“Latin History for Morons” was inspired by bullies.
John Leguizamo’s hilarious tutorial on unsung Hispanic-Americans sprang from bigoted bullying his son, Lucas, 16, endured in his early teens.
At the show’s Broadway opening, attended by David O. Russell, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Julie Taymor and Patricia Field, Leguizamo said, “I was shocked that, in 2012 in New York City, this was happening to my son — at a very fancy private school.”
Though Lucas is a central figure in the performance, Leguizamo “kept it from him” during the four years he was developing the project. Only last March did father invite son to the show’s off-Broadway run.
“I wanted to show it to him when it was perfect,” he said. “I was terrified the day he came to see it. I’ve never been so scared in my life. And he loved it!”