Manuel Martín Jr. (December 16, 1934 - September 28, 2000) was a Cuban

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Biography

Manuel Martín Jr. was born December 16, 1934, in Artemisa, Cuba. He attended La Inmaculada Concepción Grammar School and the Escuela Pública No. 1 in Artemisa, and completed three years at the Escuela Profesional de Comercio. He left Cuba for the United States on October 27, 1956, and graduated from

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in Manhattan with a bachelor's degree in theater and film. Martín founded Teatro Duo/Duo Theatre with

Magaly Alabau Magali Alabau (born 1945) is a Cuban-American poet, theater director, and actor. Born in Cienfuegos, Cuba, she has lived in New York since 1966. She co-founded the Spanish-English ensemble Teatro Dúo/Duo Theatre with Manuel Martín, Jr. and the l ...

in New York City in 1969. The theater was dedicated to producing works in both English and Spanish. In January 1973, Teatro Duo performed in a bilingual production, directed by Martín, of

Tom Eyen Tom Eyen (August 14, 1940 – May 26, 1991) was an American playwright, lyricist, television writer and director. He received a Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical for ''Dreamgirls'' in 1981. Eyen is best known for works at opposite ends ...

's ''White Whore and the Bit Player / La Estella y La Monja'' at

La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club (La MaMa E.T.C.) is an Off-Off-Broadway theatre founded in 1961 by Ellen Stewart, African-American theatre director, producer, and fashion designer. Located in Manhattan's East Village, the theatre began in the ...

. The Spanish version featured Alabau as La Estrella and Graciela Mas as La Monja, and the English version featured

Candy Darling Candy Darling (November 24, 1944 – March 21, 1974) was an American actress, best known as a Warhol superstar and transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not ...

as the whore and Hortensia Colorado as the nun. Martín directed the same production in February 1973 at th
Theatre at St. Clement's
In June 1973, Martín directed Teatro Duo in his play ''Francesco: The Life and Times of the Cencis''. The work-in-progress production featured music by Cuban

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

Enrique Ubieta and performances by Martín, Alabau, Hortensia Colorado, and Graciela Mas, among others. In addition to his directing, Martín is best known as the playwright of ''Rita and Bessie'', ''Swallows'', and ''Union City Thanksgiving'', the latter of which was published in a Cuban theatre anthology by the Department of Cultural Affairs,

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, in 1992. His plays have been produced at the Latino Festival,

New York Shakespeare Festival Shakespeare in the Park (or Free Shakespeare in the Park) is a theatrical program that stages productions of Shakespearean plays at the Delacorte Theater, an open-air theater in New York City's Central Park. The theater and the productions are ...

, INTAR, and La MaMa. He received a

Cintas Fellowship Oscar Benjamin Cintas y Rodriguez, (31 Mar 1887 in Sagua la Grande, Cuba – 11 May 1957 in New York City, N.Y.) was a prominent sugar and railroad magnate who served as Cuba's ambassador to the United States from 1932 until 1934. Career He wa ...

for literature in 1985; the

New York Foundation for the Arts The New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA) is an independent 501(c)(3) charity, funded through government, foundation, corporate, and individual support, established in 1971. It is part of a network of national not-for-profit arts organizations ...

award for playwriting in 1986, 1987, and 1991; and a

Fulbright Fellowship The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States Cultural Exchange Programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people of ...

for playwriting in 1987. He was a member of the INTAR Playwrights in Residence Laboratory in New York. In 1992, he was translator and adapter for the

Colgate-Palmolive Colgate-Palmolive Company is an American multinational consumer products company headquartered on Park Avenue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. The company specializes in the production, distribution, and provision of household, health car ...

program "Dr. Goodmouth", through the UniWorld Group. His children's play with music, ''The Legend of the Golden Coffee Be''an, was included in ''¡Aplauso!'', an anthology of Hispanic children's theater (

Arte Público Press Arte Público Press is a publishing house associated with the University of Houston (Houston, Texas). It is the largest US publisher of contemporary and recovered literature by US Hispanic authors, publishing approximately 30 titles per year. Ar ...

, 1995). Martín instructed drama workshops in New York and in

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

, and presented at conferences in New York,

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, and

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. He lived in New York City until his death on September 28, 2000.

References

External links

Manuel Martín Jr. Papers
at th
Cuban Heritage CollectionUniversity of Miami Libraries
* Images from th
Manuel Martín Jr. Papers
available through th
University of Miami Libraries Digital Collections

Manuel Martín Jr.
page on th
Cuban Theater Digital Archive

Martín's page on La MaMa Archives Digital Collections
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Manuel Jr. 1934 births 2000 deaths Cuban theatre directors Cuban dramatists and playwrights Cuban male writers American male dramatists and playwrights Hispanic and Latino American dramatists and playwrights Cuban emigrants to the United States Exiles of the Cuban Revolution in the United States 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American male writers