Pregones/Puerto Rican Traveling Theater will give a world premiere to Parrots at the Pagoda, a new musical from the company's Associate Artistic Director Jorge B. Merced. The Off-Broadway production will begin May 1 and continue through May 25, with Merced at the helm.
The piece is inspired by late drag artist Johnny Rodríguez, owner of Puerto Rico's El Cotorrito and brother to legendary Tito "El Inolvidable" Rodríguez. Press notes describe the play as a "drag origins story," and promise "vibrant costumes and timeless songs." The production will feature Rodríguez's own music, arranged by Ricardo Ponsa and Desmar Guevara and music directed by Guevara.
The cast will feature Fernando Contreras (Bruise & Thorn) as Jongo, Bryan J. Cortés (New York, New York) as Jóngolo, Samy Figaredo (The Other Two) as Júngulu, Rubén Flores (¡Americano!) as Johnny, Khalid Rivera (Russian Doll) as Jínguili, Ansi A. Rodriguez (Red Sky) as Jungu, and Sebastian Treviño (On Your Feet!) as Tito. Onstage swing Jorge Donoso (At the Wedding) will round out the company. Casting is by Bass/Valle Casting.
The production will also have choreography by Veraalba Santa, set design by Gerardo Díaz Sánchez, lighting design by Emanuel Delgado, costume design by Harry Nadal, and sound design by Eduardo Lalo Reséndiz. Majo Ferrucho will serve as production stage manager, with Brianna Guillén as assistant stage manager.
“The great Johnny Rodríguez had a stellar career spanning five decades, from the 1930s well into the 1980s, often trailblazing in form and content,” says Merced in a statement. “He was at various times a boxer, social activist, music star, director of a touring revue of female impersonators, and owner of genderbending in-spot El Cotorrito (The Little Parrot) in San Juan. For this world premiere, our performing ensemble draws from Rodríguez’s catalogue of over 200 original songs! I hand-selected 15 especially poignant, smart, sometimes tongue-twisting lyrics to anchor a joyously unorthodox ‘bio-musical’ as told by a crew of flamboyant and chattering parrots sometime after the end of this world…”
Tickets are available at PregonesPRTT.org.
