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

Pregones Theater The Puerto Rican Traveling Theater is a theater company based at the 47th Street Theater in New York City. It was founded as El Nuevo Círculo Dramatico (The New Drama Circuit) by Míriam Colón and Roberto Rodríguez. It was one of the first Pu ...

, a bilingual (Spanish/English) Puerto Rican/

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

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 o ...

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. He is best known for his role as Loca la de la locura Madness.html"_;"title="Insanity.html"_;"title="he_Queen_of_Insanity">Madness">Insanity.html"_;"title="he_Queen_of_Insanity">Madnessin_Pregones's_play_''El_bolero.html" ;"title="Insanity">Madness.html" ;"title="Insanity.html" ;"title="he Queen of Insanity">Madness">Insanity.html" ;"title="he Queen of Insanity">Madnessin Pregones's play ''El bolero">Insanity">Madness.html" ;"title="Insanity.html" ;"title="he Queen of Insanity">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 e ...

from the City College of 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.html" ;"title="Caribbean.html" ;"title="nternational School of Latin American and Caribbean">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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Nicaragua 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 ...

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Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, 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. 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 painter, graphic artist and writer. He regularly exhibits in Puerto Rico and the United States and participates in arts events around the world. He spends his time betw ...

, and

Arthur Aviles Arthur Avilés (born 1963) is an American Bessie Award-winning dancer and choreographer of Puerto Rican descent. Avilés was born in Queens, New York, and raised in Long Island and the Bronx. He graduated from Bard College, a liberal arts coll ...

. 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 movemen ...

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

transvestite Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western ...

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 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 (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

. 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. It is not to be confused with H.O.L.A., H ...

(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 people of Puerto Rican descent City College of New York alumni American gay actors American gay writers Puerto Rican LGBT writers People from Carolina, Puerto Rico Puerto Rican male actors Puerto Rican male stage actors American LGBT dramatists and playwrights Puerto Rican LGBT actors