Creative Team
Rodrigo Bolaños (Director) is a resident of NYC since 2006. Rodrigo is a graduate of Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a Bachelor in Architecture and a minor in Theatre Studies where he began designing, directing and acting for the stage. He is also the Board Vice President of the Empire City Men’s Chorus. He started his choral performance career in the children's church choir in his native El Salvador. After moving to Southern California at the age of 10, he continued performing in school musicals well into high school. There he joined the Madrigal Choir, performing as a bass, then moving up to Tenor when joining the PolyPhonics in college. He and his husband Mark-Eugene Garcia have continued the love for the performing arts by collaborating in the production of several plays and musicals since moving to NYC. He recently directed The Holy Cows of Credence South Dakota, (un)missed connections, In the Garden of... , What Friends Are For and TREASURES.
Mark-Eugene Garcia (Playwright) is Mexican/Honduran playwright and a proud member of the Dramatists Guild. He gained recognition for reuniting with his high school friends in the Original Cast of ENCORE! on ABC with Kristen Bell, and for re-performing Into the Woods in Encore's Pilot Episode. He obtained his degree from the City College of New York and studys book and lyric writing at the Academy of New Musical Theatre and the BMI Lehman Engle Musical Theatre Workshop.Garcia has received numerous awards for his playwriting, including the 2021 Jerry Harrington Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement in Musical Theatre, the 2018 UnFringed Festival Best of Festival Award, and nominations for the 2016 Vancouver Ovation Award for Outstanding New Work and the 2013 Planet Connections Outstanding Book of a New Musical. He was also the recipient of the 2012 Jacob Weiser Playwriting Award for a Fully Realized Drama.
Garcia's notable productions include EIGHT TALES OF PEDRO (The Secret Theatre, Queens Theatre), STANDBY (Towle Theatre, New York International Fringe Festival, New York Musical Theatre Festival), THE HOLY COWS OF CREDENCE SOUTH DAKOTA (Planet Connections Theatre Festival, Puzzle Theatre Festival), FACING EAST: A NEW MUSICAL (Jericho Arts Center), (UN)MISSED CONNECTIONS (Planet Connections Theatre Festival), and the upcoming SHINING IN MISERY: A KING-SIZED PARODY. (Capital City Theatre) Additionally, Garcia has written other plays such as FLAKE OF SNOW, WITH BATED BREATH, WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR, ONE NIGHT AT THE GOLDEN BOOT, INSCRIPTIONS, and KEYS. www.markeugenegarcia.com
Luis D’Elias (Original Music) can be defined by his musical journey, which has taken him across different cultures, genres, styles, and disciplines, all of which have become part of a musical identity that is unafraid to change, evolve, and grow. Born in Caracas, Venezuela and an Electronics Engineering graduate, Luis has been involved in all aspects of music since his early days as a progressive rock guitarist, keen on combining Venezuelan traditions with the energy of rock and metal. Later, he went on to graduate from Berklee College of Music as a film composer and electronic producer, while performing, arranging and collaborating with all sorts of artists, including A.R. Rahman, Alejandro Sanz and Marcos Valle. Once settled in New York, he released his first album, Origenes y Destinos, which garnered nominations in several independent music awards festivals, all the while working as a sound designer for renowned software developer, Heavyocity. Luis has also worked as a film composer for various directors in Florida and New York and is an active guitarist for various musical theater productions, as well as several musical acts in New York City. All of this have become venues in which Luis’ roots have been able to flourish, allowing him to experiment blending all sorts of different musical styles with Venezuelan and South American rhythms. His band, New Caracas, has been featured in Billboard magazine and other major news outlets in Venezuela, as they are about to release their second production, NOS: an album inspired in the Latin American Diaspora.