Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater Announces 2022-23 Season

Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater's 2022-23 season brings to focus both the historical and personal in the Latiné and Puerto Rican experience, with a selection of four original plays from its acclaimed acting and music ensemble:

First up in October is Harlem Hellfighters On A Latin Beat: As the U.S. prepares to enter World War I, a group of 17 Puerto Rican musicians are recruited to join the famously all-Black 369th Infantry, bringing together iconic musical artists like James Reese Europe, Rafael Hernández, Rafael Duchesne, and others.

Next in December is Aloha Boricua: Following a devastating hurricane at the turn of the 20th Century, and facing displacement, Puerto Ricans migrate to Hawai'i at the promise of employment and a new beginning. Spring main stage performances start with Gabriel Hernández's Quarter Rican: Sitting on a bench in a modern-day playground, and joined by two musical alter egos, a first-time father philosophizes about his son's connection to his Puerto Rican identity. The season culminates in June with Torched! Alternating between present day and 1970's NYC, Torched! is a spirited real people's account of the infamous Bronx fires and the arson-for-profit business behind it. All productions will take place at PRTT, the company's Off-Broadway home located on 304 West 47th Street in Manhattan. Full show descriptions are below-tickets on sale now.

Zooming in on race, displacement, and plural identities, Pregones/PRTT's 2022-23 Mainstage centers Puerto Rican/Latiné experiences and sociocultural production over a span of 125 years. A contemporary ensemble and musical theater aesthetic brings long histories of protest and community nurturance into sharp focus, notably deploying a wide range of popular music including salsa, funk disco, ragtime jazz, traditional Puerto Rican bomba y plena, reggaetón, and hip hop. Four original illustrations by artist Jeison Rivera, frequent collaborator with Pregones/PRTT, were especially commissioned to accompany the public announcement of this year's Mainstage.

"This Season is akin to gathering around a campfire and sharing thrilling stories that have been hidden or cast aside," says Rosalba Rolón, Pregones/PRTT's Artistic Director. "Truths, some of them ignored for decades, or simply not made prominent enough, are captured in these rich productions in which drama, music, and imagery light up our imaginations. Let us come together at the theater and celebrate these moving, complex, and collective tales, while we also tap our feet and have lots of fun!"

The 2022 production of Harlem Hellfighters on a Latin Beat is made possible, in part, by a grant from Axe-Houghton Foundation. Pregones/PRTT's Mainstage is also generously funded by Ford Foundation, Howard Gilman Foundation, Shubert Foundation, and Scherman Foundation. Programs also made possible with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency; New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council; and New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. For a full list of our funders, please visit www.pregonesprtt.org.

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