UF professor's off-Broadway production of "Dinner for Two" wins five Latin ACE Awards (New York City)

February 4, 2009

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — University of Florida School of Theatre and Dance professor Tony Mata’s off-Broadway production “Dinner for Two” (“Cena Para Dos”) won five of its seven nominations for the Association of Latin Entertainment Critics of New York (ACE) Awards.

“Dinner for Two” won five awards, including Best Production (Comedy), Best Actor (Comedy), Best Actress (Comedy), Best Direction (Comedy), Best Scenery and Best Lighting. UF graduate student Scott Cally won the Best Lighting award. UF alum Christina Gould was nominated for Best Scenery. Previous winners of the Latin ACE Awards include Julio Iglesias, Placido Domingo, Don Francisco, Celia Cruz and many others.

“I feel honored to be recognized and be in the company of such amazing talent in New York,” said Mata, head of UF musical theater and an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Latin American Studies. “I am proud of all of the nominees and the collective talent in ‘Dinner for Two.’ It was a joy!”

The Latin ACE Awards began 41 years ago and is the most respected award in the Latino entertainment industry in New York City. The Latin ACE Awards are held annually to honor achievement in Latino cinema, television, radio and theatre by an organization of New York-based Hispanic journalists and correspondents. Mata plans to attend the ceremony scheduled for May 3, 2009 in New York.

“Dinner for Two” was directed by Mata while on sabbatical in spring 2008 and presented at the Obie Award-winning Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre. In September 2008, the production won four Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) awards, including Outstanding Achievement in a Dramatic Production.

Mata has directed, choreographed and performed in over 150 productions, both in New York and in regional theater. His critically-acclaimed, off-Broadway production of Lorca’s “The Evil Spell of the Butterfly” was nominated for five ACE awards and won two, including Best Production. In addition to being a member of HOLA for the past 25 years, Mata is a member of Actors Equity, the American Guild of Musical Artists, the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers and the Association of Theatre and Higher Education.

Mata’s future projects include directing the opera “Tosca with Elizabeth Graham” at the Phillips Center on April 16 and 18, followed by the launch of the first season of Florida’s First Coast Arts Festival in St. Augustine, Fla., of which he is the founding artistic director. The festival will be produced by professor Kevin Marshall and the UF School of Theatre and Dance and take place on May 18-24 at the St. Augustine Amphitheatre.