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photo of Thalia Facade
The welcoming facade of Thalia Spanish Theatre
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THALIA SPANISH THEATRE IS QUEENS' ORIGINAL HOME FOR LATINO CULTURE.
We are the first and only BILINGUAL Hispanic theatre in Queens, serving one of the most diverse communities in the United States, including more than one million Hispanics from every Spanish-speaking nation in the world.
Every month is Hispanic Heritage Month at Thalia Spanish Theatre.In 32 years we have produced more than 150 productions of the best Spanish plays, zarzuelas (Spanish operettas) and folklore shows of music and dance, and earned national recognition as a leader in New York City’s celebrated Spanish theatre movement.Our mission is to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of Spanish and Latin American culture with unique productions of plays, musicals and dance.In 1977, actress and director Silvia Brito, against all odds, established Thalia Spanish Theatre in Queens. She was determined to meet the neglected cultural needs of the borough’s incredibly diverse and quickly growing Hispanic community. Ms. Brito concluded her distinguished career with Thalia when she retired on December 31, 1999, paving the way for us to enter the new millennium under new leadership. MORE ABOUT SILVIA Her chosen successor, acclaimed Spanish director/writer/ producer Angel Gil Orrios, has produced and directed more than 150 productions in Spain, the United States, and France in the last 40 years. MORE ABOUT ANGEL Committed to maintaining the quality that has become the hallmark of Thalia, Mr. Gil continues producing Spanish and Latin American plays, World Premiere original dance musicals, flamenco and tango dance programs and more, and the annual free Thalia al Aire Libre/Outdoors Festival in our neighborhood park. His most important innovation is to present our productions with bilingual casts, alternating performances in English and Spanish. We are an important venue for new works by Spanish and Latin American playwrights and composers. We have produced the American and World premieres of plays by Mexico’s Carlos Fuentes and Spaniards Antonio Gala, Jaime Salom, and Jerónimo López Mozo, all of whom have attended their openings at our theatre.
We also have produced masterworks by such celebrated writers as Calderon de la Barca and Jardiel Poncela of Spain and Chile’s Miguel Frank, and created World Premiere flamenco musicals from plays written by Pablo Picasso.
Our BILINGUAL productions are dedicated to bringing to life onstage a canon of literature by the finest Spanish and Latin American authors for American audiences who otherwise would never know them. We commission the highest-quality English-language translations to attract students and educators as well as the general public. We were the first Spanish theatre in New York to incorporate Folklore, which has included Mexican song and dance, Tango, and Flamenco, into its season. The Folklore Shows, originally produced only on Fridays, have fostered the development (since 2001) of our new original World Premiere dance musicals incorporating music, dance, text and visual arts to create what Mr. Gil calls a “total theatre experience”.Thalia Spanish Theatre is a member of the Alliance of Resident Theatres/NY (ART/NY), The Arts and Business Council, The Theatre Communications Group (TCG), and the Coalition of Theatres of Color (CTC). 
The welcoming facade of Thalia Spanish Theatre
Please feel free to contact our staff with your questions and comments.
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND
OFFICERS - Mr. Walter Bracero, Chairman/Treasurer; Avon
- Mr. Angel Gil Orrios, President; Thalia Spanish Theatre
- Mr. Mitchell Draizin, Vice President; Longview Capital Advisors
- Ms. Ada Suarez, Secretary; NYC Board of Education (retired)
- Mr. Gil Bernardino; Circulo de Hispanidad
- Ms. Soledad López; Instituto Cervantes
- Mr. Manny Lacayo; QHN Managed Care/Elmhurst Hospital
- IN MEMORIAM: Mr. Michael Berio; Avon
ADVISORY BOARD - Manolo García-Oliva, President, Hispanic organization of Latin Actors (HOLA); and Honorary President, Association of Latin Critics of Entertainment (ACE)
- Emilio García, Director, North America and the Caribbean, Spanish Society of Authors, Composers & Publishers (SGAE)
- The Honorable Catherine Nolan, New York State Assembly, 37th District
- Alice Cardona, Office of New York State Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan
- Pilar Vico, Public Relations, the Tourism Office of Spain in New York
HONORARY BOARD - Silvia Brito, Founder & President Emeritus
- Ann Harrsch, Chairman Emeritus
- Raúl Juliá, In Memoriam
Angel Gil Orrios Biography
| Mr. Gil became the Artistic/Executive Director of Thalia Spanish Theatre on January 1, 2000. He was chosen by Thalia founder Silvia Brito to be her successor. A graduate of the School of Dramatic Arts in his native Zaragoza, Spain, winning the "Premio Extraordinarios", he has an M.F.A. in Directing. In 1979 a grant from the U.S.-Spain Joint Committee for Cultural Affairs enabled him to research Broadway musicals in New York City, where he remained ever since. The first production he worked on in the U.S. was at Thalia Spanish Theatre, as Associate Director of the award-winning production of EL DIARIO DE ANA FRANK (THE DIARY OF ANN FRANK). |
Silvia Brito Biography
| Thalia’s reputation was built up over more than two decades by the hard work, fierce dedication and outstanding leadership of founder Silvia Brito. An actress in her native Cuba, she moved to New York City in the early 1960’s and immediately became involved in the fledgling Spanish theatre movement here. She gave a legendary performance as Martha in WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF at Repertorio Español, and earned critical acclamation for a number of other performances. Eventually she became involved with Thalia Spanish Theatre, and although everyone told her she was “crazy”, assumed leadership of the organization in 1977 when she established it in Queens. |
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