Su Teatro is the third-oldest Chicano theater company in the United States and the oldest theater company of any kind in Denver, Colorado. [1] Created in 1972 as a student theater group at the University of Colorado at Denver, it is now housed in the Denver Civic Theatre in the Santa Fe Arts District. [2] Productions explore the Chicano experience in America with an emphasis on preserving cultural heritage and advocating for social justice. [3]
Su Teatro was formed in a University of Colorado at Denver reading class in 1972 by faculty member Rowena Rivera. [4] In protest against the university's policy of placing Chicano students in remedial reading courses, Rivera focused her teaching on drama, asking students to read plays while also creating and directing original work. [5] An early production, El Corrido del Barrio, explored and protested the 1973 destruction of the primarily Hispanic Auraria neighborhood in order to build campuses for the University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State University, and Community College of Denver. [6] El Corrido del Barrio has remained in the company's repertory and was performed as part of its fiftieth anniversary celebration.
In 1989, the company established a permanent home at the then-abandoned Elyria School in Northeast Denver. [7] Supported by a bridge loan of $790,000 from the City of Denver, Su Teatro moved to the Denver Civic Theatre in February 2010. [8] As of 2016, the company had produced over forty original works devoted to exploring the Chicano experience onstage. [4] The Su Teatro Cultural and Performing Arts Center features a 320-seat main theatre, an art gallery, and a small studio theatre. [8] The company celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in May 2023 under the leadership of artistic director Tony Garcia. [2]
The Laramie Project is a 2000 American play by Moisés Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theater Project about the reaction to the 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Shepard in Laramie, Wyoming. The murder was denounced as a hate crime and brought attention to the lack of hate crime laws in various states, including Wyoming.
The Chicano Movement, also referred to as El Movimiento, was a social and political movement in the United States that worked to embrace a Chicano/a identity and worldview that combated structural racism, encouraged cultural revitalization, and achieved community empowerment by rejecting assimilation. Chicanos also expressed solidarity and defined their culture through the development of Chicano art during El Movimiento, and stood firm in preserving their religion.
Harkins Theatres is an American movie theater chain with locations throughout the Southwestern United States. Harkins Theatres is privately owned and operated by its parent company, Harkins Enterprises, LLC. The company operates 31 theaters with 487 screens throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, and Oklahoma. It is the 7th largest movie theater circuit in North America and the largest family-owned theater chain in the United States.
El Teatro Campesino is a Chicano theatre company in California. Performing in both English and Spanish, El Teatro Campesino was founded in 1965 as the cultural arm of the United Farm Workers and the Chicano Movement with the "full support of César Chávez." Originally based in Delano, California, during the Delano Strike, the theatre is currently based in San Juan Bautista, California.
Luis Miguel Valdez is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and actor. Regarded as the father of Chicano film and playwriting, Valdez is best known for his play Zoot Suit, his movie La Bamba, and his creation of El Teatro Campesino. A pioneer in the Chicano Movement, Valdez broadened the scope of theatre and arts of the Chicano community.
Phamaly Theatre Company, also known as just Phamaly, is a theater group and touring company based in Denver, Colorado, formed entirely of people with disabilities from across the spectrum. Phamaly was founded in 1989 by five people living with disabilities who wanted to create a theatre company that provided individuals like them with the opportunity to perform. Since their debut, Phamaly Theatre Company (PTC) has produced more and more shows each year, including original works which have received multiple local awards, such as Denver Post Ovation Awards, Westword Awards, and Colorado Theatre Guild Henry Awards. The company's season also includes various touring and educational shows.
Lincoln Park is a neighborhood and public park close to downtown Denver, Colorado and the location of the Art District on Santa Fe. The neighborhood is one of Denver's oldest and is just to the south of the area where Denver was first settled in the 1850s. Many houses date from about 1900. The neighborhood is sometimes called "La Alma/Lincoln Park" or the West Side.
Diane Rodriguez was an American theatre artist who directed, wrote and performed. An OBIE Award winning actress, she was known for using comedy to confront various forms of oppression, often with special attention to issues of gender and sexuality.
Colorado Ballet encompasses a 31-member professional performing ballet company, a studio company for advanced dance students, an academy, and an education and outreach department. Based in downtown Denver, Colorado, Colorado Ballet serves more than 125,000 patrons each year.
Alma Martinez is a Mexican-American actress, stage director, and professor of theatre. She is best known for her roles in film and television shows including the Peabody Award winning drama series The Bridge with Demián Bichir and Diane Kruger and Corridos: Tales of Passion & Revolution with Linda Ronstadt as well as performances on Broadway, Off-Broadway, regional theatre, Mexican and European stages.
Jerry Ruiz is an American theatre director.
Marisela Treviño Orta is a third-generation Mexican-American playwright and poet from Lockhart, Texas. She attended the University of San Francisco where she received an MFA in Writing. While she was trained in poetry, Treviño Orta began writing plays after becoming the resident poet for El Teatro Jornalero!, a Latino theatre company which focuses on social justice issues.
Anthony J. Garcia, known as Tony Garcia, is a playwright and the current Executive Artistic Director of Su Teatro in Denver, Colorado. He has written over 20 original plays and has served as Su Teatro's artistic director since 1989.
Tlaloc Rivas is a Mexican-American writer, producer, and theatre director. He is one of the co-founders of the Latinx Theatre Commons, which works side by side with HowlRound to revolutionize American theater and to highlight and promote the contributions and presence of Latinos in theatre. Central to Rivas' work is the Latino experience, but also exploring the American experience through the lens' of underrepresented voices. Rivas focuses on writing and directing plays that significantly explore Latino identity and history. Additionally, Rivas has also translated and adapted plays from the Spanish language and directed Spanish-language and bilingual plays such as Mariela in the Desert by Karen Zacarias and classical works such as Peribáñez y el Comendador de Ocaña.
Denver's Art District on Santa Fe (ADSF) is an Arts and Cultural district, encompassing hundreds of artists, galleries, studios, theaters, and creative businesses along Santa Fe Drive in Denver, Colorado. ADSF is a 501(c)(3), nonprofit membership organization.
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.
Los Seis de Boulder were six Chicano activists and students killed in two car bombings in Boulder, Colorado. The bombings occurred at the end of May 1974, with the name Los Seis de Boulder coined posthumously. The students were protesting the negative treatment of Mexican-American students at the University of Colorado, Boulder at the time of their death. Memorials to the bombing victims have been installed on the University of Colorado campus and in Chautauqua Park.
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