(sorta) RICAN
a comedy by Miss Angelina
PRESS RELEASE
Miss Angelina’s “Sorta Rican” TV Pilot is Featured
in the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) Latinx Stream Showcase
Los Angeles - September 15, 2021 - Angelina Villapiano, aka Miss Angelina, has been selected as one of the featured writers in the NHMC Latinx Stream Showcase, and a scene from her comedy TV pilot “Sorta Rican” is now available for viewing.
The showcase promotes Latino talent in the entertainment industry. In celebration of Latinx Heritage Month, NHMC has produced a series of six scenes written by, starred in, and directed by Latinos both in front and behind the camera.
“Sorta Rican” began as a one-woman live comedy show about Miss Angelina’s real-life experience as an Americanized ½ Puerto Rican that returns to her motherland in an awkward yet heartwarming attempt to connect to her Latino heritage. After touring nationwide at notable venues such as Improv Olympic (LA), Broadway Comedy Club (NYC), and Hard Rock Cafe (San Juan), she has adapted the live show to be a TV series.
The scene in the NHMC showcase is an excerpt from the series’ 1st episode. As reported in Deadline, “Sorta Rican involves two siblings debating the realities of being biracial and their connection to the motherland.” As a brother and sister trade sarcastic quibs back and forth, the underlying identity issues of being an American Latino come to the forefront.
The scene is the first peak at what a “Sorta Rican” TV series could look like. In a time when there is a severe lack of Latino representation in television, Miss Angelina’s story from a female, mixed race and bicultural perspective is just the type of modern, Latino programming that audiences want and need.
“Sorta Rican” is streaming on https://www.nhmcshowcase.org/ until October 15th, or view it on this website, here.
About Miss Angelina:
Angelina Villapiano, aka Miss Angelina, is a multi-hyphenate artist creating music and comedy with a Latin flare. Her original Hip Hop music is streaming on Apple and Spotify. Her first web series "¡GLOBAILE!", was featured on the TV program American Latino and streamed with John Leguizamo’s NGL Media. Her short film "Boardwalk" was featured in the NYC Web Fest. Her latest series “Pandemic and Chill”, was filmed in Puerto Rico with a 100% Puerto Rican cast, crew and soundtrack and is now streaming on YouTube. Read more about Miss Angelina here.
Press Contacts:
Download .pdf Here:
WRITER
Miss Angelina is a comedian, writer and recording artist based out of San Juan, Puerto Rico. She received her degree in Theatre from Northwestern University, and has been creating content focused on music, comedy and culture ever since.
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As an artist that writes, produces and performs her own material, she sees herself as the Latina version of Issa Rae, Michaela Coel, or Ilana Glazer.
She wrote and hosted "¡GLOBAILE!" - a music & travel web series co-starring DJ Tony Touch - that was featured on the network television program "American Latino" and streamed online with John Leguizamo’s NGL Media.
She has released 2 albums of original music on Apple & Spotify, and performed on VH1.
She wrote, produced and starred in "Sorta Rican",a solo show featuring her original music, that has been touring nationwide at notable venues such as the Nuyorican Poets Cafe (NYC), the Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival (LA), and Cinema Bar 1950 (San Juan, PR).
Her latest web series “Pandemic and Chill”, a raunchy comedy about the misery of dating during quarantine, was produced by her company, Nueva Productions, and is now streaming on YouTube.
Along with being a featured writer in the NHMC Latinx Stream Showcase, Angelina is also a recipient of the National Association of Latino Producers (NALIP) Emerging Content Creator Scholarship.
Download .pdf Here:
LIVE SHOW
Just like Chazz Palminteri's "A Bronx Tale", Nia Vardalos' "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", and Michaela Coel's "Chewing Gum", Miss Angelina's "Sorta Rican" started out as a one-person show.
After spontaneously picking up her life in the States and moving to her motherland in the Caribbean, Angelina had a rocky transition. What she thought would be bright island sunshine, salty sea air, and sultry conga rhythms turned out to be mosquito bites, power outages, and...fireworks? No, those are gunshots. Puerto Rico is not what she expected. And it turns out that being a Puerto Rican from New Jersey is NOT the same thing as being a Boricua from the island. When she started commiserating with her friends about her experiences, she realized that a lot of people have had the same experience - "Ni de aqui, ni de alla." (Neither from here, nor from there). In other words, too Puerto Rican to be American, and too American to be Puerto Rican.
She knew she had the material for a relatable, hilarious piece. And with her theatre background, she knew a solo show was a great place to start. She wrote a play weaving in her original songs, and told her story of using music a means to connect to her Latina identity. She debuted the play in her hometown in New Jersey, and then continued to tour the show in New York City, Los Angeles, Miami, and of course, San Juan, Puerto Rico at venues including:
With its universal themes of identity, culture, immigration and family, the show has touched audiences of many different backgrounds, races and languages, and has been critically acclaimed by the press.
Several entertainment industry professionals have attended the live show and encouraged Angelina to adapt the play to be a television series. And so with the support of her peers, she wrote the TV pilot. A scene from the pilot was selected to be featured in the National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) Latinx Stream Showcase.
LATINX STREAM SHOWCASE
The National Hispanic Media Coalition (NHMC) is a 35 year old nonprofit 501(c)(3) civil rights organization that pushes boundaries to encourage the entertainment and news industry to reflect the diversity of America behind and in front of the camera.
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In 2010, NHMC created the Latino Scene Showcase, a program that uplifts and promotes Latinx talent in the entertainment industry. Within the past few years, the program has evolved from onstage performances to full on-set productions. This is how Latinx Stream Showcase was born: a series of six scenes written by, starred in, and directed by Latinos both in front and behind the camera.
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Miss Angelina was selected as 1 of the 6 writers to be featured in the 2021 showcase. An opening scene from the "Sorta Rican" TV pilot was shot in Los Angeles with a Latino cast and crew. Watch the scene here:
FEATURE FILM
With the success of the long-running play and the momentum of the Latinx Stream Showcase, Miss Angelina is now adapting "Sorta Rican" into a feature length film.
The full screenplay, 1-pager, and pitch deck are all available for any interested parties that would like to collaborate on bringing the "Sorta Rican" series to the screen.
Please contact Nueva Productions for more details.