Anna in the Tropics

CAST

	BLANCA CAMACHO* (Ofelia) is a native New Yorker, NYU grad, lucky to have worked with the late Marvin Hamlisch and proud Original Broadway Cast member of In the Heights where she played Camila, Daniela and Abuela. Works in TV, commercials, radio, industrials, audiobooks and was even the voice of Chiquita Banana! FILM: Casino, Nightmare Alley, The Purge 3 & 4, The Greatest Showman, Carlito’s Way… SERIES: Chicago Fire, Blue Bloods, The First Lady, American Rust, Promised Land, Succession, See, Billions, Mrs. Maisel, The Gilded Age, Russian Doll… ANIMATION: Ice Age, Pinkalicious, Dora… ACCA Award from Actor’s Equity. Leading Light Award from HACA. For Felipe.
	ALEXIS CRUZ* (Cheché) After starting his career on Sesame Street and The Old Man and the Sea, Alexis went on to star in POWER: The Eddie Matos Story, The Streets of Laredo, Touched by An Angel, Stargate, Stargate SG-1, Why Do Fools Fall In Love? and Drag Me to Hell. Most recently, Alexis guest-starred on Law & Order: SVU and Blue Bloods. On stage, he has worked at The Coronet, Improv LA, Victory Gardens and the Baliwick. He appeared in 27 Wagons Full of Cotton and Kingdom of Earth at St. Luke’s Theatre. Alexis is also an Audible audiobook producer, husband and father.
	GILBERT CRUZ* (Santiago) last seen here in 2021’s Boca, he is very happy to return this season; can’t say the same for COVID! He has been seen in NY at Roundabout, HERE, Classical Theatre of Harlem, Intar, Women’s Project, Ensemble Studio Theatre. Regional: Hangar Theatre, Seattle Rep, Old Globe, McCarter theater, Merrimack Rep, Alliance Theater, Shakespeare Theater DC, Cleveland Playhouse, Geva Theatre and others, TV/Film — recent: FBI, Walking Dead: World Beyond, Blacklist, etc.
	WILSON JERMAINE HEREDIA* (Eliades/Palomo) is best known for winning the 1996 Tony Award, Drama Desk and Obie for Best Featured Actor for the role of “Angel” in Rent. He also garnered an Olivier nomination when he reprised the role in London. He reprised the role again in the 2005 film. He returned to Broadway in La Cage Aux Folles opposite Harvey Fierstein. He recently played the role of Dan in Next to Normal at Westport Country Playhouse directed by Marcos Santana. Other films include Flawless, with Robert De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Rainbow Bridge Motel. He’s featured in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s film adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s tick, tick…BOOM! for Netflix. TV: Guest Starred in Banshee, Blind Spot, Without a Trace and Law & Order: SVU. He thanks his wife, family, and extended family for their undying support. IG: @wilsonjermaineheredia; Twitter: @wilsonjheredia_
	MARINA PIRES* (Conchita) is a Brazilian-born singer, actor and songwriter based in New York’s Hudson Valley. She’s honored to be making her BSC debut in this powerful piece. Past credits include: “Gloria Estefan”—On Your Feet! (Broadway First National Tour & The MUNY), “Vanessa”—In the Heights (Dallas Theatre Center), Evita (Asolo Rep), PHISH (Madison Square Garden), “The Witch”—Into The Woods (Holy City Light Opera). As a songwriter, Marina’s lyrics have been featured in the Off Broadway musical A Never-Ending Line and on Broadway Records’ Songs by an Immigrant with Jaime Lozano. She’s performs nationally and throughout NYC at 54 Below, Rockwood Music Hall and Joe’s Pub with her folk band, The Heartstrings Project. Huge thanks to Dave, Luke, and the Pires and Wygodny clans for their endless love and support. IG: @marinampires
	ALEX RODRIGUEZ* (Juan Julián) BSC Debut! Thrilled to be in this company. Most recently played Emilio Estefan in On Your Feet! (Prather Productions), additional credits include Flat Rock Playhouse, Carnival Entertainment, Alhambra Theatre, Jacksonville Symphony and St. Augustine Ballet. MFA in Directing from Texas State University and Adjunct Theatre Professor at Marymount Manhattan College. All the love to my familia. alexrodriguez.live
	GABRIELA SAKER* (Marela) is a Cuban-born actress and producer, currently based in New York and Puerto Rico. She graduated from The Juilliard School this May and is happy to be making her regional theatre debut with BSC. She has worked with The Acting Company, Notch Theatre Company and Repertorio Español, and has performed internationally in Rwanda and Spain. Her lead role in the short film Monserrate earned her the Best Actress Award at Rincon International Film Festival and Lusca Film Festival. Her favorite credits include God’s Ear (Juilliard), Venus in Fur (Aqueo) and The Crucible (UPR). She is also the founder and artistic director of Puerto Rican theatre company Teatro Público and is a proud graduate of the University of Puerto Rico. IG: @gabysaker
	BARBARA BONILLA* (Ofelia u/s) is a Cuban-American actor working in Miami, NYC and LA. After recently working with Julianne Boyd and Jessica Provenz in BOCA at GableStages in Miami, she is thrilled to be here at BQ in Anna in the Tropics. Off Broadway: You’ve Got Hate Mail (Traid 72), A Less Than Ideal Position (New World Stages). Regional Theatre: BOCA (GableStages), Real Women Have Curves (Gala Theatre), Crossing Borders (Two River Theater). Film: Reminiscence, iMordecai, For Her, Duplicity, The Manchurian Candidate. TV: Unsolved Mysteries, Law & Order: SVU, 30 Rock, The Sopranos, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Love and thanks to entire team, family and B.
	JEANINE BRUEN (Marela/Conchita u/s) is a NYC-based singer, actress, writer and teacher. Training: Wagner College, The Barrow Group. Jeanine has made her name known in the NYC cabaret scene, frequently gracing such stages as the renowned Town Hall (Broadway Rising Stars), 54 Below and The Green Room 42 (Farah Alvin on Vinyl). Regional theatre credits include the world premiere of Pamela’s First Musical at Two River Theatre, directed by ten-time Tony nominee Graciela Daniele. Among her many other avocations is writing, particularly poetry, which she’s had published in Train River Anthology. Website: jeaninebruen.com. Instagram: @j9_bruen. Endless thanks to Forte Artist Management and McCorkle Casting.
	JOHN J. CONCADO* (Juan Julián/Santiago u/s) aka Juanjo: A native New Yorker and bilingual Argentinian-American with a soft spot for the Mets and Lionel Messi, John is grateful to finally be back working in front of a beautiful audience. Recent Theatre: Romeo y Julieta, starring Lupita Nyong’o (The Public Theater); The Enclave (Rattlestick Theater); The Forest (O’Neill Theater Center); Locusts Have No King (INTAR). Recent Film: Paris is in Harlem; Orgami; The Rainbow Experiment; 42 Seconds of Happiness; Argentinian Intervention. Recent TV: CBS’s FBI: Most Wanted; HBO’s The Deuce. For the latest: JohnConcado.com or follow @concado. Proud SAG-AFTRA & AEA member. Te quiero Emily and mamá.
	XAVIER REYES* (Palomo/Eliades/Cheché u/s) is a Puerto Rican actor constantly and actively pursuing ways of storytelling that instill change into the world. He is grateful and excited to tell this beautiful Nilo Cruz story! Having worked in the US, Puerto Rico, Japan and Canada, in many musicals, his favorite will always be game-changing plays such as Lynn Nottage’s Sweat. Thank you God, universe, BSC, creative team, cast, Malaiyka, BLOC and my family who encouraged in me the weight of tradition. Everything I do is for Puerto Rico! I love being an actor and sharing inclusive stories. Thank you audience for your support. @XavierReyesActor

CREATIVES

NILO CRUZ (Playwright) is the author of many plays, including A Park in Our House, A Bicycle Country, Two Sisters and a Piano, Lorca in a Green Dress, Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams, Dancing on Her Knees, Night Train to Bolina, Beauty of the Father, A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings, and translations of The House of Bernarda Alba and Dona Rosita, the Spinster. His plays have been produced throughout the country at numerous theatres, including The Joseph Papp Public Theater/New York Shakespeare Festival, New York Theatre Workshop, New Theatre (Coral Gables, FL), McCarter Theatre Center (Princeton, NJ), Florida Stage, Alliance Theatre Company (Atlanta), Coconut Grove Playhouse (Miami), Magic Theatre (San Francisco), and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. He is the recipient of numerous awards and grants, including the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Anna in the Tropics, the Alton Jones Award and the Kesselring Prize, and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, AT&T, the Kennedy Center, and the Rockefeller Foundation. Mr. Cruz is a professor at the Yale School of Drama. He resides in New York City, and is a New Dramatists alumnus.

ELENA ARAOZ† (Director) directs and writes theatre, opera and multimedia performance with productions spanning Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York City Opera, Cherry Lane Theatre, McCarter Theatre, Prague Shakespeare, New York Theatre Workshop Next Door, Glimmerglass Opera, Oregon Symphony, Audible, Bucharest International, Brooklyn Philharmonic, Boundless Theatre, People’s Light, White Snake Projects, PEN America, La MaMa and Anna Deavere Smith’s Institute on the Arts and Civic Dialogue. Dramaturg on Senator Bill Bradley’s upcoming documentary Rolling Along. The New York Times has praised Araoz’s productions as “striking,” “primal,” “wild,” “stirring” and “refreshingly natural.” Producing Artistic Director of the Theater and Music Theater Season at Princeton University.

JUSTIN TOWNSEND (Scenic Design) Also with Elena Araoz: Original Sound, Kidnap Road, Mechanics of Love, A Chronicle of the Madness of Small Worlds, Plastic Drastic, Architecture of Becoming, A Midsummer’s Night Dream. Additional scenic designs: Bway: A Night with Janis Joplin. Off Bway: The Odyssey, A Winter’s Tale (Delacorte in Central Park), The 39 Steps (Portland Center Stage), St. Joan of the Stockyard (PS122), Bone Portraits (Walker Space). Justin is also a Tony Award-winning Lighting Designer for Moulin Rouge! The Musical with numerous Broadway, regional and international light designs. Incoming Chair of the Graduate Program of Design for Stage and Film at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.

CHRISTOPHER VERGARA (Costume Designer) (he, him, él) — Recent credits include: Detroit ‘67 (Detroit Public); Windfall (Bay Street); El Otro Oz (TheatreWorks); A Survivor’s Odyssey (White Snake); Bodas de Sangre (Phoenix); Once (VinWonders); the bull-jean stories, Unfuckwithable (Drama League); References to Salvador…(Juilliard); Macbeth (Lewis Center); Shadows (Connelly); In the Heights (Orlando Shakes); Kidnap Road (La Mama); The Golem of Havana (Miami New Drama); Texas in Paris (York); Danza-de-Fernando (somedance company); Kiss Me Kate, La Traviata (Brevard); Harlequinade, Walpurgisnacht, Majisimas (Ballets Trockadero). He is on faculty at the University of Michigan as the Designer in Residence, an alumnus of the Professional Internship Program of The Juilliard School, and a member of IATSE-USA 829, Wingspace, and La Gente: The Latinx Theatre Network.

MARÍA-CRISTINA FUSTÉ (Lighting Designer) Broadway: Associate LD Jagged Little Pill (2021). Off Broadway: Songs About Trains (Working Theatre/Radical Evolution). Regional: American Mariachi (Goodman Theatre), Airness (Geva Theatre Center, NY), Sweat (People’s Light Theater, PA), Anna in the Tropics (Colorado Spring Performing Arts Center/Bay Street Theater, NY), In the Heights (Westport Country Playhouse, CT), The Conduct of Life (Boundless Theatre Company, NYC), ABIGAIL/1702 and The Heath (MRT, MA). Opera: Cecilia Valdés (Teatro Colón, Bogotá); Tosca, Bluebeard’s Castle, Madama Butterfly, Don Pasquale (Ópera de Puerto Rico, San Juan PR). MFA in Lighting Design from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Princess Grace Award 2018, Suzi Bass Award 2016, 2017, and nominee 2018, 2019, for Outstanding Lighting Design on a Musical (Atlanta, GA). She is also the founder and Executive Artistic Director of Boundless theatre company. MCFuste.com

NATHAN LEIGH (Sound Designer) has designed and scored over 300 plays including MCC (Space Dogs), New York Theatre Workshop (Nat Turner In Jerusalem), Cherry Lane (Original Sound), Red Bull Theatre (The Duchess of Malfi), Huntington Theatre (Skeleton Crew) and Berkshire Theatre Group (Godspell). With Kyle Jarrow, Nathan co-created the musicals Big Money (WTF Boris Segall Fellowship 2008) and The Consequences (World Premiere 2012 at WHAT). With the Liars and Believers ensemble, Nathan Leigh composed scores for adaptations of Song of Songs, Icarus and A Story Beyond. Nathan’s latest album is Myths, Conspiracy Theories, and Other Stuff I Made Up To Sound Interesting.

J. JARED JANAS (Wig, Hair, and Makeup Designer) BSC: Into the Woods; A Doll’s House, Part 2; Ragtime; His Girl Friday; Lost in Yonkers; Butler; Breaking the Code; Kiss Me, Kate; On the Town; The Black Suits. Broadway: How I Learned to Drive, American Buffalo, Jagged Little Pill, Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune, Gettin’ the Band Back Together, Bandstand, Indecent, Sunset Boulevard, The Visit, The Real Thing, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar & Grill, Motown, Peter and the Starcatcher, The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and All about Me. Recent Off Broadway: Prayer for the French Republic (MTC), Kimberly Akimbo (Atlantic Theater), Seven Deadly Sins (Tectonic), Sing Street (NY Theatre Workshop) and Yours Unfaithfully (Mint Theatre, Drama Desk nomination).

JACQUELINE HOLLOWAY (Intimacy Choreographer)

RYAN WINKLES (Fight Choreographer)

JASON BROUILLARD* (Production Stage Manager) BSC: Andy Warhol in Iran, A Crossing. Broadway: Big Fish, Spider-Man, The Best Man, Bonnie & Clyde, Baby It’s You, West Side Story, Jersey Boys, LoveMusik, Hairspray, Frog and Toad, Dance of The Vampires, The Civil War. Tours include: Dear Evan Hansen, An Evening with Patti LuPone & Mandy Patinkin, John Lithgow: Stories by Heart, Ragtime. Off Broadway: Sakina’s Restaurant, If I Forget, Trip of Love, Satchmo At The Waldorf, The Cocoanuts. Carnegie Hall: Anyone Can Whistle. Most recently worked on the new musical, Afterwords, at the Fifth Avenue Theatre.

RACHEL LYNNE HARPER* (Assistant Stage Manager) BSC: 2020 10×10 New Play Festival, A Crossing (NYC Workshop), American Underground, Fall Springs, Hansel & Gretel (w/ Ragtag Theatre), The Glass Menagerie, West Side Story, Typhoid Mary and A Doll’s House, Part 2. Rachel has a passion and love for teaching and fostering today’s youth in Theatre and Literature and has SM’d BSC’s Musical Theatre Conservatory and The York Theatre’s Musical Theatre Intensive. Other regional credits include A Shayna Maidel (The National Jewish Theater Foundation), Godspell, Hedwig and the Angry Inch (Imagine Productions of Columbus) and Christmas in Columbus: Return of the Elf (Short North Stage).

MCCORKLE CASTING LTD: PAT MCCORKLE, CSA; Rebecca Weiss (Casting) Casting actors for Barrington Stage for 20 years. Pat McCorkle is pleased to be an Associate Artist at BSC. Broadway: Over 50 productions including On the Town, Amazing Grace, End of the Rainbow, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Amadeus, She Loves Me, A Few Good Men. Off Broadway: highlights — Clever Little Lies; Sheer Madness; Tribes; Our Town (Barrow Street); Freud’s Last Session; Toxic Avenger; Almost, Maine; Driving Miss Daisy. Feature film: Premium Rush, Ghost Town, The Thomas Crown Affair, Die Hard with a Vengeance, School Ties, etc. Television: Twisted, St. George, Sesame Street, Hack, Californication, Max Bickford, Chappelle’s Show, Strangers with Candy, Barbershop, etc. mccorklecasting.com

CHARLIE SIEDENBURG (Berkshires Press Representative) (Associate Artist, 18^th Season) joined the BSC family in 2005 and has represented over 150 BSC productions. His work has led to features in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, Associated Press and American Theatre Magazine. His many PR credits include the Metropolitan Opera (Live in HD), Paper Mill Playhouse, George Street Playhouse, Hartford Stage, Goodspeed Musicals, Long Wharf Theatre, Surflight Theatre and Two River Theater Company. He serves as Press Rep for Wagner College Theatre, The Minty Awards, Ghostlight Productions and Forestburgh Playhouse. Charlie is a 1995 Theatre/Arts Administration graduate of Wagner College on Staten Island, where he currently teaches Theatre Appreciation. In 2021, he received a Berkshire Theatre Critics Association Special Award for Exceptional Support of Arts Journalism in the Berkshires.

THE PRESS ROOM (National Press Representatives) represents the Broadway productions of Hamilton, The Book of Mormon and Paradise Square, as well as the Vineyard Theatre, Shakespeare’s Globe, The Wooster Group, Rosie’s Theater Kids, Building for the Arts, Hunter Theater Project, Miami New Drama, Paper Mill Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, 3-D Theatricals, NY Classical Theatre, The Drama Book Shop and the Antonyo Awards. Recent: Black No More; The Waverly Gallery; Gloria: A Life, Three Tall Women; Farinelli and the King; Beyond Babel; Waterwell’s 7 Minutes; Out of the Box Theatrical’s The Last Five Years. Upcoming: Florida Georgia Line’s May We All; Personality: The Lloyd Price Musical; Born for This; Mister Miss America; Sidney.

The Art of Humberto Fernandez: A recollection of Cuba inspired by Anna in the Tropics

July 15 – August 15 | The Rhoda and Morris Levitt Lobby in the Wolfson Theatre Center: 122 North St., Pittsfield

Opening reception and Q&A with the artist: July 15, click here to RSVP.

Cuban artist Humberto Fernandez came to America as a result of the Revolution. He grew up in the Bronx, and Elizabeth, NJ, and after studying Film & TV Production at NYU he embarked on a successful career as an Advertising Photographer and Filmmaker.

Now retired and living in Pittsfield amidst the Berkshire mountains of Massachusetts, his artwork consists primarily of Encaustic Photography and Paintings. He employs a 5000-year-old process using rice paper, beeswax, with acrylic, oil, and wax paints, fused together at 185-degree heat, in collages mounted on wood, or prepared encaustic board.

FREE LOBBY CHAT

Sunday, July 17 at 2:00PM — The Rhoda and Morris Levitt Lobby in the Wolfson Theatre Center: 122 North St., Pittsfield

Coffee, tea and great conversation! Join us for insights and lively discussions on our exciting, provocative productions this summer and fall. These chats are free, fun and informative. Although free, reservations must be booked in advance because space is limited. Anna in the Tropics director Elena Araoz will discuss the confluence of playwright Nilo Cruz’s world with Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina. Register now by clicking here!

BERKSHIRE RESIDENTS NIGHTS

Wednesday, July 27 — 7:00PM

A 25% discount will be offered for all Berkshire Residents. Call the Box Office to redeem this discount: 413-236-8888.

All purchases must be made at the box office or over the phone. Limit two per patron per performance. You must show a valid form of ID or proof of residency at Will Call the night of the performance. This offer cannot be combined with any other discount. Subject to availability.

SOCIALLY DISTANCED SEATING NIGHT

Thursday, July 21 — 8:00PM — Click here to buy

View photos here.