Quiara Alegría Hudes (born 1977) is an American playwright, producer, lyricist and essayist. She is best known for writing the

book A book is a medium for recording information in the form of writing or images, typically composed of many pages (made of papyrus, parchment, vellum, or paper) bound together and protected by a cover. The technical term for this physical ...

for the

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the characters are interwo ...

In the Heights ''In the Heights'' is a musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican American neighborhood of ...

,'' and screenplay for its film adaptation. Hudes' first play in her ''Elliot Trilogy'', ''Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue'' was a finalist for the 2007

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

; she received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for her second play in that trilogy, '' Water by the Spoonful''.

Early life

Hudes was born in 1977 in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, to a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

father and a Puerto Rican mother. They raised her in

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

, where she began composing music and writing. She studied at the Mary Louise Curtis Branch of Settlement Music School, taking piano lessons with Dolly Krasnopolsky. She has stated that although she is of "Puerto Rican and Jewish blood", she was "raised by two Puerto Rican parents." Her step-father was a Puerto Rican entrepreneur. Hudes graduated from Philadelphias Central High School. She studied music composition at

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

, where she earned her BA in 1999. She subsequently attended

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

, where she received an MFA in playwriting in 2004. She is a resident writer at

New Dramatists New Dramatists is an organization of playwrights founded in 1949 and located at 424 West 44th Street between Ninth and Tenth Avenues in the Hell's Kitchen (Clinton) neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City. The members of New Dramatists part ...

and a previous Page 73 Playwriting Fellow. In 2012, Hudes was a visiting playwright at

Wesleyan University Wesleyan University ( ) is a private liberal arts university in Middletown, Connecticut. Founded in 1831 as a men's college under the auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church and with the support of prominent residents of Middletown, the col ...

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settlers as a town under its ...

. She returned in 2014, serving as the Shapiro Distinguished Professor of Writing and Theater until 2017.

Career

The original

Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer th ...

production of ''In the Heights'' received the

Lucille Lortel Award The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres ...

and

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newsp ...

for Best Musical. It was named Best Musical by ''

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

'' magazine, Best of 2007 by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', and the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors HOLA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting. In 2010, she was named a Fellow by

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

. Hudes's first

children's book Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. Modern children's literature is classified in two different ways: genre or the intended age of the reader. Children's ...

, ''In My Neighborhood'', was published by Arthur Levine Books, an imprint of

Scholastic Inc Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

, in 2010. On October 27, 2011, Quiara Alegría Hudes was the first Latin woman to be inducted into Central High School's Alumni Hall of Fame. In October 2016, a new musical Hudes wrote along with singer/songwriter

Erin McKeown Erin McKeown (pronounced ) is an American multi-instrumentalist and folk-rock singer-songwriter. McKeown's music encompasses pop, swing, rock, folk, and electronic music, as well as several other genres. Music career They grew up in Frederi ...

titled '' Miss You Like Hell'' opened at the La Jolla Playhouse directed by Lear deBessonet and starring Daphne Rubin-Vega.

Plays and musicals

''Yemaya's Belly''

Hudes' first play, ''Yemaya's Belly'', received the 2003 Clauder Competition for New England Playwriting, the Paula Vogel Award in Playwriting, and the Kennedy Center/ACTF Latina Playwriting Award and had productions at the Portland Stage Company (2005), the Signature Theatre (2005), and Miracle Theatre (2004).

''Elliot, A Soldier's Fugue''

''Elliot, a Soldier's Fugue'' was a

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made ...

finalist in 2007. The play premiered at Page 73 Productions at the Off-Broadway Culture Project in 2006,Hoban, Phoebe
"Theater Review. 3 Generations of Soldiers' Stories in a Melancholy Key"
''The New York Times'', February 7, 2006 and ran at the Alliance Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia in 2006. ''

'' reviewer wrote that the play was a "rare and rewarding thing: a theater work that succeeds on every level, while creating something new."

''26 Miles''

Her play ''26 Miles'' received its world premiere at The Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in March 2009, directed by Kent Gash.

''Barrio Grrrrl!''

Her children's musical ''Barrio Grrrrl!'' appeared at

The Kennedy Center The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

in 2009.

''In the Heights''

The hit Broadway musical with lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes won the 2008 Tony Award for Best Musical and was a finalist for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Hudes also wrote the screenplay for the

film adaptation A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dia ...

, which premiered in 2021.

''Water by the Spoonful''

In 2012, ''Water by the Spoonful,'' which returns to the characters in ''Elliot,'' won the Pulitzer Prize after its premiere at the Hartford Stage Company. In this play Hudes attempts to bring two worlds together through technology and reality. Water by the Spoonful consists of multiple scenes that take place in an online chat room and in the real world with face to face interaction. As the play develops, Hudes brings the two worlds together by creating turning points in the play along with connecting characters from different worlds to each other in different ways.

''The Happiest Song Plays Last''

''The Happiest Song Plays Last,'' the third in the Elliot trilogy, received its world premiere at the Goodman Theater in Chicago on April 13, 2013, and Off-Broadway at Second Stage in March 2014. The production then moved to Second Stage Theatre, and the production team included Ruben Santiago-Hudson as director, Michael Carnahan as set designer, Karen Perry as costume designer,

Rui Rita Rui Rita is an Obie Award-winning New York City based American lighting designer known for his extensive work On- and Off-Broadway. Career Broadway Source: Off-Broadway Source: Regional Rita continues to work regionally, including ...

as lighting designer, and Leon Rothenberg as sound designer.

''Lulu's Golden Shoes''

''Lulu's Golden Shoes'' was produced by Flashpoint Theater Company in Philadelphia in 2015.

''The Good Peaches''

Originally performed by 56 orchestral musicians, three actors, and eight dancers, ''The Good Peaches'' is a "girl versus nature musical play." It was performed in April 2016 at the Cleveland Play House.

''Daphne's Dive''

''Daphne’s Dive'' premiered Off-Broadway at the Signature Theater on May 16, 2016, directed by Thomas Kail and featuring Samira Wiley, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Vanessa Aspillaga and Carlos Gomez.

''Miss You Like Hell''

A musical by Quiara Alegría Hudes and

, ''Miss You Like Hell'' premiered at La Jolla Playhouse in fall of 2016. Called "An immigration musical for the new Trump era..." by the LA Times, the play is about a mother and daughter traveling across the country for seven days and addressing their fractured relationship.

''Vivo''

Hudes was the screenwriter for

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and '' In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...

's animated musical movie '' Vivo'', released on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

on August 6, 2021.

Filmography

References

External links

*
"Water by the Spoonful" Interview in Guernica, July 2012
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hudes, Quiara Alegria Living people American women dramatists and playwrights American people of Jewish descent American people of Puerto Rican descent Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni 1977 births Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Wesleyan University faculty Writers from Philadelphia Date of birth missing (living people) Yale University alumni 21st-century American dramatists and playwrights 21st-century American women writers Pulitzer Prize winners Hispanic and Latino American dramatists and playwrights Brown University alumni American women academics