Antonio Pantojas
Encyclopedia
Antonio Pantojas is an actor, comedian, dancer and a pioneer in the art of drag
.
in the San José area
. At the age of 10, his greatest passion was dancing, and Madame Brewer and Mario Cox were his dancing teachers then. Later, in his high school years, he was awarded with a scholarship, offered by his Spanish teacher, with dancing professor, Ana García, his tutor of a lifetime.
Pantojas's professional training led him to become the dancing instructor and director of the San José Ballet, in Río Piedras. His missionary work, was to promote wholesome, and enjoyable cultural folkroric, and ballet dancing in his town. Later he enrolled in Ballets de San Juan, (San Juan Ballet Company), and participated in the Ita Medina and Sarita Ayala's ballet companies as well.
Pantojas, broadening his horizons, started taking acting lessons with Ernesto Concepción in Walter Mercado
's Academy. He also achieved a Bachelor's degree
in drama at Río Piedras University.
. Later he carried out the role of Herod
, in Jesus Christ Superstar
at the Matienzo Theater in Santurce, alongside Marian Pabón, among others.
performer came along as an eventuality, because once, he was auditioning for a role in a theater production, and the only one left was a woman's part. He accepted the challenge to portray that role, and it was a happening
. From then on, it became his primary career.
He has written over 20 club acts, which he has taken throughout Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic
, the United States, Mexico and Perú
, and also hosted his own talk show, Estoy Aquí, (I'm Here), in WIPR-TV
, channel 6-affiliated broadcasting from PBS).
A seasoned night club varieté
entertainer, Pantojas made waves beginning in the Puerto Rico night club scene during the 1970s, with his musical incendiary political satires and his gender-bending characters. A versatile thespian
, he has played roles as diverse as Estragon
and Pozzo, in Waiting for Godot
, Juliet
in El Público, (The Audience) by Federico García Lorca
(in its world premiere in Puerto Rico in 1978), the small-time street-wise narrator in La verdadera historia de Pedro Navaja, one of the longest-running plays in Puerto Rico's history, based in the Three Penny Opera. Pantojas has produced, directed, taught, written and performed for more than 12 years for the Productora Nacional de Teatro, Inc., a department from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (National Cultural Ministry) in Puerto Rico with which he staged his version of Alexandre Dumas, fils
’ Camille
, Lorca's La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba), Jules Tasca, An American Comedy, Venezuelan Isaac Chocrón
's La Revolución, (The Revolution), Argentine Alejandro Robino's, Manzana Podrida, (Rotten Apple) and Chilean Marco Antonio De la Parra's, La Secreta Obscenidad de Cada Día, (The Secret Obscenity of Every Day), as well as the theatrical versions of Weekend at Bernie's
, and The Full Monty
. Pantojas has also appeared in plays such as: La Cage Aux Folles, (The Bird's Cage), as "Zaza" and "Albin", and Love, Valour and Compassion, as "Buzz". As a playwright, he has taken several workshops in New York
(writing) and Florence
(creativity).
actor. His reason for this decision is his age, 58. Pantojas stated that his face and his body have changed, and as he is a versatile actor, he can carry out different roles, pursuing his career as a performer in many ways.
Presently he's been portraying a priest
, Father Amado, in the theater production: El Silencio es Salud, (Silence is Health), performed at the Centro Cultural Clemente Soto Vélez (The Clemente Soto Cultural Center), at the Lower East Side
of Manhattan
.
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
.
Early years
Antonio Pantojas was born in Río Piedras, the largest district of the city of San Juan, Puerto RicoSan Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...
in the San José area
Subdivisions of San Juan, Puerto Rico
San Juan is subdivided into 18 districts , 16 of which fall within the former municipio of Rio Piedras. 8 “barrios” are further subdivided in to “sub-barrios”, including both “barrios” of the former municipio of San Juan:...
. At the age of 10, his greatest passion was dancing, and Madame Brewer and Mario Cox were his dancing teachers then. Later, in his high school years, he was awarded with a scholarship, offered by his Spanish teacher, with dancing professor, Ana García, his tutor of a lifetime.
Pantojas's professional training led him to become the dancing instructor and director of the San José Ballet, in Río Piedras. His missionary work, was to promote wholesome, and enjoyable cultural folkroric, and ballet dancing in his town. Later he enrolled in Ballets de San Juan, (San Juan Ballet Company), and participated in the Ita Medina and Sarita Ayala's ballet companies as well.
Pantojas, broadening his horizons, started taking acting lessons with Ernesto Concepción in Walter Mercado
Walter Mercado
Walter Mercado , is a Puerto Rican astrologer. Mercado announced that he and Univision have parted ways after fifteen years.-Early years:...
's Academy. He also achieved a Bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in drama at Río Piedras University.
Theater debut
As the 1970s came about, he made his professional debut as an actor at the Latin American Theater Festival in the Coop-Arte theater in Barrio Obrero SanturceSanturce, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Santurce is a district of San Juan, Puerto Rico.-Summary:Santurce is one of the top ten most populated areas of the island holding Miramar, Loíza, Isla Grande, Barrio Obrero, and Condado as main cultural hot spots for art, music, cuisine, fashion, hotels, technology, multimedia, film, textile and...
. Later he carried out the role of Herod
Herod Antipas
Herod Antipater , known by the nickname Antipas, was a 1st-century AD ruler of Galilee and Perea, who bore the title of tetrarch...
, in Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar
Jesus Christ Superstar is a rock opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber, with lyrics by Tim Rice. The musical started off as a rock opera concept recording before its first staging on Broadway in 1971...
at the Matienzo Theater in Santurce, alongside Marian Pabón, among others.
The female impersonator
Pantoja's career as a transvestiteTransvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
performer came along as an eventuality, because once, he was auditioning for a role in a theater production, and the only one left was a woman's part. He accepted the challenge to portray that role, and it was a happening
Happening
A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered art, usually as performance art. Happenings take place anywhere , are often multi-disciplinary, with a nonlinear narrative and the active participation of the audience...
. From then on, it became his primary career.
He has written over 20 club acts, which he has taken throughout Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic
Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of La Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries...
, the United States, Mexico and Perú
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, and also hosted his own talk show, Estoy Aquí, (I'm Here), in WIPR-TV
WIPR-TV
WIPR-TV is an non-commercial educational, full-power public television station located in San Juan, Puerto Rico transmitting over analog channel 6, digital 43. The station is owned and operated by Corporación de Puerto Rico para la Difusión Pública ...
, channel 6-affiliated broadcasting from PBS).
A seasoned night club varieté
Varieté
Variety is a 1925 silent drama film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont based on the novel Der Eid des Stephan Huller by . Jannings portrays "Boss Huller," an ex-trapeze artist who runs a seedy carnival with his wife and child...
entertainer, Pantojas made waves beginning in the Puerto Rico night club scene during the 1970s, with his musical incendiary political satires and his gender-bending characters. A versatile thespian
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, he has played roles as diverse as Estragon
Estragon
Estragon is one of the two main characters from Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot. His name is the French word for tarragon.- The impulsive misanthrope :...
and Pozzo, in Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two characters, Vladimir and Estragon, wait endlessly and in vain for someone named Godot to arrive. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, have led to many different interpretations since the play's...
, Juliet
Juliet
Juliet is one of the title characters in William Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet, the other being Romeo. She is the daughter of old Capulet, head of the house of Capulet. The story has a long history that precedes Shakespeare himself....
in El Público, (The Audience) by Federico García Lorca
Federico García Lorca
Federico del Sagrado Corazón de Jesús García Lorca was a Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director. García Lorca achieved international recognition as an emblematic member of the Generation of '27. He is believed to be one of thousands who were summarily shot by anti-communist death squads...
(in its world premiere in Puerto Rico in 1978), the small-time street-wise narrator in La verdadera historia de Pedro Navaja, one of the longest-running plays in Puerto Rico's history, based in the Three Penny Opera. Pantojas has produced, directed, taught, written and performed for more than 12 years for the Productora Nacional de Teatro, Inc., a department from the Instituto de Cultura Puertorriqueña (National Cultural Ministry) in Puerto Rico with which he staged his version of Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils
Alexandre Dumas, fils was a French author and dramatist. He was the son of Alexandre Dumas, père, also a writer and playwright.-Biography:...
’ Camille
The Lady of the Camellias
The Lady of the Camellias is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils, first published in 1848, and subsequently adapted for the stage. The Lady of the Camellias premiered at the Théâtre du Vaudeville in Paris, France on February 2, 1852. The play was an instant success, and Giuseppe Verdi immediately set...
, Lorca's La Casa de Bernarda Alba (The House of Bernarda Alba), Jules Tasca, An American Comedy, Venezuelan Isaac Chocrón
Isaac Chocrón
Isaac Chocrón Serfaty was a Venezuelan playwright and translator. He was born in Maracay, and was a graduate of Columbia University. He later directed the School of Arts at the Central University of Venezuela. He died in Caracas.-Reference:*...
's La Revolución, (The Revolution), Argentine Alejandro Robino's, Manzana Podrida, (Rotten Apple) and Chilean Marco Antonio De la Parra's, La Secreta Obscenidad de Cada Día, (The Secret Obscenity of Every Day), as well as the theatrical versions of Weekend at Bernie's
Weekend at Bernie's
Weekend at Bernie's is a 1989 American comedy film directed by Ted Kotcheff. A comedy starring Andrew McCarthy and Jonathan Silverman features the two as a couple of young insurance agency employees who discover their boss is deceased...
, and The Full Monty
The Full Monty
The Full Monty is a 1997 British comedy film directed by Peter Cattaneo, starring Robert Carlyle, Mark Addy, William Snape, Steve Huison, Tom Wilkinson, Paul Barber, and Hugo Speer. The screenplay was written by Simon Beaufoy...
. Pantojas has also appeared in plays such as: La Cage Aux Folles, (The Bird's Cage), as "Zaza" and "Albin", and Love, Valour and Compassion, as "Buzz". As a playwright, he has taken several workshops in New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
(writing) and Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
(creativity).
Recent years
In 2003, Pantojas moved to New York, and decided not to perform again as a transvestiteTransvestism
Transvestism is the practice of cross-dressing, which is wearing clothing traditionally associated with the opposite sex. Transvestite refers to a person who cross-dresses; however, the word often has additional connotations. -History:Although the word transvestism was coined as late as the 1910s,...
actor. His reason for this decision is his age, 58. Pantojas stated that his face and his body have changed, and as he is a versatile actor, he can carry out different roles, pursuing his career as a performer in many ways.
Presently he's been portraying a priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, Father Amado, in the theater production: El Silencio es Salud, (Silence is Health), performed at the Centro Cultural Clemente Soto Vélez (The Clemente Soto Cultural Center), at the Lower East Side
Lower East Side
The Lower East Side, LES, is a neighborhood in the southeastern part of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by Allen Street, East Houston Street, Essex Street, Canal Street, Eldridge Street, East Broadway, and Grand Street....
of Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
.
External links
- http://www.prpop.org/noticias/may05/antonio_pantojas_may10.shtml