Latest news with #Peruvian-born
Scotsman
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scotsman
Watch the surprise moment Fringe performer proposes live on stage
The couple's award-winning musical comedy is the first show they've put on together Sign up to our daily newsletter – Regular news stories and round-ups from around Scotland direct to your inbox Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... Two performers are engaged after a surprise proposal live on stage at the Edinburgh Fringe. Sergio Antonio Maggiolo got down on one knee to propose to his partner, Guido García Lueches, in the final moments of their award-winning musical JEEZUS! at the Underbelly Cowgate on Thursday night. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It was very overwhelming. We don't usually do speeches at the end of the performance, we usually run away,' said Guido, who said they had no idea about the proposal. 'So when he told me not to run away, I was like why?' 'It was a lovely surprise.' Peruvian-born Sergio and Uruguayan-born Guido met in 2019 and now live together in South London | The Scotsman Sergio first had the idea to propose when visiting his family in Peru at the start of the year. 'We'd been joking about it a for a while. Guido was in Peru, and I thought about doing it then. Then at some point I thought, well, we're going to the Fringe, that would be a fun thing to do,' he said. 'It's our first show together, so it just felt very special.' Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The pair's musical, which received a five star review from The Scotsman, is inspired by Sergio's experience of growing up as a queer person in a strict catholic society in Latin America. Sergio plays a young alter boy who falls in love with Jesus - and is battling his internal conflict in the run up to his first holy communion. Meanwhile, Guido deftly flits between the boy's family, the priest and Jesus himself. 'It's funny, it's sexy and it's silly. But ultimately it's about love, our love,' said Guido. 'We're making people laugh throughout the whole thing, but then at the end we kind of reveal that we're together.' Sergio invited some of their friends to show to watch the proposal, but Guido had no idea it was going to happen | The Scotsman Sergio proposed with a ring passed down from his mum. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad 'It was really to get that blessing from her. I think the fact that she got super excited about it, I was like ok maybe I will do this then,' he said. 'It's so cute. We're literally telling a story about your mum,' added Guido. JEEZUS! won the Edinburgh Untapped Award this year, designed to discover and support hit-making talent at the Festival Fringe.
NZ Herald
04-08-2025
- Entertainment
- NZ Herald
Supermodel Kylie Bax looks back on ‘wonderful' career highlights: ‘You look the same'
The nostalgic post brought back memories for Finnish violinist Linda Lampenius, who commented: 'Wow! I bought Clinique's Happy because of you!' It also prompted warm words from makeup artist Kristofer Buckle, who told Bax: 'You were one of the very first kind people I encountered when I first started.' The snap was taken in London at the studio of Mariano Vivanco, a Peruvian-born photographer who moved to New Zealand with his family when he was 10. He is a close friend of Bax's. In 2000, Vivanco moved to London to pursue a career in fashion photography and has become a very successful editorial photographer known for his work with celebrities including Cindy Crawford, Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Naomi Campbell, Eva Herzigova, Emma Watson and Lana Del Rey. Bax also posted a selfie with Vivanco, captioned: 'Two kiwis in London ... nothing sweeter than to see you.' In April, Bax shared a picture of her November 1994 cover of British fashion magazine Frank, which she said was 'one of my favourite covers!' In March, she posted two Vogue España covers from 1997 and 1998, saying the images made her remember the creative teams behind them. 'Every detail is manicured to perfection. Lighting, makeup, clothes and of course the hair, which was a very important part of my self image back in those years. The hair, movement & of course the all-important big smile.' Born in Thames, Bax competed in beauty pageants as a teen and was crowned Miss NZ in 1992. After being scouted in a shopping mall by an agent from Clyne Model Management, Bax moved to New York aged 20 to pursue a modelling career. Over the course of her career, Bax appeared on catwalks for fashion houses including Oscar de la Renta, Chanel, Christian Dior, Valentino, Gucci, Calvin Klein, Alexander McQueen, Chloe, Ralph Lauren, Prada and Miu Miu. She also modelled on the cover of magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Harper's Bazaar. Bax became a muse for American fashion photographer Steven Meisel, and appeared as the face of Clinique perfume Happy in a campaign shot by Meisel. Bax lives on a bloodstock farm in Cambridge, switching from modelling to breeding racehorses more than a decade ago. She has three daughters. Lito, Kylie, Dione and Danae Bax at the launch of Kylie Bax's documentary. Photo / Neil Gussey Earlier this year, Kiwi fashion photographer Neil Gussey produced a documentary called Bax and Beyond that documents Bax's career and rise to fashion fame. Promoting the film, Gussey told New Zealand Woman's Weekly he thought Bax's star power is often misunderstand at home. 'She was incredibly successful. She's the one that every top designer wanted on their campaign. She was extremely good at what she did and she's the hardest worker I've seen. She never stopped.'
Miami Herald
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Two Miami chefs, one family: Brother wins top award his sister won last year
Nando Chang, the Peruvian-born chef whose Miami restaurant Itamae Ao earned its first Michelin star this year, has just won a James Beard Award — the exact same award his sister Val won a year ago. Chang, who opened Itamae Ao in 2024, was named Best Chef: South at a ceremony Monday night at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. An emotional Chang thanked his parents, his wife Lauren, brothe Elvis and 'my favorite chef and sister, Val.' He talked about being a Peruvian of Chinese descent, an identity that was 'interesting and at times confusing' and of his love for his adopted country, despite the difficult times for immigrants now. 'I want to say I could not be prouder . . . to be a part of this beautiful country,' he said. 'Thank you, America, and thank you, Miami. ' He also thanked the James Beard Foundation for their commitment to diversity: 'All food is immigrant and immigrants make America great.' The Changs and their father Fernando opened the first iteration of Itamae as a food counter at MIA Market in the Design District (then called St. Roch Market) in 2018. The restaurant served Nikkei cuisine, a fusion of Peruvian and Japanese fare and eventually went on to open as a standalone restaurant across the Palm Court from its original location. The first version of Itamae closed in 2023 to make way for the future. As his sister turned to the opening of Maty's, her Peruvian restaurant named for their grandmother, Nando Chang focused on creating Itamae Ao, a 10-seat wonder that serves a meticulous and imaginative chef's choice menu of Japanese-Peruvian bites highlighting specially dry-aged fish. The restaurant is located through a separate door inside Maty's, and the menu includes stunning examples of sashimi, nigiri, anticuchos and aguadito, highlighting Chang's skill at enhancing Japanese techniques with Peruvian flavors. Chang had long wanted to focus on a more personal dining experience that was more elevated and intimate than he was able to provide at the first Itamae. 'It's something I've dreamed of for a long time, to go straight to omakase,' he told the Miami Herald in 2023. 'That's the kind of experience I want to provide.' In April, Chang brought back the original Itamae to take over the Maty's space for a couple of months. That residency is ongoing at the moment, but Chang is still intensely focused on the intricacies of the dishes at Itamae Ao. 'We want every single bite to make you go 'Whoa!' ' he said.
Miami Herald
15-04-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
What I remember most from my many interviews with Mario Vargas Llosa
When I once asked Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa how he wanted to be remembered after his death, he told me, 'I have done many things in my life, but I would like to be remembered mainly for my literature.' Fair enough — he was one of the greatest Spanish-language writers of all time. But many of us will also remember the Peruvian-born novelist, who died April 13 in Lima at age 89, for his political activism in support of fundamental freedoms. He was one of the most politically-active, best-selling authors in recent times, whether that meant criticizing the dictators of Cuba and Venezuela or President Trump's threats to democracy in the United States. Unlike many famous people who fear antagonizing part of their audiences, Vargas Llosa always spoke his mind. He understood better than most that the big ideological battle nowadays is not between right and left, but between democracy and dictatorship. He was also one of the most courageous intellectuals I have known, often taking personal risks to support his causes. In 2014, when he was 78, he traveled to Venezuela to support the opposition against the Nicolás Maduro regime. He had already traveled to Venezuela in 2009, and was briefly detained at the airport by the regime of Hugo Chavez. In 2011, when he visited Argentina to speak at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, protesters who were angry about his criticism of the Nestor Kirchner government threw objects at the bus where he was being transported to the event. He was not hurt. In one of more than half a dozen interviews with him over the years, when he was 83, I asked him what his secret was to remain fully active, and why he was taking so much time and so many personal risks to support his political causes. At his age, with his fame, he could be spending his time traveling around the world receiving honorary degrees and giving speeches wherever he wanted, I commented to him, only half-jokingly. He answered that it was part of his philosophy of remaining active on all fronts until the last day of his life. 'This is a way of life that, for me, is deeply stimulating,' Vargas Llosa told me. 'I don't get tired, even when I get tired, because I have the incentives to stay alive.' Retirement was never an option for him. 'Perhaps the saddest spectacle I've seen has been the people who stop living while they're still alive. That seems something terrible to me,' he told me. Death should come as something unexpected, 'a surprise' in the normal course of one's life, he said. When I asked him what he meant by that, he told me the story attributed to ancient Greece's great philosopher Socrates. Cautioning that he didn't know whether the story was true, 'but it's a wonderful story,' he told me that when the soldiers went to carry out Socrates' death sentence by forcing him to drink hemlock, Socrates was learning Persian. When somebody said to him, 'But they're going to kill you,' Socrates responded: 'Yes, but I'd like to die learning Persian.' Vargas Llosa added, 'It's a wonderful case in which death appears as an accident that interrupts a life that is in its fullness. I would like to die with a pen in my hand.' He told me he worked seven days a week, especially in the mornings. He never opened a Twitter account, and struggled with technology. 'I'm one of the last writers who still writes with ink and paper,' he said. When I asked him if his literature was mostly the product of talent or discipline, he answered it was discipline. 'I discovered from a very young age that I wasn't a genius, and that I had to replace my lack of genius with discipline, with work, with obstinacy .' Vargas Llosa will no doubt be remembered, as he wanted, as an extraordinary writer. But many of us will never forget his support for democracy and freedoms around the world. We will miss you, Mario! Don't miss the 'Oppenheimer Presenta' TV show on Sundays at 9 pm E.T. on CNN en Español. Blog:
Miami Herald
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
This celebrated Miami chef could win the award his sister won last year
A downtown aperitivo bar and a Peruvian-born chef in Miami have been named James Beard Award nominees. The James Beard Foundation has announced its 2025 Restaurant and Chef Award nominees, and Chef Nando Chang of Itamae Ao has been nominated in the Best Chef: South category. It's the same category his sister Val Chang won in 2024 for her Peruvian restaurant Maty's in Midtown Miami; Itamae Ao is an intimate omakase counter in the back of the restaurant. Also nominated in the Best New Bar category is the aperitivo spot ViceVersa, which opened last summer and is known for its aperitivos and pizzas. In January, the Beard Foundation's semifinalists included Ghee Indian Kitchen in the Outstanding Restaurant category and Café La Trova for Outstanding Bar. Neither made the nominee list. The only Florida restaurant nominated is Ômo by Jônt in Winter Park, which was nominated in the Best New Restaurant category. Winners will be announced June 16 at the Lyric Opera of Chicago. An Itamae takeover of Maty's Chang, who started the first Itamae restaurant with his sister Val and father Fernando, told the Miami Herald in January that he was thrilled to be nominated, though he wasn't sure a member of his family could win two years in a row. 'I feel like my peers respect the work, and that makes me happy,' he said. 'I'm starting to feel part of the change Miami is going through, and that's all my dad ever wanted, that we live out our dreams.' Starting April 10, Chang will be temporarily taking over the Maty's space, bringing the original Itamae concept back for about a month. The residency, as they're calling it, will offer some original Itamae favorites, including smoked and grilled fish collars and various makis and nigiris. Itamae Ao will remain open, offering its usual tasting menu Thursday through Saturday, while Itamae will serve dinner from 5-10 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday. Itamae Ao was also added to the 2025 Michelin Guide, along with five other area restaurants, in January.
