There were many faces to 2025: the citizen, the translator, the director, the poet, the producer, the playwright, the actor. To manage it all, I took a step back from social media. I plan to keep my distance, to focus on all that 2026 has in store! Before sharing any big announcements though, I’d like to pause for a moment to look back on all the creative work that made 2025 memorable for all the right reasons.
At this time last year, I was submitting the final report for an artist grant I had received from the Nevada Arts Council and National Endowment for the Arts. The grant was an exciting milestone that enabled me to achieve a second major goal: translating Las Edades del Hombre / The Ages of Man by Rafael Guizado. Early 2025 was filled with table readings to test drive the translation. Thanks to all of the wonderful actors who participated, the NV Arts Council, NEA, Art Hard Studios, and Playwrights Stagewerks LV. After some further refinements, I submitted the script to Out of the Wings to be considered for their annual festival of plays in translation. To my surprise and delight, The Ages of Man was selected for the festival and in July I traveled to London, UK for the staged reading! Muchas gracias a Out of the Wings Collective and Omnibus Theatre for their ongoing support and encouragement.
Another highlight of 2025 was directing References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot by Jose Rivera for A Public Fit Theatre Company. I’ve had the pleasure of directing several staged readings for APF in recent years. 2025 marked the first time I directed a mainstage production. I’m still in awe of the set design, lighting design, and performances that emerged from that collaboration. Thanks to the amazing cast, crew, production team, and A Public Fit Theatre Company for making that surreal dream a reality!
The Asylum Theatre gave me the opportunity to wear both my director and poet hats for Latino Poetry: Places We Call Home at the Winchester Dondero Cultural Center in Las Vegas. In addition to working with some of my favorite bilingual actors on poems that speak volumes about diverse contributions to the fabric of America, I was afforded the chance to do something I’ve been imagining for years. I incorporated a full mariachi performance into the show! Muchas gracias a Mariachi Acero de Las Vegas, the cast, the crew, Winchester Cultural Center, The Asylum Theatre, Emerson Collective, and the Library of America for an unforgettable experience!
As a playwright and producer, I had the good fortune to have my work selected for the 2025 Virtual Arts Productions New Play Festival. The experience of remounting my Letter to a Clone Manufacturer in 2025 provided fresh inspiration to write a new play. More on that coming soon! I’m grateful to Virtual Arts Productions for their continued support of my playwriting, and to the casts and directors for bringing the story to life in English and Spanish.
Acting had it’s rewards in 2025 as well. Just a few of the highlights included originating the role of Dezba in a new play, Waiting for Barnum by Jenny Fox; voice acting roles in two award winning audio dramas —We’re Alive: Descendants (2025 Signal Award for Best Indie Podcast) and How It Ends (2025 Hollywood Series Award for Outstanding Drama); two award winning film premieres— Session (Nevada Women’s Film Festival Audience Favorite Award) and Riot in Bloom (Best Feature Film Awards at Sweden Film Awards and Lavender Riot Film Festival).
Sprinkled throughout the year were also three lovely photo shoots with Vogue contributor, Kiefer Jones. I intend to release some of them with upcoming announcements of new projects for 2026. So stay tuned!