Pregones Theater’s current and forthcoming seasons are designed to showcase the ensemble’s craft with new and restaged works from our award-winning Latino repertory. Plays are in Spanish, English, or both, and we makes use of supertitles for simultaneous translations (like at the opera!). These are some of our recent productions:
El último rosario de Medea (Medea’s Last Rosary)
A new staging of José Manuel Torres Santiago’s urban retelling of the Greek myth, set during the nine-day folk celebration known as Fiestas de Cruz. Based on the historic trial of Puerto Rican actor Lydia Echevarría, convicted of hiring hit men to kill her husband and senten-ced to 254 years in prison, the action focuses on Medea’s torn conscience and the perverse fascination her crime awakens among the townspeople. Starring Venezuelan star Lupita Ferrer, the production won multiple multiple ACE and HOLA awards including Best Direction and Best Musical.
Blanco/White A send-up of immigration law and the American obsession with physical beauty, Blanco/White was written by Pablo García Gámez and a winner of the Asunción Playwrights Project competition. As the play opens, two dazzling figures in futuristic attire guard the entrance to an imaginary kingdom where appearances are all-important. When their routine is interrupted by an undocumented visitor it turns out nothing is quite what it seems. The play is co-produced with Teatro IATI in Manhattan, had two consecutive runs, and won multiple ACE and HOLA awards including Best Direction and Best Drama. Variety said, "a stunning visual delight that transcends language barriers."
The Red Rose/La Rosa Roja Starring international recording artists Danny Rivera, the play narrates the meeting of Puerto Rican activist writer Jesús Colón and undercover FBI agent Mildred Blauvelt, and their subsequent face-off before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1959. The show and its vibrant score won multiple HOLA and ACE Awards including Best Direction and Best Musical. The original cast recording was independently released by composer Desmar Guevara. The Red Rose has also been performed at the new Teatro de la Universidad in Puerto Rico and as an opener for TeatroStageFest, the Latino International Theater Festival of New York.
El Apagón/The Blackout This bilingual theatrical adaptation of the story "La noche que volvimos a ser gente" by José Luis González is set to the sounds of popular Latin songs from the 1950s and 1960s. Riding the subway uptown towards El Barrio, and eager to witness the birth of his firstborn, a Puerto Rican factory worker and his best friend face the Northeast Blackout of 1965. A paean to the courage, humor, and humanity of migrant experience, the show has been hailed by critics as "the quintessential Boricua play." El Apagón has been performed throughout the U.S., and in Puerto Rico, Slovakia, and Holland.
Betsy An intercultural music play marking 10 years of partnership with the Appalachian artists of Roadside Theater (KY). The story involves a Bronx Puerto Rican jazz singer who stirs up the little known history of her Scot-Irish ancestry. The production’s original cast featured Nashville jazz legend Beegie Adair, Old Time/Bluegrass master Ron Short, and our own Desmar Guevara. Co-directors Dudley Cocke and Rosalba Rolón share writing credits. Betsy has had two runs at Pregones Theater, and a touring engagement at the Zeiterion Theatre in New Bedford-MA.
El bolero fue mi ruina
(The Bolero Was My Downfall) Acclaimed adaptation of the story "Loca la de la locura" by Puerto Rican gay literary icon Manuel Ramos Otero. The play’s protagonist is an aging transvestite fulfilling the last days of a long prison sentence for murder. The production deploys the aesthetics of torch song and kitsch to convey a subtler message about love, abuse, and the relationship between perpetrator and victim. Since its premiere in 1997, El bolero has been performed throughout the U.S., and in Puerto Rico, Peru, Mexico, and France. The show is another perennial audience favorite.
The Beep
A musical theater revue featuring the poetry of Nuyorican legend Pedro Pietri, and covering nearly a century’s worth of Puerto Rican literature: Jesús Colón, Manuel Méndez Ballester, Judith Ortiz Cofer, and poet Elise Hernández. Their texts are matched to a contagious musical score that mixes traditional and contemporary Latin music and features plena-rap hit “Chiviriquitón,” performed
by guest star José Figueroa of Los Pleneros de la 21. Winner of the HOLA award for Best Ensemble Cast.
The Phone Call + Texting 4 Life 2 forum theater plays on the subject of domestic violence. Productions follow the interactive model pioneered by Boal. The Phone Call addresses the volatile intersection of violence, immigration, and the law for an adult audience. Texting 4 Life gives teenage audiences a chance to think critically about dating, healthy relationships, and the social applications of technology. Members from the audience get to intervene directly into the play’s action and determine the outcome. Selected performances are broadcast during Domestic Violence Awareness Month (October).
Navigate Ensemble
El último rosario de Medea. From left: Rafael Decena, Zulema Clares, Johary Ramos, Sol Crespo,
& Lupita Ferrer. Photo by Erika Rojas
Blanco/White. Johary Ramos & Carlos Valencia.
Photo by Jason Sturm
The Red Rose/La rosa roja. From left: Elise Hernández, José J. García, Danny Rivera & Jorge Merced. Photo by Michael Palma
El Apagón/The Blackout. Jorge Merced & José J. García. Photo by Erika Rojas
Betsy. A collaboration with Roadside Theater.
Photo by Erika Rojas
