Jorge B. Merced (born 1965) is a New York-based Puerto Rican actor, theatre director, and gay activist. He is associate

artistic director An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company or dance company, who handles the organization's artistic direction. They are generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogu ...

of Pregones Theater, a

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

(Spanish/English) Puerto Rican/ Latino theater company located near

Hostos Community College Eugenio María de Hostos Community College of The City University of New York is a public community college in the South Bronx, New York City. It is part of the City University of New York (CUNY) system and was created by an act of the Board ...

in the

Bronx The Bronx ( ) is the northernmost of the five Boroughs of New York City, boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It shares a land border with Westchester County, New York, West ...

, New York City. He is best known for his role as Loca la de la locura Madness">Insanity.html" ;"title="he Queen of Insanity">Madnessin Pregones's play ''El bolero fue mi ruina'' [The Bolero Was My Downfall].

Life

Merced was born and raised in Carolina, Puerto Rico, and came to the United States as an adult in 1982. He started out as a dancer in college and went on to receive an

undergraduate degree An undergraduate degree (also called first degree or simply degree) is a colloquial term for an academic degree earned by a person who has completed undergraduate courses. In the United States, it is usually offered at an institution of higher ed ...

from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a Public university, public research university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York ...

(CUNY) Theatre Department, also studying at the Escuela Internacional de Teatro de América Latina y el Caribe (EITALC) nternational School of Latin American and Caribbean Theatre">Caribbean.html" ;"title="nternational School of Latin American and Caribbean">nternational School of Latin American and Caribbean Theatrein Cuba and at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Alvin Ailey School in New York.López, Arnaldo
"Teatro Pregones: Interview with Jorge Merced."
''Community Arts Network Reading Room'' (2001). Retrieved January 2, 2009. Merced is fully bilingual in English and Spanish and performs in both languages. He has trained, performed, and directed throughout the U.S. and abroad in Brazil, Chile, Cuba, France, Mexico, the

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, Puerto Rico,

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, and Spain. Merced is openlygay and has spoken about how his personal experiences in Puerto Rico and New York have been profoundly marked by his

sexuality Human sexuality is the way people experience and express themselves sexually. This involves biological, psychological, physical, erotic, emotional, social, or spiritual feelings and behaviors. Because it is a broad term, which has varied ...

. La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence. "Entre boleros, travestismos y migraciones translocales: Manuel Ramos Otero, Jorge Merced y ''El bolero fue mi ruina'' del Teatro Pregones del Bronx." ''Revista Iberoamericana'' 71.212 (July–Sept. 2005): 887–907.La Fountain-Stokes, Lawrence. "Trans/Bolero/Drag/Migration: Music, Cultural Translation, and Diasporic Puerto Rican Theatricalities." ''WSQ: Women's Studies Quarterly'' (Special Issue on "Trans-") 36.3–4 (Fall/Winter 2008): 190–209.

Work

Merced's numerous professional credits include acting in and directing more than 50 theatrical productions including ''El bolero fue mi ruina'' (actor), ''El apagón/The Blackout'' (actor), ''Baile Cangrejero'' (actor), ''Blanco'' (director), ''El huésped vacío'' (director), and ''Brides''. Creative collaborations in both dance and theater include premieres with Eduardo Alegría, Pablo Cabrera,

Antonio Martorell Antonio ("Toño") Martorell Cardona (born 18 April 1939) is a Puerto Rican people, Puerto Rican painter, graphic artist and writer. He regularly exhibits in Puerto Rico and the United States and participates in arts events around the world. He ...

, and Arthur Aviles. Merced's commitment to AIDS prevention led him to spearhead Pregones's ''El abrazo/The Embrace'' from 1987 to 1993. This AIDS community education project was based on the theories of

Augusto Boal Augusto Boal (; 16 March 1931 – 2 May 2009) was a Brazilian theatre practitioner, drama theorist, and political activist. He was the founder of Theatre of the Oppressed, a theatrical form originally used in radical left popular education movem ...

and has been carefully analyzed by the Puerto Rican scholar and actress Eva C. Vásquez in her book ''Pregones Theatre'' (2003), which includes an interview with Merced. In 2002, Merced created the Asunción Playwrights Project as a way to "showcase the work of Latino playwrights exploring issues of difference and transformation at the limits of queer identity."Teatro Pregones
"Asunción Playwrights Project"
. Retrieved January 1, 2009. The project includes a play competition, public readings of up to four plays (followed by discussions with the audience), and workshop productions of the winning play. Winning playwrights have included Gonzalo Aburto (2003), Ricardo Bracho and Pablo García Gámez (2004), Charles Rice-González (2005), Chuy Sanchez (2006), and Aravind Adyanthaya (2007). Merced's performance in Pregones's play ''El bolero fue mi ruina'' he Bolero Was My Downfall(1997–2002, restaged 2005) has received significant critical reception. In this one-man show (with live musical accompaniment), Merced portrays two Puerto Rican characters: Loca, an

incarcerated Imprisonment or incarceration is the restraint of a person's liberty for any cause whatsoever, whether by authority of the government, or by a person acting without such authority. In the latter case it is considered "false imprisonment". Impris ...

transvestite Cross-dressing is the act of wearing clothes traditionally or stereotypically associated with a different gender. From as early as pre-modern history, cross-dressing has been practiced in order to disguise, comfort, entertain, and express onesel ...

bolero singer, and Nene Lindo retty Boy her boyfriend, whom she murdered. This Spanish-language play was directed by Rosalba Rolón. It is an adaptation of a short story by the deceased Puerto Rican gay author Manuel Ramos Otero. Merced drew heavy inspirations from memories of his youth when working on the play. As a child, Merced recalls that he would watch the shows of Antonio Pantojas, transformist, actor, comedian, dancer, and pioneer in drag on a Puerto Rican television channel. According to Merced, his father would attack him for watching Pantojas; Merced felt that this memory pertained most to his work on this play. Merced has also collaborated with the Puerto Rican gay scholar Luis Aponte-Parés in documenting the history of gay Puerto Ricans in New York City and

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

. He has spoken extensively about his gay activism in a 2001 interview with Arnaldo López.

Awards

Merced has received multiple awards from the New York ACE Latino Critics and

Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors (HOLA) is an active arts service and advocacy organization founded in 1975. It is in the United States and is dedicated to Hispanic artists, actors and actresses. HOLA's Directory of Talent was created in ...

(HOLA), including Best Actor and Best Director recognitions. He has also received the Puerto Rican Institute of New York Distinguished Actor/Director Award, the BRIO Bronx Artist Award, and the New York PRIDE Award for his advocacy on behalf of the Puerto Rican Transgender, Bisexual, Lesbian and Gay Community. In 2008, the New York City Spanish-language daily newspaper '' El Diario/La Prensa'' honored him with the "Él" Award as one of the 25 outstanding Latinos of the year.Acosta, José
"Entregan Premios 'Él' a latinos más destacados del 2008"
''El Diario/La Prensa'' (NY), November 14, 2008. Retrieved January 1, 2009.

References

External links

Pregones Theater Home Page

{{DEFAULTSORT:Merced, Jorge 1965 births Living people American actors of Puerto Rican descent City College of New York alumni Puerto Rican gay actors Puerto Rican gay writers People from Carolina, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male actors Puerto Rican male stage actors Puerto Rican LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights Gay dramatists and playwrights