Nilo Cruz is a Cuban-American playwright and the first Latino recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Born in Matanzas, Cuba, he immigrated to Miami, Florida in 1970, when he was around ten years old. He studied at Miami-Dade Community College, before moving to New York City to study under the renowned Cuban playwright María Irene Fornés. He later studied under Paula Vogel at Brown University, earning his M.F.A in 1994.
In 2011, Cruz wrote Anna in the Tropics while playwright-in-residence for the New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida. Set in Ybor City, Tampa, the play centers around Cuban immigrants working the cigar-making industry in Florida. Despite not being performed in New York and facing fierce opposition from plays such as Edward Albee’s The Goat, or Who is Sylvia and Richard Greenberg’s Take Me Out, Anna in the Tropics won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play premiered on Broadway the following year and received two Tony nominations (Best Play and Best Actress in a Play).
Cruz’ subsequent plays include Lorca in a Green Dress (2003), Beauty of the Father (2006), The Color of Desire (2010), Sotto Voce (2014), and Bathing in Moonlight (2016). He also wrote the book for the musical Havana, with music by Frank Wildhorn and lyrics by Jack Murphy. Cruz has taught playwriting at Brown University, the University of Iowa, and Yale University. In 2010, he was awarded the honorary Doctor of Humane Letters (L.H.D.) from Whittier College.
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