The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is a theater company based at the
47th Street Theater in New York City. It was founded as El Nuevo
CÃrculo Dramatico (The New Drama Circuit) by MÃriam Colón and
Roberto RodrÃguez.It was one of the first Puerto Rican theater
companies to be founded and is credited with kickstarting the Hispanic
and Puerto Rican theater scene in New York. The first production by
the company was La Carreta (The Oxcart) in 1953, written by René
Marqués and directed by founder Roberto RodrÃguez. Although the
success of El Nuevo CÃrculo Dramatico was short, the spirit of the
company lived on when Colón went on to found the Puerto Rican
Traveling Theater Company.In the 1940s and 50s Hispanic theater waned,
only surviving in mutual aid societies, church halls, and lodges for
smaller audiences. In 1940 a Puerto Rican dramatist René Marqués
began to develop an awareness of the Puerto Rican experience in the
United States while studying playwriting in New York. After returning
to San Juan, he wrote the play La Carreta. The story of La Carreta
dramatized a family dislocated from their farm and resettling into a
slum in San Juan, and then to New York City. It resonated with many
immigrant families who felt that their history, language and culture
of the working class were represented in a serious dramatic form. The
play was first produced in 1953, directed by Roberto RodrÃguez and
starring the young actress Miriam Colón. The success of the play
allowed RodrÃguez and Colón to form the first permanent Hispanic
theatrical group to have its own space, Teatro Arena, located in
Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th street. The group was
very successful at the start, allowing many important Latino/a figures
to start their careers and giving RodrÃguez the title as the father
of modern Puerto Rican drama in the United States. However, the
building was closed by the fire department in the 1960s, and the
company could not survive past its fifth year of existence. Despite
its short life though, it still had a huge impact on the Puerto Rican
theater scene. Many new groups began to form, inspired by the success
of El Nuevo CÃrculo Dramatico and another group,La Farándula
Panamericana. Some of these groups include: El Nuevo Teatro Pobre de
las Américas, Teatro Orilla,Teatro Guazabara, Teatro Jurutungo, and
most notably Teatro Cuatro, which still exists to this day.Though El
Nuevo CÃrculo Dramatico could not continue, Colón went on to form
the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater company in 1967 after starring in
an off-Broadway production of The Oxcart (an English translated
version of La Carreta) in 1966. The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
company (or PRTT) performed in both English and Spanish, traveling
around the boroughs of New York City with the focus of bringing
theater to those who desperately needed it. Supported by a joint
sponsorship from Mayor Lindsay's Summer Task Force Program and the
Parks Department, Colón began by touring a production of The Oxcart
through various neighborhoods, often to audiences who had never seen
theater before. The tours were immensely popular, drawing crowds of
people. The summer tours continued for years after their start,
providing free, bilingual theater to different neighborhoods in New
York City. After five years, the company gained a permanent location
in the Chelsea district in Manhattan until Colón was able to secure a
former fire house in the heart of the Theater District, where the
company still operates today.
47th Street Theater in New York City. It was founded as El Nuevo
CÃrculo Dramatico (The New Drama Circuit) by MÃriam Colón and
Roberto RodrÃguez.It was one of the first Puerto Rican theater
companies to be founded and is credited with kickstarting the Hispanic
and Puerto Rican theater scene in New York. The first production by
the company was La Carreta (The Oxcart) in 1953, written by René
Marqués and directed by founder Roberto RodrÃguez. Although the
success of El Nuevo CÃrculo Dramatico was short, the spirit of the
company lived on when Colón went on to found the Puerto Rican
Traveling Theater Company.In the 1940s and 50s Hispanic theater waned,
only surviving in mutual aid societies, church halls, and lodges for
smaller audiences. In 1940 a Puerto Rican dramatist René Marqués
began to develop an awareness of the Puerto Rican experience in the
United States while studying playwriting in New York. After returning
to San Juan, he wrote the play La Carreta. The story of La Carreta
dramatized a family dislocated from their farm and resettling into a
slum in San Juan, and then to New York City. It resonated with many
immigrant families who felt that their history, language and culture
of the working class were represented in a serious dramatic form. The
play was first produced in 1953, directed by Roberto RodrÃguez and
starring the young actress Miriam Colón. The success of the play
allowed RodrÃguez and Colón to form the first permanent Hispanic
theatrical group to have its own space, Teatro Arena, located in
Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 43rd and 44th street. The group was
very successful at the start, allowing many important Latino/a figures
to start their careers and giving RodrÃguez the title as the father
of modern Puerto Rican drama in the United States. However, the
building was closed by the fire department in the 1960s, and the
company could not survive past its fifth year of existence. Despite
its short life though, it still had a huge impact on the Puerto Rican
theater scene. Many new groups began to form, inspired by the success
of El Nuevo CÃrculo Dramatico and another group,La Farándula
Panamericana. Some of these groups include: El Nuevo Teatro Pobre de
las Américas, Teatro Orilla,Teatro Guazabara, Teatro Jurutungo, and
most notably Teatro Cuatro, which still exists to this day.Though El
Nuevo CÃrculo Dramatico could not continue, Colón went on to form
the Puerto Rican Traveling Theater company in 1967 after starring in
an off-Broadway production of The Oxcart (an English translated
version of La Carreta) in 1966. The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater
company (or PRTT) performed in both English and Spanish, traveling
around the boroughs of New York City with the focus of bringing
theater to those who desperately needed it. Supported by a joint
sponsorship from Mayor Lindsay's Summer Task Force Program and the
Parks Department, Colón began by touring a production of The Oxcart
through various neighborhoods, often to audiences who had never seen
theater before. The tours were immensely popular, drawing crowds of
people. The summer tours continued for years after their start,
providing free, bilingual theater to different neighborhoods in New
York City. After five years, the company gained a permanent location
in the Chelsea district in Manhattan until Colón was able to secure a
former fire house in the heart of the Theater District, where the
company still operates today.
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