LA LUNA NUEVA Festival of Hispanic Arts & Culture Held 9/12-25
By: Gabrielle Sierra Aug. 13, 2009
LA LUNA NUEVA - A two-week festival of Hispanic arts and culture from around the world
Held September 12-25, 2009 at the Milagro Theatre, 525 SE Stark Street, Portland, Oregon 97214
Admissions varies; many events are free; see details below. Purchase tickets from 503-236-7253, www.pdxtix.net/milagro or the PDX Ticket Network box office at the Hollywood Theatre daily 1-9 p.m.
MORE INFORMATION: 503-236-7253 or www.milagro.org
A festival of Hispanic arts and culture from around the world - 12 performances in 2 weeks - in recognition of Hispanic Heritage Month
ABOUT "LA LUNA NUEVA" (The New Moon)
In September, Miracle Theatre Group is pleased to present "La Luna Nueva", a two-week festival celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month. Like the new moon emerging from The Shadows, "La Luna Nueva" shines its light on new artists and new work across a variety of disciplines. Join us for passionate Spanish flamenco dance, jazzy Cuban filin music, bilingual poetry and songs from local authors and musicians, open mic nights and staged readings of plays under consideration for next season.
ABOUT THE LIVE MUSIC AND DANCE EVENTS
• Café la Puerta Sol: "A Night in Sevilla"
Two performances: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. • Saturday, Sept. 12, 2009 • $20 • Bilingual
Welcome to Sevilla and a night of wondrous flamenco dance and music. The evening begins with Sevillanas, a traditional dance from Sevilla, and continues through more sophisticated forms of flamenco, with solos from both dancers and musicians, filling the room with the rhythm of palmas and the spirit of jaleo. Guest artists include Melinda Hedgecourth (dancer), Toshi Onizuka (cajón and guitar), Mark Ferguson (flamenco guitar), Lillie Last (dancer) and Laura Onizuka (dancer). [See artist bios below.]
• "Get the Feeling ..." An Evening of Cuban Jazz with Jessie Marquez and Friends
Two performances: 7:30 and 9:30 p.m. • Friday, Sept. 25, 2009 • $15 • Spanish
Jessie Marquez has sung in clubs, cabarets, theaters, street parties, and on television and radio throughout Cuba. Her soothing vocals are a mix of North American harmony and Latin emotion that embody the Cuban genre called filin (a play on the word "feeling"). An offshoot of the romantic bolero, filin draws from North American jazz, Brazilian bossa nova and the Cuban familiarity with the many shades of love and longing. For her appearance at Milagro, Jessie will be joined in concert by friends Clay Giberson (piano); Bobby Torres (percussion); Scott Steed (bass); and Charlie Doggett (drums). [See artist bios below.]
ABOUT THE POETRY AND STORYTELLING EVENTS
• "Legends of Mexico / Leyendas de México"
One performance: 7:30 p.m. • Friday, Sept. 18, 2009 • $5 ages 5-12; $10 ages 13+ • Bilingual
Mexico is well known for its legends, myths and tales from the Aztecs, Mayans, Toltecs and Hucholes -- legends of love, nature and every day life. In this family-friendly bilingual performance, Nuestro Canto (Gerardo Calderón and Nelda Reyes) fill the evening with the magic of masks, movement and dance, songs and traditional ancestral music of Mexico performed live on pre-Colombian instruments such as clay flutes, chaj-chas, teponaztle and huehuetl. For ages 5 and older. [See artist bios below.]
• "Crossings / Encrucijadas"
One performance: 7:30 p.m. • Thursday, Sept. 17, 2009 • $10 • Bilingual
Poet-dramatist Cindy Williams Gutiérrez, with pre-Columbian instrumentalist Gerardo Calderón and writer/storyteller Lynn Darroch with Grammy-nominated guitarist Alfredo Muro, present Aztec-styled poetry and contemporary Mexican stories in a lively interplay with music. From the mythic voices of poet-kings in ancient Tenochtitlan to tales of encounters between modern-day Mexicans and North Americans - "Crossings" will transport audiences across history and culture on the wings of words and music. [See artist bios below.]
• Noche de los poetas (Poets Open Mic Night)
One evening: 7 p.m. • Tuesday, Sept. 22, 2009 • Free • Bilingual
Enjoy readings of poetry by Latino poets - both the canons of literary giants such as Pablo Neruda and Federico García Lorca as well as original work by local Hispanic artists. Audiences are invited to also bring their own Latino poetry to share in English or Spanish.
ABOUT THE FREE PLAY READINGS
Each of the following staged readings is directed and performed by local theatre artists to be announced. Each reading is followed by an open conversation among artists and audiences.
• Lydia written by Octavio Solis
One performance • 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 14, 2009 • Free • Presented in English
One of the hottest new plays on the regional theater circuit, Lydia is an expertly crafted, shocking play of discovery, a lyrical and magical meditation on family and cultural identity. The Flores family welcomes Lydia, an undocumented maid, into their El Paso home to care for a daughter who was tragically disabled three days before her quinceanera. The two women's mysterious and nearly miraculous bond threatens to expose long-buried secrets and destroy the troubled family. Mature themes.
• La conspiración vendida (Conspiracy Sold) written by Jorge Ibargüengoitia [subject to availability]
One performance • 7 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2009 • Free • Presented in Spanish
In this award-winning play commissioned in 1959, Mexican novelist and playwright Jorge Ibargüengoitia knocks history off its pedestal, parodying the events that precipitated the Mexican War of Independence, with an intention to demythologize the country's heroic insurgence through a unique tangle of adventures.
• Claudia Meets Fulano Colorado written by Portland playwright Joann Farías
One performance • 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 21, 2009 • Free • Presented in English
In the 1950s, the Mexican-American Mephistopheles Fulano Colorado tempts everyone in this small West Texas neighborhood with what they want but do not need: 10-year-old orphan girl Claudia, with a millionaire father in California; young wife Rosa and Tony with the money to cover Tony's gambling debts that threaten to consume their home; middle-aged José and Felicia the reasons to descend into abuse; and old Concha and Narciso the perspective to look dimly on their rich lives. In the end, he is run out of town, but only after everyone bands together to affirm and help one another.
• Boleros for the Disenchanted written by José Rivera
One performance • 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2009 • Free • Presented in English
OBIE Award winner José Rivera (A.C.T.'s Brainpeople, Marisol), the Academy Award-nominated screenwriter of The Motorcycle Diaries, returns to his native Puerto Rico to explore the ineffable dreams of lovers. In one of his most personal works, passion and humor collide in an exuberant village in 1953, where Flora's search for true love follows an unexpected course. A bold, moving second act, set almost 40 years later in America, probes the darker mysteries of marriage. This brilliant new work reverberates with the gorgeous sounds of Latin love songs, or boleros.
• I Am Celso adapted from writings of New Mexican poet-artist Leo Romero by Rubén Sierra & Jorge Huerta
One performance • 7 p.m., Monday, Sept. 24, 2009 • Free • Presented in English
Poet Leo Romero brought the magic of his regional culture to a national audience, not by merely describing traditions, but rather by evoking the complex and lyrical orality that lies so close to its collective soul. This one-man drama based on Romero's writings features the bittersweet reminiscences of Celso, an old philosopher of the barrio and local drunk who preaches "the holy gospel of the grape" and shares colorful tales of ecstasy, terror and adventure that range from a shocking desecration of a Sunday Mass to an encounter with La Llorona, the Southwestern Medea said to roam the mountains wailing for her lost children.
ABOUT THE GUEST ARTISTS
• Café la Puerta Sol: "A Night in Sevilla"
Melinda Hedgecourth began dancing at age eight in her hometown of Kansas City, Missouri. Her first love was ballet and as a child she started performing in local theaters. In college she was exposed to more diverse dance forms including modern dance and flamenco. It was during this time that she began dancing with a company run by David and Debbie St. Charles of Alvin Ailey. She also met and studied with Tamara Carson who gave her key roles in her flamenco dance troupe "Ole". In 1997 she graduated with her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Missouri, Kansas City and moved to Seattle to look for new opportunities. There she broadened her knowledge by studying and performing with "Carmona Flamenco." Anxious for more experience she was also dancing with groups in Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Canada as well as appearing as a guest artist in Kansas City. In 1999 Melinda began yearly trips to Madrid and Jerez to cultivate a more profound understanding of flamenco at the source. There she studied with talented teachers such as Mercedes Ruiz, Belen Fernandez, and La Truco. Five years ago she moved to Sevilla and began to perform in the local tableaus (flamenco bars) as well as participating in a series of performances of young artists held in the Centro Andaluz de Arte Contemporáneo. Although her imagination is spurred by artists such as Israel Galvan, (one of the most important innovators of modern flamenco today) she is also very conscientious about maintaining the roots of flamenco in her movement and expression. Today she continues her development as an artist in the cradle of flamenco but travels internationally to give workshops and performances as a guest artist or with her own group "Flamenco Mio".
Mark Ferguson was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania. He began studying the flamenco guitar in 1995. He has spent two years in Spain learning how to accompany flamenco song and dance. Mark spent one year as resident flamenco guitarist at the University of New Mexico and has toured with the Second Company of María Benítez. Mark has entertained audiences throughout the United States, Mexico and Korea. Mark has studied with many maestros, among them being: Pascual de Lorca, Flecha, David Serva, Chuscales, Juan Maya "Marote", Jason McGuire, Jesús Álvarez, Niño Jero and others.
Toshi Onizuka was born in Tokyo, Japan. At 20 years old, he began playing guitar. Inspired by the music of Al DiMeola, Paco De Lucia, and Django Reinhardt, Toshi sought to develop his own sound. Toshi realized that in order to achieve this, he would need to teach himself. He quickly became consumed with the guitar and devoted himself completely to developing his technique. In 1993 he moved to Sevilla, where he lived for five years. Based in Sevilla, Toshi immersed himself in the Spanish music scene, playing with as many musicians as he could, traveling to different parts of the country as well as Morocco. Two of those years Toshi spent performing and touring with the internationally acclaimed Flamenco fusion group Pata Negra. While in Spain, Toshi developed a fascination with rhythm which can be heard in his playing today. In 1997 he released his first solo CD, "Toshi", an effort that featured musicians from Spain and Brazil and included all original songs written and produced by Toshi. Toshi has appeared on the recordings of various artists including the internationally acclaimed singer Gino Vanelli. He has collaborated with a variety of local artists including Lawson Fusao Inada, Oregon's 2006-2008 Poet Laureate, Portland Taiko, Bobby Torres, and AaRon Meyer. In January 2008 he was featured on OPB's Oregon ArtBeat and has been featured on KMHD's Home Grown Jazz and Home Grown Live and has taken the stage at numerous northwest events such as The cathedral Park Jazz Festival, Art in the Pearl, the Dragon Moon Festival, and the Sandy Summer Concert Series. Toshi released his second solo CD, "Voy Con Fusión" in September 2008, a creation which he describes as a musical stew consisting of flamenco, jazz, rock, and hip hop. Toshi has become known for his keen improvisational skills and his distinctive sound that uniquely combines flat picking with dynamic percussive sounds made on the surface of his guitar. Critics have said that Toshi makes it seem as if "two guitars were playing," Pamela Ellgen, The Asian Reporter, that his "fingers move like a butterfly fluttering its wings as he shows how he plays his flamenco-flavored jazz-fusion music," Rob Cullivan of the Gresham Outlook, and that "Onizuka has found it in his way-talented heart to bless Portland with his classy, delicate playing," Max T. Malt of the Willamette Week. Toshi's music isn't easily categorized and can't be limited to a specific genre; he prefers to think of it as a truly international sound that knows no borders and has no boundaries. Toshi currently resides in Portland, Oregon where he performs nightly with local talent such as Israel Annoh, Damian Erskine, Mariano Deorbegoso, Jon Hughes, Phil Baker, Reinhardt Melz among others, at various local venues.
Laura Onizuka is known for her strong technical skills, attention to detail, and passion as both a performer and instructor. Her students have described her as, "phenomenal, inspiring, calm, patient, and amazing." by her students. She has performed throughout the Portland area with artists such as Toshi Onizuka, Greg Wolfe, Danny Romero, Tarik and Julia Banzi of Al-Andalus, Reinhardt Melz and Diana Bright. She has trained in Sevilla, Madrid, and Jerez, Spain with artists such as: La Truco, Miguel Cañas, Matilde Coral, Manuel Liñan, Marcos Flores, Inmaculada Ortega, Angeles Gabaldón, Ricardo López, María López, Felipe Mato and María Bermúdez. Laura holds a Master of Arts in Education and is skilled in teaching both adults and children. She believes in the importance of continuing her own flamenco education and continually expanding her knowledge of flamenco as an art form.
Lillie Last's interest in flamenco was sparked by a poster publicizing a fiesta. After a decade of study, she continues to develop her skills as a dancer in an art form that is complex musically and culturally. Lillie's strength is improvisation, allowing her to connect with the singers and musicians honestly and sincerely. She travels to Spain regularly to gain inspiration from artists such as: Pastora Galvan, Manuel Linan, Adela Campallo, Chiqui de Jerez, Ricardo Lopez, Maria Bermudez and Felipe Mato.
• "Get the Feeling ..." An Evening of Cuban Jazz with Jessie Marquez and Friends
Jessie Marquez, whose father was raised in Havana, grew up in Eugene, Oregon eating her grandmother's Cuban cooking and hearing stories about the family's days on the island. She first visited her father's childhood home in 1996. Right away, she says, "there was something very familiar about it -- the way people spoke, their gestures, their attitudes. I felt at home." In 2003, members of the Afro-Cuban Allstars, heard her sing in Havana and offered to arrange and record her first CD. In a home studio, between power outages, they recorded "Sana Locura," which reached the top of salsa and Latin jazz charts in Europe and the United States. Marquez appeared on Cuban television and radio and was invited by the Cuban Department of Culture to perform in the country's annual bolero festival. She subsequently spent eight months studying at the Instituto Superiror de Arte in Havana and performing throughout the island. She returned to Oregon with a deep appreciation for the impromptu, poetic fervor of Cuban feeling music.
Well traveled geographically and musically, Portland, Oregon keyboardist/composer Clay Giberson's artistic talent and musicianship are coming to the forefront. The Oregonian describes his music as, "a sound of intelligence, lyricism, depth and accessibility..." A Southwest Washington native, he attended the University of Miami and New York University, where he studied jazz, piano and music technology. Clay has released four recordings on the Seattle-based Origin Arts record label. He has performed throughout Europe, Scandinavia, the Mediterranean, the South Pacific and Caribbean and Japan. Currently he is a member of the bands "Upper Left Trio" and "Go By Train." He teaches at Clackamas and Mt. Hood Community Colleges.
One of three children, Bobby Torres was raised in New York City by parents who had emigrated from Puerto Rico. In 1969 Bobby was propelled into the world of rock ‘n' roll when he began touring with Joe Cocker. He spent the '70s in Los Angeles, answering constant streams of calls for shows and recording sessions, and finally relocated to Portland in the early '80s when the L.A. lifestyle was getting the better of him. In 1980, Bobby began 11 years of touring the planet with international performing artist Tom Jones. When the ‘80s ended so did his duty with Jones, and Bobby settled into Portland's music community where, over the years, he has etched his name into the musical landscape. Bobby was recently inducted along with Terry Robb, Dan Balmer and others, into the Oregon Music Hall of Fame.
Scott Steed was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan to a musical family. His father is a touring Dixieland bass player. Scott began playing bass at the age of 9. By the time he was 12 he was working with a 20 -piece dance band at the local country clubs. At the age of 14, he started subbing on gigs for his father and playing with other people in the Grand Rapids area. In 1981 Scott moved to the Bay Area where he worked with Bobby Hutcherson, George Cables, Bruce Forman, and many others. In 1984 Scott won the bass chair in the Horace Silver group. In 1991 Scott became the West Coast bass player for Joe Williams until Williams' death in 1997. Since then, Scott has been the bass player and Music Director for Diane Schuur. Scott is also the traveling bass clinician for the Monterey Jazz festival.
Charlie Doggett began playing the drums when his parents gave him a snare and set of hi-hats for his 10th birthday. He fashioned a bass drum and ride cymbal from an old hassock and a lampshade. At the age of 14 he saved enough to purchase his own complete drum set and by 15 had landed his first job with a top-40 covers band. He's been performing ever since. Doggett currently resides in Portland, Oregon and performs regularly with Upper Left Trio, John Gross- Dave Frishberg- Charlie Doggett Trio, David Friesen Quintet, and many others. He has performed with many jazz luminaries such as Nancy King, Glenn Moore, Rich Perry, Charles McPherson, Mordy Ferber, Poncho Sanchez, Gary Versace, Harvey Wineapple, Obo Addy and others.
• "Legends of Mexico / Leyendas de México"
Gerardo Calderón, from Mexico, is Musical Director of Grupo Condor and Nuestro Canto. He studied classical guitar at the Escuela Superior de Musica in Mexico City and Theory and Composition at the Portland Community College in Oregon. As a professional musician, Gerardo has pursued his interest in traditional Mexican music, Latin American folk music and pre-Colombian music by performing with folk ensembles in Mexico, Canada, New England and the Pacific Northwest. He has also toured with choir and world music ensembles, and composed music and design sound for dance and theater companies. His latest CD is "Inspirational Sounds from Latin America: 1." www.grupo-condor.com
Nelda Reyes, from Mexico, is co-founder of Nuestro Canto, She has been a professional actress from the last 10 years and has specialized in physical theatre and in Latin American and Mexican cultural expressions. She holds a MA degree in Theatre Arts from Portland State University and also has studied in the Moscow Art Theatre School at Harvard University, with Luis de Tavira, and with Teatro Línea de Sombra in Mexico City. In addition to from her acting experience and education, she has studied language, literature, and classical and folk dance from different
cultures, specifically those of Spain and the Caribbean. She has been a performer in ongoing projects at the Company of Theatre of the University of Guadalajara, assisted in the direction of diverse theatrical and opera productions in Mexico, and while in Portland, she has participated in several productions at PSU, Theatre! Theater! and Miracle Theatre Group, both as a performer and educator.
• "Crossings / Encrucijadas"
Cindy Williams Gutiérrez collaborates with artists in music, theatre, and visual art. She has performed her Aztec-styled poetry with pre-Columbian instrumentalist Gerardo Calderón in Washington, Oregon, Texas, Illinois and Maine. Publications include Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, Calyx, Harvard's Journal of Feminist Studies in Religion, Rain Taxi, ZYZZYVA, among others. Productions include the Miracle's El Grincho's El Dorado Escapade and Familia, Food & Fiesta. Cindy earned an MFA from the University of Southern Maine Stonecoast Program with concentrations in ancient Mexican poetics and creative collaboration. Along with consulting for nonprofits, she teaches at the Attic and through Writers in the Schools. www.grito-poetry.com
Gerardo Calderón - see above.
Lynn Darroch is a music journalist and regular contributor to The Oregonian who has lived and taught in Spanish-speaking countries and edited the anthology, Between Fire and Love - Contemporary Peruvian Writing. His musical stories about jazz figures appear on his latest CD, "Local Heroes/American Originals," and he hosts a weekly jazz show on KMHD FM. He has contributed articles on music figures to The Encyclopedia of United States Popular Culture and to the Oregon Encyclopedia. He taught literature and writing at Mt. Hood Community College for 18 years and currently edits the monthly magazine, Jazzscene. www.lynndarroch.com
Alfred Muro is an acclaimed master of Brazilian and other Latin styles, a Peruvian-born guitarist who has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. and in many international guitar festivals, including the Entre Cuerdas International Guitar Festival in Chile and similar festivals in Peru and Chile. His latest CD, "Latin Impressions," was nominated for a Latin Grammy award in 2009. His previous CDs include "Alma Brasiliera" Vols I and II. He and Darroch collaborated on the 2007 CD, "Beyond the Border -Stories of the Latin World." www.alfredomuro.com
• Playwrights
Joann Farías (Claudia Meets Fulano Colorado) is a 2005-2006 recipient of the NEA/TCG Residency in Playwriting Program at Miracle Theatre, where she will write Oscar Goes to Mexico. Her work has been read at Brava! For Women in the Arts in San Francisco, FringeACT Festival, A Contemporary Theatre/Hedgebrook Women Playwrights Festival, and Richard Hugo House. Claudia Meets Fulano Colorado was workshopped at South Coast Repertory Theatre's Hispanic Project in 1997 and at Live Girls! Theater in 2005 and published in Latino Plays from South Coast Repertory: Hispanic Playwrights Project Anthology (2000). South Coast commissioned Tino Does Time, which won the Richard Hugo House New Play Competition in 2000 and was produced by Live Girls! Theater in 2003 and Miracle Theatre in 2004. Two Steps Forward, One Step Back was produced by South Coast Rep as part of California Scenarios. Las Tres Marias (co-authored with Marta Sanchez and Carmen Carrion) was produced by Mae West Fest and read at Bumbershoot and Miracle Theatre. Edward, CEO was read at FringeACT and is currently a musical (with composer Bernard Pack). The Seattle Opera Education Department commissioned and produced La Casa Verdi and Orpheus Sings of Love. Live Girls! Theatre produced the short plays Raul's Last Stand and El Corrido de Manny Cruz. Cornish College of the Arts commissioned and produced a translation of Moliere's George Dandin (with Chuck Hudson). Seattle's La Casa de Artes commissioned and produced El Corrido de Manny Cruz. Her radio work has been produced by Shoestring Radio Theatre, Jack Straw, New Waves Radio Theatre, and KUOW. Literary work has been published in The Amherst Review, The South Carolina Review, and Dialogue.
Jorge Huerta (I Am Celso) received his Ph.D. from University of California Santa Barbara and holds the Chancellor's Associate's Endowed Chair III at the University of California San Diego. He is a leading authority on contemporary Chicana/o and U.S. Latina/o Theatre as well as a professional director. He has published a number of articles, edited three anthologies of plays and written the landmark books: Chicano Theatre: Themes and Forms (Bilingual Press, 1982) and Chicano Drama: Performance, Society, and Myth (Cambridge 2000). Dr. Huerta has also directed in theatres across the country, including the San Diego Repertory, Seattle's Group Theatre, Washington D.C.'s Gala Hispanic Theatre, La Compañía de Teatro de Albuquerque and New York's Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre. Huerta has lectured and conducted workshops in Chicana/o theatre throughout the U.S. Latin America and Western Europe. In 2007 Huerta was honored by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education for "Lifetime Achievement in Educational Theater."
Jorge Ibargüengoitia (La conspiración vendida [Conspiracy Sold]) was a writer and Mexican journalist, considered one of the most pointed and ironic of the Latin American literature, a biting critic of the society and politics of his country. He studied in the Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México and was a fellow of the Centro Mexicano de Escritores as well as the Rockfeller, Fairfield and Guggenheim foundations. His work includes novels, stories, plays, newspaper articles and childlike stories. His first novel, Los relámpagos de agosto (1965), a devastating satire of the Mexican Revolution, was the recipient of an award from Casa de las Américas. Following this came Manten al león (1969), Estas ruinas que ves (1974), Dos cimenes (1974), Las muertas (1977) and Los pasos de López (1982), in which he made use of costumbrismo (the reflection of local customs) as the basis for sarcastic and ironic stories. Among his short stories was La ley de Herodes (1976), and among his theatrical pieces was Susana y los jóvenes (1954), Clotilde en su casa (1955) and El atentado (1963). He died tragically in a plane crash.
José Rivera (Boleros for the Disenchanted) was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico in 1955 and now lives in Los Angeles. He was the first Puerto Rican screenwriter to be nominated for an Oscar, for his adaptation of The Motorcycle Diaries. His style has been called "magic realism" (a term first concocted by American literary scholars to describe the work of Latin-American writers such as Gabriel García Marquez, Alejo Carpentier, Jorge Amado, Jorge Luis Borges and Carlos Fuentes, all of whom tap into a texture of existence seemingly more exotic and meaningful than that usually recognized by busy Americans), but Rivera resists the label, insisting that all aspects of life are magical if looked at from the right perspective. "It's all in the details," maintains Rivera. "If you choose the details of everyday life carefully enough, and examine them with enough clarity, they can seem magical on their own. Like García Marquez says, the human condition is so absurd, and people are so outrageous, that insane things happen on a daily basis. All you really have to do is record them." Rivera's works include The House of Ramon Iglesia, The Promise, Each Day Dies With Sleep, Giants Have Us in Their Books and Cloud Tectonics. Honors include grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Rockefeller Foundation, the New York Foundation for the Arts, a Fulbright Fellowship in Playwriting, a Whiting Foundation Writers' Award. Marisol, which is jointly published by Dramatists Play Service, American Theatre Magazine and Theatre Communications Group, include a 1993 Obie Award for Outstanding Play and six Drama-Logue Awards including Best Play.
Leo Romero (I Am Celso), one of the most prolific of New Mexican poets, is best known for his fanciful portrayal of village characters in northern New Mexico, characters which critics have linked to the contemporary Latin-American currents of "magical realism." Central in his cast of characters is Celso, a classic picaro (rogue) with roots that stretch from the mountains of New Mexico into the picaresque tradition of sixteenth-century Spain. Chicano critic Juan Bruce-Novoa has observed that "Romero's writing expands beyond the normal limits of poetry, invading both the realm of narrative fiction and drama. His poems are miniature stories garnered from the oral tradition; when read, especially if aloud, they may well evoke the mood of dramatic performance." A dramatic adaptation of the Celso poems by Jorge Huerta, well-known Chicano dramatist and critic, and Rubén Sierra, former director of The Group Theatre Company in Seattle, has launched the regionally known poet into national prominence.
Ruben Sierra (I Am Celso) was a tenured Professor of Performing Arts and Humanities at Portland State University and Director of Chicano/Latino studies. He was the Founding Artistic Director of the Seattle Group Theatre and spent over 25 years working in a professional theatre as a director, performer, playwright, presenter and producer. Sierra is considered a forerunner in multiethnic theatre and issues and was often sought after as a consultant to help develop programs in diversity. As a playwright, his previous work includes When the Blues Chase Up a Rabbit (1998)
Unmerciful Good Fortune (1997), both of which have been produced at the Miracle Theatre.
Octavio Solis (Lydia) is a playwright and director living in San Francisco. His works Man of the Flesh, Prospect, El Paso Blue, Santos & Santos, La Posada Mágica, El Otro, Dreamlandia, The 7 Visions of Encarnacion, Bethlehem, The Ballad of Pancho and Lucy, Gibraltar, Lethe, and Marfa Lights have been mounted at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the New York Summer Play Festival, the Dallas Theater Center, the Magic Theatre, Intersection for the Arts, South Coast Repertory Theatre, the San Diego Repertory Theatre, the San Jose Repertory Theatre, Shadowlight in San Francisco, the Venture Theatre in Philadelphia, Latino Chicago Theatre Company, La Compania de Albuquerque, Teatro Vista in Chicago, El Teatro Campesino, the Undermain Theatre in Dallas, Thick Description, Campo Santo, the Imua Theatre Company in New York, and Cornerstone Theatre. His collaborative works include Burning Dreams, cowritten with Julie Hebert and Gina Leishman; Shiner, written with Erik Ehn, and Great Highway, written with Wendy Weiner. Solis has received an NEA 1995-97 Playwriting Fellowship, the Roger L. Stevens award from the Kennedy Center, the Will Glickman Playwright Award, a production grant from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays, the 1998 TCG/NEA Theatre Artists in Residence Grant, the 1998 McKnight Fellowship grant from the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, and the National Latino Playwriting Award for 2003. He is the recipient of the 2000-2001 National Theatre Artists ResidenCy Grant from TCG and the Pew Charitable Trust for Gibraltar at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. His new anthology, Plays By Octavio Solis is issued by Broadway Play Publishing. He has also completed Prospect, an independent feature film which he wrote and directed. Solis is a member of the Dramatists Guild and a New Dramatists alum.
For more than 25 years, the Miracle Theatre Group has been dedicated to bringing the vibrancy of Latino theatre to the Northwest community. In addition to its national tours, Miracle provides a home for Spanish and Latin American arts and culture at El Centro Milagro, where it enriches the local community with a variety of community outreach projects and educational programs designed to share the diversity of Latino culture. For more information about the Miracle Theatre Group, visit www.milagro.org or call 503-236-7253.
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