Raíces Theatre Company Announces 2018-19 Season Including Musical Version Of DESDE EL PUENTE

Raíces Theatre Company, Western New York's premier Latinx theater Production Company, is proud to announce its schedule for the 2018-19 season, Raíces' seventh season of existence. Raíces will stage two full productions and will host a series of play readings during this upcoming season as it looks to continue the momentum it has been building as Buffalo's only Spanish/English bilingual theater company.

Raíces' first production of the season will be Barceló on the Rocks by Marco Antonio Rodriguez. The play is a prequel to Rodriguez's La Luz de un Cigarrillo, which Raíces produced during its 2014-15 season. Barceló on the Rocks follows the story of Nino Antonio Cruz, a Dominican man living in New York City's Washington Heights neighborhood with his two sons. During the play, Nino must confront issues of his own mortality and his family's own dark history with a past political regime in the Dominican Republic. "The strongest themes in Barceló on the Rocks are the male relationships, be it father and son, brothers or romantic, as well as forgiveness to oneself and how the lack of that can haunt you and affect every relationship you have," said Victoria Pérez, Raíces' Artistic Director. "Also equally as strong in this play is how the political atmosphere in your country of origin, specifically Balaguer's Dominican Republic, can dictate how you see the world, how you interact with people and ultimately your ability to love." Barceló on the Rocks opens Friday, November 30th, and runs until for three weekends until Sunday, December 16th. All shows will take place at the Manny Fried Playhouse, 255 Great Arrow Ave., third floor, Buffalo, 14207.

Raíces' second production will be a musical version of the company's popular Desde El Puente play festival. The production, which will feature 10-minute plays written, directed and performed by members of the Raíces, will feature original music across many Latino genres such as salsa, bolero, guaracha and more. "With Desde el Puente we have really found the meaning of doing theatre as an ensemble," Pérez said. "This will be our fourth time producing this play festival and our third as writers, directors, designers and performers. It's naturally the next step to make it a musical. Latinos are extremely musical people. We bring our own instruments to concerts so that we can play along with the band! We have musicians in our ensemble and to me music is the perfect way to tell a story." Desde El Puente opens Friday, April 19th, and runs for three weekends until Sunday, May 5th, also at the Manny Fried Playhouse.

Raíces will also put on three staged readings this year beginning on Sunday, February 10th, with Aftermath, a play composed by 30 playwrights about the devastating effects of Hurricanes Maria and Irma on Puerto Rico. On Sunday, April 14th, Raíces will host a staged reading of Julieta tiene la culpa by Barbara Colio, a Spanish-language play in which three common women meet and challenge each other's notion of what it means to be a woman. Raíces is also planning to hold a third staged reading which is yet to be announced. Staged readings are free to attend and will be held at the Manny Fried Playhouse.

Raíces Theatre Company is based in Buffalo, NY, and operates as Western New York's premier Latinx bilingual theater company. Raíces - which means "roots" in Spanish - was chosen as the company's name as it perfectly reflects the belief that, in order to truly understand who we are as Latinx people, we must celebrate the present while always looking at who we have been in the past in order to have a clear vision for the future. Its mission is to provide original theatrical entertainment for the WNY region which is specifically geared towards nearly 30,000 Hispanic people living in Buffalo and 10,000 more living across Erie County. The company is dedicated to develop, nourish, and produce modern and original works dealing with the Latinx experience in order to preserve our "raíces." Raíces has also earned great recognition from the Buffalo theater community, having won one Artie Award and receiving five Artie Award nominations during its existence. It has also partnered successfully with many local theater companies including MusicalFare, Subversive Theatre Collective and Road Less Traveled Productions.