El HuracÁn

by Charise Castro Smith

Generous support for the GableStage production provided by Henry R. Muñoz III

Additional support from Baptist Health

Student Matinees sponsored with leading support by Green Family Foundation • The Jorge M. Pérez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation • The Kirk Foundation • Lloyd and Helen Dilworth Foundation

Additional support provided by Knight Foundation

With the support of the Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs and the Cultural Affairs Council, the Miami-Dade County Mayor and Board of County Commissioners

Scenic Designer

Frank J. Oliva^

Magic Consultant

Sound Designer

Rodolfo Ortega^

André Garré Costume Designer

Gema Valdés

Set Dresser & Properties Designer

Jameelah Bailey

Lighting Designer

Blanca Forzán

Dramaturg

Karina Batchelor

Set Dresser & Properties Designer

Constanza Celsi

Choreographer & Intimacy Coordinator

Jeni Hacker

Stage Manager

Kenya Anthony-Moore*

Production Stage Manager

Katie Ellison*

Directed by Dámaso Rodríguez**

Valeria..........

Miranda..........

Alonso..........

Fernando/Theo..........

Alicia/Val/Dr.Kempler...........

Ximena...........

Barbara Bonilla*

Thais Menendez*

James Puig*

Gabriell Salgado*

Emma Garcia Seeger

Adriana Sevan*

Part One: August, 1992

Part Two: August, 2017

Part One before and during Hurricane Andrew Part Two the day after Alonso’s funeral

El Huracán will be performed without an intermission.

THE VIDEOTAPING OR AUDIO RECORDING OF THIS PRODUCTION IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED

*Appearing through an agreement between GableStage and Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.

Charise Castro Smith is a playwright and writer originally from Miami. She spent the last three years co-writing and co-directing the theatrical Disney animated film Encanto which features music written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. She has staffed on many tv series including The haunting of Hill House on Netflix, Sweetbitter on Starz, and The Exorcist for Fox. Her pilot The Death of Eva Sofia Valdex was shot at ABC. She is a prolific playwright whose plays include El Huracán (premiered at Yale Repertory Theatre), Estrella Cruz: The Junkyard Queen (Ars Nova/Halcyon Theatre), The Hunchback of Seville (Washington Ensemble Theatre/Trinity Repertory Company), Washeteria (Soho Rep), and Boomcracklefly (Miracle Theatre). She is a recipient of a Van Lier Fellowship at New Dramatists and is an alumna of Ars Novas Play Group and The New Georges Jam. She holds an M.F.A from Yale School of Drama.

About The Playwright About The Director

Dámaso Rodríguez** (Director) was born in Miami, and is thrilled to make his local theatre debut at GableStage. He is a director of new and classic plays with over 100 credits at theatres across the country. Most recently, he concluded a nine-year tenure as Artistic Director of Artists Rep in Portland, Oregon, where he directed 22 productions. In prior years, he co-founded L.A.’s Furious Theatre and served as Associate Artistic Director of the Pasadena Playhouse. His productions have won and been nominated for dozens of awards (LA Stage Alliance, LA Stage Scene, LA Weekly) and he is a recipient of awards from L.A. Drama Critics Circle Back Stage, and the NAACP. He is a three-time panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, serves on the Drama League’s National Directors Council, and is a member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. Dámaso dedicates his work on El Huracán to his grandparents: Zulema and Dámaso R. Rodríguez, and Teresita and Román García. We carry your memories.

About The Cast

Barbara Bonilla* (Valeria) is a Cuban American actor and a native New Yorker, now living in South Florida. She is thrilled to be returning to GableStage after her 2022 debut in BOCA. This past summer, she performed at Barrington Stage in The Berkshires and, most recently, at Empire Stage in The Savannah Sipping Society. OffBroadway: You’ve Got Hate Mail, Traid Theatre, New World Stages and Two River Theatre. And at the Gala Theatre in D.C., where she performed the role of Carmen in Real Women Have Curves. Recent Films: Reminiscence with Hugh Jackman and iMORDECAI with Judd Hirsch. TV: Unsolved Mysteries, Law & Order: SVU, 30 Rock, The Sopranos, The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Thanks to family, friends and the entire team for their love and support. This performance is dedicated to her Abuela Estela, a professional actress at El Teatro Payret in Havana, Cuba (1935-1955) and her Abuela Elisa, whose goodness was magical. Follow @barbarabonillaactor

About The Cast

Thais Menendez* (Miranda) is a Cuban-American trilingual SAG-AFTRA/ AEA actor, producer, and writer based in Los Angeles. A Miami native and graduate of Boston College with a BA in Theatre & English, Thais is thrilled to be back in her hometown making her GableStage debut with this special play. Thais is also the co-founder of Quien Te Manda Productions, a Latina-led company dedicated to uplifting Latine voices in film. She wrote and starred in QTM’s first film to be released in 2023. SELECTED THEATRE: A Misanthrope (Avant Bard); Things That Are Round (Rep Stage, World Premiere); columbinus (1st Stage, Helen Hayes Best Ensemble nomination); Don Cristobal (Pointless Theatre); What Every Girl Should Know and Dry Land (Forum Theatre); Oyéme, The Beautiful (Imagination Stage); Tentación (LA Philharmonic) TV: The Bold & the Beautiful (CBS); While You Were Breeding (Freeform). Para mis abuelos y Luis IG: @thaismarie

James Puig* (Alonso) is delighted to make his GableStage debut directed by Damaso Rodriguez with this dream of a cast. Jim made his Broadway debut performing in repertory Romeo and Juliet (Friar Laurence), As You Like It (Touchstone) and Macbeth (The Porter) also understudying F. Murray Abraham in that title role. Jim’s last Broadway appearance was the Hal Prince tribute, The Prince of Broadway. OFF-BROADWAY: NYC Center, Circle Rep, Playwrights Horizons, The Actors Studio in NYC, Lincoln Center and ten projects with the New York Shakespeare Festival. REGIONAL: Kennedy Center, Yale Rep, McCarter Theatre, Denver Center, Actor’s Playhouse and twelve productions at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. TELEVISION: Miami Vice, Tattingers, Cheer s and All My Children A product of South Florida theatre, Jim was recently featured in Miami New Drama’s world premieres of the plays Fake and The Cubans at the Colony Theatre and last season in Zoetic’s GringoLandia at the Arsht Center. Heartfelt gratitude to Bari, Damaso, Charise, Andre and my great GableStage family. Jim dedicates his performance to his parents, Florentina and Jaime with thanks to Hilda, Manie, family and friends for their love and support and most of all to God for those many blessings and for the gift of a lifetime in theatre. “With God all things are possible.”

Gabriell Salgado* (Fernando/Theo) is thrilled to be working with GableStage for the first time. After making his professional debut with Zoetic Stage as ‘The Creature’ in Frankenstein, he has since starred in Miami New Drama’s 20th Anniversary production of Anna in The Tropics written and directed by Nilo Cruz, The Foundry’s production of Lucas Hnath’s Red Speedo, Palm Beach Dramaworks’ production of Amy Herzog’s 4,000 Miles, Michael McKeever’s The Code, Hannah Benitez’s Gringolandia, and Ira Levin’s Deathtrap. Gabriell would like to thank his friends and family for their endless love and support. Gabriellsalgado.com @ gabriellsalg

Emma Garcia Seeger (Alicia/Val/Dr.Kempler) is a recent graduate from the University of Florida, with her BFA in Theatre Performance, Specialization in Acting. This will be her debut theatrical performance since her college graduation this past April. She is thrilled to be working with this cast and crew and cannot be more thankful for this experience. She recently assistant stage managed The 39 Steps with Zoetic Stage, as well as stage managed both The Actors and Red Speedo at The Foundry in Wilton Manors. She wrote and acted in her own one-woman show for her final performance of college, Shut Up, I’m Still Talking. Other shows include Antigone, Macbeth and Three Sisters. She would like to thank her family for always supporting her. Shoutout to Vignesh<3. Enjoy the show! Instagrams include @ emma_seegz and @thebeverlywashington.”

About The Cast

Adriana Sevan* (Ximena) is an award-winning actor and playwright. Credits include: Las Mujeres del Mar (Playwrights Arena), El Huracán (Yale Repertory), Destiny of Desire (Oregon Shakespeare Festival), Anna in the Tropics (Coconut Grove Playhouse/SCR), The Clean House, Caucasian Chalk Circle (South Coast Repertory), The Children (Boston Court), Conduct of Life (Rosenthal Theatre), Two Sisters and a Piano (Public Theatre), Henry V (Shakespeare & Co) Macbeth (HERE), Another Part of the House (CSC), The Odyssey (St. Clemens), Populvuh (Lincoln Center). Film/TV: Coco, Harvest, What Anna Knew, Thinner, Law & Order, Sex & the City, Deadline, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Playwrighting highlights, Taking Flight, (CTG/Kirk Douglas Theatre), (San Diego Rep/SDTC Award), (Goodman), (Sundance), (LATW) and MEA Awarded, Night Over Erzinga, (Golden Thread), (Silk Road Rising), (Yerevan State Theatre). She’s published by Samuel French, Smith & Kraus, American Theatre Magazine, Routledge, Northwestern Press and has taught and directed at theatres/universities across the country. For Mom y mi Papá, and her Beloved.

About The Creative Team

Kenya Anthony-Moore* (Stage Manager) is a theater professional born and raised in Miami, Florida. She has worked with multiple organizations in Miami and New York City. She most recently was the Assistant Company Manager for the First National Tour of Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. Kenya relishes in being a part of dynamic productions that are as impactful, diverse, and thought provoking for an audience as they are pristinely produced. She is dedicated to prolific storytelling and developing programs that are inclusive to all communities.

Jameelah Bailey (Props Designer/Set Dressing) is based in the South Florida region. Her latest projects include: The Cubans/A Wonderful World/ 7 Deadly Sins (Miami New Drama), The Amparo Experience (Broadway Factor), The Cook, The Thief, His Wife & Her Lover (Faena Theatre), Once On This Island (Slow Burn Theatre), and FADE ( GableStage). She is excited and grateful for the opportunity that GableStage has given her to work on the beautiful project, El Huracán. She would like to thank her friends and family for their continued love and support.

Karina Batchelor (Dramaturg) is a Miami native. Karina completed her Master’s Degree at the Shakespeare Institute, in conjunction with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the U.K. Her recent dramaturgical projects include El Huracán, Twelfth Night, A Doll’s House Pt. II, Heisenberg, and We Will Not Be Silent (GableStage) as well as her British based collaborations with Leeds Playhouse and The Coronet Theatre in London. A proud educator, with over 20 years of experience, Karina is excited to be mixing her teaching expertise with her artistic vision to help facilitate and deepen the understanding of GableStage’s current season and beyond. Karina would like to thank her family for all their love and support and in particular her father, Vinicio, for opening the door to her own Cuban story.

Constanza Celsi (Set Dresser & Properties Designer) is excited to be working once again with GableStage. This is her 8th GableStage production and her second production as set dresser and properties designer. She graduated from Florida International University with a Bachelor in Theatre Arts. She is thankful to GableStage for this amazing opportunity. She would like to thank her family and friends for their continuous support.

About The Creative Team

Katie Ellison* (Production Stage Manager) is on her sixth season as the Resident Production Stage Manager at GableStage. Outside of GableStage, she had the privilege of working with Miami New Drama at the Colony Theatre on their production of 7 Deadly Sins. Other credits include Assistant Stage Manager for Peter and the Starcatcher at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts and Assistant Stage Manager for Zoetic Stage’s productions of Stripped and Rapture, Blister, Burn. She was also the Production Stage Manager for Orchestra Miami’s Music at The Biltmore and The Mice War. Katie is a proud graduate of the University of Miami with a BFA in Stage Management.

Blanca Forzán (Lighting Designer) is a Lighting Designer, Set Designer, and Writer. Blanca has a degree in Architecture from Del Valle de Mexico University, was a Ban Center Intern (Canada), and worked with the National Institute of Fine Arts for over two decades (Mexico City). Notable shows include: Faust (Brooklyn Academy of Music, N.Y ) and Hamlet (Cadiz Spain). Other credits: Bicycle Country (Aurora Theatre, Lawrenceville, G.A.), Octoroon, A Doll’s House, Part 2, La Ruta (Artist Repertory Theatre), In The Next Room (Portland State University), Men on Boats (Willamette University, Salem) and Jump (Confrontation Theatre). Mother Courage and Ruin Imago Theatre with Profile Theatre, Measure of a innocent Bag & Baggage, 2020, a Brigth New Boise 2021 (Willamette University) A Christmas Carol 2021 (Portland Play House) In the name of forgotten women ( Coho theatre 2022) Neat With Passinart at IFCC 2022, Bella An American Tall Tale, Portland Playhouse 2022. The Hombres 2022 Artist Repertory Theatre. Blink (Therd Rail 2022) Dia de los Muertos Portland Playhouse 2022. Black Nativity (Passinart 2022). Blanca is happy to be for the first time in Miami working with GableStage!

André Garré (Magic Consultant) In his extensive career, has had shows in the USA, Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Aruba, Venezuela and more places stand out, adding up to a great list of successes of his different and intelligent magical proposal. Books, courses, workshops and conferences on the subject are another good proof of his excellence. His work on television, both for his multiple invitations on Primetime programs and for his consultancies in the advertising, film and theater fields, as well as his exclusive illusion designs alluding to brands and products, are a gold seal of this artist who always marks his vast knowledge on the subject.His exclusive weekly resident show Asombro at the elegant Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables is a definite standout in the Florida city. The success of André Garré is due to his organic, communicative and friendly artistic proposal that results in different formats of illusionism shows both for the corporate area and for social events of different kinds, without a doubt they mark this artist as a benchmark in the matter.

Jeni Hacker (Choreographer & Intimacy Coordinator) is an actor, Intimacy Director and Choreographer based here in South Florida. She is a six-time Carbonell Award winning actress but was also nominated for a Carbonell Award for Best Choreography for the Actors’ Playhouse production of Once. Other recent Choreography and Musical Staging credits: Heisenberg (GableStage), Side by Side by Sondheim, Frankenstein, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, Fun Home, Dancing Lessons, A Little Night Music (Zoetic Stage), Ruthless! The Musical, It Shoulda Been You (Actors’ Playhouse), Once, Godspell (St. Michael’s Playhouse), Tar Beach (TheatreLab). Other favorites include: Addams Family, Pippin, Annie, High School Musical, Anything Goes, Sound of Music and Bugsy Malone.

About The Creative Team

Frank J Oliva^ (Scenic Designer) is a Cuban-American Stage Designer. He recently received a Silver Palm Award for his work on Gablestage’s production of The White Card and Area Stage Company’s production of Beauty and the Beast. Recent projects include productions with Miami New Drama, Area Stage Company, Gablestage, Ars Nova, Cherry Lane Theatre, Clubbed Thumb, Geva Theatre, The Weston Playhouse, Two River Theatre, and The Cincinnati Symphony, among others. Associate Designer on the recent Broadway productions of Death of a Salesman, Oklahoma!, West Side Story and Hangmen. Theatre Designer for Netflix’s “Marriage Story”. Frank received the 2017 Innovative Theatre Award for Stage Design and won the 2021 Opera America Director/Designer prize and was nominated for 2022 Carbonell Award and a 2018 Audelco Award for Set Design. His designs were exhibited at the 2019 Prague Quadrennial. Member of Wingspace Theatrical Design and United Scenic Artists, and a graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. www.frankjoliva.com

Rodolfo Ortega^ (Sound Designer) Credits include Nicole is Having a Baby and Flex Humana Festival; Native Gardens at Cleveland Playhouse; Metamorphoses Seattle Rep; Romeo and Juliet and Tenth Muse at Oregon Shakespeare Festival; Monster Builder at South Coast Repertory; Three Musketeers and Romeo and Juliet at Denver Center; Tempest, Hamlet, Love’s Labor’s Lost and Venus and Fur at Santa Cruz Shakespeare ;1984, La Ruta, Magellanica, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart at Artist Repertory Theater. Additional Credits: Rodolfo received his Master of Music from Manhattan School of Music and was recently featured in Prague for the 2019 Prague Quadrennial for his music from Magellanica for Artist Repertory Theater.

Gema Valdés (Costume Designer) Coming from the fashion industry, Gema discovered her love of the theatre when she was asked by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Nilo Cruz to design the costumes for his Spanish version of Hortensia and the Museum of Dreams. She has collaborated with Cruz designing costumes for Hurricane, Beauty of the Father (Miami Life Awards nominee), The Color of Desire, Bathing in Moonlight and many other Arca Images productions. Costume design combines her passion for fashion with her love of the theatre. Presently Gema is the Costume/Prop Technician at the University of Miami’s Jerry Herman Ring Theatre serving as costume shop supervisor, draper, and patternmaker, where she collaborates with costume designers and familiarizes students with all aspects of production costuming. Gema worked with the legendary Joe Adler on Indecent at Gablestage as well as constructing costumes for other productions. It’s an honor and a pleasure coming back to Gablestage and working with such talented individuals on El Huracán.

Bari Newport (Producing Artistic Director) joined GableStage as Producing Artistic Director in April 2021. She came to Miami from the Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor, Maine, where she served as Artistic Director for nine seasons. Previously, she was artistic associate at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, artistic/ literary manager at the Pasadena Playhouse, associate producer at Horizon Theatre and associate director of Florida Repertory Theatre. As a producer, Newport has been responsible for the creation and stabilization of a wide range of artistic initiatives, including extensive work in new play development, education and community engagement. While leading Penobscot – which serves 40,000 people each season – Newport doubled the budget in eight years; produced five world premieres; created a partnership with the Penobscot Nation, with whom she developed two large-scale NEA-supported projects; and fully funded the company’s endowment. She kept her entire staff of 15 employed during the pandemic and produced an innovative season that included 17 newly commissioned digital projects. Her work as a director and actor has been seen at Horizon Theatre Company, Greenbrier Valley Theatre, American Stage, Cumberland County Playhouse, Florida Repertory Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, Westport Country Playhouse and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. Productions directed at GableStage include: The Price, The Year of Magical Thinking, Heisenberg,We Will Not Be Silent & A Doll's House, Part 2. She earned her BFA from the University of Southern California and MFA from the University of Iowa. Bari is a 20 year member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society and the Actor’s Equity Association.

Special Thanks

Henry R. Muñoz III (Lead Support) is an American activist, business leader, designer & philanthropist. He has launched national movements including Momento Latino, TheDream.US and Latino Victory to support the Latino community through awareness, educational funding, and electoral empowerment. Muñoz bought the premier comedy studio Funny or Die (FOD) in May 2021 with hopes to advance diverse story telling in Hollywood in a Funny Original and Diverse (FOD) manner. Muñoz is a Tony-nominated producer of Paradise Square. The show garnered 10 Tony nominations including a nomination for best musical. Muñoz is also a producer of the Broadway revival of Funny Girl. In the coming season, Mr. Muñoz is a producer of the revival of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, Once Upon A One More Time, based on the music of Britney Spears and is the principal underwriter and producer of the world premiere of Huracan, written by Charise Castro Smith. Muñoz is the cofounder of SOMOS US, a healthcare network in NYC treating largely immigrant communities that has been at the forefront of battling the COVID-19 pandemic. He is the former Chairman of the Board & CEO of Muñoz & Company, one of the largest and oldest minority-owned design practices in the country. Under his leadership, Muñoz & Company pioneered an inclusive approach to architecture, urban planning, and design that acknowledges the imprint of the Latino community upon the built environment of the United States, winning over 150 juried design awards in the process. Muñoz helped found the effort to create a Latino Museum on the Mall in Washington D.C., as Chairman of the bipartisan Commission to study the creation of the National Museum of the American Latino. After legislation passed in 2021 for the establishment of the Smithsonian American Latino Museum, Muñoz was elected as Founding Chairman of the Board. Muñoz was appointed as Finance Chair of The Democratic National Committee by President Barack Obama in January 2013. He was the longest serving Finance Chair in DNC History. He is now Finance Chair Emeritus of the Democratic National Committee, the first Latino and openly gay person to ever hold those positions. Henry and his husband Kyle Ferrari-Muñoz, tireless advocates for marriage equality and equality for the LGBTQIA + community, were married by President Joe Biden and currently live in New York and Los Angeles.

And our appreciation to:

Costume Armour

Barbara Escobar

John Frank

Iva Kosovic

Scenic Solutions

ANNUAL DONORS & FUNDERS

2022-2023 ANNUAL DONORS & FUNDERS

The Board of Directors and staff of GableStage applaud our supporters whose generosity enables us to deliver theatre of artistic excellence to the community. Donors to the Joseph Adler Legacy Campaign are recognized immediately following Annual Donors.

Donations listed were received between December 1st 2021- March 28th, 2023

$250,000+ the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Miami-Dade County Department of Cultural Affairs

$100,000+

Henry R. Muñoz III

The Jorge Perez Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation

$25,000+

Marc & Robyn Abrams

The Cornelia T. Bailey Foundation

Florida Department of State/Division of Cultural Affairs

Green Family Foundation Trust

Nedra Kalish

Rhoda Levitt

Al & Jane Nahmad Family Foundation

Bari Newport & Magnus Stark

Peacock Foundation, Inc.

Charles & Rosalyn Stuzin

$15,000+

Grove Bank & Trust

George & Jenna Haj

The Kirk Foundation

Valerie Dillon & Dan R. Lewis

The Shubert Foundation

$10,000+

Ann Anthony

Louis J. Appignani Foundation

Alan & Jayusia Bernstein

The Children’s Trust

City of Coral Gables Cultural Affairs

Dosal Family Foundation

Easton Family Foundation

El Dorado Furniture Funding Arts Network

Ivan & Lourdes Garces

Richard & Judith Jacobs

Selma Ankist Family Trust, Andrea Nobil, Trustee

Charles N & Eleanor Knight Leigh Foundation Inc.

William J. & Tina Rosenberg Foundation

Kaufman Rossin

Sara Solomon

Jodi & Paul Tartell

Rick & Myrna Toren

Dr. Aizik L. Wolf, Miami Neuroscience Center

Jessie Wolfson

$5,000+

Mitchell & Ana Bierman

Caballero Fierman Llerena + Garcia, LLP

Dave Coulson & Jeannie Etter

Nanci & Harold Deutsch

Lil & Yorke Doliner Charitable Foundation, Trustee Allison Hockman

Jessica & Jordan Fishfeld

Carolynn & Michael Friedman

Audrey & Ralph Friedner

Jill & Harold Gaffin

Greenberg Traurig, P.A.

Jane Hurt

Dr. Nilza Kallos

Ezra & Tati Katz Philanthropic Fund

Chaim & Shelly Katzman

Janet and Gerald Kelfer

Richard & Susan Lampen Fund at The Miami Foundation

The Miami Foundation

Miami Salon Group, Inc.

Jeff Davis & Michael Miller

Nedra & Mark Oren

Ruth Orevba & Oliver Zurbel

Lee & Iris Osiason

Patricia Papper

Aaron & Dorothy Podhurst

Do & Rickles Family Foundation

The Zelda and John Schwebel Family Foundation at The Miami Foundation