Venezuelan-Costa Rican PERFORMER, OSCAR ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ, in the new production of IN THE HEIGHTS at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival

 Oscar Antonio Rodriguez is a Venezuelan-Costa Rican professional dancer, actor and singer,  who had his debut at the 2023 Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival in their  production of  In The Heights.  Co-written by Hamilton's Creator Lin-Manuel Miranda and Pulizer Prize winner Quiara Alegría Hudes, In The Heights follows the fortunes over 3 days of a tight knit community in the uptown neighborhood of Washington Heights. This production is directed by Valeria Cossu and choreographed by Chita Rivera's Dance Award winner Michael Anthony Sylvester.

The cast is made up of  artists from countries such us Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, and a many other Latin immigrant communities which  honor and bring to Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival the authentic Latin experience. Starring Ryan Reyes as Usnavi (Americano! Off-Broadway Production) and Danny Bolero (In The Heights, Plaza Suite on Broadway) as Kevin. Both have already played  these leading roles in previous productions of  In The Heights  which shows how passionate they feel about this story. Their combined experience includes credits from Broadway, Off-Broadway, film and Television.

Joining Reyes and Bolero in the principal cast are Luis Pablo Garcia (Sonny), Tauren Hagans (Camila), Daisy Marie Lopez (Nina), Solomon Parker III (Benny), Ralphie Rivera de Jesús (Graffiti Pete), Kevin Matthew Solis  (Piragūero), Jacquelin Lorraine Schofield (Abuela Claudia), Ariana Valdes (Daniela), Gabrielle Villarreal (Carla), and Chelsea Zeno (Vanessa); along with ensemble members Hugo Brument, Matthew Carter, Alessandra Casanova, Hector Flores Jr, Miguel Flores, Becky Joy, Anjali Kanter, Yoaldri Messina, Alex Osorio, Oscar Antonio Rodriguez , Francisca Tapia, and Marina Vidal. 

Oscar Rodriguez has a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He lived in Venezuela until 2010, when he moved to Costa Rica searching for new opportunities. It was there, where he took his first dance class, and to his surprise, it sparked his passion and desire to pursue this new interest professionally. Oscar started taking as many dance classes as possible and soon opportunities began to show up for him.  Seven years later, following a tough audition process, he earned a spot at the MFA in Dance program at the New York University, Tisch school of the Arts, and moved his life to the big apple.  Right after obtaining his MFA degree, Oscar made his US debut at Short North Stage in Columbus, OH, playing the acclaimed lead role of Bernardo in West Side Story; and choreographing the Salsation duet in  their production of Saturday Night Fever, receiving great reviews.

“Oscar Rodriguez projects visceral passion and proud masculinity as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks"

The Columbus Dispatch

“Special attention should be paid to the climactic dance to Salsation (a David Shire instrumental from the original) by Jon Yepez’s Cesar and Gabriela Selino’s Maria Huerta, choreographed by Oscar Rodriguez " 

Columbus Underground

In 2022, Oscar performed at several shows:   In The Heights, under the direction of Drama Desk Award winner  Stephanie Klemons; On Your Feet!, directed by Dana Iannuzzi and
choreographed by Sandalio Alvarez; Evita, directed by Will Pomerantz and choreographed by Marcos Santana; and a Pre-Production for New York City Center Encores! The Life, directed by Billy Porter.

In February of 2023 Oscar got the chance to travel overseas to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, alongside 16 dancers casted from a rigorous audition process, to make history performing the first Saudi Arabian musical production ‘Mu’allaqatna: An Extension of Glories’, a show written and composed by His Royal Highness Prince Abdulrahman bin Musa’ad bin Abdulaziz, to celebrate their Founding Day.

Oscar's career is not limited to musical theater but he has also participated in projects on TV and the Film industries. Performing in the opening numbers of the first two seasons of Dancing With The Stars Costa Rica; featured in Steven Spielberg’s remake of West Side Story and season eight finale of The Blacklist. In Addition, he had the opportunity to be featured in Rebecca Miller’s latest film She Came To Me, starring Anne Hathaway, Marisa Tomei, and Peter Dinklage.

Apart from In The Heights, Oscar performs with the New York based dance company Amanda Selwyn Dance Theater, and has many simultaneous projects going on right now, and he will soon be able to share them with all of us. Can't wait! 

www.oscarrodriguezdance.com
 @oscarantonio0704

To purchase tickets for In The Heights this summer at the Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, Click HERE.

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