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New York Theater Scene
| Article
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11594 |
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Section : |
THE ARTS
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| Issue
Date : |
9 / 1986 |
3,043 Words |
| Author
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Jeff Church and Sy Syna
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Keeping an Ear to the Pavement: Playwright Reinaldo Povod
by Jeff Church
Just because this is his first play on Broadway doesn't mean 26 year old Reinaldo Pavod is new to the business of writing. He's been doing that since he has sixteen. No, the amazing part is the he is the product of a Lower East Side war zone - drugs, junkies, daily urban combat - and all the time he was writing it down.
Cuba and His Teddy Bear is autobiographical to an extent. For example, Povod's father was a drug dealer and the father-son relationship in the play is based on their own. It's source material. It wasn't, however, a case of producer Joseph Papp receiving an astounding play in the mail that in turn attracted actor Robert DeNiro. Povod was "discovered" by scout, Bill Hart, who went on to direct Cuba.
Hart, several years ago, got a new job and a first assignment from Joe Papp to find a new Hispanic play. (Evidently they hadn't had one since the days of Miguel Pinero and Short Eyes.) Hart saw a flier for Cries and Shouts, a play by Povod, and was intrigued enough by it to bring along Joe Papp, and they have worked together ever since.
When Povod wrote Cuba (in two weeks initially - but he wrote seven "versions" in all), he had DeNiro in mind to play his father. Ironically, the DeNiro film Taxi Driver was shot in and around the building in which Povod lived. "The people around threw bottles," Povod
... (1937 of 16938 Characters)
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