Goodman Theatre

For Immediate Release

(Chicago, IL - April 2, 2009) Goodman Theatre is proud to present José Rivera's Boleros for the Disenchanted-"an Eden of profound beauty" (Variety) and "breathtakingly poetic" (The New York Times)-directed by Goodman Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez. Performances are June 20 - July 26, 2009 in the Albert Theatre. Tickets are $10 - $70.

When Flora's fiancé breaks her heart, she vows never to fall for an unfaithful man again. Then she meets Eusebio, who sweeps her off her feet and off to America-away from her family and her familiar life in Puerto Rico. Thirty-nine years later, an angel visits Eusebio with a mysterious message that stirs up old secrets and causes Flora to question the life she has tirelessly built in a foreign land. Boleros for the Disenchanted is a bittersweet and ultimately uplifting story about the everyday reality of marriage and the often undignified struggle to hold on to love in the face of life's unexpected challenges.

About the Playwright and Director

Best known for his Academy Award-nominated adaptation of the screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries, playwright José Rivera was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, and is the author of the OBIE Award-winning Marisol (La Jolla Playhouse, Actors Theatre of Louisville and The Public Theater); The House of Ramon Iglesias (New York's Ensemble Studio Theatre); Giants Have Us in Their Books (Magic Theatre); Sonnets for an Old Century (INTAR Theatre); Sueño (Hartford Stage); Cloud Tectonics (Playwrights Horizons, Goodman Theatre); and the OBIE Award-winning References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (South Coast Repertory and The Public Theater).

He studied with Gabriel García Marquez at the Sundance Institute and was writer-in-residence at the Royal Court Theatre, London,on a Fulbright Arts Fellowship in Playwriting. Honors include a Whiting Award, as well as grants from the NEA and Rockefeller Foundation. Television credits include the critically acclaimed Eerie, Indiana series, which he co-created and produced, as well as HBO's The Eddy Matos Story. In addition to The Motorcycle Diaries (Walter Salles, director), Rivera has written the screenplay for Salles' upcoming film of Jack Kerouac's On the Road.

The native Puerto Rican serves on the boards of The Sundance Institute and the Independent Feature Project.

Henry Godinez is the resident artistic associate at Goodman Theatre, and the director of the Goodman's Latino Theater Festival, which will have its fourth installment in August of 2008. In the fall of 2007 he directed The Cook by Eduardo Machado in the Goodman's Owen Theatre. Other productions include A Year with Frog and Toad, the inaugural production for Chicago Children's Theatre, the Apple Tree Theatre/Teatro Vista co-production of Nilo Cruz's Two Sisters and a Piano and the Victory Gardens Theatre production of Nilo Cruz's Pulitzer Prize-winner, Anna in the Tropics.

At the Goodman he has directed the world premieres of Karen Zacarías' Mariela in the Desert, Regina Taylor's Millennium Mambo and Luis Alfaro's Straight As A Line. Also at the Goodman: Electricidad by Luis Alfaro, Zoot Suit by Luis Valdez, Sam Shepard's Red Cross (one of the five short plays in Regina Taylor's Transformations), the Goodman/Teatro Vista co-production of José Rivera's Cloud Tectonics and the Goodman's production of A Christmas Carol from 1996-2001.

Godinez is the co-founder of Teatro Vista and served as artistic director for its first five years. With Teatro Vista he directed Broken Eggs, El Paso Blue, Journey of the Sparrows, Santos & Santos and The Crossing. Other directing credits include True West at Portland Center Stage, Urban Zulu Mambo at Signature Theatre in New York City (starring Regina Taylor), The Winter's Tale at Missouri Repertory Theatre, Macbeth for the Oak Park Festival Theatre, Romeo and Juliet at the Colorado Shakespeare Festival and several seasons of Stories on Stage for WBEZ Chicago Public Radio.

As an actor Mr. Godinez appeared most recently in the Goodman/Teatro Vista world premiere of José Rivera's Massacre (Sing for Your Children). Film and Television appearances include Above the Law, The Fugitive, The Package, Lady Blue, Amerika, and thirtysomething, as well as at Goodman Theatre, Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Wisdom Bridge Theatre, Court Theatre, Apple Tree Theatre and Old Globe Theatre. Born in Havana Cuba, Mr. Godinez is an Associate Professor at Northwestern University, and has served as a sight evaluator and panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, Illinois Arts Council and Evanston Arts Council. He is the recipient of the 1999 TCG Alan Schneider Directing Award and the Distinguished Service Award from the Lawyers for the Creative Arts.

Tickets are $10 - $70 and may be purchased online at GoodmanTheatre.org, at the box office (170 North Dearborn) or by phone at 312.443.3800. Mezztix are half-price mezzanine tickets available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online (promo code MEZZTIX) day of performance; Mezztix are not available by telephone. 10Tix are $10 mezzanine tickets for students available at 12 noon at the box office, and at 10am online on the day of performance; 10Tix are not available by telephone. Valid student I.D. must be presented when picking up the tickets. Limit four per student with I.D. All tickets are subject to availability and handling fees apply. Discounted Group Tickets for 10 persons or more are available at 312.443.3820.

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