Writing about societal issues may have not been what Steve Lopez envisioned for his life’s work early on in his career but it is where life’s path took him and he was wise enough to follow that destiny.
Lopez will be the first Hispanic American to win the award. He’s a four-time nominee for the Pulitzer Prize and the author of “The Soloist,” a New York Times bestseller that inspired a film of the same name starring Robert Downey Jr. as Lopez. In 2020, the Pulitzer Prize Board lauded his “purposeful columns about rising homelessness in Los Angeles, which amplified calls for government action to deal with a long- visible public crisis.”
When the original production of ‘1776, The Musical’ opened on Broadway in 1969 the entire cast was comprised of white men. In this new revival of 1776, the musical about the founding fathers on the brink of signing the Declaration of Independence, the cast is composed entirely of multi racial performers who identify as female, transgender, and non-binary.
Many traditions survive the test of time, others evolve, fade or are broken altogether. Through song, dance and superb acting that is what Fiddler on the Roof is all about. Trying to hold on to tradition as times and attitudes change in an ever unpredictable and evolving world.