Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater announces a rich calendar of new and encore plays, musicals, and highlight projects for 2022. The sequence kicks off brightly with the premiere of short doc Queer Latine Voices at Teatro Pregones as part of PBS affiliate WNET’s ALL ARTS and its series The First Twenty, followed by performances of Quarter Rican, a new comedy by Gabriel Hernández, on stage in Manhattan on April 14-24. Next is the first full run of original ensemble musical TORCHED!, about the Bronx fires of the ’70s, on stage in The Bronx on May 19-June 12, and the NY book launch of Magdalena Gómez’s memoir noir Mi’ja, also in The Bronx on May 25th. Much more to follow! Tickets starting at $15 and other details below and online at WWW.PREGONESPRTT.ORG or by phone at 718-585-1202.
How did a new millennium of queer storytelling develop in the South Bronx? Theater makers Jorge B, Merced, Pablo García Gámez, Virginia Grise, Charles Rice-González, Marco Antonio Rodríguez, Edwin Sánchez, and others explore 10 years of the Asunción Playwrights Project in the Boogie Down Bronx in this new episode of The First Twentyfrom ALL ARTS, created by The WNET Group, home of New York’s PBS affiliate stations. Catch the premiere of Queer Latine Voices at Teatro Pregones on April 12 at 8pm on local NY tri-state channels of WNET or stream anytime nationwide on allarts.org.
Quarter Rican is a new Latinx comedy by actor, voiceover artist, burlesque performer, and proud father Gabriel Hernández. Drawing on personal experiences, his alter-ego and protagonist visits the local kids’ playground —super cute baby in tow— and ruminates on the ins and outs of parenting, mixed heritage, and what makes or breaks your child’s Latinx identity. Quarter Rican gets funny between urban and suburban, top dog and underdog, Puerto Rican flag and come what may! Directed by Jorge B. Merced. Featuring Gabriel Hernández and Thalia Romina. Workshop production performances in English at PRTT in Manhattan (304 West 47th Street near Eighth Avenue) on April 14-24, Thu-Sat 8pm and Sat-Sun 3pm.
TORCHED! speaks to the now legendary era of the Bronx fires of the 1970s, collecting moments in the experience of those who lived through and survived the aggressions of the arson-for-profit business. Pulsing to Salsa, Funk-Disco, and Hip-Hop sounds, TORCHED! is a tribute to the real people who fought back! Conceived and directed by Rosalba Rolón with music and arrange-ments by Desmar Guevara. Featuring ensemble actors and musicians José Joaquín García, Claudia Ramos-Jordán, Pat D. Robinson, Nyseli Vega, Álvaro Benavides, Anthony Carrillo, and Camilo Molina. Performances in English/Spanish with translations at Pregones Theater in The Bronx (575 Walton Avenue near 149th Street) on May 19-June 12, Thu-Sat 8pm and Sun 3pm.
Magdalena Gómez, nationally acclaimed Poet Laureate of Springfield-MA, playwright, educator, and activist whose fiery words gave life to Pregones/PRTT’s Dancing In My Cockroach Killers, presents her deeply personal and stirring memoir noir Mi’ja, newly published by Heliotrope Books, on May 25th at 7pm in The Bronx. At once heartbreaking and hilarious, Mi’ja chronicles the first nineteen years of the author’s life: “It is fairytales and bestiaries in ceiling cracks; mythologies on the fire escape; realities of how the smallest acts of kindness can conquer despair.”
FROM THE ARTISTIC DIRECTOR — Rosalba Rolón:
“This year is abundant with artistic riches and voices of conscience. Our Bronx and Manhattan theaters and ringing with applause and deep-felt emotion. It is marvelous to greet new and familiar faces, shake hands, and affirm what I’ve said all along: Live theater has been around forever and will survive anything that is thrown our way! The highlight performances and projects that we have lined up for 2022 Pregones/PRTT also give credence to the longtime motto of our company of artists: The Power of Drama, the Passion of Music, the Force of Dance—theater like no other, GUARANTEED!
“I am especially pleased to bring back our new ensemble musical TORCHED! Its World Premiere last December was reduced to only two performances by the coronavirus Omicron wave. Now we’re back to rectify that mishap and FIRED UP —yes, really!— to make it count for the artists of Pregones/PRTT’s acting and music ensemble, and for our loving audiences. TORCHED! grows out of dialogue with actual survivors of the Bronx fires of the 1970s, and with the children of those survivors. It pays tribute to real people who fought back, who continue to want to set the record straight, who continue to research, give testimony, and unmask the ugly truths behind the arson.
“Other stories and artists lighting up our marquee this year are equally powerful. A through line of pride, survivorship, and resolve to make the world a better place makes us a MUST-SEE.
“More fantastic experiences at Pregones/PRTT through December 2022 include a new round of outdoor multi-artist activations from our popular Stage Garden Rumba series, new micro-theater performances for The Embrace/El Abrazo reimagined around themes of community wellness and mental health, and the first full staging of audience favorite musical The Harlem Hellfighters On A Latin Beat, for the first time at PRTT in Manhattan. STAY TUNED.”
For related inquiries, please email [email protected] or call 718-585-1202.
Priscilla Aguilar, Business & Operations Manager
Pictured: Production photo from El Bolero Was My Downfall by Marisol Díaz-Gordon. Key artwork for Quarter Rican and Torched! by Jeison Rivera. Photo of Magdalena Gómez by courtesy of the artist.