Fil-Am producer Jhett Tolentino wins Grammy Award

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Critically acclaimed Filipino-American producer Jhett Tolentino won his first Grammy Award on Monday.

He and the rest of the crew behind the staggering musical “The Color Purple” received the Best Musical Theater Album at the Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, California, on Monday (Sunday in the US).

On the list posted on the award-giving body’s website, Danielle Brooks, Cynthia Erivo and Jennifer Hudson are the principal soloists while Stephen Bray, Van Dean, Frank Filipetti, Roy Furman, Joan Raffe, Scott Sanders are Jhett Tolentino are the producers, and Stephen Bray, Brenda Russell & Allee Willis are the stage play’s composers/lyricists.

“The Color Purple” bested contenders “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Bright Star,” “Waitress” and “Kinky Boots.”

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Iloilo-born Tolentino finished his degree in Accountancy before he emigrated to New York in 2004. Because of his passion for the theater arts, he established Joan Jhett Productions LLC with his partner, Joan Raffe.

BACKSTORY: Third Filipino Tony winner, from humble roots

Tolentino, 37, has become the third Filipino, next to Leah Salonga and Robert Lopez, to bag a Tony Award. Currently, he has three–one for “A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder” (Best Musical) and the two others for “A Raisin in the Sun” (Best Revival of a Play) and “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” (Best Play) in 2013.

He was also one of the Outstanding Filipino-Americans of New York in the entertainment category in 2014.

“I would like to import Broadway shows across the globe as my long-term goal, of course, bringing the Filipino talent with me,” he previously told Inquirer’s Ruben Nepales in 2014. “I cannot forget where I came from—a squatters’ area with no running water until I was 21. But I do not let it define me.”

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