During previous Strolls we have honored renowned artists, arts advocates and leaders who reside in our Northern Manhattan community, including visual artist Knox Martin; pianist, vocalist and host of Parlor Entertainment’s weekly jazz concerts Marjorie Eliot; saxophonist, composer and MacArthur Fellow Miguel Zenón; founder and producing artistic director of Moose Hall Theatre and Inwood Shakespeare Festival Ted Minos; writer and curator of the Sunday Best Reading Series Patricia Eakins; and writer, founder and director of The Rio Galleries Ana-Ofelia Rodríguez.
In 2011, we are proud to recognize actor, producer and writer Manny Pérez; film director and writer Rashaad Ernesto Green; and artistic director of Underworld Productions Opera Gina Crusco for their artistic achievements and contributions to the arts community in Washington Heights and Inwood.
Manny Pérez
Manny Pérez is becoming one of the most recognizable Latino actors in Hollywood. He has co-starred in more than a dozen films such as El Cantante, Bella, Where God Left His Shoes and many others. He won an Alma Award for his performance in Bella. Manny is also known for television roles, most notably in A&E’s 100 Centre Street, NBC’s Third Watch, and F/X’s Rescue Me. Manny first gained attention when he co-wrote, produced and starred in the critically acclaimed film Washington Heights. An independent film set in his neighborhood, the film was awarded an honorable mention for best acting at the TriBeCa Film Festival, and Manny was awarded the Best Actor award at the Milan International Film Festival. His recent project, La Soga, which had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2010 to standing ovations, sold-out shows and stellar reviews, was produced, written and starred Manny. It was the first Dominican film ever to have screened at the prestigious festival. Manny is one of 11 siblings, born in the Dominican Republic. At 10, he and his family moved to Providence, RI. He went on to study drama at Marymount Manhattan College. Manny has stayed loyal to his roots in the Latino community, both in the US and the DR. His many distinctions include El Diario newspaper’s “EL Award,” the Tony Bennett Excellence in Media Award, the Perry Ellis Humanitarian Award, and the Humanitarian Award in his native Dominican Republic for his charitable work during the devastation of Hurricane Noel.
Rashaad Ernesto Green
Starting his career as an actor, Bronx native Rashaad Ernesto Green received his BA from Dartmouth College and MFAs from the NYU Graduate Acting and Graduate Film Program. After spending years acting in theaters nationwide and working in film with directors like Spike Lee, Rashaad had the opportunity to work as a teacher in The Bronx before turning his efforts behind the camera. The world premiere of his film Premature won the Grand Jury Prize in the HBO Short Film Competition at the 2008 American Black Film Festival and is currently airing on HBO. Premature has played more than 40 festivals worldwide, including Palm Springs International Shortfest, Munich International Film Festival, Sapporo International Film Festival of Japan, has broadcast in France, Germany, Poland, Japan, and has garnered more than 20 awards. Rashaad’s short, Choices, premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and his latest short, Cuts, has screened at the Pan African Film Festival, the Chicago Film Festival, and has also screened on HBO. A recipient of the prestigious 2009 Princess Grace Foundation–Cary Grant Film Award and named one of indieWIRE’s top-ten new voices in cinema, Rashaad recently completed his first feature Gun Hill Road. Selected for the 2010 Tribeca All Access Program, Gun Hill Road was named recipient of the 2009 Spike Lee Fellowship, the 2010 Fotokem Printing & Processing Grant, and was recognized by the Urban Arts Initiative in NYC. Rashaad has been the recipient of two grants from the Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance (NoMAA).
Gina Crusco
Gina Crusco is an award-winning stage director. Gina changed the cultural landscape with a Cosi fan Tutte for Underworld Productions Opera involving text messaging interactivity to determine final pairings. Her innovation was recognized in Musical America’s 2009 “Year in Music” and a NY Times interview. Gina has directed early opera (Pergolesi’s Livietta e Tracollo); classical works (Don Giovanni); and contemporary premieres (Benjamin Yarmolinsky’s Clarence & Anita, based on the hearings of Clarence Thomas and Anita Hill’s accusations of sexual harassment). Gina has crafted original English lyrics, such as those for Livietta e Tracollo; English dialogue for three Mozart operas; and compelling English supertitles for Cosi and Pygmalion. Gina’s experience has also seen her as a conductor and vocalist. Hailed in the Italian press as “la bravissima Gina Crusco,” she served as Maestro del Coro of Teatro Lirico Sperimentale di Spoleto (Italy) for two opera seasons, working alongside tenor Marcello. As a vocalist, Gina worked alongside Lili Taylor’s and Paul Giamatti’s stage roles in the premiere of Increase at La MaMa ETC. Gina holds a BA from the University of Rochester, where she studied at the Eastman School; and master’s degrees from Brown University in philosophy and NYU in vocal performance. Gina served on the voice faculty of New School University for nine years and founded Underworld Productions Opera in 2004. She is the recipient of a 2008 Fractured Atlas Creative Development Award; a 2007 Northern Manhattan Arts Alliance Individual Artist Grant; a NoMAA Organization Grant for capacity building; and a 2006 Manhattan Community Arts Fund Award.
