Witness the story of women’s triumph loosely based on a 1985 – 1987 Cannery strike, a Richter scale earthquake, and a vision of the Virgen de Guadalupe in Watsonville: Some Place Not Here. Meet the cast and crew that bring this story of Chicana women rising up to life.
CAST
Patricia Alvitez, Lucha
Patricia Alvitez studied Ballet at La Escuela Nacional de Ballet en el Peru and theatre at la Asociacion de Artistas Aficionados. She moved to the US in late 80’s, joining The Peninsula Ballet Theatre in San Francisco. Patricia started Ballroom dancing in 2008 and has competed in Portland, Seattle and Los Angeles. Currently she studies Flamenco dance at Estudio Flamenco. Local credits include Grand Hotel and Young Frankenstein at Lakewood Theatre and she has been part of the cast of the Day of the Dead productions at Milagro for the past 4 years.
Enrique Andrade, Don Arturo/Monsignor
Enrique E. Andrade, originally from Mexico City, graduated from University of Oregon. Enrique has performed in numerous Milagro productions, most recently Astucias por heredar…. Enrique has performed with Portland Actors Ensemble and Bag & Baggage. Most notably, Enrique performed in Astor Piazzolla’s Maria de Buenos Aires at the Aspen Festival of Music, 3rd Angle Music Ensemble, and with the Lexington Philharmonic. Television credits include TNT’s Leverage (Professor Humberto Garcia). Enrique is known as the Spanish voice of the MAX and a story teller at Portland Story Theater. Enrique is honored to be part of this exciting project.
Osvaldo Gonzalez, Juan
Osvaldo “Ozzie” González moved to Portland in 2008 to work in architecture and found acting more lucrative at the time. His most recent work includes Miguel in the Portland premier of Richard Montoya’s American Night and Creon in Luis Alfaro’s acclaimed Oedipus, El Rey (Milagro Theater). Other credits include, Viva la Revolucion! (Manuel), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Bottom), and A Christmas Carol (Scrooge). Ozzie has also performed as guest storyteller with Urban Tellers and is known to join an occasional open mic to drop boleros on unsuspecting crowds.
Amalia Alarcón Morris, Amparo
Amalia, an actor of Cuban and Ecuadorian descent, is thrilled to be working with Milagro again alongside an extraordinary director, cast, and crew. Amalia has been performing on Portland and Vancouver stages since 2013. Amalia was most recently seen at Milagro in Oye Oya. She feels privileged to be in Watsonville: Some Place not Here, her first English-language production at Milagro. She thanks her grandmother, Amalia, for her culture; her mother Bélgica for her unwavering belief; and her husband James for his never-ending support.
Bunnie Rivera, Dolores
Bunnie Rivera has appeared in film and television for many years, and in theater in Portland and the Los Angeles area. She is a founding member of Milagro and served on the Board of Directors at the beginning of its adventures. She is very glad to be back on stage, reprising her role as Dolores and working with her daughter, Rosalie Siler again, in the sequel to our favorite play, Heroes and Saints.
Matthew Sepeda, Jojo
Matthew Sepeda is very excited to be back on the Milagro stage. Recently he has been a part of the touring production of Tomás and the Library Lady (Oregon Children’s Theatre), Twelfth Night (Oregon Adventure Theatre), and Lydia (Milagro). He’d like to thank the wonderful support he receives from his family and friends here in Portland. He doesn’t know what he’d do without them. Thank you all so much. He can’t wait to share this wonderful story with you, so please, enjoy!
Rosalie Siler, Susana
Rosalie Siler grew up performing at Milagro, most notably as Cerezita in Heroes & Saints (1994) and Lupe in Shadow of a Man (1993). She is thrilled to return to Milagro to participate in her third Cherrie Moraga production. Rosalie studied theatre at the University of Southern California before moving to New York City. She has performed at the Abrons Arts Center in New York and The Lex Theatre in Los Angeles. Favorite roles include Cinderella in Cinders, Pat in Early Girl, Luellen in Final Placement, and Bella in Lost in Yonkers.
Feliciano Tencos-García, Chente
Feliciano Tencos-Garcia was recently seen as Karl in Die Hard: The Musical Parody (Funhouse Lounge), L.A. in Gypsy (Broadway Rose Theatre Company), Paco in Man of La Mancha (Portland Opera), Ensemble and Franz u/s in Rock of Ages (Stumptown Stages). He studied Contemporary Music at Western Oregon University, where he performed with Kurt Elling, Allen Toussaint, and Hindu Rodeo.
Julio Cesar Velasquez, Musician
Julio Cesar Velazquez was born and raised in Mexico City. He was interested in the arts from an early age, participating in many arts activities throughout his childhood. He returned to acting and singing in Los Angeles, performing in works including My Brother Pliny, directed by Ruben Amavizca. Portland credits include El Muerto Vagabudno and Oyé Oyá (Milagro). Julio appreciates the opportunity to have worked alongside his fellow theater artists and the staff of Milagro.
CREATIVE TEAM
Elizabeth Huffman, Director
Elizabeth Huffman returns to Milagro for the third time having previously directed Oedipus El Rey and American Night. She recently returned from Germany where she directed her new musical Bon Temps Roulez at the Shakespeare Cafe, translated into German by the prestigious Bremer Shakespeare Company. Her other play, Not My Revolution, directed by Louanne Moldovan, was originally presented at Milagro for Cygnet Productions in 2016 and made it’s Equity premier in 2017 at Fusion Theatre in New Mexico. Elizabeth recently performed Not My Revolution in NYC in its new multi- media version, re-directed by Ms. Moldovan and will tour internationally this summer. In 2019 she will travel to Chicago to develop it into a three-character play at Silk Road Rising. Other Portland directing projects include: Mary Stuart, King John, Lion In Winter, Antony & Cleopatra, Oedipus the King, Trojan Women, Ladies Man and November.
Mark Haack, Scenic Design
Mark Haack returns to Milagro for his 13th show. Previous work here includes his Drammy award-winning set for El Quijote, Boleros for the Disenchanted, ¡Viva Don Juan!, Mariela in the Desert, Rosalba y los Llaveros, and Learn to be Latina, among others. He designed Oregon Children’s Theatre’s world premiere of The Giver, which also won him a Drammy award for set design. Before moving to Portland in 1992, Mark lived in New York where he designed and assisted on dozens of Broadway and Off Broadway productions. He has also been art director or production designer on numerous studio, independent and made-for-TV films.
Alyssa Rands, Costume Design
Alyssa Rands is an alumna of George Fox University theatre department where she is now their costume shop manager and adjunct faculty member. In addition to designing costumes for GFU, Alyssa has designed for theatres around Portland including Broadway Rose, Metropolitan Performing Arts, Staged!, and Defunkt. This is Alyssa’s final season in Portland before she moves across the country this summer to pursue an MFA in Costume Design from Penn State University.
Zachary Ward, Lighting Design
Zach is a lighting and sound designer based Portland, OR. He recently served as the lighting designer for The Foreigner at Enlightened Theatrics in Salem and has designed for several new works by Northwest playwrights for the local company Theatre 33. Zach is a graduate of Willamette University. Learn more about his creative work at www.zachnw.com
Phillip Johnson, Sound
Phil Johnson is a painter and theatrical artist based in Portland, Oregon. Recent productions include The Humans, An Octoroon (ART), Hands Up (Red Door Project), Elliot a Soldiers Fugue, The Antigone Project, A Lady Onstage (Profile Theater), Worse Than Tigers (ACT Theater/Red Stage), Lydia, Contigo Pan y Cebolla (Milagro), All My Sons, The Importance of Being Earnest (Valley Repertory Theater). When he isn’t designing or teaching Phil is traveling the world spreading art education to impoverished areas. He most recently taught theater in the slums of Nairobi, Kenya. Phil Has a B.F.A. and M.A. from Ohio University. PhilJohnsondesignstheworld.com
Sarah Andrews, Properties Master
Sarah Andrews earned her BFA in Acting in 2014 and has lived in Portland since. In 2013, she wrote, produced and directed an original adaptation of Life is a Dream, and in 2012, the children’s show Pearl and the Five-Headed Dragon. In Portland she has worked with theatre companies including Artists Repertory Theatre, Staged!, Imago, defunkt, Lakewood, Valley Rep, Coho, Oregon Children’s Theatre, and is the resident properties designer at Milagro. Coming up, she is directing Crossing for Crave Theatre, a company she co-founded.
Kristen Mun, Fight Choreographer
Kristen Mun has worked as a fight choreographer for over half a dozen theatre companies in the Portland area and has trained in theatrical combat for over 10 years. She has been recognized for her fight choreography 3 times by the Portland Drammy’s. Outside of Portland she has worked at Utah Shakespeare Festival, Idaho Repertory Theatre, and was the assistant fight choreographer at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival for 2 seasons (09-10).
Walter Petryk, Stage Manager
Walter Petryk is an actor, writer, stage manager, Harry Potter impersonator, and ferret wrestling world champion. He received his BA in Theater from Brooklyn College in NYC and headed west, performing in various shows across the US and Canada, including Robert Snow in the world premiere of Dear Galileo (Playwrights West) at the Coho Theater here in Portland. His most recent SM role was on The Mousetrap (Experience Theater Project). His Klingon opera, The Great Tribble Hunt was recently published in an anthology of plays by Routledge Press.
Sierra Brambila, Assistant Director
Sierra Brambila is a current actor & teaching artist for Teatro Milagro. You may have seen her in Milagro’s production of Bi- (Isa) or perhaps Cambria’s last show The Mermaid’s Project (Allana). This is her first time assistant directing and she is so grateful to learn alongside a director she truly admires and help bring this story to life. Her biracial background inspires her to give voice to stories of representation, truth, and diversity. Lastly, she thanks her mentor Liz Vice for always pushing her to ‘go deeper with her passions’.
Joel Patrick Durham, Board Operator
Joel Patrick Durham is a Portland based director and actor. Most recently Joel wrote and directed Nesting: Vacancy a serialized horror/thriller, which performed at the Shoebox Theatre last October. Previously he appeared as Luciana/Dromio in The Bomb-itty of Errors (Post-5 Theatre) and has toured three shows with Oregon Children’s Theatre, performing for youths all over Oregon. Joel is a proud member of the 13/14 Third Rail Mentorship Program.