THE RED ROSE Will Make Manhattan Premiere at Pregones/PRTT

Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater has announced the Manhattan Premiere of its award-winning musical The Red Rose, conceived and directed by the Doris Duke Artist Rosalba Rolón with music by Desmar Guevara, additional music by Danny Rivera, and choreography by Yaraní del Valle. The Red Rose pays homage to Afro Puerto Rican luminary Jesús Colón —a foundational figure in Puerto Rican/Latiné New York and influential chronicler of the early Pan-Caribbean migrant experience. Performances will run Off-Broadway November 30, 2023, to January 7, 2024, at Puerto Rican Traveling Theater on West 47th Street. The production will feature a reimagined design and musical arrangements along with a new cast of performers.

The Red Rose centers its narrative on a fateful encounter between Colón and undercover FBI agent Mildred Blauvelt, and their subsequent face-off before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in 1959. The Red Rose creates a world that goes beyond realistic conventions as movement, gesture, and dialogue develop in tandem–combining literary and popular sources, HUAC transcripts and recordings, Colón's private letters, along with his published articles and stories, and press coverage of the Blauvelt episode along with a treasure trove of original songs.

The show had its World Premiere at Pregones Theater in The Bronx in 2005. Of the new 2023 staging, Director Rosalba Rolón says: “We have dreamed of re-conceptualizing The Red Rose to fit the historic stage of the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater for some time. With this new version, we are proud to welcome new generations of Pregones' artists and audiences to the world of Jesús Colón's pioneering activism and writings, at a time when his work and his journey are more relevant than ever before.”

Cast: John Cencio Burgos, José Joaquín García, Anna Malavé, Mario Mattei, Claudia Ramos Jordán, Jenyvette Vega. Creative team: Lucrecia Briceño, Lighting Designer; Harry Nadal, Costume Designer; Raúl Abrego, Set Designer; Eamonn Farrell, Projections; Eduardo Reséndiz Gómez, Sound Designer; Yaraní del Valle Piñero, Assistant Director & Choreographer. 

Original illustration by Jeison Rivera. Archival cast photo from 2007 festival production by Michael Palma Mmir. For additional information, contact Rosanna Plasencia (646-406-2502, rosanna@stratahbee.com) or write to info@pregones.org. 

DATES: November 30, 2023-January 7, 2024 

LOCATION: Puerto Rican Traveling Theater

TICKETS: Starting at $25 — TICKET BUNDLES and MEMBERSHIPS available, best prices! All tickets online at PregonesPRTT.org or by phone at 718-585-1202

DISCOUNTS: Members, Groups, Seniors, Students, Zip Tickets – Restrictions Apply

Pregones/PRTT's Mainstage is 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

ABOUT ROSALBA ROLÓN

Rosalba Rolón is a revered visionary and a passionate creator of musical theater that celebrates Latinx voices and cultures. Co-founder of Pregones Theater and now Artistic Director of Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, she spearheads the sustained development of the company's Latinx acting and music ensemble, creative methodology, and original repertory. Salient distinctions include the United States Artists Fontanals Fellowship in Theater and Performance, Doris Duke Artist Award, New York Latin ACE Gold Award in Theater, Teer Pioneer Award from National Black Theatre, and Creative Capital Award (with Paul Flores and Yosvany Terry). Rolón's many theater credits include TORCHED! about the Bronx fires of the 1970s, ¡GUARACHA! adapted from the novel La guaracha del Macho Camacho by Luis Rafael Sánchez, Betsy! with Roadside Theater, We Have IRÉ with Paul Flores and Yosvany Terry, Dancing In My Cockroach Killers with Magdalena Gómez, among others.

ABOUT Desmar Guevara

Desmar Guevara, Resident Composer and Musical Director of Pregones/PRTT, is a recognized champion of new music idioms in Latin jazz, a composer of experimental and non-traditional music for live theater and film, and an in-demand pianist with numerous concert, touring, and recording credits. He has composed, arranged, and music directed dozens of ensemble theater productions of varying scale, from chamber to Off-Broadway. He is founding director of chamber jazz ensemble Taller Sicá, founding member of Afro Puerto Rican ensemble Viento de Agua, and has collaborated with many musical luminaries including Tito Puente, Celia Cruz, Tito Nieves, Xiomara Fortuna, Andy Montañez, Soledad Bravo, and Danny Rivera. Recent premieres include Grados Inefables, which delves into the esoteric symbolism and philosophies of Freemasonry, co-commissioned by arts presenters in New York, Colorado, and California.

ABOUT PREGONES/PRTT 

Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater (aka Pregones/PRTT) is a multigenerational performing ensemble and multidiscipline arts presenter operating with venues in the South Bronx and Manhattan's theater district. Its mission is to champion a Puerto Rican/Latinx cultural legacy of universal value through creation and performance of original plays and musicals, exchange and partnership with other artists of merit, and engagement of diverse audiences. Pregones Theater was founded in 1979 when a group of artists led by Rosalba Rolón set out to create and tour new works in the style of Caribbean and Latin American colectivos or performing ensembles.  Spurred by stage and film icon Miriam Colón, Puerto Rican Traveling Theater was founded in 1967 as one of the first bilingual theater companies in all the U.S. Following merger in 2014, Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater plays a decisive role in empowering diverse artists and audiences to claim their place at the front of the American theater. 

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