Paolo Montalban to Appear in Romance of Magno Rubio

The Romance of Magno Rubio -- Ma-Yi Theater Company's acclaimed, OBIE Award-winning production based on a short-story by the McCarthy-era blacklisted novelist Carlos Bulosan  -- will be presented for a limited Off-Broadway engagement with previews to begin May 19, prior to an official press opening May 27 at The Culture Project (55 Mercer Street) in Manhattan.

Directed by OBIE Award-winning director Loy Arcenas, the play "tells the tale of Magno, a short Filipino migrant worker who longs for love. Set in the central valleys of California in the 1930's, the play follows Magno's long-distance relationship via love letters exchanged with his pen pal Clarabelle, a woman from Arkansas whom Magno discovers through a lonely-hearts ad. Believing he has found the woman of his dreams, the young man fantasizes about their life together, only to soon realize that reality and dreams do not always align," state press materials.

An Asian-American, Bulosan himself came to the U.S. as a Filipino immigrant worker, and went on to become a celebrated writer whose radical activism and writings about the horrendous conditions for migrant workers in the U.S. landed him on Senator Joseph McCarthy's notorious blacklist in the 50's.

Jojo Gonzalez heads the all-male cast of The Romance of Magno Rubio in the title role, joined by Arthur Acuña, Bernardo Bernardo, Paolo Montalban ("Cinderella" with Brandy and Whitney Houston, Pacific Overtures), and Ramon de Ocampo. 

The production has set design by Loy Arcenas; lighting design by James Vermeulen; original music and sound design by Fabian Obispo; costume design by Clint Ramos; and movement by Kristin Jackson.

In 2003, Ma-Yi Theater Company won 8 OBIE Awards for the creators, original cast and director of its original production of The Romance of Magno Rubio. The show, in various other productions around the country, received a Jeff Award Best Play nomination and OC Award Best Play and Best Ensemble nominations, as well as a ALIW Award for Best Play for its production in Manila.

Carlos Bulosan (1911-1956) was one of the most influential of Asian American writers of his time. A Filipino immigrant, he worked in the fish canneries of Alaska and on farms in Washington and California. He eventually became an activist in the labor movement. The horrendous working conditions of Filipino laborers were fictionalized in his best-known work "America Is in the Heart" (1946). President Franklin D. Roosevelt commissioned Bulosan to write the essay "Four Freedoms" in 1945. Because of his radical activism, Bulosan was blacklisted by Senator Joseph McCarthy during the anti-Communist movement of the 1950s. His books include "Poetry from America," "Chorus from America," "The Voice of Bataan," "The Cry and the Dedication," and "The Sound of Falling Light."  

 
The Romance of Magno Rubio continues the 18th season for Ma-Yi Theater Company, described in press notes as "the leading company in the U.S. devoted to presenting work about the Asian-American experience."  Ma-Yi Theater Company is under the guidance of Ralph B. Peña, Artistic Director, and Jorge Z. Ortoll, Executive Director.

Performances run May 19-June 17 at The Culture Project-SoHo (55 Mercer Street), Tuesdays-Saturdays at 8pm; Saturdays and Sundays at 3pm, with the following exception: Opening Night, Sunday, May 27 at 5pm. Tickets are $40 during previews; $50 after May 27; students $25/$30; seniors $38/$46. Group discounts are available. For tickets, call TheaterMania.com at 212-352-3101 or online at www.ma-yitheatre.org. For more information, visit www.ma-yitheatre.org.