LOS NUTCRACKERS: A CHRISTMAS CARAJO to Open 12/6 at The New BAAD

BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance proudly presents LOS NUTCRACKERS: A CHRISTMAS CARAJO, written by Charles Rice-González, directed by Christopher Burris. The play, returning to BAAD!'s stage for the tenth exciting year, interweaves two holiday classics, The Nutcracker and A Christmas Carol, and creates a queer, Latino play about a gay couple who go on a psychedelic trip through their lives one Christmas Eve. The play will be presented December 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 20 and 21 at 8pm, and on Saturday, December 21 at 3pm at the new BAAD!, 2474 Westchester Avenue in the Westchester Square section of the Bronx. Tickets are $25 with discounts offered for seniors, groups and Bronx residents and members of BAAD!, BCA and NALAC. For reservations call 718-918-2110 or visit www.BronxAcademyOfArtsAndDance.org. To purchase tickets online visit BrownPaperTickets.com. BAAD! can be reached by the #6 train to Westchester Square.

This gay, Latino comedic play centers around a couple, Carlos and Gabriel, who have been together for 15 years. Their arguing and fighting has reached the queer heavens from which comes a ghetto thug/diva spirit who guides them on a trip through their lives. They travel to the first time they met back in 1986 at a white party at the Palladium dancing to Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam to a catastrophic trip to City Center to see The Nutcracker, to a dinner party with Martha Stewart fanatics, and more.

The play also features a talented and sexy cast of Latino actors with Johnathan Cedano, Robert Maisonett, Gabriel Morales, Kasey "Papisongo", Johary Ramos and Jesse Vega. Los Nutcrackers spent three years in development at BAAD!, then had its premiere production in 2004.

Charles Rice-Gonzalez has written several plays including PINK JESUS, THE ARTIST and I JUST LOVE Andy Gibb. His debut novel called CHULITO is about a 16 year old, Latino thug coming out in the South Bronx and he co-edited the anthology FROM MACHO TO MARIPOSA: NEW GAY LATINO FICTION. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College.

Christopher Burris' New York directing credits include Kevin R. Free's A RAISIN IN THE SALAD: BLACK PLAYS FOR WHITE PEOPLE, which was a FringeNYC 2010 hit. He also directed Dennis A. Allen IIIís THE MUD IS THICKER IN MISSISSIPPI, a winner in the 2010 Samuel French Off-Off Broadway Short Play Festival. He has directed several short plays for Sticky at the Bowery Poetry Club, including FALLING OUT WITH GREGARIAN TUNKS, A SHADOW WITH NO FORM, LIFE'S TERMS, ...IN WHICH BISHOP EDDIE LONG LOSES HIS BATTLE WITH THE DEMONS, and GAGA OF THE DEAD. He is working on Derek McPhatter's BRING THE BEAT BACK scheduled for a reading at BAAD! in February 2014. He holds a BA from UNC-Chapel Hill, and an MFA from UC San Diego.

Crowned "a funky and welcoming performance space" by The New York Times, BAAD! is a 70 seat workshop and performance space that presents cutting-edge and challenging works that are empowering to women, people of color and/or from the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. BAAD! is home to Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre and the Bronx Dance Coalition.