Acts of Kindness

The El Paso Play
by Gregory Ramos

A Reading
Presented by COMPANY OF ANGELS

November 11, 2023

Gregory Ramos, Playwright

Gregory is an actor, director, playwright, and theatre educator originally from Los Angeles, California. He completed his MFA in Playwriting at UCLA and studied acting at Playwrights Horizons in New York and privately with academy award winner, Ellen Burstyn. He is certified in the Meisner acting approach through the True Acting Institute. Gregory has directed plays and musicals at numerous professional theatres and universities. Much of his original work is based on interviews. Two of these are solo performance plays. Border Stories is based on interviews with LGBT people living on the U.S – Mexico border and When We Danced was written after interviewing senior and elderly LGBT people around the country. He has performed both at arts venues and theatre festivals throughout the U.S. His play for young audience’s Cuentos de Josefina (Josephine’s Tales) is available through YouthPLAYS. Gregory is a proud member of The Lincoln Center Director’s Lab and Actor’s Equity Association. This current work is based on interviews he conducted in El Paso, Texas after a mass shooting at a Walmart in August 2019. He dedicates the reading to the beautiful city of El Paso, TX.

Armando Molina, Artistic Director, Company of Angels

Armando serves as Artistic Director of Company of Angels, and most recently directed “This Land by Evangeline Ordaz at Company of Angels, “My Manana Comes” by Elizabeth Irwin at The Fountain Theater, “The Long Road Today” by Jose Cruz Gonzalez at South Coast Rep., “Bordering on Love” by Evangeline Ordaz,,“The Ghost Building” by Damon Chua, “Visitors Guide to Arivaca” by Evangeline Ordaz at Company of Angels. “Refugee Nation” by Leilani Chan & Ova Saopeng at LATC, “Distracted” by Lisa Loomer at TheaterWorks. “Hippie Mexicana” by Evangeline Ordaz and “Conjunto” by Oliver Mayer, Borderlands Theater; “Sissy” by Ricardo Bracho and “The Waiting Room” at Company of Angels”, “Living Out” By Lisa Loomer at TheaterWorks and Mixed Blood Theater. “Anna in the Tropics” at PCPA Theaterfest. Armando received national recognition from the NEA and the Theater Communications Group as a recipient of their Career Development Program for Directors. He co-founded Latins Anonymous, the critically acclaimed Latino Comedy Group. He was a member of Cornerstone Theater Company Ensemble. Other directing include, The American Southwest Theater Company’s production of “Latins Anonymous;” “The Case of the Strange Step Brother” by Evangeline Ordaz for California Youth Theater. Also co-founded The Platform, a political cabaret that explored post riot Los Angeles as a community in crisis. He is a member of ADCA (Artistic Directors of Color Alliance).

Richard Azurdia

RICHARD AZURDIA Is born and raised in L.A. Theater credits include productions with the Fountain Theatre, Theatricum Botanicum, Denver Center Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Independent Shakespeare Co.'s Griffith Park Free Shakespeare Festival, Latino Theater Co., Ghost Road Co., Company of Angels, Rogue Artist Ensemble, Circle X Theatre, Sacred Fools Theatre, Echo Theatre, Son of Semele Ensemble, Odyssey Theater & Bootleg Theater. He's been nominated for the Ovation Awards, Stage Raw Awards, Colorado Theatre Guild's Henry Awards & Broadway World Awards. Film/TV: Southland, Grace & Frankie, Hulu's East Los High (recurring), Weeds (recurring), Ladron Que Roba A Ladron, America 101. He's a recipient of the Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship and was named one of L.A. Weekly's 54 Fascinating People in 2015. www.RichardAzurdia.com.

Abe Bueno Jallad

Abe Bueno-Jallad - A mixed race actor born and raised in El Paso Texas/Juarez-Mexico. Abe moved to Albuquerque NM, where he got his start, working in English and Spanish language Films & Theatre while paying the bills with work in Psychiatric Research. Abe left the southwest after being awarded a scholarship to the USC School of Dramatic Arts, graduating with his MFA in 2016. This reading is dedicated to all the Fronterizos we grew up with a much different idea of what America is and can be. El Paso strong always. LOCAL THEATRE: Curios Incident (Greenway Court) The Copeland Project (Walt Disney Concert Hall) A Picture of Dorian Gray (A Noise Within) King Charles III (Pasadena Playhouse). TV: The Chosen, NICIS, Lethal Weapon, Good Girls Revolt. Film: Transcendence, Frontera, Frank.

Bill Brochtrup

Bill Brochtrup is best known for his ten-year run as cheerful police administrative aide “John Irvin” on ABC’s Emmy Award-winning NYPD Blue (SAG Award Nomination) and five-season stint as savvy police psychologist “Dr. Joe” on TNT’s Major Crimes. He has appeared on numerous local stages, including The Geffen Playhouse (The Inheritance), South Coast Repertory, Ensemble Theatre Company, Pasadena Playhouse, The Fountain Theatre, Boston Court Pasadena, Rogue Machine Theatre, L.A. Theatre Works, and Antaeus Theatre Company where he serves as Artistic Director. Films include Life as We Know It, He’s Just Not That Into You, Ravenous. Other television credits include series regular roles on ABC’s Total Security and CBS’ Public Morals and recurring roles on Showtime’s Shameless and digital dramas Kendra and After Forever. billbrochtrup.com

Miguel Najera

Veteran award-winning filmmaker, Miguel Najera, for over 40 years has honed his craft as an actor, writer, director and producer. Miguel has an MFA in Film, Theatre, and Television Directing from the California Institute of the Arts, received his B.A. in Theatre from San Francisco State University and attended the American Conservatory Theatre in San Francisco. Miguel wrote and directed the award winning short, “Libertad,”that screened to critical acclaim at WGBH Boston as part of their Latino film series and at DreamWorks as part of their in-house film series. His “Dancing on the Edge” documentary went on to win the Outstanding Documentary Award at the 2005 IMAGeNation Aboriginal Film and Video Festival in Canada. Movie acting credits include’: Nick of time with Johnny Depp, and Virtuosity with Russell Crowe. TV series credits include’: Grace and Frankie with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, The First with Sean Penn, East Los High, The Mentalist, Private Practice, CSI: Miami, Grey’s Anatomy, Saving Grace, The Shield, 24, Lincoln Heights, and Alias among many others. Theatre credits include La Posada Magica for eight seasons

at Southcoast Rep, Black Elk Speaks at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts/Mark Taper Forum and many others.

April Ortiz

BROADWAY: In The Heights, Richard Rodgers Theatre. NATIONAL TOURS:

In The Heights; Cats, La Cage Aux Folles. REGIONAL THEATRE: In The

Heights, TUTS/ Pittsburgh CLO/ Madison Theatre; Between 2 Knees, Oregon

Shakespeare Festival; Distant Thunder, Lyric Theatre OKC; Sunsets and

Margaritas and Barrio Babies, Denver Center; Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella,

Yale Rep; Bright Ideas, Laguna Playhouse. OFF BROADWAY: Tio Pepe/

Somewhere, Public Theatre; The View Upstairs, Culture Project,

Transformations, HomeSpace, A Woman’s Work, Flatiron Playhouse. FILM:

Father Of The Bride I&II, The Majestic, Frame Of Mind. TELEVISION:

Uncoupled, Fosse/Verdon, The Golden Girls, Elementary, Instinct; Braindead,

Down and Out in Beverly Hills, Everybody Loves Raymond, Law and Order:

CI, Coach; Empty Nest, Mad About You.

Kenia Romero

Kenia Romero was born and raised in the vibrant heart of Miami, FL, where she grew up performing and volunteering at local theatres. A proud alumna of USC, Kenia delved deep into the craft of acting during her time there, ultimately graduating with a BA in Theatre. Kenia has performed with the Latino Theatre Co., Open Fist Theatre, Casa 0101, and at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Kenia has also had the privilege of working on a pilot with Gael García Bernal and Jonás Cuarón! She recently stood as a finalist and Audience Choice Award winner in the prestigious Ya Tu Sabes Monologue Slam hosted by Nosotros and NBC.

Melanie Luine Stage Manager