Hugo Medrano | |
---|---|
Nationality | Argentinian |
Occupation(s) | Director, Playwright, Actor |
Known for | Co-Founder of the Gala Hispanic Theatre |
Spouse | Rebecca Read Medrano |
Hugo Medrano is an Argentinian-born theatre director, playwright, and actor. [1] He co-founded the GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington D.C., with his wife Rebecca Read Medrano. The GALA Hispanic Theatre features Spanish and Latin American plays and has staged over 220 productions since its founding in 1976. [2] Hugo Medrano serves as the theatre's Founding Producing Artistic Director. Along with directing Latino theatre, Medrano is an accomplished actor. He received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role as Molina in El Beso de la Mujer Arana in 1994. Medrano's work with the Gala Hispanic Theatre has earned international acclaim. For his dedication to promoting Spanish culture in the United States, Medrano was bestowed the Order of Queen Isabella by Carlos I, former King of Spain. [3]
Hugo Medrano lived in Argentina for much of his early life. He attended Escuela de Teatro de La Plata and graduated with a bachelor's degree in Theatre. [3] Shortly after graduation, Medrano fled political violence as a result of Argentina's Dirty War which targeted left-wing political dissidents. [4] He reported that many of his friends were some of the students, intellectuals, and artists who disappeared as a result of the war. These experiences inspired the political themes of Medrano's early work. [4]
Medrano continued his studies in Spain at the Teatro Estudio de Madrid. He lived and performed in Spain for five years before immigrating to the United States. [3]
Hugo Medrano's career in the United States began at Teatro Doble, a bilingual children's theatre located in Washington D.C. [3] However, most of his notable work was done with the GALA Hispanic Theatre. GALA stands for Grupo de Artistas Latino Americanos. [5] Hugo Medrano co-founded this theatre in 1976 to deliver quality plays to the growing Spanish-speaking community of Washington. In its early years, the GALA Hispanic Theatre performed in a townhouse in the multicultural Adams Morgan neighborhood of the city. [6] Hugo Medrano produced and directed the group's first production, La Fiaca by Ricardo Talesnik, which received recognition by the Washington Post. Medrano would go on to direct, produce, and act in a multitude of successful productions over the next 40 years. [7] [8]
As a theatre director at GALA, Hugo Medrano faced challenges concerning the bilingual nature of his productions. To appeal to both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audiences, Medrano would often present two different productions of the same play, an English version and a Spanish version. [1] In some cases, this would require two different actors, costumes, or directors to perform these productions. Medrano found this approach to be inefficient, and the GALA Hispanic Theatre subsequently transitioned to producing plays in Spanish and providing English subtitles or headphone translations to the audience. [5]
Moving the GALA Hispanic Theatre to a permanent home in the Tivoli Theatre of Columbia Heights was an important moment in Hugo Medrano's career. The Tivoli Theatre was built in 1924 and quickly became a city landmark as both a theatre and a cinema. [9] The theatre was abandoned in 1976 but was restored with the help of a $4 million fundraising campaign started by Hugo Medrano and others. [5] In 2005, the GALA Hispanic Theatre officially moved into the Tivoli Theatre and Medrano began to work on new projects. With the help of his wife, Hugo Medrano created the National Center for Latino Performing Arts and has expanded GALA's focus to include concerts, dance, film, and other arts. [2]
In the Heights is a Tony Award winning broadway musical which featured music and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda. In 2017, Hugo Medrano and the GALA Hispanic Theatre hosted the first all Spanish version of the production in the United States. The musical is usually performed in Spanglish, a mix of Spanish and English. [10]
Hugo Medrano was recognized as a "Visionary" by the Mayor's Arts Awards in 2014. He also received an Immigrant Achievement Award from the American Immigration Council in 2014. In 2010, both Hugo Medrano and his wife Rebecca Read Medrano were named Washingtonians of the Year by the Washingtonian magazine. [3]
Raúl Rafael Carlos Juliá y Arcelay was a Puerto Rican actor. He was known for his intense and varied roles on stage and screen. He started his career in the Public Theatre before transitioning to film. He received numerous accolades including a Drama Desk Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award and nominations for four Tony Awards. In 2017, The Daily Telegraph named him one of the best actors never to have received an Academy Award nomination.
Jimmy L. Smits is an American actor. He is best known for playing attorney Victor Sifuentes on the 1980s–1990s legal drama L.A. Law, NYPD Detective Bobby Simone on the 1990s–2000s police drama NYPD Blue, Matt Santos on the political drama The West Wing, and for appearing in Switch (1991), My Family (1995), The Jane Austen Book Club (2007), and In the Heights (2021). He also appeared as Bail Organa in the Star Wars franchise and as ADA Miguel Prado in Dexter. From 2012 to 2014, he joined the main cast of Sons of Anarchy as Nero Padilla. Smits also portrayed Elijah Strait in the NBC drama series Bluff City Law.
Columbia Heights is a neighborhood in Washington, D.C., located in Northwest D.C. Bounded by 16th Street NW, W Street NW, Florida Avenue NW, Barry Place NW, Sherman Avenue NW, Spring Road NW, and New Hampshire Avenue NW. neighborhood is an important retail hub for the area, as home to DC USA mall and to numerous other restaurants and stores, primarily along the highly commercialized 14th Street. Columbia Heights is home to numerous historical landmarks, including Meridian Hill Park, National Baptist Memorial Church, All Souls Church, along with a number of embassy buildings.
Milagro, sometimes referred to as Milagro Theatre or Teatro Milagro, formerly as Miracle Theatre or Miracle Theatre Group, is the only Hispanic theater production company in the Pacific Northwest. Its home is in Portland, Oregon, United States. It was founded in 1985.
The Old Globe is a professional theatre company in Balboa Park in San Diego, California. It produces about 15 plays and musicals annually in summer and winter seasons. Plays are performed in three separate theatres in the complex, which is collectively called the Simon Edison Centre for the Performing Arts:
The Tivoli Theatre is a landmark building in the Columbia Heights neighborhood of Washington, D.C., on 14th Street and Park Road Northwest. Originally built as a movie theater, it currently exhibits live stage productions as the home of the GALA Hispanic Theatre.
In the Heights is a musical with concept, music, and lyrics by Lin-Manuel Miranda and a book by Quiara Alegría Hudes. The story is set over the course of three days, involving characters in the largely Dominican American neighborhood of Washington Heights in Upper Manhattan, New York City.
The culture of Washington, D.C. is reflected in its status as the capital of the United States and the presence of the federal government, its large Black population, and its role as the largest city in the Chesapeake Bay region. The presence of the U.S. federal government, in particular, has been instrumental in developing numerous cultural institutions throughout the city, such as museums and performing arts centers. The city's historic Black population has also helped drive cultural activities and artistic pursuits. During the early 20th century, for example, Washington's U Street Corridor became an important center for African American culture.
Young Playwrights' Theater (YPT) is a not-for-profit theater arts-based education organization in Northwest Washington, D.C. It provides interactive in-school and after-school programs presenting and discussing student-written work to promote community dialogue and respect for young artists.
Jorge B. Merced is a New York-based Puerto Rican actor, theatre director, and gay activist. He is associate artistic director of Pregones Theater, a bilingual (Spanish/English) Puerto Rican/Latino theater company located near Hostos Community College in the Bronx, New York City. He is best known for his role as Loca la de la locura [The Queen of Madness] in Pregones's play El bolero fue mi ruina [The Bolero Was My Downfall].
Manuel Martín Jr. was a Cuban theatre director.
Luis Salgado is a Puerto Rican performer, director, choreographer, and producer. His career has led him to Broadway, film, television, and stages around the world. He served as associate director and choreographer of Cirque du Soleil's Paramour that opened April 16, 2019 at the Neue Flora theatre in Hamburg, Germany. He has worked with directors, choreographers and performers such as Andy Blankenbuehler, Jerry Mitchell, Sergio Trujillo, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Patti LuPone, Laura Benanti, Patrick Dempsey and Diego Luna.
Karen Zacarías is an American playwright. She is known for her play Mariela in the Desert. It was the winner of the National Latino Playwriting Award and a finalist for other prizes. Mariela in the Desert was debuted at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. Zacarías is the founder of the Young Playwrights' Theater located in Washington, D.C.
The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is a theater company based at the 47th Street Theater in New York City. It was founded as El Nuevo Círculo Dramatico by Míriam Colón and Roberto Rodríguez.
GALA Hispanic Theatre is a theater located at 3333 14th St NW in Washington, D.C. It hosts plays in Spanish and English, as well as dance, music, poetry, spoken word, art and films.
As of 2016, the Hispanic and Latino community made up nine percent of Washington, D.C.'s population, and 44.9 percent of non-English-speaking households spoke Spanish. The district’s Latino population has been increasing steadily since the 1980s as its total population has declined. More immigrants from Latin American countries have settled in the district, and there has been an increase in births to Latina mothers compared to other racial and ethnic groups. Latinos living in D.C. are more likely to be immigrants than non-Latinos, and Latino immigrants in the district are predominantly from El Salvador, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic. D.C. Latino households are more likely to consist of a married couple than non-Latino households, and include more children.
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Henry Godinez is a Cuban-American actor, director, and professor of theatre who is committed to the production of Latino theatre in Chicago. He has also directed and acted in New York City, Kansas City, Indiana, Colorado, Washington, D.C., and San Diego. He is the resident artistic associate at the Goodman Theatre, founded and serves as director of their biennial Latino Theater Festival, and has directed and performed in multiple productions at the Goodman. Additionally, he is the co-founder and former artistic director of Teatro Vista, a Latino Theatre company in Chicago.
Jorge Alfonso Huerta is a Chicano scholar, author, and theater director. He specializes in Chicano and United States Latinx Theatre. He has written and edited several books specializing in Chicano theatre and is considered to be an authoritative expert in his field.