A Ballad for Balthasar: How Artes de la Rosa's Michael Diego is changing the sounds of Shakespeare through the Universal Language

Passion, fervency, intensity: all words used to describe Shakespeare's  Romeo and Juliet. The story of this famous work is known by all; the tragic and iconic  death of two young lovers, kept apart by unrelenting family households.

Although a large majority of people would be able to recite a general summary of the plot, it is ironic in the sense that many struggle understanding the text of the story. And that is not to say that people are not intelligent enough to understand each and every line that Shakespeare wrote; it is mainly due to the fact that spoken English at the time was vastly different. It was common place to speak in an almost "poetic" style, exaggerating thoughts and observations. Spoken English today, however, is "simplified:" we communicate with one another trying to use the least amount of complicated words to get our point across. One major element in Artes de la Rosa's production of Romeo and Juliet which connects old and modern speech in an attempt to sever the fear of understanding Shakespeare is music.

"Music is universal." What makes music so fascinating? Is it that it can be understood regardless of language, style, or genre? Or the incredible amount of variety to pick and choose from? We as human beings can listen to music that sounds so foreign, yet correctly interpret what the overall meaning of the song is. It brings people together, and ultimately makes us express our emotions.

What is fascinating to me is how easily the music selected for the show fits so easily within the play. Each song is plugged into the text with utter perfection, feeling almost as though Shakespeare had originally included it himself.

However, including live, performed music brings a tricky and challenging task for me. The music of the show is extremely varied: jazz, pop, even classical art songs! Switching back and forth between Shakespearean text to modern day song lyrics is difficult. Half of my brain is working furiously to make sure I am using correct technique, but also seeing how I can make the song Balthasar's own. The other half is focusing on the interpretation, making sure that not only I, but the audience as well, are understanding the events unfolding before them. Plus the nerve-racking position of having to make everything seamless.

Aside from the anxiety I feel preparing for this role, it has been a blessing as well. It's so nice not having to sing JUST classical music or show tunes.

I've enjoyed my experience thus far. The cast is talented, production team is awesome. It's been nice to do a play for a change (even if I am singing 80% of my role). Besides, now I can cross-off "Perform a Ricky Martin song while gyrating in front of an audience" off of my bucket-list. Again. :)

 

-Michael Diego Alonzo

"Balthasar" - Artes de la Rosa's Romeo & Juliet

 

 

 

September 13 - October 6

 

Fridays & Saturdays at 7:30 pm

Sundays at 3:00 pm

 The world’s most famous story of an impossible ‘star-crossed’ love told against a scene of violence in the streets of Havana, 1958. It is the story about a place for pleasure, power, and passion wrapped in the loving words of the world’s greatest poet, William Shakespeare. Behind this dazzling world of nightlife, glamour, and romance, the country is fraught with corruption. Feel the heat and desire from the winds in Havana, Fall in love with the passion of Romeo & Juliet.

 

Tickets at www.ArtesDeLaRosa.org

 

Finding The Essence of Romeo & Juliet: Adam Adolfo Defies the Stars to Believe in Love

Finding The Essence of

Adam Adolfo on Directing Shakespeare’s Classic Play

By the time the curtain rises on opening night, September 13^th at the Rose Marine Theater, a director has already spent months – maybe even years – building the production. He must carefully study the script, audition the actors, and work with the creative team to design the set, costumes, sound, and lights – all before ever stepping foot into a rehaearsal room. Director Adam Adolfo has been spending a lot of time with Shakespeare in recent years having directed productions of A Midsummer Nights Dream and Much Ado About Nothing for OnStage In Bedford and Henry V for Stolen Shakespeare Guild.  Late last week, Adam took time out of his busy schedule to talk about his thoughts on the play, and the process of creating this production of Romeo & Juliet.

Question: When did you first read Romeo & Juliet?

Adam Adolfo: Oh it seems like centuries ago! I actually came to Shakespeare early. I was in 5^th grade and happened upon a “Stories of Shakespeare” book and really enjoyed it. The actual formal text came much later. I think I was in 9^th grade and was ‘forced’ to read it for my English class. I do remember I didn’t like it. I’m being honest. I in fact hated it! I was bored out of my mind reading it. I then got to see the Zeferelli film and still was ‘unimpressed’. It wasn’t until Baz Lurhman’s modern take with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Daines did I suddenly get it. “OH! THIS IS A STORY ABOUT PEOPLE LIKE ME!” That was a big revelation for me. Several years late, I got to study at the Texas Shakespeare Festival and fell in love so deeply with Shakespeare. The impact on me as a teen then has had career length ramifications. Now years later, I am forced to remember that for most of us, we already know who Romeo & Juliet are long before we ever read the play or see an adaptation. These two characters are now icons of “true love”.

 

Q: How is the play different from that popular idea we all have of the “true love” Romeo & Juliet? 

AA: In Shakespeare’s plays, the prologue, often delivered by the chorus, but in ours delivered by our amazing singer Michael Alonzo, describes the popular idea of the plays protagonist, but the play itself shows it’s truth about that character. We learn that these 2 feuding families will help push our ‘star-crossed lovers’ to take their own lives! That’s a lot of information to handle in the first 45 seconds of a play. Talk about having a ‘killer tweet’. In 140 characters we could pretty much sum up Romeo and Juliet. 

 

A pair of star-crossed lovers
Photo by Mark Mayr

Q: What makes your Romeo & Juliet different than the ones we’ve seen in the past?

AA: To be honest – JULIA ROBERTS. (Laughs) No seriously. I started thinking about this story and all I could think was ‘Why does everyone always make the show ‘sooo serious?!’ Sure there’s murder, and drugs, and suicide, but that is not where the show starts! In the beginning - there’s fun, love, and laughs - If you stop and think about it – until the moment Romeo leave’s Juliet because of his banishment – it’s a romantic comedy! Boy meets girl. Boy falls for girl. So when the actors and I are working with the script, especially the first half of the show, I keep screaming at them “STOP DOING SHAKESPEARE! THIS IS A JULIA ROBERTS MOVIE!” In the first half of the show I feel we have more fun and joy, laughter and love, than traditional staging’s of Romeo and Juliet. This makes it more tragic when the bad stuff happens. 

That coupled with the ethnic feud of Cubans and Americans, makes our show quite different. Ethnically speaking we simply have to create two culturally polar opposite families to achieve the story. So, in staging Romeo’s family as part of the wealthy and frequently mob associated sect of 1958 Havana Cuba. Pairing that with Juliet’s family, rich Americans who like many of the time included Sinatra, Kennedy, Hemingway, and Errol Flynn, saw Havana as a tropical playground of the Caribbean full of sun, sand, and sin. These two things put together create a chemical reaction that is as volatile as Shakespeare’s young lovers.

At the end of the day, we're doing best as actor's, directors, and designers to 'defy the stars' and believe in love. The show's power lies in its willingness to fight the odds for love. So we're doing the same!

 

Q: You are working on Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet. Where do you start when creating your own interpretation of such a well-known piece?

 AA: Oh my… that’s hard to say. It’s different every time. Shakespeare can be doubly hard and intimidating. The first Shakespeare I ever directed was Hamlet and I remember thinking, “The producer must be nuts to trust ME with Shakespeare!” But it ended up being an extremely exciting experience. The terrors wear off, but it never really goes away. In recent years, I’ve managed to do A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, and Henry V so Shakespeare is more like an old friend that every few years I re-meet to “catch up” with. There’s a familiarity now, so I think that helps deal with much of the butterflies. Honestly, each project I direct, Shakespeare or otherwise, is conceived by other art. It’s sometimes a painting, sometimes a film, sometimes a photo. With Romeo and Juliet, it was a song. I am not a fan of “concept for concept’s sake” when it comes to Shakespeare. That’s how you get shows like “Hamlet in Hawaii”. But when the concept can illuminate the story, rather than be a gaudy bauble you hand around its neck - you have a really exciting project on your hands. For Romeo and Juliet, I kept trying to figure out what the feuding cultures would be and while driving one day, I was listening to music from singer and actress Linda Eder when a song about what it was like in Havana in the 1950’s came on my CD player. I immediately was intrigued. I’ve always had a great interest with Cuba. In fact, my first show at Artes, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, was inspired by Cuban culture. Knowing the country’s history, it was interesting to see how the events of late 1958, early 1959 mirrored the events of Shakespeare’s world (i.e. the civil unrest, the power struggle of warring factions). Seeing Romeo and Juliet set in that world wasn’t a hard leap…

 

Artes de la Rosa Artistic Director
Adam Adolfo

Q: How do you think about the characters of Romeo & Juliet as your audition actors for the roles?

AA: Auditions are an exciting time. “YOU NEVER KNOW.” Sometimes they are full of familiar faces, and sometimes they are bright-eyed newbies looking to take the stage. This cast is a great mixture of both. Several of them are “veterans” of Artes de la Rosa, some which most recently have been seen in our production of In The Heights. No less than five of those musical actors are returning to Romeo and Juliet and all of them are making their Shakespeare debut. For some people, the cast may seem surprisingly young - and it’s true, but the energy of a younger cast lends itself to the urgency and impulsiveness of these characters. Shakespeare was telling a very young story… it’s almost comical now to go back and see the 1936 film with Leslie Howard and Norma Shearer. They are “long in the tooth” and short in the power, which is exactly what I was looking for in a young cast: POWER. For example, Romeo… He makes a dramatic transformation; he changes from a boy who’s in love with the idea of love – namely in the infatuation of Rosaline, to an extraordinary young man, after his meeting with Juliet at the masquerade ball. He finds love with her and his language changes. We see his vivid imagination in the poetry. Then when he faces Tybalt, we his capacity for violence, rage, and destruction. We are all capable of that kind of emotional range – but as an audience that’s a lot to receive in 2 hours.  The same can be said of Juliet who at times is a school girl but mere moments later a strong woman.

 

Q: As you work with your scenic, costume, sound and lighting team to create this production what have you done to make “Verona” come alive for us?

AA: Well this production doesn’t take place in Verona. For us it’s Havana in 1958. This is an exciting time in Cuba’s history and made for an appropriate substitution for Elizabethan Verona.  It’s exciting, exotic, and tempting – which is pretty much how Shakespeare saw Verona. It was the ‘big city’ in a foreign land. I imagine it’s the way some people still think of Paris or Venice. Our goal was to turn the Rose Marine Theatre into a living nightclub casino from Havana’s heyday. So we treat the entire space as “The Rose Club” complete with a Master of Ceremonies, showgirls, and gambling! This means it provided the staging a lot of opportunity to make it very theatrical. We have a grand red curtain, a set of beautiful show girls, a choreographer, a mob boss who’s running the casino.  The idea was to make the audience feel like they are in a place where they could see these things happening in the world around them. We have dance sequences that are very physical and beautiful but surprisingly support the text very fluidly – almost as if Shakespeare had always intended for us to ‘dance out the answer’ (one of my favorite quotes from Much Ado About Nothing). That ability to embrace the theatrical has made it possible to bring new looks, interpretations, and sounds to the show! We’re very excited.

 

Q: You mentioned new sounds? Can you be more specific?

Balthasar the Balladeer
Played by Michael Diego Alonzo

AA: Well, I don’t want to say what we’re doing is a musicalization of Romeo and Juliet, but there is A LOT of music in the show. Shakespeare pulled music from the streets, from court dancing, from liturgical services. He was extremely aware of the world outside and wanted to bring it in – so in many ways, we’ve made the choice to operate under the same circumstances. We have a brilliant young actor, Michael Alonzo, who was one of the stars of In the Heights, playing the Emcee in this production. He sings about 6 songs in the production and they range in style from pop to opera to liturgical and are in 5 languages! He sings in Latin, English, French, Spanish, and Italian! Some of the music will be very familiar and some will be very traditional – but all of it will surprise you in how well it fits in the story!

 

Q: Do you want to share any song choices with us?

AA: Let’s just say that you’ll hear J-Lo, Michael Buble, Marc Anthony, Pavarotti, Josh Groban and even Ricky Martin! Be prepared to dance!

 

Q: What advice would you give someone who’s seeing Shakespeare performed in the theatre for the first time?

AA: Shakespeare is one of the greatest – IF NOT THE GREATEST – storyteller of all time! This is something you just have to go and ‘receive’ like a present. The actors on stage are extremely talented and they will make sure you ‘understand’ this poetry. It is meant to be beautiful, poetic and theatrical. There is something to be expected for everyone! There’s dancing, singing, romance, violence, sadness, joy… basically it’s a Stephen Speilberg film!  Sometimes there is an expection when it comes to Shakespear that you have to really ‘work’ to understand everything. We promise you, just understand the emotions and the words become very easy to understand! Just be present and ‘accept’ all the beautiful things coming at you on a very personal human level.  Shakespeare’s audiences hadn’t read the script in advance – they just experienced it. So I encourage you to come out to the Rose Marine Theatre and experience Shakespeare.

 

Romeo & Juliet - Photo by Mark Mayr

Romeo & Juliet's APOTHECARY gets up and close with us. INSIDE ADLR

Name: Lorens Portalatin

Character Name: Apothecary

Lorens with cast members of DORA THE EXPLORER
including Clyde Berry in the center who plays
Father Laurence in Romeo & Juliet

• Born & Raised:   Born in Puerto Rico and raised there for 5 years until I moved to Texas
• Education:  In progress!
• Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius!!
• Any Siblings: One younger sister – by 10 years!!!
• Audition Monologue:   UHHHH..Help!
• First Play/Musical You Ever Saw: Les Mis at Keller High School
• Something you’re REALLY bad at: mathematics
• Did you have any particular mentors or inspirations when first starting out? Adam Adolfo & Kristin Spires
• Must See TV Show:  Tattoo Nightmares
• Why you work in theatre:  Because of its escape

• First Role:  Ronette in Little Shop of Horrors
• Favorite Play: Haven’t found it yet
• Pop Culture Guilty Pleasure: Hashtags #seriously #hashtagintervention #sorry #notsorry
• Favorite sport/team/player: The New Orleans Saints
• First Stage Kiss: Lucy in 13! My senior year of high school
• Pre Show Rituals: Listen to music to pump myself up & as much rest as I can possibly get
• Special Skills: Face painting & Hula hooping ;)
• MAC or PC: Mac
• "I'll never understand why…" : people choose to stay so ignorant
• Worst Costume Ever: Giant puppet bodysuits…
• Favorite Post Show Meal: Whataburger
• Favorite liquid refreshment (adult or other): Chocolate Milk
• Favorite ice cream : Vanilla! With a warm brownie underneath and hot fudge on top! YUM.
• Biggest On Stage Mishap:  If I have one then I must’ve blocked it from my memory..
• How I was Introduced to Shakespeare: High school
• Something you are incredibly proud of: Getting a new job as an Assistant Wedding/Event Coordinator J
• Words of advice for aspiring performers: Don’t think you’re ever right, cause that’s when you’re wrong and... don’t suck.
• Three things you can't live without: my dog, Princess Leia; my family; & happiness
• Best way to beat the North Texas Heat :. Please refer to my favorite ice cream treat above
• Best thing about Fort Worth & the North Side: The small hole in the wall restaurants and shops. There’s always something to do!
• Why people will love Romeo & Juliet: 1) Because it’s an Adam Adolfo production. 2) Who doesn’t love a classic story of a pair of star-crossed lovers?!!!

SO BUY YOUR TICKETS NOW AT www.ArtesDeLaRosa.org



 

A New Face for Lady Capulet

When Adam Adolfo first asked me to play Lady Capulet, I was unsure. I knew I wasn’t quite old enough to have a 17-year-old daughter quite yet. But I had loved reading for her at auditions so much that I threw caution to the wind and accepted. She has always been a Shakespearean dream role for me along with Lady M, Kate from Shrew and most of the other proclaimed ‘Bad Girls’ of Shakespeare. 

I have always been a great Shakespeare lover and purest. So when Adam and I started talking about the changes to the script I was hesitant (i.e. no more Lord Capulet). But I was also excited to get to play this powerful woman who is now the head of the Capulet family. Shakespeare’s text can support a lot of interpretations, which is part of the reason it has endured the test of time. 

 

The 1950’s atmosphere of Havana, Cuba gives my power-hungry (and lustful) Lady C the perfect place to thrive. Having lost her husband, Lord Capulet, a few years before Lady C is left to her own devises with a 17-year-old step-daughter (See? We found a way around it!) and a lovely piece of arm candy (her nephew by marriage, Tybalt) with which she passes her time. Lady C is biding her time happily, running the family business (poorly, I might add) and spending as much money on parties and clothes and general extravagance as she can. 

I am excited to see where this rehearsal process takes my character and the show. It’s definitely going to be something you will not want to miss. So mark your calendars for September 13 and come visit us at the exclusive Rose Club in Havana, Cuba. 

 

 

Playing September 13 through October 6th at the Rose Marine Theatre in Fort Worth, TX.

INSIDE ALDR with Romeo & Juliet's PARIS, JACOB HARRIS

Jacob Harris plays the handsome
and powerful Paris in Romeo & Juliet

Today JACOB HARRIS, who plays the dashing "Kennedy"-inspired Paris in Artes de la Rosa's Romeo and Juliet answers our fun survey! Get to know Jake!

 

· Born & Raised:   North Richland Hills

· Education:   Richland High School and the University of North Texas

· Degree: Bachelor or Arts in Theatre Performance

· Zodiac Sign: Leo

· Any Siblings: Two Sisters

· Audition Song:   "I Need To Know" from Jekyll and Hyde

· Audition Monologue:    Twelfth Night

· Something you're REALLY bad at: English

· Did you have any particular mentors or inspirations when first starting out? My youth minister really inspired me because he gave me a way to do what I love and still honor God.

· Must See TV Show:   F.R.I.E.N.D.S.

· Why you work in theatre:   I like putting smiles on people's faces and being a completely different person.

· First Role:   Hero in "Fireflies" in Middle School

· Favorite Play:" Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead"

· Pop Culture Guilty Pleasure: Rap, I like Eminem

"Happy Halloween!"

· Favorite sport/team/player: Hockey, Stars

· First Stage Kiss: As Hamlet in "Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead" to Ophelia

· Pre Show Rituals: Listen to my Music on my pandora...and get my head around my character.

· Special Skills: I'm an Eagle Scout

· MAC or PC: PC

· "I'll never understand why…" : someone won't like Bacon.

· Favorite Post Show Meal:   Whataburger

· Favorite liquid refreshment (adult or other): I like Jaeger or Rootbeer!

WORLDS COLLIDE: Jake a cast member for
Romeo & Juliet and Rashard a cast member
from Artes de la Rosa's In the Heights!

· Favorite ice cream : Oreo Cheesecake

· Biggest On Stage Mishap:   I forgot an entire line and said sh@! on stage.

· Worst job you ever had: I worked in a Marble Slab and my managers were horrible.

· How I was Introduced to Shakespeare: Movies

· Last Good Movie You Saw: The Great Gatsby.

· Something you are incredibly proud of: I earned my Eagle Scout!

· Words of advice for aspiring performers: Don't lose faith, Just keep auditioning!

· Career you would want if not a performer: Firefighter

· Three things you can't live without: Music, Family, Food

· Best way to beat the North Texas Heat : Waterpark

· Why people will love Romeo & Juliet: It's is a new version of the story, and it doesn't get to be long and boring like it normally is.

The Mystery of Romeo - Take Time with Kevin Acosta to Find it Out

When In The Heights closed, almost 2 months ago, it was heart wrenching and bittersweet to go through - seeing as we as a cast had bonded and truly become a familia.  No one was left out or forgotten in our bond - from our techs to the ensemble to the leads; a truly, beautiful experience.  Even for someone who has been consistently been doing show after show for almost 2 years straight, I knew this show would leave a mark on my heart and life in general, as it has.  So of course it could and would cause one to become depressed not being able to the  see the people you had spent every minute of everyday for the past 3 months with.  In the theatre world, when we go through a break up like this there is only one thing you can do... Audition for another show.  Except this one would be completely different from anything I had ever done before.

For one, up to this point, I had exclusively been in musicals.  Not a shocker since I've never had an acting class or anything of the sort and had been in choir since I was in sixth grade; so it just made  sense.  And not only was this Romeo and Juliet, the most famous love story of all time, but for me it was SHAKESPEARE!  I don't know if I've ever been as nervous as I was for this audition.  I was  taking a leap of faith on this one.  Right before I went to my audition I had a in-depth conversation with my best friend about who I wanted to be as an entertainer and how this show just felt right to me.  I am  always trying to push myself as an individual and a performer and this was the step in the direction that I wanted for myself.

I'd be lying if didn't say that Romeo wasn't similar to the other roles I have played (Link Larkin in Hairspray, Ren McCormick in Footloose, etc), but there is just so much more to Romeo.  He is complex - More than just face value  to him.  And I think that's why this was the role I wanted.  As an actor and a person, I want people to take me seriously and not just see me, but to truly see me.  The undertone of Romeo is present throughout the whole play.  You know there is something more to him, almost like he is hiding something from you.  The mystery that is Romeo.

But when I think about it, that's the whole reason I love theatre and acting in general.  The ability to be someone you aren't.  To breath and give life to a complete and separate individual from yourself.  For me, I have truly been blessed to have been in the shows that I have been in.  I have had the amazing journey of finding myself through my characters.  I learn a little about myself every time I am someone else.

I am beyond words to express how excited I am to start this journey with Director Adam Adolfo, my darling Juliet, Courtney Harris, and the rest of this amazing cast.  From the self-proclaimed Domingo of Washington Heights, I grow once more and find myself as the highly acclaimed Romeo of Havana.

JUST JULIET: A few minutes with Courtney Harris

When a show that was really special to you closes you go into what seasoned professionals call “post show depression”. This was definitely a reality when my dream show, In The Heights, had its final performance on June 9th and suddenly I was practically familia-less and purposeless.

Knowing that this was the only possible antidote for my feelings of incompleteness, and also knowing I was going to be out of town for the Romeo and Juliet auditions, I essentially begged Adam Adolfo, ADLR's Artistic Director, to let me come in and audition early.

 

I was completely completely terrified. Every audition I had ever done before has been a musical theatre audition, so where normally I would just prepare 16 bars of my usual stuff and be set, I instead had to prepare an entire Shakespearean monologue. 

Even though I’ve done Shakespeare monologue competitions at my school and even a vignette style one act, I have never been in a real full length play (let alone in iambic pentameter). But after some frantic searching online for an age appropriate monologue I settled on the Jailer’s Daughter from Two Noble Kinsmen and just hoped for the best.

 

I know some actors shy away from Shakespeare, but for someone who is used to expressing herself musically, I love it and it makes sense to me. So to be cast in Romeo & Juliet was a dream come true, but to be cast as Juliet is still unfathomable. 

 

Within the realm of musical theatre I usually fall into what I call the “the brat, the rat, and the weirdo” type where I usually play the brat or rat, most recently - the witch (in Into The Woods), or the weirdo (roles admittedly very Kristin-Wiig-esque). Thus the classic romantic ingénue (because really, what’s more classic and romantic than Romeo and Juliet?) is very much uncharted territory for me- a challenge I am not going to take lightly or passively. 

 

But I identify with Juliet, as most teenage girls do, in a sense that she is in that critical time of her life where she is no longer a child but not yet has the freedoms of an adult. Juliet is not frail and passive, but resilient and passionate and true to her convictions. The courage she has to risk and leave behind everything for what she believes in (love) is why I’m beyond excited about this opportunity to try my hand at playing her.

 

And that's the beauty of being a performing artist: apart from having the ability to share a story or character with an audience, you are capable of unlocking an element of your identity. You get to use your imagination to find yourself in someone you maybe thought wasn't like you. Even offstage, that is an experience that broadens your mind and opens up your perspective of other people as human beings. 

 

And on top of all that, I’m exceedingly lucky that in my first play I get to share the stage with this immensely talented cast and my first stage kiss ever with the amazing Kevin Acosta, all under the direction of the brilliant Adam Adolfo at Artes de la Rosa - which is a theatre that will always hold a very special place in my heart.

Meet the Cast of Romeo & Juliet

Artes de la Rosa is proud to announce casting for Romeo & Juliet, directed by Artistic Director Adam Adolfo. The world’s most famous story of an impossible ‘star-crossed’ love told against a violent political rebellion in the streets of Havana, 1958, comes to life on the Rose Marine Theater stage. It is a story of desire in a place for pleasure, power, and passion wrapped in the loving words of th...e world’s greatest poet, William Shakespeare... But behind this dazzling world of nightlife, glamour, and romance, the country is fraught with corruption. On the eve of the Castro revolution, you can feel the heat from the winds of Havana. Fall in love with Romeo & Juliet.

Taking the stage in the leading roles of the star crossed lovers are two alumni from Artes de la Rosa’s critically acclaimed production of the Tony Award Winning musical IN THE HEIGHTS. Starring as the poetic and sensitive young lover Romeo is the dashing Kevin Acosta. His counterpart, the strong but often misunderstood romantic Juliet is the beautiful Courtney Harris.

Making their Artes de la Rosa debut is Fort Worth ISD Theatre Teacher Clyde Berry as Father Laurence and Texas Wesleyan University Senior Kristi Taylor as the Nurse.

Returning to the Rose Marine stage for the first time since the inauguration of the American Classics Theater Initiative with the production of CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF is Adrian Godinez as Mercutio. He is joined by Parker Fitzgerald as Tybalt and Kyle Trentham as the Prince, both most recently seen in ethereal staging of Oscar Romero’s life, THE FIFTH SUN.

Other IN THE HEIGHTS cast members take the stage for this production set in 1958 Havana Cuba including Austin Ray Beck as Benvolio, Rebekah Ruiz as the rarely seen Rosaline, and Michael Alonzo as Balthazar. Many will remember Mr. Alonzo for his soaring vocals as the Piragua Guy in IN THE HEIGHTS, and here he takes the stage again to show us his phenomenal vocal techinique in several special musical numbers that the Production Team are excited to bring to this Shakespeare classic.

Rounding out the cast making their Artes de la Rosa stage debut are Cameron Allsup as the vicious and contestable Abraham, Jacob Harris as the charming and handsome Paris, and Jule Nelson-Duac as the plotting and manipulative Lady Capulet.

Additional casting still to come. Tickets for Romeo & Juliet go on sale Thursday August 1st and will be available online by visiting www.ArtesDeLaRosa.org. To celebrate the greatest love story ever told, Artes de la Rosa will be offering a special discount to its patrons who buy their tickets on the first day. On that day ONLY, when you use the promo code TRUELOVE you will receive a $5 discount on each ticket purchased including the gala opening night event.

 

#RomeoAndJulietFW

Artes & Shakespeare: It's about Passion!

I’ve been asked more than once… why Shakespeare for Artes de la Rosa? Well the best answer is that Latinos are a passionate people and Shakespeare was a passionate playwright. Placing them together seems like the most obvious of combinations. So I’ve set out to make the Passion of Shakespeare something everyone can understand! You may think you hate Shakespeare. You may say it’s hard to understand and you may even say its boring. I promise you – You won’t be saying that about THIS PRODUCTION of ROMEO AND JULIET!

“All the world’s a stage,” comes the saying from many theatre artists... Their voice proudly professing their passion and love. I believe to truly find that voice, you have to be silent, still, and open to the inspiration that it brings. Your voice comes from your passion and if you don’t know where your passion comes from, you are without a voice; mute. For me, I found it in the dark. In East Texas. On a hot summer night.

The year was 1999 and I was attending the Texas Shakespeare Festival Acting Workshops in Kilgore Texas. I was headed to school to pursue a degree in theatre arts that fall. I had been active in community theatre and high school theatre, but hadn’t really found my voice in the art or love for it. To be honest, I was pursuing the degree because I was good at it; not because I loved it… the Festival that summer had introduced me to wonderful staging’s of The Miser, The Fantasticks, and Antony and Cleopatra but I still didn’t’ feel like I knew where my voice fit and where my love was? The final production that I saw that summer was Two Gentleman of Verona directed by Tom Whitaker.

I remember sitting in the theatre, in awe and wonder at the parts of the whole… the bare raked stage, the 3 piece jazz band, the lounge singer…the sheer romance of the production, the simple details. The images of that show, 14 years later, still glow in my head. The men’s white suits, the bobbed hair of Michele Tauber who’s character name I could never remember, the long white gown of the ‘lounge singer’ (Sarah Hartmann, whom to this day, I still see in my mind’s eye, poised, statuesque, an icon of 1930’s jazz). But what I remember most about that evening is that for two hours, I didn’t breathe.

I just took it in. The design. The words. The actors. The show. It helped remind me what it’s all about, Love. Love is simple. Love is kind. Love is pure. Nothing ostentatious, nothing sly, just the actors, the language and the audience. At the end of the show, when the cast took the stage to sing the finale “Love Is,” I realized…my eyes were wet. To this day I can’t tell you how long I had been crying, but it had come. I looked at the cast, and there was not a dry eye among them. I fell in love with Shakespeare that evening. I fell in love with the magic of the language and the lyrical poetry executed so stunningly by the cast of brilliant actors. But what is even more special is that I know I was sharing it with a production staff, crew, and cast that loved it as much as I would grow to love it. As the cast raised their voice to sing, I found mine. I fell in love with theatre that night and all the passion that a group of people, both performers and audience alike, could share together – simply because a man named William Shakespeare over two hundreds of years earlier had written a play.

14 years later, I am helming my own Shakespeare shows, running Artes de la Rosa artistic future and yet, still recalling the night Shakespeare gave me a voice. In my time at Stephen F. Austin State University, I learned technique, skill, communication, artistry but not heart. I am grateful to say, I learned that before I got to school. I learned that I must touch you, “the audience”, personally as a human being if I am to succeed as an artist. My hope now is to one day direct a piece that is going to make a teenager fall in love with theatre, the way Mr. Whitaker, made me fall in love with Shakespeare that summer night 14 years ago.

That’s why I think Shakespeare is the next perfect step in the continuing artistic journey for Artes de la Rosa. If it can impact me as a teenager while still being the most produced playwright in history, how can we not provide the opportunity to the Artes de la Rosa patrons to experience that kind of passion? With this special new staging of Romeo and Juliet, I hope to impart to the people of North Texas the inspiration and passion that William Shakespeare gave me that summer of 1999.

In hindsight, that was the moment that defined what I hoped to become…the moment Shakespeare put a voice to my love…it was the moment I chose a life as a theatre person. So when someone asks me what I do in the theatre, I do not tell them I’m a playwright, an administrator, or director, but rather I raise my voice and say, “I’m a Theatre Maker.”

- Adam Adolfo, Artistic Director; Artes de la Rosa

SIDE NOTE: Don’t Forget Tickets go on sale tomorrow! We've got a deal that you'll FALL IN LOVE WITH! To celebrate the greatest love story ever told, Artes de la Rosa will be offering a special discount when you buy your tickets on the first day. On that day ONLY, when you use the promo code TRUELOVE you will receive a $5 discount on each ticket purchased including the gala opening night event.

PHOTO CREDIT: Photo's 2,3, & 4 from The 1999 Season production of TWO GENTELMEN OF VERONA at the Texas Shakespeare Festival. Director Tom Whitaker. Artistic Director Raymond Caldwell.

Everything I Needed to KNOW ABOUT Life

I Learned From

 

You’ve Got To Clear Out The Negative Energy - Daniela

Aigner Mathis & Joshua Sherman

Even though I should have learned this earlier in my life, this life lesson is one that I experienced and have come to accept because of the In The Heights FAMILIA. The lesson is how to obtain happiness and even though it may sound simple it is a task to do. I've heard this sort of thing all my life but in the reverse "think positively", "good thoughts breed good energies", "chin up buttercup" and other inspirational cliche-y quotes that you can think of. But never have I had it presented to me such as this: "Cut out the negative in your life." For some reason, phrased like that, my mind could wrap its way around it. I started weeding out the few people in my life who tended to bring me down and in return I found a huge family that supported me when I was down and who lift me up to great Heights (see what I did there?). A wise person once told me: "It is unfair to everyone around you if you are not living for yourself 100%. You want to make others happy? Be yourself and they will be ecstatic to be near you." By cutting out the negativity in my life I gained so much! Happiness. -Joshua Sherman “Benny”

 

Don’t Gossip. It’s a Sin! - Carla

Never be embarrassed about who you are and where you came from. Your story is YOUR story, and although many people have similar experiences, no one in this world will ever live the exact same life as you. Be proud of that.  - Natalie Coca “Carla”

Coffee is best served with a little bit of cinnamon. - Usnavi

Austin Beck, Benicka Grant, & Natalie Coca

I have learned for one, not to take myself too seriously! Being around dancers all the time can be stressful. We , as dancers strive for perfection but in the theater world, it's ok to have fun. Theater people are so much more encouraging and supportive than dancers. We people in this cast say they love you, they mean it. I've also learned that YOU CAN be a part of a cast where everyone gets along with one another. It truly feels like a family and there will never be a cast of people who are even remotely as amazing as these guys are.  -Benicka Grant “Dance Diva”

When You Have A Problem, You Go Home! - Camila

Jeremy Coca & Pamela Langton

Being involved in this amazing show has made me realize that you can never push yourself hard enough. You can always get better and there are people out there to help you along the way. It has also given me new hope that my dreams of being on Broadway or in shows here in Dallas aren’t dead! You are never too old to keep your dreams alive and I will continue to take my voice lessons, keep up my dancing and acting and get out there and audition as much as possible. One last thing, I have learned from this cast, these young people are fierce!!! They have a passion and a light that I want to steal and keep in a jar!!! They have taught me that if you try hard enough, work hard enough, love everyone enough, party enough, you can have it all!!! I want it too and I am going to take a little of all of them with me when this show is over. I love each and every cast member, I never thought that a bond like this was possible but it is. I hope they will never forget me, I know I won’t ever forget them.  -Pamela Langton “Camila Rosario”

“DREAMS COME TRUE…” – Karen Olivo, Original Broadway Vanessa

Natalie Coca, Amanda Williams, Sarah Dickerson

ITH slapped me right across my face. This show and its cast have reminded me what true love of theatre and performing is. Together we transcend the notes on the page and the words in the script. We breathe real life and real emotion into every character. We begin with joined hands and end with joined hands, and through each other we send that love and that energy into each and every heart and soul that sits wide-eyed before us. THIS is how it's supposed be. -Amanda Williams “Daniela”

 

With Patience & Faith, there are 96,000 possibilities! – Abuela Claudia

My life lesson...lord...I feel like being in In The Heights has given me everything. It filled so many voids in my heart. It showed me that I CAN love again, and not romantically, but just love PEOPLE. I am in love with not one person, but with about 25 people and I will never not be. I've gained sisters I've never had, I've gained confidence in myself, in my body, in who I am. Before Heights, I felt I wasn't the kind of person that stood out, or that anyone really cared to know or have around...almost like a throwaway convenience friend. With this cast, I have felt everything I never knew I could feel in my heart. Walls have been torn down by these glorious people and I am forever in debt to their love and graciousness on a daily basis. Like Adam told me before, I sparkle...I SPARKLE. I never thought I sparkled even a bit. But he and everyone involved have convinced me that I do indeed have everything I need inside of me to be wonderful, that I can accomplish anything. My fat (fab) 4...I can't even talk about them without tearing up...what we all have is so special and will always be in my heart forever. Heights has given me back what I had lost in years of heartache and pain and doubt...MYSELF. -Sarah Dickerson “Vanessa”

Barcardi is great to soothe your fear of flying! – Kevin



Aigner Mathis & Mark Quach

What I took away from this show is how important community and family really is. My cast mates are my family. From seeing them every day and carpooling home in the Coca car, every moment with them was special. Also, it's so refreshing being in a cast so energetic and sharing the same passion of the show as I do. Abuela Claudia says "Ay mama, what do you do when your dreams come true?" This show is a dream come true. -Mark Quach

When All Else Fails…Just Breathe! - Nina

In the end, I'm left with memories and broadening my familia. Being in this show, I was reminded that I should live in the now. Focus on what's happening at this moment around you. I'm left remembering the love of a family that I gained along the way.   -Jeremy Coca, “Little Coca”

Alabanza means to raise this thing to God’s face and say Praise to this! - Usnavi

Jordan Ghanbari, Rashard Turley, Aigner Mathis, Rashaun Sibley
& Darren McElroy

I'm going to start this by revealing something that I've held on to this entire production...I had no idea what In The Heights was until I did research for the audition, there, I said it. I know other people were in the same boat, but they got to blog about theirs and turn it into a heartwarming story...this brotha was not afforded the same opportunity. I risked being "that guy" who wasn't knowledgeable about the show and personally, I didn't want to take that risk. My theatre education dealt with learning about more non-musical plays, names like Neil Simon, August Wilson, Harold Pinter, and Christopher Durang were ones that I was accustomed to. I knew about musicals, but I wasn't rocking out to show-tunes in my car, because to me, they had been lacking something, that rawness, that grit, something that I appreciate in old school r&b and neo-soul music...In The Heights brought that for me. Someone can sing the life out of a song, do it technically perfect and you can appreciate their talent, but that doesn't mean you want it playing in on your radio constantly. In The Heights broke down a barrier and opened the door to a new set of eyes, ones who looked at chorus lines and laughed, ones where the the bubble-gum pop sounds just wasn't cutting it. I learned because of this show, musicals have changed forever. Whether this was the mindset of Lin or not, it has come to past and more and more people of this generation are becoming interested in the very thing we all love so very much. I am so thankful that I got the chance to be a part of this show that I've come to enjoy to the fullest and being surrounded by all of you made it that much more of a beautiful thing.  -Darren McElroy, “One Hell of a Right Hook-Just ask Benny”

Remember to tell your family’s story.

 

"Value" is defined in the Merriam Webster dictionary as: relative worth, utility, or importance.
That being said, we all, as human beings, just because of our existence, hold value. But how valuable we actually are however, rarely gets defined. What doing this show has taught me is that all of us, every performer, member of the creative and technical team, every note sung, move danced, and line read, is valuable beyond measure. In this industry, it is very easy to get underestimated, unappreciated. This show, these actors, this theatre, is for the most part, an underdog. A long shot. A 26 person show in the relatively small Rose Marine Theatre of Fort Worth, most of them being novice's to the stage without a professional credit on their resume, trying to pull off one of the most difficult modern musicals of our time, AND being the first professional theatre in the region to do so? Were we crazy? Who expected us to not only pull it off, but to truly produce something that the entire world could be proud of? But, we did it. We succeeded, together. There was struggle, there was anger, there was plenty of doubt, but in the end, we surpassed even our own expectations. Why? Because if there is ANYTHING that "In The Heights" can teach you, is that YOU determine how valuable you are. You determine your worth. The way you treat those around you, and the way they treat you, has the power to make whatever it is you come together to create, miraculous. We are worth the countless rave reviews from the critics, we are worth the endless standing ovations, because we believed we are. We established that that was our worth. Every single one of us has a home, a voice, a dream. We are valuable beyond measure. We are infinite, and now, there's absolutely no doubt about it.  -Matt Ransdell Jr. "Usnavi"

People Come, People Go, But There’s No Place Like Home. - Usnavi

The Friends Who Are Your Family – May Not Always Be Your Friends, But They Will Always Be Your Family.  –Adam Adolfo “The Director”

 

 

Albanza … this #InTheHeightsFW experience