The live taping of John Leguizamo's one-man work, Sexaholix... a love story will air on HBO for those who can stay up late. The show, adapted for the screen under the direction of Marty Callner, will debut on the cable network starting 11 PM (ET) April 13.
The show which ran at Broadway's Royale Theatre was taped live, Feb. 22-23, at an HBO taping at Manhattan's Beacon Theatre — where the solo artist stopped last summer when developing the show. All three of Leguizamo's previous solo efforts aired on HBO and won awards.
Subsequent airings on HBO are 12:55 AM April 19, 1:30 AM April 24, 3:10 AM April 26 and 11 PM April 29. For more information, check your local listings.
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After spending the summer of 2001 making his return to the live stage with a short national tour of a solo show titled John Leguizamo Live (an RCA recording of the show is available on CD) the piece, produced by Robin Tate, developed into Sexaholix... a love story. The show began previews on Broadway Oct. 9 and opened Nov. 4, 2001. The production extended twice before finally closing Feb. 10, 2002. Director Peter Askin, who helmed Leguizamo's Mambo Mouth and Spic-O Rama reteamed with the actor for this, his fourth and final solo venture. Leguizamo told Playbill On-Line, "I think that's it. They're fun and I love them but I want to leave at the top of my game." To view Playbillon Line's Brief Encounter interview with Leguizamo, click here.
As in his earlier award-winning one-man performances, Leguizamo employs an "in your face" comedic style, covering in his words "relationships: dating, trying to 'get some', breaking up, break-up sex, make-up sex, marriage, divorce," and other topics including Latino history, childhood, family, and finally fatherhood, referencing his own experiences and relatives.
The Colombian chameleon who first caught the eyes of the theatre world with his one man show Mambo Mouth — which won him an Obie and an Outer Critics Circle Award — later took the Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance for his Spic O-Rama. His most recent stage work, Freak: A Semi-Demi-Quasi Pseudo Autobiography, garnered him a Tony nomination.
Also a viable film star, moviegoers may remember Leguizamo from recently as Toulouse Lautrec in Baz Luhrmann's "Moulin Rouge," in "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar" in drag as Miss Chi-Chi Rodriguez or in Luhrmann's "Romeo + Juliet" as a Virgin Mary-gun toting Tybalt. His biggest role came in the 1999 Spike Lee film, "The Summer of Sam."
