THE ELLIOT TRILOGY

ELLIOT, A SOLDIER’S FUGUE
In a crumbling urban lot that has been converted into a verdant sanctuary, a young Marine comes to terms with his father's service in Vietnam, as he decides whether to leave for a second tour of duty in Iraq. (Pre-order)

“Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue is that rare and rewarding thing: a theatre work that succeeds on every level while creating something new.  The playwright combines a lyrical ear with a sophisticated sense of structure to trace the legacy of war through three generations of a Puerto Rican family.  Without ever invoking current politics, Elliot, A Soldier’s Fugue manages to be a deeply poetic, touching, and often funny indictment of the war in Iraq.”
-The New York Times

WATER BY THE SPOONFUL
Winner of The Pulitzer Prize
Somewhere in Philadelphia, Elliot has returned from Iraq and is struggling to find his place in the world.  Somewhere in a chat room, recovering addicts forge an unbreakable bond of support and love.  The boundaries of family and community are stretched across continents and cyberspace as birth families splinter and online families collide.
Pre-order a copy. Read an excerpt here.

“All the characters in Quiara Alegría Hudes’ compassionate follow-up to “Elliot: A Soldier's Fugue” (a Pulitzer finalist) are seeking a kind of visa -- one that will allow them to make it to a safe haven in a messed-up world. Everyone in the play is living day to day -- or spoonful by spoonful, to echo Hudes’ poignant metaphor -- enabled, hindered, and supported by an ever-interrelated reach of family and friends. The play is a combination poem, prayer and app on how to cope in an age of uncertainty, speed and chaos. When cyber meets the real world, anger gives way to forgiveness and resistance becomes redemption; the heart of the play opens up and the waters flow freely.”
-Variety

“This is one of the best new plays I’ve seen in years. This is a very funny, warm and, yes, uplifting, play with characters that are vivid, vital and who stay with you long after the play is over. A quartet of wounded yet fiercely bright characters who are trying to stay sober communicate over the Internet. Those who feel the web is a cold connection may change their opinion after they see the very hot limbo in which these characters live and interact.”
-The Hartford Courant

“Quiara Alegría Hudes is a blazing talent. Hartford Stage Company presents her new play, “Water by the Spoonful,” a world premiere, through November 13th. It, too, blazes with promise. Non-linear and fascinating, it is not easily followed but definitely worthy of both close attention and ultimate praise. Hudes studied music composition at Yale and writing at Brown. Her multi-faceted capabilities are obvious. The current Hartford Stage Production, a challenge to fully master with one viewing, is provocative and brimming with life.”
-Talkin’ Broadway

THE HAPPIEST SONG PLAYS LAST
On a movie set in Jordan, an Iraq War veteran confronts his trauma while filming a war-themed blockbuster. In a humble kitchen in North Philadelphia, a woman feeds her hungry neighbors and falls in love with a local songsmith. One cousin speaks out against a community tragedy as the other hitchhikes across the border on the eve of the Egyptian Revolution. A tale of two young adults who cross the globe in search of redemption, humility, and their place in the world, set to folkloric Puerto Rican songs.

World premiere at The Goodman Theatre in April, 2013.

OTHER WORKS

26 MILES
Eight years after a Cuban mother loses custody of her Jewish daughter she is given a second chance.  At 4:30 in the morning she kidnaps the sick teenage girl and the two drive west in search of a remedy and their divergent American dreams. (Purchase)

“Charming, spunky, and ultimately heart-rending... The car trip from Paoli, Pa., to Yellowstone Park is transforming and restorative.”
-The New York Times

“Irresistible family drama... The play's greatest triumph is Beatriz... Frantic, foolish and unapologetically direct, Beatriz is one of the most original and refreshing matriarchs to come to any stage in a long, long time.” -The Denver Post

IN THE HEIGHTS
Music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Book by Quiara Alegría Hudes.  On one Manhattan block, a bodega, salon, and taxi dispatch are anchors to the surrounding community.  Over the course of a three-day heat wave, this extended family of immigrants, dreamers, and workers will change forever.

“An extraordinary blend of old and new, a stylistically groundbreaking 21st-century musical... Immigrants and the children of immigrants have insisted that it’s possible to fling wildly divergent cultures and sensibilities together in a way that honors their origins while creating something altogether new.  In other words, [Miranda and Hudes] found a way to achieve in art what New York itself is forever trying to achieve in life.”
-New York Magazine

BARRIO GRRRL!
Book and lyrics by Quiara Alegría Hudes, Music by Bill Sherman.  9-year-old Ana fancies herself a kick-butt superhero who can save every broken heart in el barrio, but in the end she probably needs a little saving herself. 

“Let’s hope there are 401(k) plans for imaginary friends.  After all, their careers don’t last forever, as Quiara Alegría Hudes reminds us in her gentle, witty children’s musical... Tuneful, world music-flavored songs... Eschews conventional narrative thrills and chills in favor of exploring children’s creative and emotional lives."  -The Washington Post