LOS NUTCRACKERS Comes to BAAD For 15th Anniversary Production

BAAD! The Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance proudly presents Los Nutcrackers: A Christmas Carajo, written by Charles Rice-González and directed by Fernando Vieira. This year marks the play's 15th anniversary and the first year that Vieira helms the work. The play 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 playdates are November 30, December 1, 6, 7, 8, 14 and 15 at 8pm; Saturday, December 8 at 3pm at BAAD!, 2474 Westchester Avenue in the Westchester Square section of the Bronx. Tickets are $25 with discounts offered for seniors and students. For tickets call 718-918-2110 or visit www.BAADBronx.org. 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 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 actors. Returning from previous years are Jonathan Cedano (who performed in 11 of the past shows) and Yosvany Reyes (who performed in the play for in 5 consecutive years [2011-2015]). Each have played various roles. Returning from last year's production are Jonathan Cruz and Adriel Muñoz, making this production their 4th consecutive show, and joining the cast is Manny Lopez. Los Nutcrackers spent three years in development at BAAD!, then had its premiere production in 2004.

Charles Rice-González has written several plays including Pink Jesus, The Artist and I Just Love Andy Gibb published in Blacktino Queer Performance: A Critical Anthology (Duke Press). His lauded debut novel, 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 has won several awards, including the 2014 Emerging Writers Award from the Lambda Literary Foundation. He received an MFA in Creative Writing from Goddard College.

Fernando Vieira is an Ecuadorean-born, New York City-based award-winning director, actor and writer who works both on the stage and screen. In 2016, Vieira wrote and directed a monologue titled "Me voy porque puedo." Other directing credits include "Enrique," "Las Sirvientas," Jean Genet's "The Maids," "Pensamientos," "Las cuarentonas tienen derecho a amar," and in 2018 participated as a director in "48 Hour in...El Bronx" a theatrical collaboration produced by Harlem9 and Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. He wrote and directed a Spanish-language short film titled "La sospecha" in 2010. That same year, he debuted on the stage in an adaptation of Federico Garcia Lorca's "Bodas de sangre." His television debut was in the Telemundo telenovela "Alguien te mira." Other credits acting credits include "La casa de al lado," "El fantasma de Elena" and "Corazón valiente."

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 the LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) community. BAAD! is home to Arthur Aviles Typical Theatre and the Bronx Dance Coalition. In 2013, BAAD! moved from Hunts Point to Westchester Square and in December celebrates 18 years of being BAAD!