Marc Anthony & J. Lo to star in film about Hector Lavoe

Well, I guess I have to acknowledge this. I'm not thrilled with Marc Anthony being cast as Lavoe, since, as a singer, Lavoe is in an entirely different league, and was doing something very different from what Anthony does. And from what little (admitedly very little) I've seen of MA's acting, I'm not too impressed. I'm surprised I'm not seeing more widespread complaints among salseros. Maybe people are just being realistic about it. I admit I feel happy simply that there is going to be a mainstream motion picture about Lavoe, especially at a time when reggaeton is increasing awareness of Puerto Rican music. But Puerto Rican music represented by reggaeton and Marc Anthony playing Hector Lavoe? Somehow one could ask for better representation than that. I certainly will go see it, preferably as close to the barrio as I dare venture.

(As I've said elsewhere, I don't by any means hate all Marc Anthony's music.)

Stupid headline.

Will salsa legend’s bio give J.Lo a career boost?
Ed Morales

January 1, 2006

Salsa legend Héctor Lavoe passed away in June 1993, but like most troubled entertainers who die prematurely, his legend grows by the day. His signature moment was as a member of the Fania All-Stars, performing the song "Mi Gente" in front of tens of thousands of fans in Yankee Stadium in 1975. When he sang to "mi gente" (my people), he was helping New York Latinos understand who they were - a people in a new land who refused to give up a sense of where they came from.

This month principal photography for a feature film about the life of Lavoe is being shot in New York and San Juan. The movie is called "El Cantante," after a song that Lavoe made famous; ironically, however, it was written by his eventual successor, Rubén Blades. "El Cantante" stars Marc Anthony as Lavoe and Anthony's wife, Jennifer Lopez, as Lavoe's wife Puchi. The director is Leon Ichaso, whose 2002 feature "Piñero" - about the co-founder of the Nuyorican Poets Cafe - created a visceral sense of Latin New York in the '70s.

The film represents a tremendous opportunity for Anthony, who has never landed a lead role, and for Lopez, whose recent acting choices have bordered on disastrous, to re-establish credibility in their careers. But let's hope their well-meaning attempt to dramatize the life of one of salsa's most beloved heroes doesn't distort or otherwise muddle Lavoe's place in New York Latino history.

The recent stage play, "Who Killed Héctor Lavoe," although somewhat oversimplified, was an effective re-creation of Lavoe's life because the singer who played him, Domingo Quiñones, never tried to outshine the man. As director of "Piñero," Ichaso was effective in pushing Benjamin Bratt, who played the drug-addled poet, to inhabit the role rather than create a star layer on top of it. It also will be a challenge for Lopez, who is a more accomplished actor than Anthony, to avoid drawing attention away from the main character.

John Ortiz, who has been impressive in Off-Broadway theater, plays a crucial character, Willie Colón, the charismatic trombonist and bandleader who teamed up with Lavoe to create a "bad- boys-of-salsa" image that endeared them to the public and helped sell the genre as cutting-edge urban music. Together, Lavoe, a native of Puerto Rico, and Colón, from the Bronx, epitomized the sensibility of the '70s New York Latino: one part country "jíbaro," one part street smart Latino. It's a paradigm that still holds true today.

Despite his considerable success, Héctor Lavoe died after a long struggle with substance abuse problems and deteriorating health. Like Piñero, his creative genius coexisted with tragic self-destructiveness. The challenge for Anthony, Lopez, who also is a co-producer, and Ichaso is this: Can the musical beauty and inspirational wonder of Lavoe be captured without letting his dark ending overwhelm the audience? We'll find out in August, when the film is due to be released.