Teatro Vista, Chicago’s leading Latinx theater company, is already embracing its new future powered by ensemble-driven work with the release of ensemble member Gabriel Ruiz’s original new audio play, The Fifth World.
True crime fans? The Fifth World is for you. This new, six-part audio serial, set in modern day but rooted in Aztec mythology, is full of mystery, intrigue and the supernatural.
The Fifth World is free to stream on teatrovista.org, Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Since the podcast's debut last December, episodes have hit more than 15,000 streams.
The Fifth World is set at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Sebastian Reyes has arrived in the small desert town of Palomas, Arizona to make his name producing a true crime story about a missing child in the desert, who mysteriously, nobody is looking for. But Seba’s true purpose becomes frighteningly clear as his search fatefully entangles him in a horrifying myth as old as the world.
Ruiz, a veteran Chicago actor and Teatro Vista ensemble member, where his on stage credits include The Wolf at the End of the Block and White Tie Ball, is currently in New York making his Broadway debut in MJ The Musical.
“With The Fifth World, the Teatro Vista ensemble is taking listeners to a remote town in the middle of nowhere to explore the human need to find and connect with another human being,” Ruiz says. “But in Seba’s case, the future of the world depends on it.”
Teatro Vista’s new serial podcast The Fifth World is voiced by a nine-member, all-ensemble cast, the most ever in a Teatro Vista production: (top, from left) Gabriel Ruiz (Seba), Cheryl Lynn Bruce (Ruthie), Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel (Florentina Perez), (middle) Jon Lyon (Simon), Sandra Márquez (Sandra), Eddie Martinez (Eduardo), (bottom) J. Salome Martinez (Tlolac), Ayssette Muñoz (Christina) and Nate Santana (Deputy Raines).
The Fifth World is co-directed by Gabriel Ruiz and Lorena Diaz. The series is voiced by a nine-member, all-ensemble cast, the most ever in a Teatro Vista production: Gabriel Ruiz (Seba), Cheryl Lynn Bruce (Ruthie), Cruz Gonzalez-Cadel (Florentina Perez), Jon Lyon (Simon), Sandra Márquez (Sandra), Eddie Martinez (Eduardo), J. Salome Martinez (Tlolac), Ayssette Muñoz (Christina), and Nate Santana (Deputy Raines). Sound design is by Mikhail Fiksel, Gabriel Ruiz and Giselle Castro.
The Fifth World signals the company’s new direction under new Co-Artistic Directors Lorena Diaz and Wendy Mateo. Their mission: to propel Teatro Vista and its ensemble members to create a new definition of theater, both live and virtual, that centers its own ensemble members, encompasses many disciplines of art, genres and expression, and spurs new forms of storytelling.
Coming soon in 2022 are two more world premiere virtual productions:
Detective Q, a moving graphic novel by Marvin Quijada and Gabriel Ruiz, and La Vuelta, a new digital experience commissioned by Teatro Vista, devised by its ensemble members, written by Isaac Gómez and directed by Monty Cole. Both productions will be easily accessed via teatrovista.org.
In addition, Teatro Vista will return to the live stage in April with Somewhere Over the Border, a world premiere musical by Brian Quijada, creator and star of Teatro Vista’s 2016, smash hit world premiere, Where Did We Sit on the Bus? Stay tuned for exciting production details.
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Did you miss Destinos, the 4th Chicago International Latino Theater Festival in October? Turn down the lights and immerse your imagination in this visual world Teatro Vista
Co-Director Lorena Diaz created to introduce The Fifth World to the festival’s audiences.
About Teatro Vista
Teatro Vista is Chicago’s largest, Equity-affiliated professional Latinx theater company and one of the nation’s premier Latinx arts organizations.The company’s primary focus is producing new works by Latinx theater artists from its own ensemble, a group of multi-generational, multi-ethnic and multi-disciplinary artists.
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, Isaac Gómez, 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.
In July, 2021, following a national search, Lorena Diaz and Wendy Mateo were appointed Co-Artistic Directors of Teatro Vista.
Teatro Vista Co-Artistic Directors Lorena Diaz (left) and Wendy Mateo
“We are deeply energized by Teatro Vista and its ensemble, with its tapestry of talent, innovation and unique perspectives,” said Mateo. “There is a depth to the American Latinx experience that has fueled our 20 years of storytelling and collaboration together. With this particular ensemble, we’ll be able to deepen that storytelling and bring in a kind of nuance and complexity to our stories that our audiences will be inspired by.”
Diaz added, “the opportunities in an ensemble-led theater company are many and Teatro Vista has an abundance of thought-provoking artists who are exploring different genres of creative expression, from writing for television, to audio plays with visual components, to full-fledged plays with music like La Havana Madrid. Expect that kind of excitement going forward.”
Teatro Vista’s Board of Directors includes Adela Cepeda, President, Joan Pantsios, Secretary, Julieta LaMalfa, Treasurer, and Kareem Mohamednur, Carina Sanchez and Jose Vasquez.
Teatro Vista is supported by Alphawood Foundation, the Arts Work Fund, Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, The Bayless Foundation, Chicago Community Trust, Chicago Cultural Treasures, Chicago Filmmaker Grant, CLATA (Chicago Latino Theater Alliance), DCASE (Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events), The Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation, Illinois Arts Council, The Joyce Foundation, The MacArthur Fund for Culture, Equity, and the Arts at the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation, Pritzker Foundation, The Shubert Foundation, The Shuttered Grant and the Tide-Venturous Foundation.
For more, visit teatrovista.org, or follow the company on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.
Gabriel Ruiz (he/him/his, creator, The Fifth World, co-creator, Detective Q) is a Teatro Vista ensemble member. Currently Ruiz is originating a role on Broadway in MJ The Musical. New York credits: Blood and Gifts (Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts). Chicago credits include The Wolf at the End of the Block, White Tie Ball (Teatro Vista), I Hate It Here, The Upstairs Concierge (Goodman Theater), The Secret of My Success (Paramount Theater), You Got Older, The Rembrandt, The Way West, How Long Will I Cry?, The Motherf**ker with the Hat (Steppenwolf Theatre Company), Next to Normal, Company, Arcadia (Writers Theatre), Cry it Out, Mansfield Park (Northlight Theatre), Photograph 51, Agamemnon, Man in the Ring (Court Theatre), Native Gardens (Victory Gardens Theater), Singin' in the Rain, City of Angels (Marriott Theatre in Lincolnshire), Creditors (Remy Bumppo Theatre Company), Working (Broadway Playhouse at Water Tower Place) and Arabian Nights (Lookingglass Theatre Company). Regional credits include Native Gardens (Cincinnati Playhouse), Harvey (Milwaukee Repertory Theater), Why Torture Is Wrong... (Forward Theater Company) TV/Film: Christmas Again (Disney), Chicago PD, Chicago Fire, Chicago Justice (NBC), APB (Fox), Electric Dreams (Channel 4) and Boss (Starz). Music composition credits: In the Time of Butterflies (Teatro Vista), An Epic Tale of Scale (Chicago Children’s Theatre), Vietgone (Writers Theatre), I Hate it Here (Studio Theater, The Goodman Theater). He also performs music with the duos 'Sinfolk' and 'With This Song' which can be found on Spotify and WithThisSong.com.
Click here to download or above to screen Teatro Vista's season announcement video.