busy schedule, he spent a few minutes to talk with me about his career in opera, THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS, and his character Mustafa.

Houston Grand Opera is performing Gioachino Rossini's splendid, humorous, and simply delightful L'italiana in Algeri or THE ITALIAN GIRL IN ALGIERS for the first time. Even knowing that comedic operas exist, it is still seems somewhat like a contradiction to this opera novice. With that said, being able to laugh and smile all the through a performance made this production all the more memorable and enjoyable.

Houston Grand Opera is opening its 2012-2013 season with a lavish and fresh production of one of the world's favorite operas, LA BOHÈME by Giacomo Puccini. The familiar opera tells the story of four bohemian artists that live in the same garret (apartment) in 1830s Paris. The poet, Rodolfo, falls for Mimi, a seamstress suffering from Tuberculosis. His friend Marcello, a painter, has recently broken up with Musetta, but is still fascinated by her. In a series of short glimpses into their lives, the audience sees Rodolfo and Mimi fall into a deep, passionate love that is eventually troubled and torn asunder by Rodolfo's jealousies and concerns about her health.

On the heels of the worldwide success of ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen, which is seen weekly by more than 30 million television viewers across the Americas, Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and show director Jamie King today announced that ¡Q'VIVA! THE CHOSEN LIVE, the spectacular live show featuring the most amazing Latin artists, will debut at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas tonight, May 26, 2012.

On the heels of the worldwide success of ¡Q'Viva! The Chosen, which is seen weekly by more than 30 million television viewers across the Americas, Simon Fuller's XIX Entertainment, Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and show director Jamie King today announced that ¡Q'VIVA! THE CHOSEN LIVE, the spectacular live show featuring the most amazing Latin artists, will debut at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas Saturday, May 26, 2012.