• Source: Felix Manuel Rojas

      • Felix Manuel Rojas (born July 11, 1962) is a Puerto Rican writer, director, and producer from The Bronx, New York, best known for his play Growing Up Gonzales.


      Career


      Rojas began his theatrical career at Syracuse University in a production of Short Eyes by Miguel Pinero. In the mid 1980s, Rojas was introduced to Marvin Felix Camillo, artistic director of The Family Repertory Company (known as "The Family"), who became Rojas' mentor. The Family's primary focus was staging English-language plays written by Hispanic writers that depicted the experience of being raised in an urban environment, and through this company Rojas produced his first two original works, Hotel Presidential and From the Mind of Cheo. He also traveled to Spain and Cuba with The Family as a writer, stage manager, and production manager.
      After the production of Mandance, Rojas took a 17-year break from the industry to focus on raising his two sons, Felix Jr. and Nick. During this time he served as a director of a Boys and Girls club, and worked in outreach for the homeless for five years before returning to the theater.
      In 2009, Rojas was introduced to a script-writing program by his son Nick, and subsequently began writing again, returning to the entertainment industry in 2010 with several original works. His most successful work since his return was Growing Up Gonzales, which opened in the Pregones Theater in 2010 and played on and off for the following seven years throughout New York, in The Jan Hus Playhouse, The Poet's Den Theater, and The Medicine Theater. Set in the Bronx during the 1970s, Growing Up Gonzales is a two-act show following the life of two brothers, Johnny and Cisco, who grow up in the same environment but lead completely different lives. The play includes a comedic voiceover at the beginning explaining Puerto Rican customs and Spanish expressions that appear in the performance.


      Works




      = Plays

      =
      Hotel Presidential
      Soy Chris
      From the Mind of Cheo
      Mandance
      El Conde y La Condesa


      = Films

      =
      On the Down Low
      A Place for Us
      Perfect Vision


      = Television

      =
      Papi's Promise - TV pilot


      Awards and nominations


      HOLA for Outstanding Achievement in play writing
      Williamsburg International Film Festival for Outstanding Achievement in Filmmaking


      References

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