Cubano, but with a Mexican/Puerto Rican/Spanish accent

I wonder if "The Mambo Kings" will ever be played by Cuban actors? In the 1992 film version, the two main characters, brothers Nestor and Cesar Castillo, were played by Antonio Banderas and Armand Assante. The pre-Melanie Antonio spoke all his lines with his native Castillian accent (and recited his English lines by learning them phonetically, since he didn't yet know English). Armand Assante, meanwhile, is New York-born, of Irish and Italian parents. I'm not quite sure what kind of accent he spoke his Spanish with, although he was so magnetic in the part that I didn't really care.

Now comes the stage version, and here's the latest from Yahoo Entretenimiento:

11 de mayo de 2005

Dolencia obliga a Billy Dee Williams a dejar "The Mambo Kings"


(AP) - NUEVA YORK (AP) _ El actor Billy Dee Williams se retiró de la obra en preparación "The Mambo Kings", un musical programado para estrenarse en agosto en Broadway, debido a una dolencia agravada de la cadera.

Marc Thibodeau, vocero del musical, dijo el martes que en breve se anunciará un reemplazo para Williams, de 68 años, quien tenía previsto interpretar el papel de Fernando Pérez, dueño del club nocturno en la obra teatral.

"The Mambo Kings" relata la historia de hermanos Néstor y César Castillo, quienes dejan La Habana en la década de 1950 para ingresar al temerario mundo de los clubes nocturnos de Nueva York. El superastro mexicano Jaime Camil interpretará a Néstor, mientras Esai Morales dará vida a papel de César.

El reparto también incluye a la ganadora del Grammy latino Albita y a Justina Machado, una participante regular en la serie de televisión "Six Feet Under".

El musical, basado en la novela ganadora de un Pulitzer "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love", de Oscar Hijuelos, se estrenará el 18 de agosto en el Teatro Broadway. Las presentaciones de preestreno empiezan el 20 de julio. "The Mambo Kings" será llevada posteriormente al Teatro Golden Gate de San Francisco, del 19 de mayo al 24 de junio. La obra fue llevada al cine en 1992, con Antonio Banderas y Armand Assante en los papeles estelares.

OK, so we have (or had) Billy Dee Williams as the Latino club owner, Mexican Jaime Camil as Néstor, Mexican-American Esai Morales as César (somehow, I suspect I'm not going to care if he doesn't speak with a Cuban accent, though....what is it about that character, and the men who play him?), and Puerto Rican-American Justina Machado from Six Feet Under. Talk about a pan-Latino/Americano cast!

I'll be interested to see who pulls off the best Cuban accent, or if they even try. Sounds like a great show, though, and worth a ticket! Imagine being transported back to those Latin nightclubs of the 1950s.... I thought the movie did a great job of that (who can forget Tito Puente in that part?), and I can only imagine that on Broadway, you'll feel like you're right in the middle of that pulsating music and those swirling skirts. I know I'll be there!