Evolution of A Sonero

FLACO NAVAJA • Born and raised in The Bronx, Flaco is a singer, poet and actor. If Héctor Lavoe boxed Rubén Blades and KRS-1 was the referee you’d get Flaco. His poetry combines singing, beat-boxing, and spoken word, having way with words that is second only to his way with a song. An equally passionate performer in English and Spanish, he is an ensemble member of Pregones/PRTT where his credits include the Off-Broadway run of El Apagón/The Blackout, adapted from the short story “La noche que volvimos a ser gente” (The Night We Became People Again) by José Luis González. He as a fixture of the Nuyorican Poets Café and star of HBO’s Def Poetry Jam. Film & TV credits: Pride & Glory, Fighting, Gun Hill Road, Law & Order, C.S.I. NY, East Willy B, and more.

JORGE MERCED • Associate Artistic Director at Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater. He’s an acclaimed theater actor and director, and a graduate of CUNY-City College Department of Drama. He also trained with Osvaldo Dragún, Eugenio Barba, Miguel Rubio & Teresa Ralli of Yuyachkani (EITALC 89 – Cuba), Augusto Boal (Brazil & France), and Alvin Ailey Center. Numerous credits with Pregones/PRTT include El Apagón/The Blackout, Baile Cangrejero, Aloha Boricua, Neon Baby, El Bolero Was My Downfall, among others, and the decade-long run of the LGBTQ Asunción Playwrights Project. Other Directing credits include: Fellini’s La Strada with René Buch and Verano Verano (IATI), Swimming While Drowning (Cara Mía). He is a member of The Lucille Lortel Awards Nominating Committee.

BEN DEJESUS • As an award-winning filmmaker, TV director, music video veteran, and theater producer, Ben DeJesus has over 15 years of experience creating content through a Latinx perspective. In his Broadway producer debut, Ben was nominated for a Tony Award for John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons, which also toured nationally. Ben began his career as a stage actor before joining MTV, becoming one of the original producers and writers of the iconic series MTV Cribs. His passion for pop culture, music and theater has fueled his work since. Ben also recently directed the acclaimed American Masters film Raul Julia: The World’s a Stage and the PBS documentary John Leguizamo’s Road to Broadway. Ben is the head of NGL Studios, a production company co-founded with partners John Leguizamo and David Chitel.

PREGONES/PRTT • Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is an award-winning acting and music ensemble, multidiscipline arts presenter, and owner/steward of bilingual arts facilities in The Bronx and Manhattan. The organization’s 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. Recent productions and year-round programming include ¡Guaracha!, a New York Times Critic’s Pick musical adapted from the novel La guaracha del Macho Camacho by Luis Rafael Sánchez; hit Off-Broadway shows I Like It Like That, Spamilton, and Eli Castro’s Made In Puerto Rico; and the ongoing Stage Garden Rumba multidiscipline performance series in community gardens and Casitas of the South Bronx.

Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
304 West 47 Street (b/w 8 & 9 Avenues)
New York, NY 10036

Trains to Times Square/Broadway District

For more information call us at 718-585-1202