Angelo Parra is an American

playwright A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays. Etymology The word "play" is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa ("play, exercise; sport, game; drama, applause"). The word "wright" is an archaic English ...

. He was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and grew up in

the Bronx The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. After graduating from

Fordham University Fordham University () is a Private university, private Jesuit universities, Jesuit research university in New York City. Established in 1841 and named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the The Bronx, Bronx in which its origina ...

, his career included work as a reporter/photographer, public relations professional, politician, free-lance writer, and PR and journalism teacher at New York University before turning to theatre in 1986. His first produced play, ''Casino'', was presented at

T. Schreiber Studio The T. Schreiber Studio is an acting studio located in New York City at 151 West 26th Street. History Established in 1969 by Terry Schreiber, the studio was originally run out of a loft on the Upper East Side, holding classes for just a handful o ...

, and won a 1989

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 ...

(NYFA) Fellowship in Playwriting and an Arts International grant (sponsored by the National Endowment for the Arts, U.S. Information Agency, Rockefeller Foundation, and The Pew Charitable Trusts). His work, ''The Devil's Music: The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith'', with music on the life of

Bessie Smith Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer widely renowned during the Jazz Age. Nicknamed the " Empress of the Blues", she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1930s. Inducted into the Rock and ...

, was named "one of the top-10 Off-Broadway experiences of 2001" by the ''

New York Daily News The New York ''Daily News'', officially titled the ''Daily News'', is an American newspaper based in Jersey City, NJ. It was founded in 1919 by Joseph Medill Patterson as the ''Illustrated Daily News''. It was the first U.S. daily printed in ta ...

'', "Best Solo Show" by Florida's ''Broward/Palm Beach New Times'', won a second NYFA Playwriting Fellowship (2000), and was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, Best Visiting Production (2018), and by the

Lucille Lortel Awards The Lucille Lortel Awards recognize excellence in New York Off-Broadway theatre. The Awards are named for Lucille Lortel, an actress and theater producer, and have been awarded since 1986. They are produced by the League of Off-Broadway Theatre ...

for Best Solo Show in 2012. The show, conceived by and originally directed by Joe Brancato and originally staged by Penguin Rep Theatre,

Stony Point, NY Stony Point is a town in Rockland County, New York, United States. It is part of the New York City Metropolitan Area. The town is located north of the town of Haverstraw, east and south of Orange County, and west of the Hudson River and Westche ...

, was invited to give six performances during the 2012 Montreal International Jazz Festival, making ''The Devil's Music'' the first ''play'' ever presented in the music festival's 30-year history! Parra has production credits in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington, D.C.; at Florida Stage (Palm Beach), The Hartford Stage (Hartford, Connecticut), Theatre Memphis, at the Cape Playhouse (Cape Cod); George Street Playhouse, Florida Rep, Royal Manitoba Theatre Center, Milwaukee Rep,

Cleveland Play House Cleveland Play House (CPH) is a professional regional theater company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded in 1915 and built its own noted theater complex in 1927. Currently the company performs at the Allen Theatre in Playhouse Square wher ...

, and, at the Edinburgh International Festival. Parra also is the author of Playwriting for Dummies, part of the popular international series of how-to books. Among Parra's other plays is the hospital drama, "Journey of the Heart", winner of the Jewel Box Theatre, Mixed Blood Theatre, and David James Ellis national play awards in 1998–99. Also in 1998, ''Song of the Coquí'', his Hispanic family drama with humor and dance, won the Chicano/Latino Literary Award (University of California, Irvine) and an "American Dream" prize by Repertorio Español in New York City. His screenplay adaptation of ''Journey of the Heart'' was a Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Finalist (2002). Working with editor Jeffrey B. Fuerst at Benchmark Education publishing, Parra has authored a dozen plays, essays, and historical books for grades K-12. Parra also provides play script consultation at ''playscriptcoach''. Mr. Parra studied his craft at: Roundabout Theatre Conservatory's Professional Playwright's Unit; New Dramatists Playwrights' Forum; a playwright’s workshop at Playwrights Horizons (with Albert Innaurato); and, the Playwrights Lab at T. Schreiber Studio, and earned his MFA in playwriting under

Jack Gelber Jack Gelber (April 12, 1932 – May 9, 2003) was an American playwright best known for his 1959 drama '' The Connection'', depicting the life of drug-addicted jazz musicians. The first great success of the Living Theatre, the play was transl ...

Brooklyn College Brooklyn College is a public university in Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New York. It is part of the City University of New York system and enrolls about 15,000 undergraduate and 2,800 graduate students on a 35-acre campus. Being New York City's first publ ...

. Parra is the winner of a National Endowment for the Humanities Landmarks of American History and Culture Grant (2008), is a member of the Dramatists Guild and member emeritus of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theater Workshop. He was a Tennessee Williams Scholar at the 2000 Sewanee Writers Conference, teaches playwriting, performing arts, and English at SUNY

Rockland Community College Rockland Community College (RCC) is a public community college in the town of Ramapo, New York in Rockland County. It is part of the State University of New York. The college, established in 1959, became the 18th community college to join the S ...

. In addition to his BA in Communication Arts at Fordham, he earned an MA in Political Science at the New School in New York, and MFA in Playwriting at Brooklyn College. He also is a graduate of the Hollywood Film Institute Independent Filmmaker Course. Parra is currently a Penguin Rep Theatre Board Trustee and founder/moderator of the Main Street Playwright's Lab (Tarrytown, N.Y.). Along with the children's musical ''Percy T. Penguin Comes to America'', Parra's other plays include: *''The Mnemonist'' *''Canvases'' *''The Price of Honor'' *''Brooklyn Brownstone'' *''Beau Geste'' - adaptation *''Of Human Bondage'' - adaptation *''Borinquen'' *''Newley Discovered'' *''Eva's Song'' - musical

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parra, Angelo Living people American dramatists and playwrights Year of birth missing (living people) Brooklyn College alumni