Guest Artist
Daniel Jáquez
Daniel Jáquez is a freelance Director, Theatre-maker and Translator. He serves on the Steering Committee for the Latinx Theater Commons and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographer’s Society. Jáquez is an artistic associate of Milagro and was its Interim Artistic Director for season 32 and has received Portland’s DRAMMY award for outstanding direction. In NYC, Jáquez was the Director of Unit52, Intar Theatre’s young acting company, and Director-Producer of INTAR/Jerome Foundation NewWorks Lab Festival. He is an advisory committee member for the Lark Play Development Center’s US/Mexico Playwright Exchange, a program where he has worked as translator and director. He is co-founder of Calpulli Mexican Dance Theatre in Queens, NYC and was its Artistic Director and Choreographer for eight years. www.danieljaquez.com
Associate Producer/Stage Manager
Justin Charles
Justin is a newcomer to Milagro. Justin has spent his years post studying theatre/forensics at The University of Mississippi participating in various activities including performing, writing, expanding resume skills, and developing a stand-up routine. A commemorative stamp collector, music lover, and restless-leg syndrome carrier—Justin thanks all for this opportunity to continue to pursue a life of creativity in the arts.
Friday September 8, 2017. 7:30 PM
Valentino and the Chilean Heiress
by Guillermo Reyes
DIRECTOR
Yasmin Ruvalcaba
Yasmin Ruvalcaba is a new arrival to the Portland community, having graduated from Williams College this past June. She recently joined the Age and Gender Equity in the Arts team here in Portland. While at Williams she was an active member of the theatre community, directing diverse and difficult work such as El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, Los Vendidos by Luis Valdez, and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom by August Wilson.
DRAMATURG & STAGE DIRECTIONS
Diane Englert
Diane loves developing new work and directed premieres in New York of Zombie Strippers (New York Musicals Festival—NYMF), Heart Failure (York), Pinokenstein (NY Artists Unlimited). Regional theatre: Lobby Hero (Artists Rep); Heathers (Staged!/triangle!); The Sisters Rosensweig, Angel Street, Beau Jest, Sight Unseen (Portland Rep); 365 Days/365 Plays (JAW/PCS); Crimes of the Heart, The Dinner Party, Lettice and Lovage, The Woman in Black (Lakewood); Steel Magnolias (Circle); Heart Beatings (CoHo – PAMTA); Romeo & Juliet, To Kill A Mockingbird (NW Children’s); director/writer on 4×4=Musicals. Thanks to Roy and Daniel!
CAST
Adriana Bordea (Blanca)
Adriana would definitely consider herself a true North Westerner who absolutely loves the rain, hence her umbrella tattoo. She trained at VSAA and Clark College in Vancouver, WA, and was a proud member of the 2014-2015 Portland Playhouse Apprentice Company. She was seen on stage with Portland Playhouse, Michael Streeter Productions, and PDXPlaywright/Fertile Ground 2017. She can’t wait to make her debut on the Milagro stage with this amazing cast and crew!
Soren Gillaspy (John Junior)
Soren is pleased to be playing John Jr. He graduated cum laude from Cornish College of the Arts (2015) with a BFA in Theater and (Original Works). He has previously performed with Portland Actor’s Ensemble, Salt and Sage, Seattle Shakespeare, and Portland Shakespeare Project, among others. Some of his favorite roles include Kulygin, Mercutio, and Captain Flores.
Laura Di Mare (Muchacha)
Laura has a BA in Theater Arts from the University of Costa Rica. She started her acting career with Punto Cero, with whom she travelled and won the national award “Best Theater Group” for the play Un viejo con Alas. She currently works as a Spanish Teacher and a Video Producer in Portland.
Pat Moran (John de Mille/Critic)
Pat is a Portland-based actor, director, playwright, and producer. He is the Managing Director and an artistic company member of Action/Adventure Theatre.
Feliciano Tencos-García (Valentino)
Feliciano Tencos-Garcia has been in Gypsy, West Side Story (Broadway Rose Theatre Company); Man of La Mancha (Portland Opera); Rock of Ages, and In the Heights (Stumptown Stages).
Saturday September 9, 2017. 2:00 PM
I Kissed Chavela Vargas
by Monica Palacios
DIRECTOR
Christy Drogosh
Christy began directing at the Milagro at the inception of Teatro Milagro, begun by her and Leila Bretón a long time ago. Her first co-directing project with Leila was La Barca Sin Pescador by Alejandro Casona. She has taught theater workshops in movement, mask and basic clowning at the Milagro. She directed her own adaptation of Fuente Ovejuna by Lope de Vega, and later Ana en El Trópico by Nilo Cruz, followed by her own adaptation of La Celestina by Fernando de Rojas. She studied Spanish at La Universidad de Sevilla and holds a B.A. in Theater (Performance), Spanish, and Arts & Letters from PSU, as well as a Master’s in Education. She currently teaches Spanish and Yoga in Portland.
DRAMATURG & STAGE DIRECTIONS
Ajai Terrazas Tripathi
Ajai graduated from Oregon State University with a BA in Theatre Arts. This is his eighth season with Teatro Milagro’s national tour where he has led theatrical workshops in schools, and universities throughout the country. He has written the acclaimed touring shows Sueños de Fútbol and Mijita Fridita for young audiences.
CAST
Yesenia Lopez (Blue)
Yesenia is extremely excited to participate in I Kissed Chavela Vargas. Yesenia graduated from California State University of Sacramento, with a BA in Theatre. Her past works include Water by Spoonful, Electricidad, Enslaved, and Zoot Suit. She is thrilled to participate in INGENIO Milagro.
Bibiana Lorenzo (Rosa)
Yolanda Porter (Petra)
I am grateful to be back at Teatro Milagro, where I I always feel like home. www.yolandaporter.com
Sharo Reyes (Nurse Chavela)
Sharo was born in Mexico City, passionate for books, theater and art. A graduate from the career of Communication Sciences and Journalism, she is currently the producer and host for the TV show Prisma Comm. She is also part of the cast for the play The Vagina Monologues, presented in Spanish throughout Oregon for six consecutive years.
Saturday, September 9, 2017. 7:30 PM
Shoe
by Marisela Treviño Orta
DIRECTOR
Roy Antonio Arauz
Roy Antonio Arauz is Milagro’s Producing Creative Director. He directed the premiere of The Fierce Urgency of Now and developmental production of The Hat in Seattle, and took part in many readings and 10-minute play festivals. Select directing credits: The Temperamentals (Arouet), La Mariposa (Book-It), and Annie (Driftwood Players.) He is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab, Directors Lab West, and is on the Steering Committee of the Latinx Theatre Commons.
DRAMATURG & STAGE DIRECTIONS
Miguel Ortega Garcia
After graduating from Georgetown University (honors BA English), Miguel Ortega Garcia became a producer at Casa 0101, where he created Brown & Out, a short play series celebrating the Latino/a/x LGBTQ experience, with premieres in LA, NYC, and Ireland. Miguel is a company member of the Circle Squared Collective and a Diversity Fellow of The Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights.
CAST
Enrique Andrade (Tomas)
Enrique has performed in numerous Milagro productions, most recently in in the Spanish-language musical Óye Oyá. Enrique has performed with Portland Actors Ensemble, Hillsboro’s Bag & Baggage, and in Astor Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires at the Aspen Festival of Music. Television credits: TNT’s Leverage and NBC’s GRIMM. Enrique is well known for being the Spanish voice of the MAX.
Arlena Barnes (Renata)
Arlena previously performed in ¡O Romeo! at Milagro. She recently performed in American Summer Squash (Vanport Mosaic) and the Anti-Lynching Plays (Triangle Theatre). She has been intern and narrator at Profile Theatre for Buena Vista (Desdemona Chiang) and Hungry (Adriana Baer). Arlena directed staged readings of Adrienne Kennedy at Profile Theatre and Suzan Lori Parks at CoHo Theatre.
Sierra Brambila (Ileana)
Sierra Brambila is a recent graduate of George Fox University where she majored in Political Science and minored in Theatre. She was last seen in George Fox’s productions of Dues Ex Millennia (Lupe) and The Balkan Women (Jela). Her bi-racial background inspires her to encourage others to see how important representation is and hearing the stories we don’t always get to see on stage. She would also like to thank her mentor Liz Vice for always pushing her to go deeper with her passions.
Michelle Escobar (Marta)
Michelle has done many shows with Milagro including Guapa, American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose, and Into the Beautiful North. She is happy to call Milagro home.
Shareen Jacobs (Veronica)
Though a recent addition to the local theater scene, you may have seen Shareen in various Ten-Minute Play Festivals with Monkey with a Hat On, Whirlwind Theater’s 24 hour play fest Us/Them, and most recently in Lake Oswego Experiential Theatre Project’s adaptation of Rope. Shareen wishes to thank her family of friends for their love and support.
Ricardo Vazquez (Diego)
Ricardo is ecstatic to be returning to the stage for the inaugural INGENIO Milagro Play Festival. A graduate from Portland State University, he was most recently seen in Lydia by Octavio Solis this past spring. In addition to Alvaro, some of Ricardo’s favorite roles include Cassio (Othello), Frank (Fen), and Jesus (The Last Days of Judas Iscariot).
Sunday, September 10, 2017. 2:00 PM
Los Dreamers
by Mónica Sánchez
DIRECTOR/DRAMATURG
Diane Englert
Diane loves developing new work and directed premieres in New York of Zombie Strippers (New York Musicals Festival—NYMF), Heart Failure (York), Pinokenstein (NY Artists Unlimited). Regional theatre: Lobby Hero (Artists Rep); Heathers (Staged!/triangle!); The Sisters Rosensweig, Angel Street, Beau Jest, Sight Unseen (Portland Rep); 365 Days/365 Plays (JAW/PCS); Crimes of the Heart, The Dinner Party, Lettice and Lovage, The Woman in Black (Lakewood); Steel Magnolias (Circle); Heart Beatings (CoHo – PAMTA); Romeo & Juliet, To Kill A Mockingbird (NW Children’s); director/writer on 4×4=Musicals. Thanks to Roy and Daniel!
STAGE DIRECTIONS
Jessica Hirschhorn
Jessie is a transplant from NYC having recently graduated from Ithaca College with a BFA in Acting. She recently spent a year as a Core Member and Fundraising Chair of the Original Practice Shakespeare Festival, and has served on the PATA Board. She currently works as a teacher for Staged! as well as a freelance actor and director.
CAST
Michel Castillo (Dylan)
Michel is a San Diego Native and he’s was last seen in Artist Repertory’s production of The Talented Ones. He was also seen last season on the Milagro stage in Swimming While Drowning and in the remount as well. Michel is excited to be working on this project and thanks Roy, Diane, his fellow actors and Milagro.
Gabriela Portuguez (Petra)
Gabriela was born and raised in East Los Angeles, California. Her career began as a performer in commercial and liberal arts that led her through numerous projects as an artistic director, educator, actress, business administrator and producer. She began her own performing arts production company called Latin Groove PDX Productions that incorporates writing, creating, promoting and showcasing cultural performing arts.
Jamie Villeda (Penelope (Scoobi))
Jamie is delighted to be making her debut at Milagro. Her recent credits include The Machinal at Western Oregon University and Wonderland Murders for Investigation Discovery. She’s also been involved in the August Wilson Monologue Competition and the Cast Iron/TNT Diversity Initiative. Villeda trained at Staged! Conservatory and is currently a BFA Acting Major at Western Oregon University.
Hector Zaragoza Valentin (Soldier)
Hector is a dancer who studied at La Escuela de Ballet Folklórico de México de Amalia Hernández in Mexico City, where he will graduate with a teaching certificate in Summer 2018. He has studied, taught, and performed across Mexico and the Pacific Northwest. A recent graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree from Portland State University, he is beginning a new journey to follow his muse.