"Birthday in the Bronx offers a self-aware, multi-modal consideration of race and identity....Straddling the personal, social, and meta and outward, and never going next quite where one expects, Birthday in the Bronx gives audiences a lot to unwrap." – Thinking Theater

Rocky, like the real life Raquel she was inspired by, is a 14 year old Nuyorican that receives a fancy scholarship to a pretty much all-white high school where "presidents are made." Insert field hockey, radio hosts, a baby lamb and Pretty White Girl. Incorporating interviews between the real Raquel, and her partner Paul, the playwright, Birthday in the Bronx is an interrogation, asking how whiteness shapes the people of color that encounter it.

Written by Paul Hufker
Directed by Michaela Escarcega

BIRTHDAY IN THE BRONX TEAM

DIRECTOR - MICHAELA ESCARCEGA

Michaela is an indigenous Mexican director, actor, and divisor of all things performance oriented. Michaela has established her emerging professional career at theaters in New York, California, and Alaska. Directorial credits include By Jacqueline Wright (LadyFest 2018), Heredamos Nada (Darkfest 2018), Anne by Adi Eshman, and several short works by Rosalind Grush. Other directorial credits include Chained at The Wild Project and Angels in America, Part 1. Michaela was a 2018 New York Stage and Film Powerhouse resident, a 2019 Lincoln Center Theater Directors Lab member, and is a 2020 resident director at The Tank. Michaela holds a B.A. in Theater Arts with honors from CSU, Northridge.

PLAYWRIGHT - PAUL HUFKER

Paul has been an AEA actor, playwright and director in NYC for over 12 years. He is a proud graduate of Brooklyn College’s MFA playwriting program, under Mac Wellman and Erin Courtney. Paul is currently working with Meghan Finn and Pedro Reyes to create a new, large-scale art installation entitled Mañanaland. Most recently, Paul had Manufacturing Mischief premiere at The Tank Theatre (NYC), a play also conceived by visual artist Pedro Reyes and directed by Meghan Finn. This play has traveled from London to Mexico. Paul also recently worked with world-renowned fashion designer and political activist Carla Fernandez, writing her London fashion show/protest piece which debuted in London in 2018. In the fall of 2017, Paul wrote the script for Pedro Reyes’ massive art installation in Brooklyn entitled Doomocracy, also directed by Meghan Finn.

“ROCKY” - SUZELLE PALACIOS*

Suzelle Palacios (Rocky) is excited for be making her Tank debut in this production. Suzelle has been seen in Ken Lugwig's Sherwood, King Richard II, Love’s Labor’s Lost, and Macbeth at The Old Globe Theatre.  Other previous credits include Julia in The Two Gentlemen of Verona and Audrey in As You Like It (The Old Globe/USD), Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice (Houston Shakespeare Festival), and Our Country’s Good, The Miser, Blood Wedding, and The Crucible (University of Houston). She received her M.F.A. from The Old Globe/USD and her B.F.A. from University of Houston. @SuzellePalacios on Twitter and Instagram.

“PRETTY WHITE GIRL(S)” - SIGRID WISE*

Sigrid Wise is pumped to work at The Tank and to take part in telling the story of Birthday in The Bronx. Favorite credits include Big Love (Olympia) at Festival de Teatro de la Habana in Havana, Cuba, Romeo & Juliet (Juliet) at Shakespeare Festival St. Louis, and As You Like It (Celia) at Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Sigrid will return to ASF in the Spring to play Caroline in I and You. She is a graduate of Interlochen Arts Academy (’13) and Webster Conservatory of Theatre Arts (BFA ’17).

“MI MAMA” - MILAGROS COLÓN

Milagros Colón is a proud Nuyorican from Williamsburg, Brooklyn. At an early age, she was drawn tothe arts especially singing. She credits this love of singing due to watching her father, Ronald Colón sing and play the drums in church. The moment she realized she possessed the same gift of song was while singing karaoke at home to Whitney Houston’s “Will Always Love You”. After her father passed away, she became more determined to continue his legacy of song and has been singing in church ever since. Another passion she has is acting, having performed last summer at the Nuyorican Café in the short play titled, “Puerto Rican Kitchen” as well as performing this past fall at Teatro Latea in the musical titled, “Papo’s Variety Store”. Her other acting experiences include background work on the upcoming feature films, “In the Heights” and “Westside Story”. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Media Arts from Long Island University and a Masters in Bilingual Education from Hunter College. She is presently a bilingual educator and mother to her ten year old son, Louis. She is very excited to make her debut at The Tank performing as “Mi Mama.”

“LABARRERA” - EVANS FORMICA

Evans Formica started performing in grade school doing magic shows. As he grew, his skills improved and he started performing for birthday parties and other events to earn money. He did this through his college days. After graduating, Evans joined the military and retired after serving 20 years. While in retirement, the acting bug bit again and Evans began following his dream to become a working actor. Finally, Evans' first big break occurred when he met Tom Todoroff at an Actor's Weekend Workshop. Evans auditioned and was accepted to the Tom Todoroff Acting Conservatory in Manhattan, NY. He has since graduated and is following his dream of becoming a working actor. He has done several industrials, online commercials, and plays. He still trains with the Tom Todoroff Acting Conservatory and will be signing up for classes with UCB come summer.

“KAYSTER” - SID ROSS

Sid Ross (Kayster) is thrilled to be making his debut performance at the Tank. He wrote and performed the solo piece Becoming OCD, which was selected for the 2016 New York International Fringe Festival. Acting credits include Abdication! (Theater for the New City/Dream Up Festival), Lucky in Love (78th Street Theater Lab, New York, NY), The Cherry Orchard (Columbia University School of the Arts Theater), and Corvidae (reading, Stella Adler Studio of New York). Film: Seasons Greetings (Overall Specialists Films, LLC/Dir.: Whit Conway), Lo Ciento (Dir.: Brett Baron-Marianetti), and Thousand Points of Sun (Overground Railroad Filmworks/Dir.: Mike Brown). Music Video: The Other Line (Team Zebra Squad Alpha/Dir.: Will Roane). Playwright: Becoming OCD (New York International Fringe Festival), A Feeling of Family (Lanyard Theater, Bath, ME), Collisionville (78th Street Theater Lab), Kangaroo Days (Grove Street Theater, New York, NY), White Crimes (reading, MCC Theater), An Affair of the Mind (New York University). Sid is a theater critic for Splash Magazines and New York Arts, and is a member of The Writers and Actors Group. He lives in Long Island City with his wife, artist Lori Sanford-Ross, and their daughter Rachel. www.sidross.com

STAGE MANAGER - KELLY ANN MCGUINNESS

Kelly Ann McGuinness (Stage Manager) She/Hers Is an Arts Administrator with experience in Company Management, Stage Management and Producing. Some highlights from her career include Stage Manager for  Believe Me (Tank) and  Love and Information (NY Live Arts). Company Management Intern for NYSAF x Powerhouse (Galileo, The Elementary Spacetime Show, The Bandaged Place) and Company Manager for For the Love of (PIT NYC). Producer for For the Love of (Takes Chops Prod.) and Assistant Producer for Crashlight (Peach Pie Media). @kellyannmcguinness

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR / MOVEMENT DIRECTOR - ELIANA THEOLOGIDES RODRIGUEZ

Eliana Theologides Rodriguez is a playwright, dancer, and soon-to-be NYU graduate with a combined passion for theater and social justice. She is ecstatic to be back at The Tank, where she directed her first play workshop for Katie Walenta’s Be a Duck, Let it Roll Off. Professional dance credits include St. Vincent’s Project: Novenas for a Lost Hospital at Rattlestick Theater, where she played a dancing nun, and Dance For a Future With All Present at The Kitchen, where she spun nonstop for an hour. She is extremely honored and grateful to be a part of Birthday in the Bronx.

SET/PROPS/PUPPETRY DESIGN - SOHN PLENEFISCH

Sohn Plenefisch is a British-trained performance designer currently based in NYC, with a degree from the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama. Award nominations include a 2019 nomination for the New York Innovative Theatre Awards' Outstanding Innovative Design category for properties design and a 2017 nomination for the Linbury Prize for Stage Design in the UK.  Recent NYC design credits include Bound (dir. Tara Moses),  Refuge (Blessed Unrest), and Pink House (dir. Jenna Rossman). www.sonyaplenefisch.com

LIGHTING DESIGN - ALEXANDRA VÀSQUEZ DHEMING

Alexandra Vásquez Dheming is a freelance Lighting Designer from El Salvador based in NYC. She holds a BFA in Production Design from the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), and is an alumna of the Stagecraft Institute of Las Vegas (SILV). Alex specializes in dance lighting, and is known for her collaborations with New York Theatre Ballet, Vanaver Caravan, and her work on dance festivals like Hudson Valley DanceFest and Jacob's Pillow. Alex is a resident Lighting Designer at Lincoln Center's Clark Studio, Tribeca Performing Arts Center, FIAF Florence Gould Hall, Greenspace Studio Theater, Kumble Theater, and Gelsey Kirkland Arts Center. She has been a guest artist at the University of Miami, and BMCC. Her multidisciplinary work has been seen around the United States, Spain, France, and El Salvador. For more information, please visit her website: www.alexvasquezdheming.com

SOUND/VIDEO DESIGN - ANTHONY SERTEL DEAN

Anthony Sertel Dean is a sound artist, composer, and theater designer working to build community through a radical art practice. This work takes a multidisciplinary approach to performance, hoping to create a more inclusive, personal art. Anthony’s sound work can be heard in theater, film, radio, art installations, and music ensembles. Anthony is the technical director for The New York Neo-Futurists and the technical manager for The Tank. Anthony is a graduate of Wesleyan University, returning often as a visiting sound designer. For more on Anthony, visit anthonydean.org

COSTUME DESIGN - ORIANA LINEWEAVER

Oriana Sophia is an actress and costume designer. She earned her BA in theatre from Hunter College and went on to study at the Maggie Flannigan acting studio. After graduation she co-founded and became the artistic director of La Diaspora Theatre Company.  Some of her previews design credits include The Time Of Your Life (Kaye Playhouse), Speakeasy plays (South Oxford), Big Blue Swirl and El Yunke (Julia de Burgos Center), (Woo-m-uhn (Film), Sydney (Pilot, Webseries), Unpolished (Pilot, Webseries)

LINE PRODUCER - KATIE WALENTA

Katie Walenta is a playwright and producer who studied Dramatic Writing and Psychology at NYU. Her plays include Be a Duck; Let it Roll Off; Flax; and at the end we all drink juice. She is originally from Omaha, Nebraska where she worked in aquatic safety across the city. She also did work for BLUEBARN Theater (referenced in the Pilot Episode of GLOW) and Great Plains Theater Conference. She is very grateful to be working on this project.

WARDROBE - ADRIANA SIMO-ARROYO

*Appearing courtesy of Actors Equity Association