"CELIA" SET FOR CHICAGO PREMIERE MAR. 18!

AZUCAR!

OFF-BROADWAY HIT MUSICAL

“CELIA: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF CELIA CRUZ”

SET FOR CHICAGO PREMIERE AT THE ATHENAEUM THEATRE

Tickets On Sale Dec. 4!

“EXPLOSIVE” – The New York Post

“PULSING SONG-FILLED TRIBUTE TO THE CUBAN-BORN SUPERSTAR!” – New York Daily News

“DAZZLING TRIBUTE TO CRUZ!” – Sun-Sentinel

(November 24, 2009) -- Cardenas Marketing Network (CMN) and the International Latino Cultural Center (ILCC) are pleased to announce the arrival of the riveting Off-Broadway musical “Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz,” to the Midwest for a limited, one-week engagement at the Athenaeum Theatre, located at 2936 N. Southport, in Chicago. Opening Night is set for Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010 at 7:30 p.m.

“We’re delighted to work with the International Latino Cultural Center to showcase ‘Celia’ in Chicago,” said Henry Cardenas, the show’s executive producer. “Since embarking on this tour, we’ve been constantly reminded of how much the world loved and admired Celia. She was an incredibly gifted artist whose legacy will live on forever. We hope Chicago audiences will also enjoy this tribute to the great ‘Queen of Salsa.’”

Since opening to rave reviews Off-Broadway in August 2007, “Celia” has gone on to see continued success in Miami, Tenerife, Spain and San Juan, Puerto Rico. The show launched its international tour in June 2008 in Miami, drawing more than 20,000 attendees including artists Gloria and Emilio Estefan, David Caruso and Jon Secada. Pop queen Madonna also took in the musical during its nine-month engagement in New York.

“The International Latino Cultural Center recognized Celia in 1999 with the Gloria Lifetime Achievement Award –for her artistic excellence and contribution to the development of Latino cultures worldwide,” said ILCC Executive Director Pepe Vargas. “It gives us great pleasure to collaborate with CMN and be a part of this extraordinary musical rendition.”

Beginning Mar. 18, Chicago audiences will be taken on a 60-year journey through the life and music of Cruz, from her humble beginnings in Cuba to her international superstardom. Told through the eyes of her beloved husband Pedro Knight, the show features a superb ensemble of 16 singers, dancers and musicians in a live performance that highlights the global music icon’s greatest hits.

The spectacular Anissa Gathers returns to the stage to sing and act in the lead role of Celia. Music director Isidro Infante – who performed with the real Cruz – leads a seven-piece band that accompanies Gathers and the cast in faithful live renditions of the Queen of Salsa’s repertoire, including “Guantanamera”, “Químbara,” “Bemba Colora,” “Cucala,” “La Vida Es Un Carnaval” and dozens more that became universal sensations.

To view images of the show, please visit http://www.consultantsmn.com/email/teaser/celia_press_photos.html.

“Celia” is written by the husband and wife team of Carmen Rivera and Candido Tirado and produced by Henry Cardenas, producer of the hit musical, “Who Killed Hector Lavoe?” Director duties fall under Jaime Azpilicueta, one of Spain’s most prominent theatrical directors.

Tickets for “Celia” at the Athenaeum Theatre go on sale Friday, Dec. 4 at 10:00 a.m. and are $35, $55, $75, and $100 for a VIP package that includes a post-performance Meet-and-Greet with cast members, an official “Celia” polo and coffee mug. Tickets can be purchased via Ticketmaster by calling 1-800-982-2787 or online at www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, please call 312-492-6424 or visit http://www.athenaeumtheatre.com.

NOTE: The Sunday, Mar. 21 performance at 7:00 p.m. will contain English and Spanish dialogue (bilingual). All songs during all shows, however, will be performed in Spanish.

“CELIA: THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF CELIA CRUZ”

Athenaeum Theatre – 2936 N. Southport (Chicago)

Thursday, Mar. 18 @ 7:30 p.m.

Friday, Mar. 19 @ 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Mar. 20 @ 5:00 p.m. & 9:00 p.m.

Sunday, Mar. 21 @ 3:00 p.m. & 7:00 p.m. (Bilingual)

About Celia Cruz

From her humble beginnings in Cuba to her formidable 60-year career, seven-time Grammy Award-winner Celia Cruz is indisputably one of Latin music’s most unforgettable artists.

It was in radio’s heyday that Celia’s voice became a regular fixture on 1940’s Cuban airwaves. Along the way, she met many influential artists and music producers and, in 1950, was invited to join La Sonora Matancera, revered as the Latin equivalent of the Duke Ellington Orchestra. She remained with that iconic group for 15 years.

In July 1962, Celia married the band’s trumpet player, Pedro Knight – it was a relationship that would last a lifetime. Their journey together began in Mexico, where the orchestra set up base after Fidel Castro assumed control of Cuba. Celia had vowed never to return to the island and, in 1965, she launched her solo career, relocating to New York City and teaming with the singular Tito Puente, with whom she shared a lifelong association. Celia found international fame collaborating with star flautist and composer Johnny Pacheco, co-founder of Fania Records. Their huge hits included “Quimbara,” “Toro Mata,” and “Canto a la Habana.” These songs and others are nothing less than the soundtrack of 1970’s New York City.

Celia Cruz has also been captured in film with cameos in such motion pictures as The Mambo Kings and The Perez Family. She recorded with some of the biggest names from all genres of music: David Byrne, Willie Colón, Dionne Warwick, Patti Labelle, Gloria Estefan, Vicente Fernandez, Oscar D’Leon, and Marc Anthony, among many others. Celia continued to record and perform until sidelined by a brain tumor in 2002. While recovering from surgery she managed to make it in to the studio in early 2003 to record her last album, “Regalo del Alma.”

She died on July 16, 2003. The passing of this icon has left a lasting gap in Latin music, but has certainly sealed her immortal status as the “Queen of Salsa.”