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The idea for TeatroStageFest began in 2005, when Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg appointed José W. Fernandez as a Commissioner on the NYC Latin Media & Entertainment Commission. As Mr. Fernandez worked with the other Commissioners to promote New York City as the center of Latin entertainment, he recognized the need to spotlight the Latino Theater on the New York City Theater scene.  This inspired him and Susana Tubert, an established theater, film and TV director with extensive work in the industry, to bring forth to the NYC stage the vibrance of Latino culture by showcasing together the many Hispanic theaters that are part of New York City's cultural life. In 2005, Susana and José co- founded the Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc. (LITF/NY) to achieve this goal. 

LITF/NY is a tax-exempt non-profit organization that promotes Latino Theater and nurtures the next generation of Latino theater artists and the multi-cultural, multi-generational communities of New York.  Through its annual two-week event, TeatroStageFest, LITF/NY presents groundbreaking theater from New York, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain on the NYC stage.  In addition toTeatroStageFest, the organization provides year-round programs geared towards making Latino Theater more accessible to all audiences and to empower local Latino theater companies and artists. These initiatives include: free professional training workshops, free workshops for high school students, and artists panels.  LITF/NY works to facilitate partnerships between New York City-based Latino theater companies and regional, national and international organizations, in an effort to build a stronger community base.

About TeatroStageFest 2012’s Year-Round Programming

Given the fast paced emergence of the Latino community and the crucial need to showcase more programming that reflects New York's multicultural Hispanic heritage, TeatroStageFest 2012 is expanding its traditional two-week festival model. Under the curatorial eye of Susana Tubert, LITF/NY's Producing Executive Director, TeatroStageFest is proud to launch a series of year-round multicultural and multi-generational shows, readings, workshops, and TalkBacks with artists, as well as other services-to-the-field in support of NYC's Latino Scene-Escena Latina that will fill a critical void in our city's artistic and cultural landscapes.

Accomplishments of the Latino International Theater Festival of New York:

LITF/NY continues to fill a major void in the cultural and artistic landscape of NYC through its year-round educational and advocacy programs, and NY´s most prominent annual two-week theater festival TeatroStageFest.  In this lead role, the past five Festivals have brought together 513 local and 157 international artists, featured 167 performances of 86 unique theater, dance, music, comedy and puppetry shows and events from New York, Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain before an average of 5,000 annual multicultural and multi-generational audiences. TeatroStageFest has received numerous recognitions and awards forits many contributions to the enrichment of the Latino community and of all New Yorkers.

LITF/NY provides free theater programming for children and youth. LITF/NY’s main educational program, Young Playwrights Latino Challenge (2006-2009) provided 2,200 high school students and 65 teachers with access to 124 in-school and Saturday bilingual playwriting workshops in the 5 boroughs. YPLC culminated with a citywide playwriting competition for students of all backgrounds that led to 177 play submissions and the celebrated Awards Ceremony at TeatroStageFest. TeatroStageFamily programming has provided subsidized tickets to elementary school aged children in underserved communities. For many of these children, the Festival’s performances represented their first encounter with live Theater. 

LITF/NY’s year round services-to-the-field provides emerging artists and students with access to free artist panels, lectures and professional training workshops, internships and volunteer opportunities (23 since 2007), as well as distribution of the TeatroStageFest Guide to Latino Theater in New York & Other Resources.  LITF/NY is also proud to support New York´s Latino theater community with over $300,000 of in kind marketing annual support thanks to its annual partnerships with 15 to 20 Media Sponsors, resulting in nearly 1 million impressions and 200 press mentions every year. Through additional grassroots e-marketing initiatives with community based organizations, nearly 200,000 individuals are made aware of New York´s thriving community of Latino Theaters featured at TeatroStageFest.

Conduit for International Cultural Exchange and a Destination for Cultural Tourism to New York
LITF/NY is a portal to Latin America, the Caribbean and Spain. With the support of government ministries abroad and its Consulates in the U.S., LITF/NY has established a network of support overseas which has been increasingly attracting cultural tourists to New York. In addition to international partnerships, LITF/NY has built a local and regional base of support among community leaders, City and State elected officials, all working together with 205 Sponsors and Funders to serve the various multicultural and multi-generational Hispanic communities of New York and local Latino artists and theater companies alike.

Latino culture is a vital component and asset of New York City that deserves to be positioned center-stage. When given the opportunity to be center-stage, Latino Theater proves its economic impact.
For more information, contact Susana Tubert at Susana@teatrostagefest.org or call 212.695.4010

To view video highlights of TeatroStageFest 2007, 2008 and 2009 click here.

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• Susana Tubert. As Executive Director and co-founder of the Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc., Ms. Tubert supervises all management of the organization including fundraising, local and international government and Board relations, programming and implementation of LITF/NY’s year-round educational programs, internships, co-presentations and marketing of these events. As Executive Producer of TeatroStageFest, she also views New York theater productions year-round and travels to festivals in Latin America, Spain and the Caribbean to scout for the best productions for LITF/NY’s annual festival. Ms. Tubert is ultimately responsible for curating, marketing and all aspects of production of the festival. Ms. Tubert has received numerous recognitions for her work with LITF/NY, including New York State Governor Paterson’s 2011 Bobby Capó Lifetime Achievement Award, the Entre Nosotras Award by the NYS Assembly Puerto Rican Hispanic Task Force, and the Hispanic Organization of Latino Actors-HOLA Award for her efforts “in developing a global community of Latino theater artists.” She has also been recognized as one of the 50 Most Influential Latinas by El Diario/La Prensa.
  
  Prior to her current responsibilities at LITF/NY, Ms. Tubert directed at major regional and New York theaters, including 2006's Viva la Vida!, starring Tony Award-winner Mercedes Ruehl, the hit musical Four Guys Named Jose . . . and una Mujer Named Maria!, produced Off-Broadway by Enrique Iglesias and Dasha Epstein, and the New York premiere of Bad Girls by Joyce Carol Oates, among many others. Her work as director was recognized with the prestigious Theatre Communications Group/National Endowment for the Arts Director Fellowship. She has also been a Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College, NYU, and at Tony Morrison’s Atelier at Princeton University. Originally from Argentina, Ms. Tubert moved to New York in 1980 to pursue a career in the Theater, and has worked as actor, playwright, composer, and as a stage, television, and film director.

• Gabriela Lopez-Barry. Ms. Lopez-Barry serves as Administrative Assistant and Volunteer Coordinator. She was born in Nicaragua and raised in El Salvador and Mexico, in a bicultural household. She moved to Canada to pursue her undergraduate degree in Cultural Anthropology and Latin American Studies.  In the summer of 2008, she conducted research on the current economic situation of the youth of Maputo, Mozambique and was part of a successful opening team of the MICAIA Foundation based in Southern Africa.  In 2011, shortly after graduating from the University of British Columbia, she moved to New York City and started working for the Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc.
• Jessica Mejia (Administrative Intern)
• Amalia Rojas (Marketing Assistant)
• Cecilia Cortés Vila (Programming Assistant)

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