Lauren Langbaum to Join Rafa Reyes for A MEXICAN AFFAIR'S Cinco De Mayo Celebration

Convergences Theatre Collective is pleased to announce Lauren Langbaum will be joining the special Cinco de Mayo edition of A MEXICAN AFFAIR. An evening of delicious music, candid stories, and spicy romance, created and performed by Rafa Reyes (Awarded Cultural Representative of Veracruz), with new arrangements by musical director Felipe Fournier (two-time Grammy Awards nominee; One time Latin Grammy Awards nominee), and directed by Jeremy Williams (The Woman Who Was Me). Ms. Langbaum previously shared the stage with Mr. Reyes in Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre's production of West Side Story, also under the direction of Jeremy Williams.

A MEXICAN AFFAIR will play Friday, May 5th at 9:30pm and will kick off the Rose Room at The Paper Factory Hotel in Queens (37-06 36th Street, Queens, NY 11101). Tickets start at $25 (VIP tables and bottle service also available) and can be purchased online at www.eventbrite.com.

Celebrate the relationship between Mexico and the United States and the beautiful cultural influence between both countries. An evening featuring popular Jazz tunes written by Mexican and American composers. The thrilling fusion of rhythms and musical influences invites you to take an adventure filled with passion, heartbreak, and a little dirty mambo! Featuring songs by Frederick Loewe and Alan J. Lerner, Jimmy Kennedy and Michael Carr, Ben Weisman and Sid Wayne, Agustin Lara, Maria Grever, Pablo Beltran, Consuelo Velazquez, and others. Created and performed by Rafa Reyes. Featuring special guest Lauren Langbaum, Felipe Fournier on vibraphone, Dan Martínez (Supermambo!) on bass, Hugo Moreno (The Filmharmonic Brass, Jarana Beat, The Gregorio Uribe Big Band, Le Train Bleu, Marlboro Music Festival) on trumpet, Joel Mateo (Chembo Corniel Quintet, Jan Kus, Mixtura, Oasis) on drums, and percussionists Guillermo Barrón and special guest Jonathan Gómez (Gregorio Uribe Big Band).

One Night Only:
Friday, May 5th at 9:30pm (Doors open for dinner and drinks at 8:30pm)

Tickets start at $25 (VIP tables and bottle service also available) and can be purchased online at www.eventbrite.com or by calling 718-706-8636. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Rose Room hour prior to performances.

Running Time: 70 Minute

Website: www.convergencescollective.org

BIOGRAPHIES

RAFA REYES (Creator/Performer) is an awarded cultural representative of his home state - Veracruz, Mexico. His love for musical theater brought him to New York to train at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy. Theatre credits include Joseph (Benjamin), Man of La Mancha (Priest), Once on this Island (Ensemble), Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel (Ensemble), and most recently West Side Story (Bernardo). Dance credits include Calpulli Mexican Dance (Principal), Jazz Roots Dance (Featured), Teatro LATEA's La Llorona (Featured) and BABEL (Ensemble). He holds a special award from the mayor of Cordoba, Mexico for his efforts in the promotion of Mexican culture in the United States. He became a producing fellow with Convergences Theatre Collective in 2015 where he created and developed A Mexican Affair. In 2015 he premiered "Fiesta" - a musical short film tribute to Ricardo Montalbán and Cyd Charisse. Rafa wants to become a strong cultural link between Mexico and the United States, and bring a positive impact to the hispanic community through the performing arts, on both sides of the border and beyond. www.rafareyes.com

LAUREN LANGBAUM (Vocalist) is thrilled to be working once again with Rafa Reyes and Jeremy Williams. She last worked with them at Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre playing Maria in West Side Story. She has had the opportunity to work at some of the best regional theaters in the country including Barrington Stage Company & North Shore Music Theatre. Later this month, Lauren has the pleasure of returning to the Carnegie Hall stage to sing in New York Lyric Opera's Night of Opera Scenes. Follow her journey on Instagram! @laurenlangbaum/@hightopsandhealth

JEREMY WILLIAMS (Director) is committed to excellence and innovation in the Performing Arts in the roles of director, choreographer, producer, educator, and consultant. He focuses on challenging and redefining the creation of new theatrical works, developing curricula and pedagogy, as well as leading professional development of educators, artists, and audiences. As a Director/Choreographer/Producer, he has led the creation of more than 50 original pieces across the country. Williams' approach to performance-making, consulting and educating is centered around Audience Engagement as a tool for artistic and business success. He is a leader in the field, developing and teaching frameworks that reimagine the ways in which performance makers relate to audiences and that audience experience performance. He is currently a consultant and facilitates learning communities for Engaging Dance Audiences for Dance/USA as well as Building Demand for the Arts for the Doris Duke Foundation.

As a director and choreographer he has staged plays, musicals, and dance in New York, regional theatre, and for universities. He is a frequent director/choreographer for the NYC-based Phoenix Theatre Ensemble. Williams' work has been seen at NYC venues: TheatreLab, The Wild Project, PS 122, Theatre at the Riverside Church as well as in readings/studio showings at The Vineyard Theatre, Gibney Dance Center, Shetler Studios, Space on White, DANY Studios, and others. Selected Regional credits: PIPPIN, Fiddler on the Roof , and returned to Stage West Side Story in the summer 2016 with Arkansas Shakespeare Theatre, Medea with University of Louisville, Touched at Kentucky Center for the Arts, and Handler at the Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder. He is the Producing Director/Founder of Convergences Theatre Collective. Current CTC projects include: Babel, an acro-dance-theatre production, Nina with Boris, a new play inspired by Chekhov, The Woman Who Was Me, a play for one woman by Peter Grandbois, and A Mexican Affair, a Latin-jazz cabaret. Williams holds an MFA Theatre: Contemporary Performance from Naropa University.

FELIPE FOURNIER (Musical Director/Vibraphone) is a graduate from the Puerto Rico Music Conservatory, in jazz and Caribbean music. He was nominated for a Latin Grammy with Charlie Sepulveda and The Turnaround, and nominated twice for a Grammy with Nestor Torres and Ruben Blades & Cheo Feliciano. Felipe and his band Supermambo! have performed in several venues of New York City including Subrosa, Pioneer Works, Coca Cola Dizzy's Club, 55 Bar, Barbès, among others. Based in New York, he also plays as a sideman with Miguel Zenon's SUR, Luisito Quintero's 3rd Element, Guillermo Klein, Jarana Beat, Williamsburg Salsa Orchestra, and Tres del Solar.

GUILLERMO BARRÓN (Percussions) studied at The Music Conservatory of Puerto Rico in the Caribbean Music and Jazz program where he graduated summa cum laude. He has performed with international musicians, such as Luisito Quintero, Charlie Sepúlveda, Brian Lynch, Oscar Stagnaro, Víctor Manuelle, Pepito Gómez, among many others at various stages and festivals in Mexico, United States, Ecuador, Puerto Rico, Canada, France, Italy and Austria. His album ¿CUÁL ES LA PRISA? contains his own songs and arrangements, and includes his main musical influences - Latin American music, jazz and flamenco. Guillermo Barrón is an endorser for Istanbul Mehmet cymbals.

DAN MARTÍNEZ (Bass) started on music at the age of 12 at Escuela Libre de Musica in Puerto Rico. Later continued his studies in Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico where he also started playing the upright bass, studying with bass legend Eddie Gomez. During this time he performed in a wide variety of bands of different genres, including Jazz, Pop/Rock, Salsa and Latin Jazz and Folkloric music. He received his Master's Degree in Jazz performance from the Aaron Copland School in New York. Based in New York, Dan performs regularly with Luba Mason, Jan Kus, Richard Padron, Supermambo! and many others.

JOEL MATEO (Drums) began his musical studies at an early age at the Escuela Libre de Música Juan Morell Campos in Ponce, Puerto Rico. He completed his BA in the Inter-American University in Puerto Rico and a MA at the Aaron Copland School of Music in NYC. His musical range has lead him to play live and record with International Artists such as Papo Vazquez, Miguel Zenon, Manuel Valera, Andy Gonzalez, Tego Calderon, Elio Villafranca, John Benitez, La Mala Rodriguez, and Paoli Mejias among others. Joel currently resides in New York City where he continues to play, record and travel with different artist and groups.

Hugo Moreno (Trumpet) has performed in several Broadway shows, Symphony Orchestras, Big Bands, Salsa Bands and Latin Jazz groups since moving to New York City. He also has appeared onstage with Paquito d' Rivera, Gustavo Santaolalla, Gloria Estefan, Carlos Santana, and John Legend. Hugo is currently the trumpet player for GRAMMY and LATIN GRAMMY winner Lila Downs, a founding member of New York based groups The Filmharmonic Brass, Jarana Beat, The Gregorio Uribe Big Band, Le Train Bleu, and is an ongoing participant at the Marlboro Music Festival.

CONVERGENCES THEATRE COLLECTIVE is an incubator for the research and development of new theatrical works.

Convergences Theatre Collective is a group of pioneering theatre artists and innovative teachers dedicated to creating original work and re-envisioning classics. The mission of CTC is to: Work as a collective: engaging in continual training, creating new forms of theatrical language and education, and cultivating theatre artists in a wide variety of performance genres through process, product, and dialogue; Create new theatrical work from an interdisciplinary perspective and to re-envision the classics for contemporary audiences; Challenge the traditional roles of theatre makers and audiencesProvide innovative training to current and aspiring theatre artists in a wide variety of performance genres through process, product, and dialogue; Create new theatrical work from an interdisciplinary perspective and to re-envision the classics for contemporary audiences; Challenge the traditional roles of theatre makers and audiences.

Provide innovative training to current and aspiring theatre artists; Create a community that is rooted in contemplative practices in and out of the rehearsal and performance workspaces; Produce work that is beautiful, challenging and entertaining for regional, national, and international audiences.

CTC is based in New York City, and our artists represent and reside in diverse geographic locations. We meet for training, collaboration, producing, and developing new work. We partner with additional organizations and artists as we exist as a community who share a common desire for successful, challenging, and thoughtful theatrical experiences.

CTC is the endeavor of Jeremy Williams to create an organization that serves the many collaborative relationships that contribute to fulfilling the mission of CTC. Williams provides leadership as Producing Director by setting the artistic agenda, leading creative strategy, and directing the producing vision.