Florencia Iriondo's New Musical SOUTH to be Performed at Nuyorican Poets Cafe in March

A female-led, one-act musical about finding one's roots and the place called home, SOUTH is a nostalgic and uplifting story of a family leaving the southernmost place in the world, Ushuaia, Argentina, to start over in New York. Performed by the author and inspired by her experiences as a Latina in the US, SOUTH explores themes of family and belonging and is told with a pop-folk, South American score.

SOUTH will be presented at Nuyorican Poets Cafe, 236 E 3rd St, NYC, Thursday, March 30, 7 pm. Nuyorican is a cultural icon on New York's Lower East Side since 1973. Tickets at www.florenciairiondo.com/tickets

Written and performed by Florencia Iriondo.

With Federico Diaz (guitar) and Agustin Uriburu (cello). Music by Florencia Iriondo, Luis D'Elias, Federico Diaz. Book & Lyrics by Florencia Iriondo. Director: Tatiana Pandiani. Dramaturg: Chris Burney. P?roducers: Fran Kirmser, Marissa Quinn.

SOUTH (formerly "Back Home") was part of the New York Stage and Film Summer Festival 2021, was workshopped at The Eugene O'Neill Theatre Center's first winter residency and had readings at NYTW, HB Studio, The Core Club, The Players Club, Arts on Site, and a sold-out concert at Feinstein's/54 Below. An excerpt was presented at the 2020 BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop. Developed with grants from the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council, in partnership with the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. Running time 75 minutes.

Tickets at www.florenciairiondo.com/tickets

Says show creator Florencia Iriondo, "With SOUTH is like I welcome you to my living room to reminisce stories from our childhood, wherever and whatever home is to you. On stage I'm joined by my two Argentinian musicians and good friends. It's fun, intimate, uplifting, and minimalist, to maximize connection. My hope is to transport you to a South American hang with friends and family. I can't wait to bring SOUTH to the iconic Nuyorican Poets Cafe. With its wooden floors and casual setup, it's just like being at mi Abuela's house in Argentina. Mágico!"

Performed by Florencia Iriondo with Federico Diaz on guitar and Agustin Uriburu on cello. Book, music, and lyrics by Florencia Iriondo (NYSAF & The O'Neill artist-in-residence, BMI Musical Theatre Workshop lyricist, LinkedIn's first showrunner, Dramatist Guild). Music by Luis D'Elias (New York Innovative Theater Award winner) and Federico Diaz (University Mozarteum Salzburg). Dramaturg: Chris Burney (NYSAF). Director: Tatiana Pandiani (Assoc Director: Lempicka, What the Constitution Means to Me). Producers: Tony Award-winning producer Fran Kirmser and Co-Founder, Quinvita Enterprises, Marissa Quinn. More: florenciairiondo.com/south

About the team:

Florencia Iriondo

(Book, Music, Lyrics, Performer) Born and raised in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Florencia lived in New Zealand and Ireland and has been in NYC since 2013. Artist-in-residence at New York Stage and Film, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, a lyricist at the Tony-Honored BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Advanced Workshop, a Lower Manhattan Cultural Council and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs Creative Engagement grant recipient, and a member of The Dramatists Guild. SOUTH, her original musical about family and belonging was workshopped at NYSAF, The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center; a staged reading directed by Tatiana Pandiani at NYTW, readings at HB Studio, Core Club, Arts on Site, The Players Club. The music debuted by curation at a sold-out concert at Feinstein's/54 Below in 2019. Florencia's previous song cycle "Who's Flo" was awarded by the Global Music Awards and the Hollywood Songwriting Contest. Florencia is LinkedIn's first showrunner and founder of original video. She studied at Estudio Julio Bocca, Stella Adler Studio, and Universidad Austral, Argentina. florenciairiondo.com

Federico Díaz

(Music, Arrangements, Guitarist) Born in Mendoza, Argentina, Federico Díaz is an upcoming versatile musician of the new generation of guitarists with a multi-faceted career as a performing artist, arranger, and composer in the classical and popular music worlds. His performances have taken him to distinguished festivals and concert halls in the US, Europe, and Latin America. His passion for chamber music, tango, and folklore led him to collaborate with musicians such as Lionel Cottet, Philippe Quint, Daniel Binelli, and Juan Falú, among others. The most recent project with Juana Luna was a collaboration with the NY Philharmonic Bandwagon Series. Federico studied at the University Mozarteum Salzburg with Eliot Fisk and at Manhattan School of Music with David Starobin. Recently, he completed the highly selective Doctor ?s Degree in Performance, at the Graduate Center CUNY under the guidance of Frederic Hand.

Luis D'Elias

(Music) is a New York Innovative Theater Award winner and Berklee graduate. Born in Caracas, Venezuela and an Electronics Engineering graduate, Luis has been involved in all aspects of music since his early days as a progressive rock guitarist, keen on combining Venezuelan traditions with the energy of rock and metal. Later, he went on to graduate from Berklee College of Music as a film composer and electronic producer, while performing, arranging, and collaborating with all sorts of artists, including A.R. Rahman, Alejandro Sanz, and Marcos Valle. His band, New Caracas, has been featured in Billboard magazine and most recently released their second production, NOS: an album inspired in the Latin American Diaspora. luisdelias.com/

Agustin Uriburu

(Cellist) is a Grammy Award-winning Brooklyn-based, Argentinian cellist, guitarist, composer, and arranger. He often collaborates with Puerto Rican Grammy-winning rapper Residente, and he recently recorded in the Latin Grammy-winning song 'Antes Que el Mundo se Acabe'. Other artists he has collaborated with are Jazz Pianist & Composer Uri Caine; violinist Mark Feldman; Former Piazzolla´s and Pugliese´s bandoneon-player Daniel Binelli; Jazz Pianist, Leo Genovese; Yotam Ben-Or Quartet. Agustin has toured in the US, South Korea, Colombia, Costa Rica and performed in the most outstanding Concert Halls in Argentina.

Tatiana Pandiani

(Director) Tatiana is a director-choreographer and writer who works in English and Spanish. She serves as the Associate Director for the First National Broadway tour of What the Constitution Means to Me by Heidi Schreck which recently closed on Broadway. She has developed Azul, Otra Vez [Blue, Revisited] at Musical Theater Factory, Tofte Lake, NYTW, BRIC, The Drama League. Upcoming: Torera by Monet-Hurst Mendoza (Long Wharf Theater), LEMPICKA (Associate Director to Rachel Chavkin, La Jolla Playhouse), Whitewashed by Hannah Benitez (Island City Stage), and many stops of the Constitution tour. Tatiana is an adjunct professor at Hofstra University, a Teaching Artist at the Atlantic Theater Company and an Associate Artist at Miami New Drama. She is an alumna of the NYTW 2050 Fellowship, and a 2018 recipient of the National Directors Fellowship. MFA: Columbia. Proud Member of SDC. tatianapandiani.com

Fran Kirmser

(Producer) is a two-time Tony Award-winning producer whose credits include; The 2009 Tony Award winner for Best Musical Revival, HAIR, the 2013 Tony Award winner for Best Revival of a play WHO'S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf?, GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS starring Al Pacino, and the world premiere of August Wilson's RADIO GOLF, the last play and final chapter in an epic ten-play cycle by Wilson, one of our nation's greatest playwrights. Kirmser conceived a sports series for stage off the heels of the 2008 financial crash to explore themes of leadership, teamwork and resilience beginning first with the play LOMBARDI followed by MAGIC/BIRD and BRONX BOMBERS. More recently, she produced a political series called AMERICAN SCOREBOARD that has performed nationally since 2016. Kirmser is an author and educator and a graduate of Skidmore College and Cornell University. www.FranKirmser.com

Marissa Quinn (Producer) has been active in the creative arts for over a decade. Ms. Quinn is Chief Creative Officer and Co-founder of Quinvita Enterprises LLC, an investment firm focused on investments in the creative arts and lifestyle sectors. Ms. Quinn was a producer of BRONX BOMBERS and was represented in Broadway productions of ANNIE, the Tony award-winning revival of WHO'S AFRAID OF Virginia Woolf?, and GLENGARRY GLEN ROSS starring Al Pacino. Ms. Quinn also oversees Quinvita's investments in the music, event management, and hospitality sectors. Prior to founding Quinvita, Ms. Quinn was co-founder of an online contemporary women's fashion retailer.

Nuyorican Poets Cafe

A cultural icon on New York's Lower East Side since 1973, Nuyorican's Theater Program has been honored with an OBIE Grant for Excellence in Theater. Over the last 40 years, the Nuyorican Poets Cafe has served as a home for groundbreaking works of poetry, music, theater, and visual arts. A multicultural and multi-arts institution, the Cafe gives voice to a diverse group of rising poets, actors, filmmakers, and musicians.

The Cafe champions the use of poetry, jazz, theater, hip-hop, and spoken word as means of social empowerment for minority and underprivileged artists. Our community of spectators, artists, and students is a reflection of New York City's diverse population; Allen Ginsberg called the Cafe "the most integrated place on the planet.

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