Gabriel Traversari (born Gabriel Augusto Traversari y Debayle on September 7, 1963) is a
Nicaraguan
Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...
director
Director may refer to:
Literature
* ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine
* ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker
* ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty
Music
* Director (band), an Irish rock band
* ''D ...
, writer, singer, songwriter, painter and photographer.
Early life
Traversari was born in Los Angeles, California, but grew up in
El Crucero
El Crucero () is a municipality in the Managua department of Nicaragua.
It is located on the summit and slopes of the ''Sierras de Managua'', east of Jinotepe
Jinotepe () is a city and municipality in the Carazo department of Nicaragua.
I ...
, Nicaragua.
He attended the Rectory School, a junior boarding school in
Pomfret
Pomfrets are perciform fishes belonging to the family Bramidae. The family currently includes 20 species across seven genera. Several species are important food sources for humans, especially ''Brama brama'' in South Asia. The earlier form of ...
,
Connecticut
Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...
and graduated from
Middlesex School
Middlesex School is a coeducational, non-sectarian, day and boarding independent secondary school for grades 9-12 located in Concord, Massachusetts. It was founded as an all-boys school in 1901 by a Roxbury Latin School alumnus, Frederick Winsor, ...
in
Concord
Concord may refer to:
Meaning "agreement"
* Pact or treaty, frequently between nations (indicating a condition of harmony)
* Harmony, in music
* Agreement (linguistics), a change in the form of a word depending on grammatical features of other ...
Tallahassee
Tallahassee ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2020, the population ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
with a Bachelor of Arts in acting. While in school he performed on stage in ''
Twelfth Night
''Twelfth Night'', or ''What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night's entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Vi ...
'' (as Antonio), ''
The Apple Tree
''The Apple Tree'' is a series of three musical playlets with music by Jerry Bock, lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, and a book by Bock and Harnick with contributions from Jerome Coopersmith. Each act has its own storyline, but all three are tied toge ...
'' (as Adam), ''
Princess Ida
''Princess Ida; or, Castle Adamant'' is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It was their eighth operatic collaboration of fourteen. ''Princess Ida'' opened at the Savoy Theatre on 5 January 1884, for a ru ...
The Sea Gull
''The Sea Gull'' is a 1968 British-American drama film directed by Sidney Lumet. The screenplay by Moura Budberg is adapted and translated from Anton Chekhov's classic 1896 play ''The Seagull''.
The Warner Bros.-Seven Arts release was filmed a ...
The Lost Colony
The establishment of the Roanoke Colony ( ) was an attempt by Sir Walter Raleigh to found the first permanent English settlement in North America. The English, led by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, had briefly claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, in ...
'' (as A. Dare/J. Borden) and '' Camino Real'' (as Abdullah).
Career
Once Traversari graduated from college he moved to Miami, where he was hired as the co-host of
Univision
Univision () is an American Spanish-language free-to-air television network owned by TelevisaUnivision. It is the United States' largest provider of Spanish-language content. The network's programming is aimed at the Latino public and includes ...
's first major original production, TV Mujer (1988–1990), an international talk show which he co-hosted for three years. Traversari also starred in other popular television programs which aired in Latin America and Spain including "Mejorando su Hogar", the first home improvement show produced in Spanish in the United States, and "
Casa Club Magazine
Casa Club Magazine was the flagship show for MGM Latin AmericaMGM Latin America , Hosted by E! Entertainment, in Latin America. He also became that network's Miami-based entertainment correspondent for over three years.
In 2004 he began hosting "Esotérica" on Cosmopolitan Television. He was also cast as one of the lead voices for the Spanish version of
Duckman
''Duckman: Private Dick/Family Man'' is an American adult animated sitcom that aired on the USA Network from March 5, 1994, through September 6, 1997. It was created and developed by Everett Peck, and is based on characters he created in his 19 ...
, the Emmy Award-winning cartoon, and as the voice of "Juan del Diablo" in the English translation of the soap opera, Corazón Salvaje. He has appeared on various television series such as
Miami Vice
''Miami Vice'' is an American crime drama television series created by Anthony Yerkovich and produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series stars Don Johnson as James "Sonny" Crockett and Philip Michael Thomas as Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs, two M ...
(1988), as well as small credited appearances in movies such as Something Wild (1986),
Once Upon A Time in America
''Once Upon a Time in America'' ( it, C'era una volta in America) is a 1984 epic crime film co-written and directed by Italian filmmaker Sergio Leone and starring Robert De Niro and James Woods. The film is an Italian–American venture prod ...
(1984) and Two Much (1995). He was cast as the lead in the independent low budget feature, "Murder on the Border", where he starred alongside Mexican actress Alpha Acosta (2005). He has also appeared in various Spanish speaking TV shows such as "Decisiones" and "Lotería" and three Telemundo soap operas "Anita no te Rajes", "El Cuerpo del Deseo" and "Pecados Ajenos".
Traversari produced, directed and hosted the TV series "Las Espectaculares Casas" for Casa Club TV, a subdivision of MGM Networks, Latin America.
He returned to his country, Nicaragua, in 2008 and began to spear-head a series of personal and very successful initiatives. He produced "Latin Flavors", the first and most prestigious Food Festival in his country and a platform that ultimately launched the careers of many of the current Nicaraguan TV chefs and gastronomical celebrities. He also created and managed "Myla Vox", a young musical group that emerged from the local "barrios" and ignited a pop cultural frenzy that lasted over 6 years before the band finally separated. Gabriel also founded the "Central American Music Conference" as an opportunity to unite regional talent with top international record industry executives. The first conference, held in Nicaragua, brought grammy winner KC Porter, music empresario Bruno del Granado, producer/composers such as Marco Flores and Victor Daniel, record label executives such as Jorge Mejía (Sony/ATV Publishing) and Aldo Gonzalez (Machete Music) and music promoters like Joe Granda. Additionally, he created the "Nicaraguan Music Awards", a platform that, for at least two years, honored and recognized Nicaragua's varicolored music community.
He wrote his first book of poetry, "Before the Dawn", in 1996. It was during the writing of that book that he became interested in drawing. He has since begun to showcase his work publicly, and in 2014 he completed and presented an exhibit entitled: "Akropolis: Rasgos y Restos de una Cultura Helénica." He launched his first photography book entitled, "Vernaculo: Encuentros con mi Tierra" (an anthropological study and an aesthetic homage to the people of his country), which had its debut presentation at the Palace of Culture in Nicaragua in the summer of 2008, followed by numerous other publications including: "The Dictator's Daughter" (a biographical account based on the life of Lillian Somoza Debayle, daughter of Nicaragua's notorious military dictator, Anastasio Somoza García), released in 2015 to critical acclaim; "Azul y Blanco: 90 minutos que unieron Nicaragua" (a photo-journalistic account of a historical soccer match that altered the course of Nicaragua's national football league), launched in 2016; "El niño y el pregonero" (a short story about two young boys from contrasting social backgrounds whose serendipitous encounter has a deep and long lasting impact on their burgeoning, impressionable lives), published in 2018; "Hecho en Nicaragua: 100 destacadas personalidades nicaraguenses contemporáneas (a "coffee table book" that profiles the lives of extraordinary Nicaraguans who have left an indelible mark in the world), released in 2020; and more recently, "Verso y Voz", a companion piece to an audio project that celebrates the best of Central American poetry, and was produced to commemorate the bicentennial of the region's independence. For this particular "rescue campaign", as Traversari calls it, the Nicaraguan producer recruited 30 renowned Spanish speaking personalities from Mexico, Spain and the US. A digital platform was created to promote the art of poetry amongst students (and the younger demographic), and bring back a much needed appreciation for the simple yet profound joys of reading. This is the direct access to the project's web site: www.versoyvoz.com
In the 1990s, Traversari founded the "Fundación Cultural Hispanoamericana" for the purpose of promoting the vision of young Hispanic artists, and years later he collaborated with "The Future of Nicaragua Foundation", developing several culturally driven projects in his country, including a historical music concert that brought together more than 50 Nicaraguan artists and international personalities such as Laura León, Victor Noriega and Sebastian Ligarde. All this prepared him for what he has become: a diligent and devout promoter of Nicaraguan culture in all its various manifestations, and all the work he has done in the last decade clearly attests to that.
Traversari managed to host many beauty pageants throughout his life, including "Miss Nicaragua", "Miss Panama", "Nuestra Belleza- El Paso" and "Miss Carnaval"; song festivals such as "La OTI- Nicaragua", "La OTI- Nueva York" and "La OTI -Tampa"; television specials such as "Fiesta en America" and "La Casa de sus Sueños" for
Pepsi Cola
Pepsi is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by PepsiCo. Originally created and developed in 1893 by Caleb Bradham and introduced as Brad's Drink, it was renamed as Pepsi-Cola in 1898, and then shortened to Pepsi in 1961.
History
Pepsi was ...
, "Año Nuevo, Vida Nueva" for Golden Hill Productions and numerous guest hosting appearances for Televisa Espectaculos. He has served as jury member for the "OTI Nacional" and "Nuestra Belleza".
In 2002. Traversari shot his first documentary project entitled "Por Los Caminos", a 24-hour journey through the streets of
that was screened at eight film festivals all over the world, including the "Miami International Film Festival", the "Havana Film Festival (Festival del Nuevo Cine Latinoamericano)", the "London Latin Film Festival" and others. In 2020 he directed his first short film, "La Carpa", which was also accepted in over 15 film festivals worldwide and received awards in various categories.
Traversari could be seen making a cameo appearance in TLC's
90 Day Fiancé
''90 Day Fiancé'' is an American reality television series on TLC that follows couples who have applied for or received a K-1 visa, available uniquely to foreign fiancés of U.S. citizens, and therefore have 90 days to marry each other. The se ...
.
In 2002 he launched his one and only music production; "Luna de Piel"
Discography
;Luna de miel
Awards and recognition
*Acrin; Host of the Year – (twice) by the North American Critics Association
*"Güegüense de Bronze" – by the Lions' Club Miami/Managua
*"Mundaje de Oro" – by the Association of Nicaraguan Artists
*"Punk of the Year" – by the Galaxy of Stars association.