Miami Herald
The words of Nilo Cruz waft from a stage like a scented breeze. They sparkle and prickle and swirl, enveloping those who listen in both a specific place and time—and in timeless passions that touch us all...In ANNA IN THE TROPICS, Cruz claims his place as a storyteller of intricate craftsmanship and poetic power...[Cruz] has turned out many wonderful plays—but none more shimmeringly beautiful than ANNA IN THE TROPICS.
NY Times
In evoking the lost Cuban–American world of a Florida cigar factory in 1929, Mr. Cruz has created a work as wistful and affectingly ambitious as its characters. ANNA IN THE TROPIC reaches for the artistic heavens...
Variety
...enticing and exotic...entrancingly lovely...
School Library Journal
Gr 9 Up-This live audio performance of Reginald Rose's teleplay, Twelve Angry Men (1954), is the story of 12 male jurors who deliberate on the fate of a young man accused of stabbing his father. The presumed open-and-shut case veers off course when an initial vote shows a lone dissenter. Bullied by the others, he maintains a calm demeanor and raises questions about the boy's motive and background that weren't addressed in the trial. A second round of voting produces more doubt and heated discussions ensue about witnesses and circumstantial evidence. As hours tick away, each juror finds a voice-and the mob mentality that prevailed at the start gives way to a sense of justice. Just as the boy is unnamed, the men are known to each other only by their juror number. The jumble of male voices are indistinguishable, at first, but slowly become recognizable by their tone or accent, such as the opinionated racist, the empathetic Latino, and the slow-talking elderly man. The five straw votes serve as a clever device to move the plot. The full cast of narrators include some well-known actors such as Robert Foxworth and Hector Elizondo. In addition to the performance of the play, Reginald Rose's widow reflects on her late husband's career and other work, such as war movies and the TV show, The Defenders. This well-done audio presentation is appropriate for high school literature and social studies classes as an example of jury dynamics and the effects of prejudice on the jury system.-Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
From the Publisher
Earnestly poetic. In evoking the lost Cuban-American world of a Florida cigar factory in 1929, Mr. Cruz has created a work as wistful and affectingly ambitious as its characters. ''Anna in the Tropics'' reaches for the artistic heavens — specifically, that corner of eternity occupied by the plays of Anton Chekhov, where yearning is an existential condition.” – Ben Brantley, New York Times
“The first Pulitzer winner by a Latino playwright, Anna also does something common to many great works of art, new or old: It makes an unfamiliar place feel familiar. Anna in the Tropics makes a strong case for the transformative powers of literature. Willingly or not, all the characters absorb Anna Karenina, and their lives are changed by it. Cruz is also writing, however, about the importance of making time to savor the small things in life – ‘taking walks and sitting on park benches, smoking a cigar slowly and calmly,’ as the lector puts it.” – J. Wynn Rousuck, Baltimore Sun
“…In Anna in the Tropics, Cruz claims his place as a storyteller of intricate craftsmanship and poetic power … [Cruz] has turned out many wonderful plays — but none more shimmeringly beautiful ” – Miami Herald
“Deeply engrossing.” – Robert Hurwitt, San Francisco Chronicle
DEC 06/JAN 07 - AudioFile
Reginald Rose’s famous script about the real-time jury-room deliberations of 12 men on a murder case receives an audio presentation of mixed success. The more confidential exchanges are nicely presented close to the mike, and Hector Elizondo’s performance as the bigoted juror is quite memorable. A few drawbacks weaken the overall effect, however. In an audio format, a cast this large requires some differentiation among the characters. However, dialogue is rattled off at such a rapid clip and with such a consistent tone of stridency that it almost ceases to sound natural and conversational. Sorting out the characters and the plot points amid all the hurried talk at times becomes a chore. G.H. 2007 Audies Award Finalist © AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine
