Longtime Chicago playwright Tanya Saracho is moving to ShondaLand. She announced on Instagram Wednesday that she will be a writer on ABC’s “How to Get Away With Murder” for its upcoming season.
“It makes me super proud and happy to announce that I will be joining the #HOWTOGETAWAYWITHMURDER writers room!” she posted next to a logo from the show. “I am too too hyped!!!”
She will be a co-producer on the show. This is a big career move for Saracho: On TV, it doesn’t get more high-profile than Shonda Rhimes.
Saracho spent the last two years burnishing her reputation as a writer and producer for the critically acclaimed HBO series “Looking.” She also appeared on an episode of “Looking” this season playing the memorably charismatic Ceci, the straight-talking cousin to Raul Castillo’s Richie.
Previously, Saracho logged time in the “Girls” writers room with Lena Dunham and wrote for “Devious Maids” for Lifetime.
A native of Los Mochis, Mexico, and a Boston University alum, Saracho came to Chicago to pursue playwriting full-time after college. She is a co-founder of Teatro Luna, which produced several of her plays. Her work has also been produced by other companies in town, including the Goodman Theatre.
Saracho frequently talks about her emotional connection to Chicago, which is why she still retains an apartment here despite spending much of her time elsewhere for work.
Network schedules are often double that of cable seasons. The gig on “How to Get Away with Murder” (which is executive produced by Chicago native Rhimes and her production company ShondaLand) might prove to be the final push for Saracho to officially relocate. “I don’t know if I can keep an empty apartment anymore,” she told me last week.
Meanwhile, Saracho signed a deal with HBO last year to create a show based on her play “Mala Hierba,” which debuted off-Broadway last year. She tells me she is in the middle of development on that. Variety called the play a “smartly entertaining” story about the trophy wife of a drug kingpin, set in a border town between Texas and Mexico (a region, incidentally, where Saracho spent her childhood).
Saracho is scheduled to be in Chicago Thursday for the inaugural Lake FX Summit and Expo, where she will speak at a 5:30 p.m. panel on the topic of incubating a career in Chicago. Go here for more information.
nmetz@tribpub.com
Twitter @NinaMetzNews
