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"Music has been my hope. It has given me the courage to climb out of poverty and touch the universe," says Celia Cruz. With 20-plus gold LPs in a career that spans four decades, Cuba's "Queen of Rhumba" recently received the Nosotros' Golden Eagle award for "Lifetime Achievement in Music." Taking time out from a busy concert schedule, Cruz just wrapped "Mambo Kings," her first English-speaking role. The soulful love story-which takes place in New York in 1953-was scripted by Cuban-born screenwriter Cynthia Cidre, based on Oscar Hijuelos' Pulitzer prize-winning novel, "The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love." The film stars Armand Assante and Spain's Antonio Banderas, with Tito Puente as himself, Desi Arnaz Jr. portraying his real-life father, and Cruz playing the owner of Harlem's Club Babalu. Warner Bros. has scheduled a November release.