PRESENTS
by Carmen Rivera
Directed by Cándido Tirado
April 25 - May 11, 2025
At Teatro Círculo
OUR STAFF
José Cheo Oliveras,
Founding Artistic Director
Virginia Louloudes,
Development Director
Edna Lee Figueroa,
Marketing Director / Social Media Manager
James Figueroa,
Financial Manager
Eva Vásquez,
Co-Founder & Educational Program Director
Verónica Caicedo,
Facilities Manager
Rubén Darío Cruz,
‘Abuelito, dime tú’ Program Coordinator
Camila Ceschin,
Box Office Manager
Cinzia Meneghello,
Web Designer / Web Master
Mariano de Paco Serrano,
Associate Artistic Director
Dean M. Zayas,
Associate Artistic Director, Emeritus
Pablo Zinger,
Musical Director
Israel Franco-Müller,
Resident Production Designer
Manuel Gómez Crespo,
Technical Production Director
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Eric Rivera, Chair
Special Assistant to the Commissioner/Chief Diversity Officer, NYC Department of Aging
Barbara Matos, Treasurer
Founder & CEO – Socorro Strategies
Paul Marín, Secretary
Founder and CEO, PM Public Relations
José Cheo Oliveras
Founding Artistic Director, Teatro Círculo
Eva Vásquez
York College
Diana Chery-Ramírez
Playwright, Director, Actress, Professor
Rocky Lizardi
Sony Music Entertainment
Laura Aguinaga
Actress, Producer, Writer
Rubie M. Alicea
Immigration Attorney – Kuba Law
MANY THANKS TO OUR SPONSORS…
National Endowment for the Arts
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul
New York State Council on the Arts, with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature
New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council
Mayor’s Office of Media & Entertainment
New York City Council Members Carlina Rivera – District 2, Shaun Abreu – District 7, Diana Ayala – District 8, Amanda Farías – District 18, Francisco Moya – District 21, Tiffany Caban – District 22, Sandy Nurse – District 37, Justin Brannan – District 47
U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer
U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Daniel S. Goldman, U.S. House of Representatives
Small Business Administration
The Tow Foundation
Howard Gilman Foundation
New York Community Trust
The National Latinx Theater Initiative
The Shubert Foundation
The Emma A. Sheafer Charitable Trust
Miranda Family Fund
The Hispanic Federation
Jeffrey & Paula Gural
The Mid-Atlantic Arts, through USArtists International
Lily Auchincloss Foundation
The Kaplen Brothers Fund
The Cory & Bob Donnalley Charitable Foundation
The Michael Tuch Foundation
The Frederic Coudert Foundation
The Lucille Lortel Foundation
Blanche & Irving Laurie Foundation
Con Edison
Bank of America
NYC Women’s Fund for Media, Music and Theater
For more information on how to make a tax-deductible donation visit:
La caída de Rafael Trujillo is made possible, in part, by the generous support of:
Lily Auchincloss Foundation
For more information about touring productions contact us at
(845) 662-7742 or at joliveras@teatrocirculo.org
Our rehearsal space and theaters are available for rent at very affordable rates.
Contact us at (347) 967-4765 / vcaicedo@teatrocirculo.org or visit:
PRESENTS
by Carmen Rivera
Directed by Cándido Tirado
April 25-May 11, 2025
At Teatro Círculo
The last years of the Dominican dictator who terrorized a nation.
Running time: approximately 2 hours. One 10 Minute Intermission.
CAST
(In alphabetical order)
Bill Blechingberg (Diplomat)
Bill has been acting in multiple Theatres all over New York for many years, including Repertorio Español, founding member of Teatro Latea and Rasgos, Pregones, Teatro Círculo, Teatro SEA, The Duke Theater, New Perspectives Theater, The Medicine Show and recently with Teatro Thalia. Awards: Nominated Best Actor ACE Award – Monserrat, Isabel Three Sailing Ships and a Con Artist; Best Actor ACE and HOLA awards La lechuga. Skeletons, Zanahorias. Film credits include: Bushwick, La vida inesperada, Ice Age, and The Undead. He has directed opera, musicals, and plays: Nominated Best Director for Hay que apagar el fuego. He is very excited to come full circle and be back with Teatro Círculo to work with an amazing cast in Carmen’s fascinating play, and once more with Cándido.
Erick González* (Joaquin Balaguer)
Valor, agravio y mujer, El coronel no tiene quien le escriba, Aire frío, El loco por fuerza (Repertorio Español); Noche tan linda (Pregones/PRTT); Marfa Lights (INTAR). Regional: Hamlet, Twelfth Night (DCPA); Native Gardens (Portland Center Stage at The Armory, Geva Theatre and Syracuse Stage); Farragut North (Premiere Stages at Kean). Other NY credits: Pericles, Measure for Measure, Much Ado About Nothing, Julius Caesar (Hip to Hip); Macbeth, The Taming of the Shrew, A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Frog and Peach). TV/Film: “Evil”, “Madam Secretary,” “StarUp”, A Nice Girl Like You.
*Appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
Iván Goris (Johnny Abbes)
Mr. Goris is grateful to Teatro Círculo, Cándido Tirado and Carmen Rivera. Thank you! Iván is a well-seasoned talent shining as bright as he can in this fast-paced industry. Iván is Dominican American actor and writer/producer born and raised in Manhattan’s Lower East Side with a strong connection to his Latino community. Iván has graced the stages all over NYC. His film and television credits include, HBO’s Vinyl, Tim Blake Nelson’s Anesthesia, Netflix’s She’s Gotta Have It and CBS Madam Secretary. Iván is also a Co-founder of B.I.P (Barrio Independent Productions).
Instagram: @Ivan_Goris537_
Francis Mateo* (Don Paco Escribano)
CallBacks2022 (Teatro Círculo) Othello (Shakespeare Forum); Hamlet (Shakespeare@); Merchant of Venice (Shakespeare Forum); Love’s Labour’s Lost (Shakespeare Forum); King Lear (Classical Theater of Harlem); Mother Courage (Public Theater); Red Beads(Mabou Mines); In the Name of Salome (Repertorio Español); La Canción (Repertorio Español); Bad Blood(Puerto Rican Traveling Theater). Film/TV: Cuatro Piezas (Verandi Films; Colonia (Verandi Films); The Holdouts (Savin Rock Entertainment); Fran Gil (Rayoelú Films). Education: M.F.A. Brooklyn College (New York). SAG-AFTRA
Instagram: @mateoinsta
*Appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
José Cheo Oliveras (Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina)
Holds a BA in Theatre and Public Communications from the University of Puerto Rico and ABD at CUNY Graduate Center where he studied Spanish and Luso‐Brazilian Literatures. He has worked as an actor and director at most of the established Latino theatre companies in New York City including Repertorio Español, Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre and Thalia Spanish Theatre, among others. Cheo has received multiple ACE, HOLA, LATA, and ATI awards for his work as an actor and director and several awards from BORIMIX and “Comité Noviembre” for his contribution to the Latino Arts in NYC.
Diana Pou* (Trujillo’s Lover)
Actress, singer, and audiobook narrator. Dominican based in New York. Winner of HOLA, ATI, LATA, and TALIA Awards (2022-2023) for Outstanding Lead Actress for ‘Mercado libre’ produced by Boundless Theatre Company. She made her film debut with the Honduran film ‘La condesa’, available on Amazon Prime in the US and Canada. She is part of the musical duo TeTxtié alongside Puerto Rican artist Gilberto Gabriel; their music is available on all digital platforms. SAG-AFTRA
Instagram: @dianapou
*Appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
Johary Ramos* (Dr. Jesús de Galíndez, Soldier, Senator, Porfirio Rubirosa, June 14th Soldier)
University of Puerto Rico and The Actors Center graduate. Credits with Teatro Círculo: original cast of “La caída de Rafael Trujillo”, Los titingós de Juan Bobo (ACE Best Actor Award), Puerto Rico ¡Fua!; with The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater: Women in Piquant Farse (ACE Best New Actor); with Pregones Theatre and IATI Theatre: “Blanco” (HOLA Best Ensemble Award), “El Apagón”, and “Medea’s Last Rosary” (ACE Best Ensemble); with Wings Theatre: Tango masculino (OOBR Award for Excellence). Dance credits with Ballet Concierto, Ballets de San Juan, Fosse, Radio City Christmas Spectacular, and New York City Opera.
Recently debuted at The Tribeca Film Festival as Ramón in “Bucky F*cking Dent”; released as “Reverse the curse” on Amazon and YouTube platforms; and directed by David Duchovny. SAG-AFTRA
“Dedico estas funciones a Hilda Seguinot Fuentes, mi alma gemela, confidente, apoyadora #1; y el más dulce y valiente ser humano que he conocido. Y a mi viejito que cumple 80 primaveras este año. ¡Felicidades Papi! ”
Instagram: @joharyramosseguinot
*Appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
Adriana Sananes* (Doña María Trujillo)
She is a past recipient of the Princess Grace Foundation Theatre Fellowship Award and the Best Actress Award, Golden Age of Spain Festival in El Chamizal, Texas.
Theatre: With Teatro Círculo, Entremeses de Cervantes (ACE Award) and the original production of La caída de Rafael Trujillo (ATI Award Best Actress); Bump Ensemble Studio Theatre; Sueño Teatro SEA (ATI, HOLA Awards).
A multiple winner of AudioFile Magazine’s Earphones Award, Adriana has recorded over 300 audiobooks, including the Spanish versions of Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird and Sonia Nazario’s Pulitzer Prize winner Enrique’s Journey, (AUDIE Award).
Her voice has been heard on TV, news programs, commercials, podcasts, and museum exhibits, including Apple News, MoMA, The Guggenheim and The Art Institute of Chicago. Recently she voiced the Queen and Malica for Hulu’s The Bravest Knight-Seasons One and Two.
Adriana was stage director for Early Music New York’s production of the XVIII Century musical Malbrú at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and The Songs of Astor Piazzolla at the Sheen Center. SAG-AFTRA
*Appears through the courtesy of Actors’ Equity Association
CREATIVE TEAM AND CREW
Carmen Rivera (Playwright)
Holds an MA in Playwriting and Latin American Theatre from New York University. She is very excited that Teatro Círculo has brought La caída de Rafael Trujillo (The Downfall of Rafael Trujillo) back to the stage. It was first produced in 2014, winning the ATI Award for Best Production.
The publication is now available at Theatrical Rights Worldwide (TRW) in English here and in Spanish here.
Carmen’s play, La gringa, was part of the OBIE Award Winning Series New Voices in 1996 and this year, celebrated its 29th year anniversary in repertory at Repertorio Español. It is now the longest running Spanish-language play in Off-Broadway history. It was published in both English and Spanish by Concord Theatrical Productions (Formerly Samuel French.) Off-Broadway productions include Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz (Co-Written with Cándido Tirado) – (HOLA Award, Outstanding Achievement in Playwriting); La Lupe: My Life, My Destiny (ACE Award – Best Production); Julia de Burgos: Child of Water; To Catch The Lightning (Nomination ACE Award – Best Production.) Carmen was the subject of a doctoral dissertation written by theatre scholar Dr. Jason Ramírez – Latinidad: The Theatre of Carmen Rivera. Her work can also be found on the online archive, ProQuest. Carmen has been the recipient of grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), ATT On-Stage and New York State Council of the Arts (NYSCA).
SPECIAL THANKS TO: Teatro Círculo; José and Julia Novas; Luz Martínez, Frank Moya Pons, René Fortunato, Julio César Valdés, César Jenevera, Nikaury Rodríguez, Denia Brache, Anna María Correa, Mona & Luis, Bersaida Vega, Ralph Mercado, David Maldonado, Juan Toro, Cándido Tirado, Mike Oquendo, Prof. Jason Ramírez, Prof. Christiane Schlote, and from the CUNY Dominican Institute – Prof. Sarah Aponte, Prof. Ángel Estévez, Dr. Ramona Hernández
Cándido Tirado (Director)
Playwright/Director. As a director, he has directed over 25 plays, including the Off-Broadway hit Made in Puerto Rico by Elizardi Castro; The Downfall of Rafael Trujillo by Carmen Rivera, (Teatro Círculo, 2014, 2015, 2023); El grito del Bronx by Migdalia Cruz; The Broadway of the Bronx, a one-person show by Juan Ramirez; and Elizardi Castro’s one-person show Law and Disorder.
His play Fish Men was produced at the Goodman Theatre in collaboration with Teatro Vista where it received four Jeff nominations and was also Steinberg nominated. It was also produced at INTAR in NYC. His musical, La canción, with music by Hip Hop artist Vico C, was produced at Repertorio Español in NYC. Momma’s Boyz was produced by Teatro Vista and was chosen as Chicago’s Top Ten plays by the Huffington Post. First Class was produced by Urban Theater Company in Chicago and later selected by Theater on The Lake Festival. His Off-Broadway productions include Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz (co-written with Carmen Rivera), which premiered at The New World Stages and had a 9-month run. It was also presented in Chicago’s Athenaeum Theater, Centro de Bellas Artes in Santurce, Puerto Rico; Tenerife and Miami: King Without a Castle (also workshopped at Sundance Theater Lab), Checking Out, First Class (Puerto Rican Traveling Theater). The Barber Shop, Momma’z Boyz (Repertorio Español). Other productions include: The Missteps of a Salsa Dancer, From Dating to Death in Five Easy Steps, Ilka: The Dream; Some People Have All the Luck was produced at the National Theater of the Dominican Republic and New York. Heart Stopping Sex was produced by Soho Rep. His other plays include Two Diamonds, Rising from The Ashes, The Kid Next Door, Hey There Black Cat, Abuelo, The Missing Colors of the Rainbow, The Pursuit Of Happiness, and his latest play 40/20. House of Souls, Fever and Palladium are co-written with Carmen Rivera. Ramon’s Magic Garden was commissioned by the Sol Project. He co-wrote award winning short film with Alfredo Bejar, Getting to Heaven. He was a staff writer for the TV show Ghostwriter where his episode was nominated for a Humanitas Award. He wrote for the hit web series East WillyB. He’s a four-time winner of the New York Foundation for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship. He co-founded EDUCATIONAL PLAYS PRODUCTION with his wife, Carmen Rivera, who tours the public schools presenting social issues – oriented plays, concerning inner-city youth. He has taught playwriting at Fordham University and is a playwriting professor at The New School.
Caridad del Valle (Assistant Director/Stage Manager)
Has a B.A. in dramatic art from the University of Puerto Rico. Her work as an artist includes acting, writing, production and stage management with theater companies like Teatro Círculo, Repertorio Español and Boundless Theater. Among the numerous plays in which she has participated are La Casa de Bernarda Alba, Virtuous Burglar, Yo no soy Lupita and Primavera ya no hay más (of her authorship). She has participated in important international festivals in countries such as Spain, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and the US. She has also received various recognitions and prestigious awards for her work as an actor and stage manager, from institutions like HOLA, ACE, ATI, LATA & ARTE. Between 2005 and 2006 she worked on Puerto Rican television on the programs Un día antes and De mujeres. In the cinema, she has worked as an actor and producer; among her film projects are: It is, Silent Dinner, Ping and Who Cares About What? In 2018, she founded her company Few Pennies Theatrical. With the intention of exploring new artistic horizons.
Instagram: @carodelvalle
Israel Franco-Müller (Set Designer & Props Master)
Production Manager and Set, Lighting & Costume Designer. International theatre designer whose works have been seen in: Alcalá and Almagro’s Classical Theater Festival in Spain 2022, Edinburgh’s Fringe Festival in Scotland, Cuba, Mexico, among other countries. Awards: Outstanding Production Designer-El caballero de Olmedo (Teatro Círculo, HOLA 2018), Best Set and Costume Design-El burlador de Sevilla (Teatro Círculo, ATI 2019). Franco-Müller holds a Ph.D. in Theater Design and Technical Production from the Complutense University of Madrid.
Omayra Garriga Casiano (Lighting Designer)
NYC based theater maker. Born and raised in Juana Diaz, Puerto Rico. Holds a BA in Theater Education from the University of Puerto Rico and an MFA in Theater Design from Brooklyn College. Production design of Teatro Círculo’s CALLBACKseries 2023 and DANCEseries2023. Associate producer and Production Manager of Boundless Theatre Company. Lighting design: La Carta-Danza (2021). Set Design: Mercado Libre (2022) El Barrio Raíces (2018- 2021). Credits in lighting design: Teatro Círculo’s CALLBACKseries (2016-2021), The One Festival (2017-2021), La celestina (2019). Credits in set design: Teatro Círculo’s CALLBACKseries (2015 & 2022). El barbero de Sevilla (2019), The Lesson (2018), The Waters of Friendship (2018), Nanas (2018). Holds a BA in Theater Education from the University of Puerto Rico and an MFA in Theater Design from Brooklyn College. Omayra has taken classes with international groups like Theater of the Oppressed (Brazil), Malayerba (Ecuador) and Yuyachkani (Peru).
Eliana Michelle Yost (Costume Designer)
Argentinian actress, model, set & costume designer, playwright. She possesses a BA in Performing Arts, UNC. Creation Scholarship 2020 grantee (National Art Fund, Argentina). Member of Teatro Círculo. Credits: Magníficas (UNC), Cama adentro (Intrus teatro), Vamos al rescate (Magníficas Teatro), La clínica de la doctora Lola (Magníficas Teatro), Pluvium (UNC), Transversión (UNC), ¿Y cómo no se pudrió Blancanieves? (Intrus teatro), Humanidad expuesta (UNC), ¿Dónde está mi zapato? (Potrero Teatro), El náufrago (Potrero Teatro).
Instagram: @eluyost
Kareliz Michelle De Jesús Pietri (Makeup Designer)
Born in Old San Juan, PR. She has dedicated herself to the performing arts since they was a child. Studied at the José Julián Acosta Specialized Theater School. She started at WAPA Televisión in 2007 as a comedian, makeup artist and costume designer. In 2012 moved to Florida to work at Telemundo and moved to New York in 2019 where they pursue the same luck of being able to work both on stage and behind the scenes.
Instagram: @kareliz.michelle
Historical Consultant: José Novas
Spanish Translation: Bersaida Vega
Lighting Designer Assistants: Gilberto Gabriel Díaz, David Ocampo, Manuel Pérez
Painted Backdrop: Félix Vega Miranda
Scenery Frames Construction: Omayra Garriga Casiano
Painting of Scenery Frames: Israel Franco-Müller
Lights Board Operator: Nick Fawwaz
Sound Board Operator: Caridad del Valle
Overtitles Operator: Janett Romero
Graphic Design: Edna Lee Figueroa
Teatro Círculo thanks everyone who has helped to make this production possible: people sharing our promos, sponsors, volunteers, friends and family, and YOU, our audience, for your continuous support through these 30 years!
SAVE THE DATE: May 15, 2025 and join us for our Fiesta de Salsa at Teatro Círculo!
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