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For press information, please contact:      Randy Fader-Smith at (718) 482-5985 and Randyfs@lagcc.cuny.edu or
Susan Lyddon at (718) 482-5061 Slyddon@lagcc.cuny.edu

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Long Island City, NY—November 15, 2012—A LaGuardia Community College student production of “Anna in the Tropics,” by Nilo Cruz, the first Latino winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Drama (2003) and a 2004 Tony nominee, will be performed from November 14 through the 18th.

The performances will be held the Little Theater at 31-10 Thomson Avenue, Long Island City, on:
Wednesday, November 14, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, November 15, at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 16, at 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 17, at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 18, at 2:30 p.m.

After the Friday performance, Vanessa Aspillaga, a veteran stage and film actress who was in the original 2003 Broadway production of “Anna in the Tropics,” will share her Broadway experiences with the cast and the audience. Her dedication to the Latino theatre community in New York, her native Miami and throughout the country has garnered her accolades from fans and critics alike.

Cuban-American playwright Nilo Cruz’s award-winning play takes place in 1929 in a cigar factory in the Ybor City District of Tampa where Cuban immigrants laboriously hand roll cigars. To help the workers deal with the tedium of the job, Juan Julian, a lector, reads them Leo Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. As he reads the Russian novel, the workers begin to assess their own lives and their outlook on the world. At the same time, the factory owners, Santiago and Ofelia, are forced to deal with an industry that is slowly becoming automated.

Tickets are $5. To purchase tickets, please call the box office at (718) 482-5151 on Mondays through Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The production, directed by Professor Jason Ramirez, is a collaboration between the LaGuardia Performing Arts Center (LPAC) and the Humanities Department. Partial funding for LPAC is provide by the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the New York Community Trust Lila Atcheson Wallace Fund for the Arts, and The Mertz Gilmore Foundation.

LaGuardia Community College located in Long Island City, Queens, was founded in 1971 as a bold experiment in opening the doors of higher education to all, and we proudly carry forward that legacy today. LaGuardia educates students through over 50 degree, certificate and continuing education programs, providing an inspiring place for students to achieve their dreams. Upon graduation, LaGuardia students’ lives are transformed as family income increases 17%, and students transfer to four-year colleges at three times the national average. Part of the City University of New York (CUNY), LaGuardia is a nationally recognized leader among community colleges for boundary-breaking success educating underserved students. At LaGuardia we imagine new ideas, create new curriculum and pioneer programs to make our community and our country stronger. Visit www.laguardia.edu to learn more.