Artes de la Rosa would like to introduce to the actors of the Second Season of the Louis Zapata Resident Acting Company. The five actors chosen by Fort Worth Weekly Visionary Award Winner Adam Adolfo represent a cross cultural blend of actors who specialize in Musical Theatre, Comedy, and Bilingual Theater. The actors include Emma Leigh Montes, Domanick Anton Hubbard, Matthew Perry Smith, Elizabeth Thresher, and Emily Warwick. All five actors will be making their Artes de la Rosa debut this season in productions of Big Fish The Musical 12 Chairs Version by Andrew Lippa and John August, Welcome to Arroyo’s by Pulitzer Prize Nominee Kristoffer Diaz, David Yazbeck’s Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown and a bilingual production of Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues.
Artistic Director Adam Adolfo explains Artes is celebrating Fort Worth’s rich diversity with this season’s Louis Zapata Company members. "These individuals represent the best, the brightest, and the changing artistic makeup of the arts community. We’re happy to have them part of the Artes de la Rosa Family over the next year."
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| From Left to Right: Domanick Anton Hubbard, Emily Warwick, Elizabeth Thresher, Emma Leigh Montes, and Matthew Perry Smith. Photo by Nathan Scott for Nathan Scott Photography |
ABOUT THE LOUIS ZAPATA RESIDENT ACTING COMPANY
The Louis Zapata Resident Acting Company is an essential component of the artistry and uniqueness of Artes de la Rosa’s seasons. The ensemble enhances the work of the company through its ability to develop complex and ambitious productions over time; plan seasons to utilize the unique strengths of an ensemble of actors; and undertake large cast productions on a regular basis, consistently achieving inspired performances in both large and small roles. In many ways, Louis Zapata is the father of The Rose Marine Theater, the home and creative heart of Fort Worth’s Northside community. Mr. Zapata was the first Latino elected to City Council and helped spearhead the renovation of the Historic Rose Marine Theater. His fierce commitment to the Rose Marine Theater continued till the end of his life where he made a friend promise that “nothing would happen to the theater.” Mr. Zapata passed away shortly following that promise and to honor his many contributions Artistic Director Adam Adolfo named the Resident Acting Company in his honor.
ABOUT ARTES DE LA ROSA CULTURAL CENTER FOR THE ARTS
Artes de la Rosa is dedicated to preserving, promoting, and interpreting the art, lives, and history of Latino culture for all.
ABOUT THE ACTORS
Domanick Hubbard is so excited to be a part of this year’s Louis Zapata resident company. Domanick Hubbard started his performer career at the age of 15, where he played Zeke in High School Musical. That's where he fell in love for the stage and performing. From there he went on to be in more productions, some of his favorite roles he has played have been: (Angel) Rent!, (Genie) Aladdin, and (Mungojerrie and Skimbkeshanks) CATS! All were performed at North Central Texas College. After all that excitement Domanick went to college at Southeastern Oklahoma State University were he got his BA in Musical Theatre with a minor in dance. While in college Domanick had the opprotuinty of working with the Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival for 3 summers. He served as a performer, was also a instructor for the teen and children's Theatre. His favorite roles performed in college were: (Tobias Ragg) Sweeney Todd, (Buddy) The Diviners, and (Billy Flynn) Chicago! Since graduation Domanick has performed at Six Flags Over Texas for the past 2 years singing and dancing for his life. When he is not performing he is working as a choreographer, working with kids and inspiring the youth to do what they love. He is very excited to be getting back into the Theatre world and looks forward to what this Company has in store for him.
Matthew Perry Smith is thrilled to be starting his career in Texas as a member of the Louis Zapata Resident Acting Company! Matthew is a recent graduate of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where he studied Theater and Political Science. Some of his favorite roles while at IUP include Doug in Gruesome Playground Injuries, Noel in The Optimist, and Beatty in Fahrenheit 451. Matthew also spent a summer performing with Keystone Repertory Theater, appearing as Mike Ferris in Hands on a Hardbody and Jim O’Conner in The Glass Menagerie. After graduation Matthew spent the summer performing at the Pennsylvania Renaissance Faire as Bartold Von Holtz. Besides acting, Matthew has extensive training in stage combat, holding the rank of Advanced Actor Combatant with the Society of American Fight Directors, as well as being an Apprentice Instructor with Dueling Arts International. Matthew has also choreographed fights for several productions, including Oleanna, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Sweeney Todd, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, Moon Over Buffalo, and Soldier’s Heart. One of the highlights of Matthew’s journey in stage combat was accompanying his teacher to China in 2014 to assist teaching a four day unarmed stage combat workshop for students at the Nanjing University of the Arts. Outside of theater, Matthew enjoys stand-up comedy, slam poetry, and being a huge nerd, particularly when it comes to Captain America. Matthew would like to thank his friends and family for all of their support, without which it wouldn’t be possible to pursue his dream.
Elizabeth Thresher: It was the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and eighty six when maw and paw got that brown chicken brown cow feeling. The following year, the earth welcomed Elizabeth Thresher into its orbit and stationed her in Dallas, TX. A few soccer games here, a few rounds of competitive theatre there and couple bowls of pretzels later, Elizabeth found herself at the University of North Texas where she chose to work socially among the publics. Once she secured a social work degree, she traversed to Cincinnati to work with AmeriCorps and then to Chicago to see where music could take her. As fate would have it, her journey to the Windy City took her to Wrigley Field where she sang the National Anthem and led her to her life-long teammate, Steve. They have been making music and magic together ever since; Steve is an audio engineer, producer, vocalist and all-around stellar feller. After joining forces and enduring multiple Chicago winters, Steve and Elizabeth opted to move (back) to the warmer Dallas climate. Being back home gave Elizabeth the confidence to take her acting talents from in front of the bathroom mirror to a real stage. She has appeared in Young Frankenstein at the Grand Prairie Arts Council, Footloose at Art Centre Theatre Plano and now the Louis Zapata Resident Acting Company at Artes de la Rosa. Elizabeth appreciates all of the support and inspiration she has received from her family and friends and hopes to pay it forward continually.
Emily Warwick is a Fort Worth native, but she currently lives in Granbury, TX. She works with the Granbury Theatre Company as the resident Costume Designer and Properties Master. Emily appreciates being able to work on the technical side, but her real passion for the theatre is performing. Her passion started early but it took off full force when she was 12 years old and she has been on a stage ever since. She has performed with the Casa Manana Apprentice Program in Secret Garden (Ayah). Some of her favorite past shows include Guys and Dolls (Sarah Brown), Seussical (Mrs. Mayor), Little Shop of Horrors (Chiffon), Bye Bye Birdie (Doris MacAfee) at Plaza Theatre in Cleburne, TX, Spamalot (Lady of the Lake), Sweeney Todd (Mrs. Lovett), Legally Blonde (Paulette Bonafonte), Ghost: The Musical (Oda Mae Brown), Lucky Stiff (Rita LaPorta), Fiddler on the Roof (Golde), Mary Poppins (Mrs. Brill) with Granbury Theatre Company, Peter Pan, Children of Eden, and Beehive: The 60's Musical with Theatreworks Community Players in Martinsville, VA. Emily is looking forward to this next chapter with the Louis Zapata Resident Acting Company, Adam Adolfo and Artes De La Rosa. She is blessed with family and friends behind her every step of the journey. "Do it with passion, or not at all."
Emma Leigh Montes is a local actor in the DFW area. She is excited to be making her debut on the Artes de la Rosa stage in this upcoming season and is even more excited to be a member in the Louis Zapata Resident Acting Company. Emma was most recently seen in Nevermore! Edgar Allan Poe The Final Mystery at Runway Theatre, where she played the Voice of the Raven. Before that, she was seen as Shelley Parker in Bat Boy at OhLook Performing Arts Center. At OhLook, she was also given the opportunity to be a part of Evil Dead the Musical and the world premiere of the musical Dula. Some of her favorite past credits include Endgame (Nell), Henry V (Nym/Bates) , A Christmas Carol (Belle/Laundress) , A Mile Away From Paradise (Sarah), Magnolia Day (Lisa) , Extracurricular (Julia), Jinxed (Jessica "Meatloaf") , and The Closet (Twinkles) . She would like to thank Adam for always encouraging her and pushing her to achieve more than she thought she could. Emma is also extremely blessed to have the most rockin' group of people behind her. She would like to thank her best friend, Kolby for his love and encouragement, her awesome boyfriend, Jordan, for his constant support in everything she does, her Papa Bill and Grandma Lucy for all of their love, encouragement and support and most importantly her parents, who's amazing advice, love, encouragement and constant support is what helps her keep moving forward. Ph. 4:13.
