A world premiere by Chicago’s Teatro Vista, The Dream King is a stunning new work of physical theater created by ensemble member Marvin Quijada, who also performs the title role. Teatro Vista ensemble member Sandra Márquez directs.
Imaginative, inventive, sweet and sometimes scary, The Dream King will evoke wonder and delight as it delves into places where sometimes you must confront your personal demons in order to prevail.
Previews start April 4, 2020. Press openings are Friday and Saturday, April 10 and 11 at 8 p.m. Performances run through May 10 at The Richard Christiansen Theatre at Victory Gardens, 2433 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago. Performance times are Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m. There is an added preview Wednesday, April 8 at 8 p.m.
Tickets, $25-$35, go on sale on February 21. Visit victorygardens.org or call (773) 871-3000, for tickets and information. Discounts are available for students, seniors and groups of 10 or more.
The Dream King cast includes Teatro Vista ensemble member Tommy Rivera-Vega and Scott Dare, Liz Krane and Ashlyn Lozano. The production team is Elliot Taggert (music composer), Regina Garcia (set), Uriel Gomez (costumes), Heather Sparling (lights), Giselle Castro (sound), Liviu Pasare (projections) and Alice da Cunha (assistant director). Stage manager is Dana Nestrick.
Behind-the-scenes of The Dream King
Marvin Quijada (creator, lead performer) is a Chicago based electronic music producer/composer, iOS musician, DJ, theatrical actor, and a clown/mime. He is an ensemble member with Teatro Vista and Silent Theater. His Teatro Vista stage credits include La Havana Madrid, Mommas Boyz and i put the fear of mexico in ‘em. Other Chicago credits include Pericles, Short Shakespeare! The Comedy of Errors, Romeo and Juliet and Othello (Chicago Shakespeare), Season on the Line (The House Theatre) and The Dueling Gentlemen (Silent Theatre Company) which he wrote and directed. His New York credits include Lulu: A Black and White Silent Play (Silent Theatre) which won best play at the NY Fringe Festival in 2005. TV credits include Chicago Fire and Chicago P.D. Follow him on SoundCloud and Instagram at SILENT MARVIN.
Sandra Márquez (director) is an actor, director and educator, as well as a longtime ensemble member and former Associate Artistic Director of Teatro Vista, the Midwest’s only Equity Latinx theater company. In 2016 she became the first Latinx ensemble member of Steppenwolf Theater Company where she has performed, directed, and currently serves as an Artistic Associate.
For many years she has worked at respected venues in the Chicago area and beyond including the Court, Goodman, Steppenwolf, Victory Gardens, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Madison Repertory and off-Broadway at Second Stage Theater, Uptown. Her film and TV credits include Chicago Justice, Chicago Code, Boss, Chicago Med and Timer. Márquez received a Jeff Award for Best Supporting Actress for her work in Arthur Miller’s A View from the Bridge and was the inaugural recipient of the Sor Juana Award, given by the National Museum of Mexican Art, for one’s contribution to the Arts and Latino Community. This season she received ALTA’s Migdalia Cruz Mentorship Award as well as the Outstanding Director of a Play for La Ruta by Isaac Gomez and produced by Steppenwolf Theater. Márquez is a core faculty member of the Northwestern University M.F.A. in Acting program.
Hay mas!
Teatro Vista also teams in spring with Goodman Theatre for American Mariachi
Women mariachis? It’s about time! Teatro Vista’s 2019-20 finale is American Mariachi by José Cruz González, a heartwarming and hilarious new comedy about the freedom to dream big, presented in association with Goodman Theatre. Familia, amor and tradición are at the heart of this hilarious and heartwarming new comedy about an all-female mariachi band. Teatro Vista co-founder and Goodman Resident Artistic Associate Henry Godinez directs.
Performances are April 25-May 31, 2020 in Goodman’s Albert Theatre,
170 N. Dearborn St., Chicago. Memberships to Goodman Theatre’s 2019-20 season are on sale at goodmantheatre.org, in person, or by calling (312) 443-3800 (12noon-5 p.m., daily). Single tickets to American Mariachi, $20-$70, go on sale February 14. Discounted tickets for groups of 10 or more are available now.
American Mariachi playwright José Cruz González (left) and director Henry Godinez.
About Teatro Vista
Teatro Vistas shares and celebrates the riches of Latinx culture with Chicago audiences. The company provides work and professional advancement opportunities for Latinx theatre artists, with special emphasis on the company’s ensemble members, and seeks to enhance the curricular goals of Chicago students through theater. Teatro Vista was celebrated as one of “Chicago’s Cultural Leaders” by the Arts & Business Council of Chicago, received the League of Chicago Theatre’s Artistic Leadership Award, and was honored with the 2019 Special Jeff Award for providing an outstanding platform for depicting Latino voices and experiences within the Chicago theater community for the past 30 years.
Teatro Vista’s primary focus is producing new works by Latinx theatre artists and presenting classic plays featuring artists of color. Its artistic vision is shaped by the company’s ensemble members, a group of multi-generational, multi-ethnic and multi- disciplinary artists. They inform Teatro Vista’s artistic aesthetic by devising original works as well as by selecting plays with themes that are engaging and relevant to Chicago’s diverse population.
Teatro Vista was founded in 1990 by Edward Torres and Henry Godinez. As Teatro Vista’s first Artistic Director, Godinez guided the company during the formative years. When Godinez stepped down, Torres was appointed Artistic Director. Under his direction, Teatro Vista used the stage to engage, connect and challenge audience members using the company’s mission as his guide.
In 2012, Torres moved to New York and the Board of Directors promoted Associate Artistic Director Ricardo Gutiérrez to the position of Executive Artistic Director. In 2017, Sylvia Lopez joined as Managing and Development Director. Previously, Lopez was Director of Marketing and Development of the International Latino Cultural Center and had her own multicultural event production company.
Teatro Vista ensemble members include Charín Álvarez, Max Arciniega, Desmín Borges, Cheryl Lynn Bruce, Ramón Camín, Ivonne Coll, Laura Dahl, Sandra Delgado, Liza Fernández, Khanisha Foster, Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel, Issac Gomez, Ricardo Gutiérrez, Erik Juárez, Jon Lyon, Sandra Márquez, Eddie Martinez, Salome Martinez, Joe Minoso, Ayssette Muñoz, Christina Nieves, Marvin Quijada, Tommy Rivera-Vega, Gabriel Ruíz, Nate Santana, Cecilia Suarez and co-founder Edward Torres.
Teatro Vista’s Board of Directors is Adela Cepeda, President; Tom Vega-Byrnes, Treasurer; Joan Pantsios, Secretary; and Ezequiel “Zeek” Agosto, Bhuvana Badrinathan, Edgar Delgado, Ricardo Gutiérrez, Kelly Jones, Sylvia Lopez, Kareem Mohamednur, Carina Sanchez, Angel Torres and Jose Vasquez.
Teatro Vista is supported by the Joyce Foundation, Alphawood Foundation, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, The MacArthur Fund for Arts & Culture at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, Illinois Arts Council, The Shubert Foundation, The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelly Foundation, CLATA (Chicago Latino Theater Alliance), Michael and Mona Heath, Adela Cepeda, Maria Bechily and Scott Hodes and Vidal & Associates. Purple Group is Teatro Vista’s Headline Season Sponsor.
For more, visit teatrovista.org, or follow the company on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.