ENTERTAINMENT Section
Comedian/Writer-Performer Rick Najera’s DADDY DIARIES Nominated for Imagen Award for Best Live Theatrical Production
Imagen Foundation Selects Award-Winning Writer, Actor and Playwright Rick Najera’s work for Second Award nomination
July 15, 2009
Written by Susie Albin-Najera
It was announced today that Rick Najera’s newest comedic stage creation, DADDY DIARIES, received an Imagen Award nod in the category of “Best Live Theatrical Production”. This is the second Imagen award nomination for Najera whose stage comedy, Latinologues won in the same category in 2004. Additionally, Nothing Like the Holidays, a feature film Najera co-wrote, was also nominated for “Best Feature Film”. The 24th Annual Imagen Awards will be presented at a black-tie dinner gala on Friday, August 21st, 2009 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills.
The Imagen Foundation is a non-profit organization recognizing the positive portrayal of Latinos in the entertainment industry. The Imagen Awards have become one of the most prestigious awards program in the entertainment industry and exemplify the best of what Hollywood can produce in portraying Latinos.
Najera’s DADDY DIARIES, directed for stage by Gary Blumsack, is a comedic live stage play about a “Hollywood guy” becoming “daddy guy”, from a Latino perspective and with the voice of his Mexican Dad ringing in his head. But when his daughter goes into surgery to remove a potentially cancerous, rare congenital Nevis, Najera must navigate the rocky road of fatherhood. He thinks the birthmark looks like the virgin of Guadalupe and thus begins the journey into this one-man show.
DADDY DIARIES marks Najera’s fifth produced play with a Latino theme, making him one of the most produced Latino playwrights in America today and part of a select few who have ever written and starred on Broadway. Upcoming performances of Najera’s DADDY DIARIES can be seen August 28-29, 2009 at The Latino Cultural Center, 2600 Live Oak Street, Dallas, TX 75204. Call 214-750-7435 for more information.
In addition to being nominated for his second Imagen Award, Najera, a writer on groundbreaking shows such as MAD TV and In Living Color, also received two award nominations from the Writers Guild of America in the category of “Outstanding Script for a Comedy/Variety Series”, and an ALMA (American Latino Media Arts) Award for “Best Writing in a Television Show – Comedy”. Najera has also been honored as “100 Most Influential Latinos in America” twice from Hispanic Business Magazine and ‘Hollywood’s 50 Most Creative’ by Variety.
For more information on the 24th Annual Imagen Awards, visit www.imagen.org.
For more information on Rick Najera, visit www.ricknajera.com.
Susie Albin-Najera can be reached at themexicoreport@yahoo.com
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