Fans of Celia Cruz are in for a treat as Telemundo preps the premiere of a bio-drama series about the Grammy-winning salsa singer. The network recently shared a trailer for the series that will air this fall.
Celia, will star Jeimy Osorio and Aymeé Nuviola. The leading ladies will bring Cruz to live on screen during different stages of her life.
As noted by Vibe, Celia, directed by Victor Mallarino and Liliana Bocanegra, and scripted by Andrés Salgado, is set to premiere later this fall. The telenovela will reportedly chronicle Cruz's journey from pre-revolution Havana, Cuba to the powerhouse known as the Queen of Son. Cruz's husband, Pedro Knight, will be portrayed by Modesto Lacén.
Throughout the series, viewers can expect to hear classics like “Quimbara,” “La Vida es un Carnaval,” “Bemba Colora,” “Burundanga,” “La Negra Tiene Tumbao,” as well as songs from Cruz’s Sonora Matancera days alongside Knight. The Fox TeleColombia production consisting of 80 one-hour episodes.
Celia llegará muy pronto para llenar tu noches de música y sabor.
Posted by Telemundo on Thursday, August 20, 2015
During her musical career, which lasted over 50 years and during which she recorded more than 70 albums, Cruz battled racism, sexism and defied standards as a black woman musician in the 1950s.
“Most of us, at least those of a certain generation, know a lot about Celia’s later years, but we spend a big portion of the series delving into a side of the young Celia that most people probably aren’t aware of,” Glenda Pacanins, SVP, Telemundo Programming Strategy Integration, told Billboard. “Yes, she was incredibly talented and driven, but she also didn’t know what she was getting herself into […] There was a stigma at that time of women participating in the entertainment industry — they were perceived as easy or as someone who would walk down a bad path in life, so it’s interesting because it sets the stage for the woman that Celia would eventually become.”
According to Pacanins, the series doesn’t get into Cruz’s declining health or eventual death. Cruz died on July 16, 2003 at 77 after losing her battle with cancer.
