TeatroStageFest - About Us :: Powered by Enorbitas Studios

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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 was inspired to bring together the many Hispanic theaters that are part of New York City's cultural life. He joined with Susana Tubert, an established theater director, to found the Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc.(LITF/NY) to achieve this goal. In 2009, President Obama nominated Mr. Fernandez to a key post in his Administration as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs at the Department of State. In June 2009, fellow Board Member Carmen DiRienzo, President of V-me TV, replaced Mr. Fernandez as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of LITF/NY.

LITF/NY is a tax-exempt non-profit organization that promotes Latino theater and nurtures the next generation of Latino theater artists and audiences in New York. In addition to TeatroStageFest, the annual two-week celebration that presents great theater from New York, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain, hosts year-round programs to make New York Latino theater more accessible to all audiences and to empower local Latino theater companies and artists. These initiatives include providing services such as free professional training workshops, free workshops for high school students, facilitating partnerships between New York City-based Latino theater companies and regional, national and international organizations, and publishing materials for professional development and Latino theater audience development such as its “Free Guide to Latino Theater in New York”, distributed to students and artists.

The inaugural TeatroStageFest ran from April 30 to May 13, 2007, and featured over 20 different events and productions at 8 presenting venues, 42 performances, and over 3,000 audience members. In all, over 178 artists came together, including 42 artists from Argentina, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Spain. TeatroStageFest 2007 featured the rich diversity of theater from New York and around the world, from classical theater to cutting edge performances to children’s theater. It also included artist panels, intimate concerts, the Young Playwrights Latino Challenge, and educational workshops for 1,000 public high school students in 10 schools in all 5 boroughs. The second annual TeatroStageFest took place June 2-15, 2008, and featured 37 performances at 10 different venues. The Festival for the first time branched out to Queens, and The Bronx, and introduced new programming including Comedy Nights and TeatroStageFest Outdoors. The audience doubled to nearly 7,500 theatergoers of all generations and cultural backgrounds. The third festival took place June 15-28, 2009 in multiple venues throughout Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx.

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

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Susana Tubert (Executive Director and co-founder of the Latino International Theater Festival of New York and Executive Producer, TeatroStageFest) Is the recipient of the prestigious Theatre Communications Group/National Endowment for the Arts Director Fellowship and has been recognized as one of the 50 Most Influential Latinas by El Diario/La Prensa. Susana's directing career spans 17 years during which she developed and directed new plays at major regional and New York theaters, including Viva la Vida! starring Tony Award-winner Mercedes Ruehl, the hit Off-Broadway musical Four Guys Named Jose …and una Mujer Named Maria! produced by Enrique Iglesias and Dasha Epstein, Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez, and the New York premiere of Bad Girls by Joyce Carol Oates. Susana has twice been a Guest Artist in Toni Morrison's Atelier at Princeton University, and a Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College and NYU. Originally from Argentina, Susana moved to New York in 1980 to pursue acting, writing and composing. In 2005 she transitioned from stage, television, and film directing to full time producing. susana@teatrostagefest.org
Michael J. Palma (Managing Director) Michael J. Palma is a native New Yorker and a graduate of The Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University with a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Theater Management as well as a BA from Columbia College. Mr. Palma has worked for most of the major New York City Latino theater companies, as Managing Director for the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, General Manager for INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, and more recently as Director of Government Relations and Capital Planning for Repertorio Español. Michael@teatrostagefest.org
Arlene Yang (Development Coordinator) has worked with TeatroStageFest since the organization’s inception in 2005. For the past five years, she has also provided fundraising and non-profit management expertise to organizations including Second Generation and the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. She previously practiced law in New York and Washington, D.C. Arlene@teatrostagefest.org
Javier Gómez (Marketing Consultant) A seasoned communications, public affairs, and marketing specialist focused on the Hispanic market, has over 10 years experience working with media outlets, cultural institutions, government, and not-for-profit organizations in New York. He has developed and implemented agressive bilingual (English/Spanish language) marketing, media outreach, and audience development campaigns, plus crisis management in most areas of life including public administration, arts and culture, education, politics, civil/human rights, and the environment. An award-winning journalist, he served as Press Officer to Governor George E. Pataki, State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, State Comproller H. Carl McCall, and Bronx Borough Presidents Fernando Ferrer and Adolfo Carrión. Javier@teatrostagefest.org
Blanca Lasalle, CreativeLink (Press Representative). blanca@creativelinkny.com.

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Carmen DiRienzo (Chairperson) is President of V-me, the new, national, Spanish-language television network that represents a partnership of PBS flagship Thirteen/WNET New York and private investors, bringing cultural and educational programming to over 60% of Spanish-speakers in the United States.
Gustavo Arnavat, an attorney, is a member of The Citigroup Private Bank's Latin America Leadership Team. Prior to joining Citigroup, he was counsel to Hunton & Williams, as head of their New York Latin America practice. He is graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He holds a bachelor's degree in government from Cornell University.
Kimberly Conroy, former VP at Alliance Capital/Oppenheimer.
Andrew Herrera, CEO & Founder of Remezcla.com – Remezcla.com is a hip local city guide to Latino and Latin American culture in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. Andrew oversees all strategic and business development functions for all Remezcla's online and print media properties. Prior to founding Remezcla.com, he was an investment banker for 8 years, where he advised technology and industrial companies on mergers & acquisitions, IPOs, and private placements. Andrew started his career at Goldman Sachs & Co. Andrew was born and raised in Queens, NY and is of Ecuadorian descent.
Arthur Z. Silver holds an MBA in Marketing from New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, serves as a Trustee of The Anna Sosenko Assist Trust, and an officer of the Liberty Sailing Club of Philadelphia.
Marta L. Tellado, currently serves as Vice President for Communications at the Ford Foundation after serving as Vice President for Communications at the Partnership for Public Service in Washington, DC. Marta was formerly Director of Domestic Policy Programs at the Center for National Policy and previously served as President of MLT Strategies, an organization and public policy consulting group she founded whose clients include the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Aspen Institute, the Funder's Committee for Citizen Participation, the Open Society Institute and The Center for Policy Alternatives.

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NILO CRUZ (Advisory Board Member) won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Anna In The Tropics. His works have been developed and performed at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, the McCarter Theatre, South Coast Repertory, and many others. Nilo has been the recipient of two NEA/TCG National Theatre Artist Residency grants, a Rockefeller Foundation grant, and a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays award.
HAROLD PRINCE (Advisory Board Member) is the recipient of twenty Tony Awards. He has directed the premiere productions of She Loves Me, Cabaret, Follies, Candide, Pacific Overtures, Sweeny Todd, A Little Night Music, Evita, Showboat, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Phantom of the Opera. Recipient of the 2000 National Medal of Arts from President Clinton for a career spanning more than 40 years, in which he “changed the nature of the American musical.”
OSCAR HIJUELOS (Advisory Board Member) won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, which was adapted into a film and musical. Recent novels include Empress of the Splendid Season and A Simple Habana Melody.
GEORGE C. WOLFE has directed 11 shows on Broadway, including Angels in America, Millenium Approaches (Tony Award) and Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (Tony Award). Mr. Wolfe has served as Artistic Director and Producer of The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival.
MARIA PEREZ BROWN (Advisory Board Member) is the creator and executive producer of Nickelodeon's Taina, and president of Dorado Entertainment, Inc. As executive producer and creator, she launched Nick Jr's popular Gullah Gullah Island, an Emmy nominated series.
DASHA EPSTEIN (Advisory Board Member) has produced many Broadway shows including the Tony Award winning Ain’t Misbehaving’, Master Harold and the Boys, and Children of a Lesser God. She also produced with Enrique Iglesias the hit musical Four Guys Named Jose … And Una Mujer Named Maria!


	\| \| \| \| top 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 was inspired to bring together the many Hispanic theaters that are part of New York City's cultural life. He joined with Susana Tubert, an established theater director, to found the Latino International Theater Festival of New York, Inc.(LITF/NY) to achieve this goal. In 2009, President Obama nominated Mr. Fernandez to a key post in his Administration as Assistant Secretary of State for Economic, Energy and Business Affairs at the Department of State. In June 2009, fellow Board Member Carmen DiRienzo, President of V-me TV, replaced Mr. Fernandez as Chairperson of the Board of Directors of LITF/NY. LITF/NY is a tax-exempt non-profit organization that promotes Latino theater and nurtures the next generation of Latino theater artists and audiences in New York. In addition to TeatroStageFest, the annual two-week celebration that presents great theater from New York, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Spain, hosts year-round programs to make New York Latino theater more accessible to all audiences and to empower local Latino theater companies and artists. These initiatives include providing services such as free professional training workshops, free workshops for high school students, facilitating partnerships between New York City-based Latino theater companies and regional, national and international organizations, and publishing materials for professional development and Latino theater audience development such as its “Free Guide to Latino Theater in New York”, distributed to students and artists. The inaugural TeatroStageFest ran from April 30 to May 13, 2007, and featured over 20 different events and productions at 8 presenting venues, 42 performances, and over 3,000 audience members. In all, over 178 artists came together, including 42 artists from Argentina, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, and Spain. TeatroStageFest 2007 featured the rich diversity of theater from New York and around the world, from classical theater to cutting edge performances to children’s theater. It also included artist panels, intimate concerts, the Young Playwrights Latino Challenge, and educational workshops for 1,000 public high school students in 10 schools in all 5 boroughs. The second annual TeatroStageFest took place June 2-15, 2008, and featured 37 performances at 10 different venues. The Festival for the first time branched out to Queens, and The Bronx, and introduced new programming including Comedy Nights and TeatroStageFest Outdoors. The audience doubled to nearly 7,500 theatergoers of all generations and cultural backgrounds. The third festival took place June 15-28, 2009 in multiple venues throughout Manhattan, Queens and The Bronx. To view video highlights of TeatroStageFest 2007 and 2008 click here. top Susana Tubert (Executive Director and co-founder of the Latino International Theater Festival of New York and Executive Producer, TeatroStageFest) Is the recipient of the prestigious Theatre Communications Group/National Endowment for the Arts Director Fellowship and has been recognized as one of the 50 Most Influential Latinas by El Diario/La Prensa. Susana's directing career spans 17 years during which she developed and directed new plays at major regional and New York theaters, including Viva la Vida! starring Tony Award-winner Mercedes Ruehl, the hit Off-Broadway musical Four Guys Named Jose …and una Mujer Named Maria! produced by Enrique Iglesias and Dasha Epstein, Real Women Have Curves by Josefina Lopez, and the New York premiere of Bad Girls by Joyce Carol Oates. Susana has twice been a Guest Artist in Toni Morrison's Atelier at Princeton University, and a Visiting Professor at Dartmouth College and NYU. Originally from Argentina, Susana moved to New York in 1980 to pursue acting, writing and composing. In 2005 she transitioned from stage, television, and film directing to full time producing. susana@teatrostagefest.org Michael J. Palma (Managing Director) Michael J. Palma is a native New Yorker and a graduate of The Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University with a Masters of Fine Arts Degree in Theater Management as well as a BA from Columbia College. Mr. Palma has worked for most of the major New York City Latino theater companies, as Managing Director for the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater, General Manager for INTAR Hispanic American Arts Center, and more recently as Director of Government Relations and Capital Planning for Repertorio Español. Michael@teatrostagefest.org Arlene Yang (Development Coordinator) has worked with TeatroStageFest since the organization’s inception in 2005. For the past five years, she has also provided fundraising and non-profit management expertise to organizations including Second Generation and the Nai-Ni Chen Dance Company. She previously practiced law in New York and Washington, D.C. Arlene@teatrostagefest.org Javier Gómez (Marketing Consultant) A seasoned communications, public affairs, and marketing specialist focused on the Hispanic market, has over 10 years experience working with media outlets, cultural institutions, government, and not-for-profit organizations in New York. He has developed and implemented agressive bilingual (English/Spanish language) marketing, media outreach, and audience development campaigns, plus crisis management in most areas of life including public administration, arts and culture, education, politics, civil/human rights, and the environment. An award-winning journalist, he served as Press Officer to Governor George E. Pataki, State Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo, State Comproller H. Carl McCall, and Bronx Borough Presidents Fernando Ferrer and Adolfo Carrión. Javier@teatrostagefest.org Blanca Lasalle, CreativeLink (Press Representative). blanca@creativelinkny.com. top Carmen DiRienzo (Chairperson) is President of V-me, the new, national, Spanish-language television network that represents a partnership of PBS flagship Thirteen/WNET New York and private investors, bringing cultural and educational programming to over 60% of Spanish-speakers in the United States. Gustavo Arnavat, an attorney, is a member of The Citigroup Private Bank's Latin America Leadership Team. Prior to joining Citigroup, he was counsel to Hunton & Williams, as head of their New York Latin America practice. He is graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Law and Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government. He holds a bachelor's degree in government from Cornell University. Kimberly Conroy, former VP at Alliance Capital/Oppenheimer. Andrew Herrera, CEO & Founder of Remezcla.com – Remezcla.com is a hip local city guide to Latino and Latin American culture in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, and San Francisco. Andrew oversees all strategic and business development functions for all Remezcla's online and print media properties. Prior to founding Remezcla.com, he was an investment banker for 8 years, where he advised technology and industrial companies on mergers & acquisitions, IPOs, and private placements. Andrew started his career at Goldman Sachs & Co. Andrew was born and raised in Queens, NY and is of Ecuadorian descent. Arthur Z. Silver holds an MBA in Marketing from New York University Graduate School of Business Administration, serves as a Trustee of The Anna Sosenko Assist Trust, and an officer of the Liberty Sailing Club of Philadelphia. Marta L. Tellado, currently serves as Vice President for Communications at the Ford Foundation after serving as Vice President for Communications at the Partnership for Public Service in Washington, DC. Marta was formerly Director of Domestic Policy Programs at the Center for National Policy and previously served as President of MLT Strategies, an organization and public policy consulting group she founded whose clients include the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Aspen Institute, the Funder's Committee for Citizen Participation, the Open Society Institute and The Center for Policy Alternatives. top NILO CRUZ (Advisory Board Member) won the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Anna In The Tropics. His works have been developed and performed at the Joseph Papp Public Theater, the McCarter Theatre, South Coast Repertory, and many others. Nilo has been the recipient of two NEA/TCG National Theatre Artist Residency grants, a Rockefeller Foundation grant, and a Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays award. HAROLD PRINCE (Advisory Board Member) is the recipient of twenty Tony Awards. He has directed the premiere productions of She Loves Me, Cabaret, Follies, Candide, Pacific Overtures, Sweeny Todd, A Little Night Music, Evita, Showboat, Kiss of the Spider Woman, Phantom of the Opera. Recipient of the 2000 National Medal of Arts from President Clinton for a career spanning more than 40 years, in which he “changed the nature of the American musical.” OSCAR HIJUELOS (Advisory Board Member) won the 1990 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love, which was adapted into a film and musical. Recent novels include Empress of the Splendid Season and A Simple Habana Melody. GEORGE C. WOLFE has directed 11 shows on Broadway, including Angels in America, Millenium Approaches (Tony Award) and Bring in ‘Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (Tony Award). Mr. Wolfe has served as Artistic Director and Producer of The Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival. MARIA PEREZ BROWN (Advisory Board Member) is the creator and executive producer of Nickelodeon's Taina, and president of Dorado Entertainment, Inc. As executive producer and creator, she launched Nick Jr's popular Gullah Gullah Island, an Emmy nominated series. DASHA EPSTEIN (Advisory Board Member) has produced many Broadway shows including the Tony Award winning Ain’t Misbehaving’, Master Harold and the Boys, and Children of a Lesser God. She also produced with Enrique Iglesias the hit musical Four Guys Named Jose … And Una Mujer Named Maria! Return to Top