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2005 HOLA Awards
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For Immediate Release, August
14, 2005 LATIN GROUP HONORS ESAI
MORALES, Stars to be Recognized at The Players on September 19 An actor with Puerto Rican
ancestry and two stars with Cuban heritage are being honored by the Hispanic
Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) at the organization’s 6th
Annual HOLA Awards and Benefit celebrating Latinos in entertainment.
The event begins at 6:30 p.m. on Monday, September 19, 2005 at The
Players, 16 Gramercy Park South, New York City. Born to Puerto Rican parents
in Brooklyn, Esaí Morales ran away from home at the age of 13 because
his mother didn't approve of his dream of being an actor. He entered the
High School of Performing Arts while living in a group home as a ward
of the state. Shortly after graduating, Morales made his professional
stage debut in El Hermano at the Ensemble Studio Theatre, followed by
The Tempest (starring Raúl Juliá) at the Public Theater/NYSF.
He made his Broadway debut with Al Pacino in the 1992 production of Salomé.
Morales made his film debut opposite Sean Penn in Bad Boys and soon after
starred in La Bamba, to date, the most commercially successful Latin-themed
movies of all time. He also starred in the film My Family/Mi Familia.
TV audiences recently saw him as Lt. Tony Rodríguez on the highly
acclaimed ABC series NYPD Blue. Of Cuban and Irish extraction,
Mercedes Ruehl has received multiple Tony and Obie Awards for performances
on Broadway and off-Broadway, and an Oscar for her performance in the
film The Fisher King (1991). She received a Tony Award as Best Actress
in a Play that same year (1991) for Lost in Yonkers and was nominated
twice more: in 1995 as Best Actress in a Featured Role (Play) for a revival
of The Shadow Box, and in 2002 as Best Actress (Play) for Edward Albee's
The Goat, or Who is Sylvia? Obies came for The Marriage of Bette and Boo
(1985), and most recently for her 2005 performance in Woman Before A Glass.
Currently playing "Caractacus
Potts" in the Broadway production of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Raúl
Esparza is a Cuban-American who born in Wilmington, Delaware, and grew
up in Miami. His other credits include The Normal Heart; Taboo (Tony nomination,
Drama Desk Award); Dessa Rose; The Green Violin (Barrymore Award); Comedians;
The Sondheim Celebration at Lincoln Center; Merrily We Roll Along and
Sunday in the Park with George (Kennedy Center Sondheim Celebration, Helen
Hayes Award nomination); Cabaret; tick, tick…BOOM! (Obie Award, Drama
Desk nomination); The Rocky Horror Show (Theatre World Award); Evita (Jefferson
Award nomination). He will be seen in the upcoming Sidney Lumet's film
Find Me Guilty. The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) is an arts service organization founded in 1975 to expand the presence of Hispanic actors in both Latino and mainstream entertainment and communications. HOLA also strives for an accurate, informed and non-stereotypical portrayal of Hispanic culture, people and heritage in theatre, film, television, radio and commercials. It provides a variety of programs serving Hispanic actors, including talent and casting referrals, professional workshops, and career counseling.
For further information,
call HOLA at (212) 253-1015 Rita Moreno HOLA Award
for Excellence HOLA José Ferrer
Tespis Award HOLA Ilka Award
HOLA AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN LATINO THEATER
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