Octavio Solis is a playwright and director with a long history with SCR, where his plays Man of the Flesh, Scrappers, La Posada Mágica and Cloudlands (a musical co-written with Adam Gwon) all premiered. His other works Scene With Cranes, Quixote Nuevo, Mother Road, Hole in the Sky, Alicia’s Miracle, Se Llama Cristina, John Steinbeck’s The Pastures of Heaven, Ghosts of the River, Lydia, June in a Box, Gibraltar, The Ballad of Pancho and Lucy, Shiner, The Seven Visions of Encarnación, Dreamlandia, El Otro, Prospect, El Paso Blue, Santos & Santos, and Prospect have been mounted across the country at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, California Institute of the Arts, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre, The Alley Theatre, The Pacific Conservatory Theatre, Magic Theatre SF, Center Theatre Group, Boston Court Pasadena, California Shakespeare Theatre, Yale Repertory Theatre, INTAR, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Dallas Theater Center, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, Cornerstone Theatre, Kitchen Dog Theatre, Shakespeare Dallas, Shadowlight Productions, Mixed Blood Theatre Company, Circle X Theatre Company, Tides Theatre, El Teatro Campesino, Teatro Vista, Teatro Dallas, Teatro Visión, Venture Theatre, Thick Description and Campo Santo at Intersection for the Arts. Solis has received the 2019 Distinguished Achievement In The American Theatre award from the William Inge Center for the Arts, the 2018 Imagen Award for his consultancy on Disney-Pixar’s Coco, the 2015 Distinguished Achievement Award from the Texas State University Black and Latino Playwrights Conference, the 2014 Pen Center Literary Award for Drama, the United States Artists Fellowship for 2012, the 2003 National Latino Playwriting Award, the 2000-2001 National Theatre Artists Residency from TCG and the Pew Charitable Trust, the 1998 TCG/NEA Theatre Artists in Residence Grant, the 1998 McKnight Fellowship grant from the Playwrights Center in Minneapolis, the 1995-97 Playwriting Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, the 1994 Will Glickman Playwright Award. Solis was recently inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters and is a Thornton Wilder Fellow for the MacDowell Colony, New Dramatists alum and member of the Dramatists Guild. His book, Retablos: Stories From A Life Lived Along The Border, published by City Lights Publishers, received the 2018 Silver Indies Award for Book of the Year and has been chosen by the National Reading Group Month’s Committee for the Great Group Reads 2019 Selections.
by Octavio Solis
directed by Lisa Portes
Segerstrom Stage
Produced in association with Seattle Repertory Theatre and Portland Center Stage
Sept 30 - Oct 28, 2023
$29-$105
Quixote Nuevo
From one of the storytellers behind the film Coco comes a modern take on Don Quixote bursting with imagination and Tejano music. The valiant knight—a.k.a. Jose Quijano—sets out to find his long-lost love. But nothing is as it seems, he gets lost in his fantasies and the community wrestles with his dangerous reality. This fast-paced, bilingual fable about the joys and perils of being the hero of your own story was proclaimed “revelatory” by the San Francisco Chronicle. SCR is thrilled to welcome back Herbert Siguenza of Culture Clash to play Jose Quijano.
Previews: Sept. 30 - Oct. 5, 2023
First Night: Oct. 6, 2023
Regular Performances: Oct. 7-28, 2023
American Sign Language Performance: Sunday, Oct. 22 at 2 p.m.
Recommendation: Ages 14+
Running time: Approximately two hours and 15 minutes, plus one 15-minute intermission.
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Gallery
Photos by Jenny Graham
About the Creative Team
Raúl Cardona* (Papa Calaca/Cardenio) is excited to return to SCR. Theatrical credits include Quixote Nuevo at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts and Round House Theatre; Smiley in Zoot Suit at Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum; San Diego Repertory Theatre and El Teatro Campesino’s national tour as El Pachuco; Don Rayo in A Silvery Night at Frida Kahlo Theatre; Rudy in August 29 at Los Angeles Theatre Center; Cancion Del Inmigrante: A Folk Opera with One Grain of Sand Puppet Theatre; Bat in the workshop performance of A Night Fairy at SCR, Oscar Zeta Acosta in Brown Buffalo at Company of Angels; Corridos Remix, Mummified Deer and Bandido the American Melodrama of Tiburcio Vasquez at San Diego Repertory Theatre. His national tours include Veteranos, A Legacy of Valor and Selena Forever. Television and film credits include “The Mayans MC,” “Enlightened,” “Outlaw,” Once Upon A Time in Hollywood, and Shadow Kingdom with Bob Dylan. Cardona is an educator currently working with the Ethnic Studies Initiative at Cal State University, Long Beach as an Adjunct Lecturer, and was recently awarded an Individual Artist Fellowship by the California Arts Council.
Sol Castillo* (Padre Perez) (he/him/his). At SCR, he previously appeared in American Mariachi, A Christmas Carol, The Night Fairy, The Hollow Lands and La Posada Mágica. Other credits include Quixote Nuevo, Sunsets and Margaritas (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), American Mariachi (Arizona Theatre Company), Quixote Nuevo (California Shakespeare Theater), Of Mice and Men (Pasadena Playhouse) and The Imaginary Invalid, Zoot Suit (San Diego Repertory Theatre). He also appeared in the national tour of Veteranos: A Legacy of Valor. He dedicates his performance to his loving family and to his friend, maestro and grand knight of Chicanos, Emilio Delgado. Follow: @elsolcastillo
Alicia Coca* (Understudy) returns to SCR after appearing in A Christmas Carol (2022), She Loves Me (2020) and American Mariachi (2019 and 2021). A 2018 theatre arts graduate of the University of California, Davis, Coca’s recent work includes SCR’s Pacific Playwrights Festival 2022, Latino Theatre Company’s 2020 virtual productions of Just Like Us (Clara) directed by Fidel Gomez and August 29 (Young Lucero) directed by Alberto Barboza. She was a featured soloist in the 2018 Graham-a-Rama Cabaret (hosted by Graham Sobelman) at Sacramento Capital Stage. In 2019, she performed in downtown Los Angeles as a lead Angel vocalist in the 17th annual performance of La Virgen de Guadalupe: Dios Inantzin (written by Evelina Fernández and directed by José Luis Valenzuela). Coca made her Actors’ Equity debut in March 2019 in American Mariachi at Arizona Theatre Company.
Laura Crotte* (Magdalena/Perla) is honored to be making her South Coast Repertory debut in Quixote Nuevo. Some of her regional credits include Under a Baseball Sky (The Old Globe), Mushroom (People´s Light), Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center for the Performing Arts) and On the Wings of Mariposa (First Stage). Her selected Chicago credits include La Ruta (Steppenwolf Theatre), Pedro Páramo, Yasmina’s Necklace, The Sins of Sor Juana, Mariela in the Desert, Electricidad, Esperanza Rising (Goodman Theatre); Into the Beautiful North (16th Street Theater); and Blind Mouth Singing and Another Part of the House (Teatro Vista). She has toured internationally with Cuarteto (La Havana), Pedro Páramo (Montreal), and La Casa de Bernarda Alba (Cuzco, Buenos Aires). Selected regional credits in Mexico include Las Madres, Cuarteto, Se busca, Barbacoa-Historia de Piratas, Aristofánica and Cuentos de Niebla. Film credits include Startled Faction, Maydays, La Cita de Bardini, Alquimia and Out of Love. lauracrotte.org.
Viviana Garza* (Antonia/Inez) (she/they/ella/elle) is excited to make her South Coast Repertory debut in this fantastic new work. Garza is a multi-hyphenate performing and theatre artist and advocate for racial and social equity. They seek to tell stories from the queer and BIPOC communities and are thrilled to be able to showcase her heritage through this show. Recent highlights include Jess in Cost of Living with Sound Theatre Company; Super Six in Seattle Repertory Theatre’s Public Works adaptation of The Tempest; Julius Caesar in Julius Caesar with Seattle Shakespeare Company; Benvolio & Capulet in Romeo and Juliet with Seattle Shakespeare Company; Understudy for Minerva, Mate, Young Dede & American Woman in In the Time of the Butterflies with Book-It Repertory; and Maria in 9 to 5 with Showtunes Theatre Company.
Ernie González, Jr.* (Manny/Sancho) (he/him/his) has performed in theatres across the country. Select credits include The Denver Center for Performing Arts, Round House Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory Theater, The Second City Chicago (BrownCo.), Victory Gardens Theater, The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute, Porthouse Theatre, La MaMa (off-Broadway), and Creative Place Theatre (off-Broadway). As a company member at the Ohio Shakespeare Festival since 2007, he has performed numerous Shakespearean clowns: Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Touchstone in As You Like It, both Dromios in The Comedy of Errors, Costard in Love’s Labour’s Lost and Lavatch in All’s Well That Ends Well, to name a few. Select television credits include, co-starring roles in “Euphoria” (HBO), “Carol’s Second Act” (CBS), “indebted” (NBC), “One Day At A Time” (Netflix), “Grace and Frankie” (Netflix), “Alone Together” (Freeform), “No Tomorrow” (The CW), “Training Day” (CBS), “American Crime” (ABC) and national commercials for Sonic Drive-In, Rite Aid, Lowes, and Nopalina (which is Mexican fiber… yup). When in doubt, visit AllAboutErnie.com.
Amilcar Jauregui (Understudy) is an actor and playwright from Orange County, Calif., and a graduate of the University of California, Irvine. He has been involved in his community and has been featured in readings of various new works such as San Pedro Play by Juliette Carrillo at the Cabrillo Aquarium in Long Beach, Under a Baseball Sky by José Cruz González at Logan Public Library in San Diego, and Have to Believe We Are Magic by Sara Guerrero at the Grand Central Arts Center in Santa Ana. An excerpt of his play, Tejuino, a new musical about the street vending community, was also featured in SCR’s Community Engagement Initiative: MASA (2020).
Maya Malan-Gonzalez* (Dr. Campos/Dulcinea) (she/ella) is an ensemble member with Studio Luna in Los Angeles and a lifelong member of Milagro in Portland. Stage credits include Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); Persuasion (San Jose Stage Company); Wolf at the Door and Lydia (Milagro); The Times, Generation Sex and Luna Unlaced (Studio Luna); Deferred Action and De Troya (Cara Mia Theatre); Zoot Suit (San Diego Rep); and Bless Me Ultima (Teatro Vision). Screen credits include Lessons in Chemistry (Apple Original), Friends in High Places (Pocha Productions) and My Friend Frida (Haze Grey Pictures). Voice-over work: Not So Merry & Bright: A Christmas Mixtape (Studio Luna); Women of Fire (Audible Original) and her story “Down the Side of the Mountain” is featured in Talking While Female and Other Dangerous Acts (Audible Original). She received her BFA from The Theatre School at DePaul University and she is a graduate of the NALAC Leadership Institute. Visit mayamalangonzalez.com to learn more.
Tony Sancho* (Understudy) is thrilled to be back at SCR after starring as Jackie in the West Coast premiere of The Motherf*cker with the Hat by Stephen Adly Guirgis. His most recent credits include Peter Pan and Wendy at KCRep and another Octavio Solis original work, Scenes with Cranes with CalArts at the RedCat. He also originated the role of Martín in Mother Road at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, collaborating once again with Mr. Solis. Other stage credits include playing Juror 6 in Twelve Angry Men at Laguna Playhouse and Hephaistos at the Getty Villa with CalArts’ in Prometheus Bound, starring the late Ron Cepheus Jones. Sancho’s second production with Octavio Solis was Lydia, which was the Midwest premiere at the Mark Taper Forum. He also played Mace in Pulitzer Prize-nominated playwright Kristoffer Diaz’s The Elaborate Entrance of Chad Deity in Berkeley, CA. The Chicago native has performed on the Steppenwolf stage, at Goodman Theatre, Drury Lane, and Victory Gardens. He first met Mr. Solis in a Midwest premiere of Dreamlandia with Teatro Vista. His television and film credits include a recurring role on season one and two of FX’s “Snowfar” as Stomper, “Chicago PD,” “NCIS,” season four on Hulu’s “East Los High,” Fox’s “Bones,” ABC’s “The Forgotten,” The Baby Makers and his award-winning film On the Downlow.
Alexis B. Santiago* (Rosario/Juana) (she/her) is a Los Angeles-based actress originally from Houston, Texas. Regional credits include Quixote Nuevo (Rosario/Juana) at Denver Center for the Performing Arts; Fefu and her Friends (Sue) at Odyssey Ensemble Theatre; The Tragic Ecstasy of Girlhood (Audi) at Third Culture Theatre; Dear Jack, Dear Louise (Louise) and The 39 Steps (Pamela/Annabella/Margaret) at A.D. Players Theatre; Anna in the Tropics (Conchita), Hecuba (Coryphaeus), Mad Forest (Lucia), Dead Man’s Cell Phone (The Other Woman) and Legally Blonde the Musical (Brooke Wyndham) at Baylor Theatre. Film and television credits include All the World is Sleeping (Mari); The Other Mind (Dina); Far Cry (Hannah) and Bridesman (Anna). Santiago holds a BFA in Theatre Performance from Baylor University and has since been actively involved in the theatre and film industry in both Los Angeles and Houston. She is represented by 23 Management Group and Mavrick Artists Agency. alexisbsantiago.com
Herbert Siguenza* (Quijano/Quixote) has played the role of Quijano/Quixote in Quixote Nuevo productions at Roudhouse Theatre in Maryland and Denver Center for the Performing Arts. Siguenza is a founding member of the Chicano/Latino performance group CULTURE CLASH, celebrating 39 years in the American theater. Culture Clash (Still) in America was seen at SCR in 2019. Their collectively created plays include A Bowl of Beings, Chavez Ravine, Bordertown, Radio Mambo, Culture Clash in AmeriCCA and American Night. Siguenza was the Playwright in Residence for the San Diego Repertory Theatre (2016-2022) thanks to a generous grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. As a solo writer and performer, Siguenza has written and performed Cantinflas!, A Weekend with Pablo Picasso, Steal Heaven, El Henry (Best New Play San Diego Critics Circle Award 2014), Manifest Destinitis, Beachtown and Bad Hombres/Good Wives for the San Diego Repertory Theater. Other commissions include Resistance Creates Beauty, A People’s Cuban Christmas and It’s a Wonderful Vida. Television and film credits include “Ben Ten Alien Swarm” for the Cartoon Network and the feature film, Larry Crowne, directed by Tom Hanks. His voice was prominently featured in Pixar’s 2017 Oscar-winning animation feature, Coco.
Lakin Valdez* (Bruno/Young Quijano) is thrilled to make his debut at SCR. His theatrical credits include Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), Persuasion (San Jose Stage Company), Men of Rabinal (El Teatro Campesino), Valley of the Heart (Mark Taper Forum), Mojada (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Between Riverside and Crazy (American Conservatory Theatre), and Oedipus El Rey (San Diego Repertory). His film and television credits include Kimi (Warner Bros.), Licorice Pizza (MGM), Slice (A24), “Bosch: Legacy” (Freevee), and The Brave (NBC).
Lisa Portes (Director) is an award-winning director of new and contemporary American plays and musicals. Most recently at SCR, she directed the world premiere of Clean/Espejos by Christine Quintana. Her work has been seen regionally at Cal Shakes, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Guthrie Theater, Olney Theatre Center, Round House Theatre, and in Chicago at the Goodman Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Steppenwolf Theatre and Victory Gardens Theater. In New York, she directed projects for Soho Rep, Playwrights Horizons, The Public Theater, New York Theatre Workshop and The Flea Theater. She is a co-founder of the Latinx Theatre Commons, member of the Drama League Directors Circle and serves on the boards of the Theatre Communications Group and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers. In 2016, she was honored with the Zelda Fichandler Award for Directors. She heads the MFA directing program at The Theatre School at DePaul University and lives in Chicago with her husband, playwright Carlos Murillo, and their two teenagers, Eva Rose and Carlos Alejandro.
Efren Delgadillo, Jr. (Scenic Design) (he/him) is designing his eighth production with SCR. Recent projects include Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992 (Mark Taper Forum) and I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter (Seattle Repertory). He is the recipient of Henry Awards for Denver Center for the Performing Arts productions of In The Upper Room and Quixote Nuevo. He was also nominated for an Ovation Award for Best Scenic Design for Culture Clash’s Bordertown, as well as a Barrymore Award in Outstanding Scenic Design for Bienvenidos Blancos with Team Sunshine Corporation. Delgadillo earned his MFA in Scenic Design from California Institute of the Arts and a BFA in Studio Arts from University of California, Irvine. He is the head of Scenic Design at UC Irvine.
Helen Q. Huang (Costume and Puppet Design) is an award-winning costume designer whose credits include Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Alley Theatre, Guthrie Theater, Arena Stage, Ford’s Theatre, Round House Theatre, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Children’s Theatre Company, Classic Stage Company, Disney Entertainment, and The Washington Ballet. International credits include set and costume design for National Opera House of China and the Central Television of China. Awards: Helen Hayes Award, Henry Award, Anderson Hopkins Award and Ivey Award. Huang is a professor of Costume Design at the University of Maryland, College Park. Publication: Character Sketch: A Drawing Course for Costume Designers Website: helenqhuang.com
Pablo Santiago (Lighting Design) (he/him) is a live performance and digital film lighting designer, who is a winner of the Henry Award, Richard Sherwood Award, Stage Raw Award, and multiple Ovation Award nominations. His designs aim to find evocative images that embody the emotional moment of the show and create images that can spark the imagination of the audience to worlds beyond the stage. Santiago has worked at Santa Fe Opera, LA Opera, Opera Omaha, Boston Lyric Opera, Detroit Opera, Opera Philadelphia, Long Beach Opera, Prototype Festival, the Industry, Opera Columbus, Los Angeles Philharmonic, San Francisco Symphony, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, Music Academy of the West, Opera Santa Barbara, The Kennedy Center, Teatro Municipal São Paulo Brazil, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Goodman Theater, Arena Stage DC, BAM-Harvey Theater, Geffen Playhouse, Mark Taper Forum, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Los Angeles Theatre Center, South Coast Repertory, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Broad Museum, Kirk Douglas Theater, Ensemble Theater Company Santa Barbara and Hollywood Bowl.
David R. Molina (Original Music and Sound Design) creates arts and multimedia productions which focus on social justice and working with marginalized communities. He has worked on national Quixote Nuevo productions since its creation in 2018. Recent shows include The XIXTH at The Old Globe, Hotter Than Egypt at Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Twelfth Night at St Louis Shakespeare Festival, and touring with La Mezcla dance company. His multimedia concert, The Long Walk Home: A Mayan Family’s Journey In Search of Refuge, will premiere at Brava Theater in San Francisco, Dec 8 & 9, 2023. Awards include L.A. Ovation, Creative Capital, St. Louis Theater Circle, Zellerbach, MAP Fund, and the SF Arts Commission. His multimedia collaborations were shown at San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, The Broad, Oakland Museum of California and McLoughlin Gallery. His bands are Impuritan, Ghosts and Strings and Transient.
Eduardo Robledo (Additional Song Compostions) began his musical theater career at El Teatro Campesino (ETC) in 1969 as a teenage actor-musician, and soon, also a songwriter. In a lifelong association with ETC he has written music for many shows performed in the ETC Playhouse and incidental music for its major productions, La Pastorela, La Virgen del Tepeyac, and La Gran Carpa de los Rasquachis. From 1976 to 1986, Robledo was an actor-composer with the San Francisco Mime Troupe, writing music and lyrics for The Hotel Universe, Squash, Crossing Borders, Secrets in the Sand, Steeltown and Last Tango in Huahuatenango, winning two Bay Area Critics’ Circle awards for composing. In 1987, he had the honor of accepting the Tony Award for “Excellence in Regional Theater” on behalf of the Troupe. From 2015 through 2017, he wrote the music and lyrics to a new Pastorela by Joan Holden. Robledo currently performs in and composes for several bands in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jesse J. Sanchez (Music Direction) (he/him) is a music director, composer-lyricist, and writer. Recent collaborations as music director include Broadway, off-Broadway, and Regional Theatre such as the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Hartford Stage, Huntington Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater, Theatreworks SV, Arizona Theatre Company, Alley Theatre, Round House Theatre, O’Neill Music Theatre Conference, NYU Tisch and others. Recent collaborations as a composer-lyricist and librettist include the Jimmy Awards on Broadway, New York Theatre Barn, Cutting Ball Theater, Boston Lyric Opera, Long Beach Opera, Prospect Theater Company, The 24 Hour Plays, Long Wharf, Prop Thtr, Camelot Theater, and the Johnny Mercer Writers Colony at Goodspeed Musicals. Sanchez’s current commissions include new musical with the band ‘CHICAGO’, Oregon Cabaret Theatre, Camelot Theater, and ZACH Theatre (TYA BIPOC Superhero Project). In 2018, he became the Resident Music Supervisor for the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a Tony Award-winning organization that stands as one of the preeminent destinations for American regional theatre. jessejsanchez.com
Marissa Herrera Choreography) is a third-generation Chicana and Los Angeles native born and raised in Azusa, CA. Feature credits include Quixote Nuevo at Denver Center for the Performing Arts (Choreographer/Henry Award nominee), In The Heights at La Mirada Theatre for the Performing Arts and Lewis Family Playhouse (Co-Director/Choreographer/Broadway World Regional Award nominee), The Composer Is Dead with the L.A. Phil at The Walt Disney Concert Hall (Director), Selena Forever (national tour), Zoot Suit, 35th Anniversary national tour (Lupe Reyna), Viva La Raza (Theatricum Botanicum) and Riot/Rebellion (Watts Village Theater Co.). Film and television credits include You Got Served (Principal Dancer) and Two Feet In (Creator/Executive Producer). Herrera is also the Co-Founder and Executive Artistic Director of 4C LAB (501c3) and CEO of De Mi Alma Productions, sharing authentic and diverse stories for stage, TV and film and is a fierce advocate for equity and representation across all artistic and media platforms. marissaherrera.com IG- marissacreates
Michael Polak (Fight Director and Intimacy Consultant) is thrilled to be back at SCR, having worked on Appropriate and The Little Foxes. He has choreographed stage violence for La Mirada Theatre, North Coast Repertory Theatre, 3D-Theatricals, New Swan Shakespeare Festival, Cal State University, Fullerton, Concordia University, The Electric Company Theatre and others. As an actor, his New York credits include Soldier’s Wife at the Mint Theatre. Regionally, he has appeared at Rubicon Theatre Company, International City Theatre, Pioneer Theatre Company, Northern Stage, Delaware Theatre Company, Chicago Shakespeare, Philadelphia Theater Company, Caldwell Theatre Company (New Times Award winner and Carbonell Award nominee for the role of Shane Mungitt in Take Me Out), Shakespeare Theatre Company, Hartford Stage, Playmaker’s Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, Cape Playhouse and the California, San Francisco, and Texas Shakespeare Festivals, among others. His television and film credits include “Bel-Air,” Mid-Century, 86 Melrose Ave, and numerous soaps, web series, and shorts. Polak received his MFA from Pennsylvania State University and his BA from California State University, Fullerton. michaelpolakactorfd.com
Bernardo Mazón Daher (Dramaturg) (he/him/his) is a border brat from the San Diego South Bay. He has been teaching and working in the arts around the country for premier, prestigious companies as well as on grassroots, community-based projects. Daher has also organized for public health causes and voting campaigns in Hispanic communities throughout California, before the pandemic, where he served as a medical disaster responder for multiple governments and agencies. Afterwards, he worked in a pro bono law office for immigrants and refugees coming from the Middle East and Latin America. Then, he transitioned back into his calling to creatively engage people into civic action. Among other recent projects, he wrote and performed Taxilandia: San Diego as a vehicle to motivate people towards supporting local causes. He is an all-around, story-focused advocate who seeks to create spaces where different peoples intersect to listen, learn, labor, love, and play together.
Cynthia Santos-DeCure (Vocal and Dialect Coaching) (she/ella) is an actor, voice and dialect coach, an Associate Professor of Acting at David Geffen School of Drama at Yale University and certified in both Knight-Thompson Speechwork© and as Associate Teacher of Fitzmaurice Voicework©, specializing in accents, dialects and culturally inclusive pedagogies. Some of her dialect credits include Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles, Today is my Birthday, El Huracan (Yale Repertory); Laughs in Spanish (Denver Center for the Performing Arts); Queen of Basel (TheaterWorks Hartford); Cymbeline (New York Classical Theatre); Quixote Nuevo (Denver Center & Round House Theater); Scenes with Cranes (REDCAT), In The Heights (Phoenix Theater, Chance Theater) The Long Road Today (SCR), “Orange is the New Black” (Netflix) and “The Affair” (Showtime). She is a member of SAG/AFTRA and AEA. She is co-editor of Scenes for Latinx Actors (Smith and Kraus), and Latinx Actor Training (Routledge 2023) featured in American Theatre Magazine. cynthiadecure.com; LatinxActorTraining.com
Estela Garcia (Puppet Movement Consultant) is a Los Angeles native, theatre artist-performer, director, deviser, community engagement worker, and tinkerer of materials, Garcia returns to SCR after serving as puppetry director for the 2014 production of The Long Road Today. She was the writer/creator of Remedios Varo: La Alquimista, which was presented at the 2018 LAX Performance Festival, and directed Hija de Mi Madre for the Short+Sweet Hollywood Latinx Festival, which won Best of Fest, Best Writing and Best Acting awards. Garcia’s other credits include assistant directing Popol Vuh: Heart of Heaven, a co-production of Center Theatre Group and El Teatro Campesino, serving as movement director for Born in Chaos (TheatreWorkers Project) and D is for Dog and Hyperbole Origins for Rogue Artists Ensemble, where Garcia was an ensemble member. Trained in ensemble-based physical theatre from Dell’Arte International School of Physical Theatre, Garcia is on the faculty of CalArts and is a resident teaching artist for Center Theatre Group. She specializes in Mask Performance and The Six Viewpoints. Instagram: @estelag6. Director’s Lab West 2023 alum. IG: estelag6
Jean Carlo Yunén A. (Associate Director) is a theater and XR director originally from the Dominican Republic. His directing credits include Saturday Mourning Cartoons (Arkansas New Play Festival), The North Star Performing Arts High School Class of 2007 Ten Year Reunion Will Be Held as Scheduled with Some Slight Caveats (Williamstown Theater Festival), Unearthed (Cannes, France), A Most Favored Nation (REMAP & Epic Games), The Displaced (San Diego Rep) and La Víctima (co-director, The Los Angeles Theater Center). Associate/Assistant Directing: Laughs in Spanish (Denver Center for the Performing Arts), The Most Happy in Concert (Williamstown Theater Festival), Destiny of Desire (Cincinnati Playhouse) and Macbeth (Oregon Shakespeare Festival). He’s the recipient of an SDC Observership (on the 2023 Broadway Revival of Sweeney Todd), Williamstown Boris Sagal Fellow and Drama League Director’s Project Alum. He holds an MFA in directing from UCLA and BA in film and environmental science from the University of Notre Dame. jeancarloyunen.com
Shawna Voragen* (Production Stage Manager) (she/her) is so excited to make her South Coast Repertory debut with this incredible piece. Select stage management credits include 2:22–A Ghost Story, Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992, The Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe (Center Theatre Group); King Lear, Witness Uganda, A Christmas Carol, UNMASKED: A Theatrical Celebration of Black Women’s Liberation (The Wallis); Paradise Blue (Geffen Playhouse); Medusa: The Musical (Deaf West Theatre); Pippin (North Coast Rep); The Window (WACO Theater Center); If I Forget, Citizen: An American Lyric, In The Red And Brown Water, The Brothers Size, The Ballad of Emmett Till [Digital Remount], Reborning (Fountain Theatre); 33 Variations, A Body of Water, Steel Magnolias (Actors Co-Op); Hocus Pocus: A Musical Cocktail Experience, A Christmas Carol Cocktail Spectacular (After Hours Theatre Company); Next to Normal (Triage Productions); and the acclaimed remount of Citizen: An American Lyric as part of CTG’s inaugural Block Party. Thank you for supporting live theatre!
Stefania Giron Zuluaga* (Assistant Stage Manager) (she/her) is a freelance Stage Manager based in Seattle. Recent credits include The Tempest (Seattle Repertory), Destiny of Desire (The Old Globe), Into the Woods: Rising Star Project (5th Avenue Theatre) and Little Shop of Horrors, Mamma Mia and The Book Club Play (Village Theatre). She holds a BA in theatre from Seattle University. @stefania.giron.zuluaga
*Member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.