Teatro Puerto Rico
Encyclopedia
The Teatro Puerto Rico was to the Latino community
in the South Bronx what the Apollo Theater
was to the African American
community in the Harlem
section of Manhattan
. During its 1940s to 1950s "golden era," it was the hub of la farándula, a vaudeville
-style package of Spanish-language events, and attracted entertainers from all over Latin America
. In the late 1960s, the neighborhood where the theater was located was in decline and the theater closed its doors until 1994, when a real estate developer invested over a million dollars in renovations. After two years in operation, a political scandal involving misappropriated public funds forced the permanent closure of the theater as such. The building which the theater once occupied, however, is now being used as a place of religious worship.
and RKO
.
, World War II
, and the advent of air travel. The Great Depression which spread throughout the world was also felt in Puerto Rico. Since the island's economy had been made dependent on that of the United States, the U.S. economic crisis was felt on the island, as well. Unemployment rose steeply and, consequently, many families fled to the U.S. mainland in search of jobs.
The outbreak of World War II opened the doors to many of the migrants who were searching for jobs. Since a large portion of the male population of the U.S. was sent to war, there was a sudden need of manpower to fulfill the jobs left behind. Puerto Ricans, both male and female, found themselves employed in factories and ship docks, producing both domestic and warfare goods. The new migrants gained the knowledge and working skills which in the future would serve them well. The military also provided a steady source of income.
The advent of air travel provided Puerto Ricans with an affordable and faster way of travel to New York. A common denominator amongst all the migrants was their desire for a better way of life than was available in Puerto Rico. Although each one held personal reasons for migrating, the decision was generally rooted in the island's impoverished conditions, as well as the public policies that sanctioned migration.
It wasn't long before the Puerto Rican barrios
in the South Bronx, Spanish Harlem, Manhattan's Lower East Side and Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue began to resemble "Little Puerto Rico's" with their bodegas (small grocery stores) and piragueros
(Puerto Rican shaved ice vendors) in every corner. It is estimated that from 1946 to 1950 there were 31,000 Puerto Rican migrants in New York.
and Pedro Flores
, who formed the Trio Borincano and gained recognition in the city. Myrta Silva
, who later joined Hernandez's Cuarteto Victoria, also gained fame as a singer after the group traveled and played throughout the United States.
Like other newcomers before them, the Bronx’s newly arrived Latinos converted existing theaters for their own use. The South Bronx became a hub for Puerto Rican music. Theaters which served previous groups of immigrants, such as the Irish and the Italians, to stage their dramatic works or vaudeville style shows, now served the growing Puerto Rican population with musical performances from musicians throughout the island.
In 1948, the Forum Theater (briefly named the Brook Theater) was renamed Teatro Puerto Rico and began presenting Hispanic stage shows that attracted patronage from all over the Greater New York area. It was not just the main concert spot for Latino performers in New York, attracting stars from all parts of Latin America, it was one of the few places where Puerto Rican families from all over New York City could gather to celebrate their culture.
In the early stages of the Teatro
’s golden era (1947–1956), trovadores (troubadors), singers and musicians from Puerto Rico were contracted to perform. Joaquín Santiago
, the director of New York's second Hispanic radio show Heraldo de las Antillas at WEVD, served as MC (Master of Ceremonies) of the Teatro from 1950 to 1957. He was also the Secretary of the Spanish Actors Association, and in this capacity was in charge of the contracts signed between the entertainers and the management of theTeatro.
Among those who entertained the crowds with their "Cuatros
" and interpretation of the island’s "jibaro" music (typical country music) were Florencio Morales "Ramito" Ramos
, Jesús Sanchez "Chuito de Bayamon" Erazo, Pedro Ortiz "Davilita" Davila
and Tomas "Maso" Rivera. Acts by Tito Rodríguez
and his band and from trios such as Trio Los Duques, Trio Borincano, Los Panchos
, and Vegabajeño were often seen. Shows by Felipe "La Voz" Rodríguez
, a singer of boleros, were in much demand and sell outs. Two child prodigy performers who made their debuts in the Teatro were, José Feliciano
, whose family moved from Lares, Puerto Rico
, to El Barrio in 1950, got his start when he debuted at the Teatro Puerto Rico in 1954 at the age of nine and Miguel Poventud
"El Nino Prodigio de Guayama". Poventud made his professional debut in El Teatro, with the song which he wrote to his mother's memory "Soy Un Huerfanito". He also sang "De Que Me Sirve La Vida" and "Hechame a mi La Culpa". Poventud continued to make further presentations at the theater with "Yomo Toro y su Conjunto
" playing Rock and roll
, singing in English and boleros in Spanish.
During the Christmas
season, shows featuring la música jíbara were offered. The Teatro also presented a children's talent show called Fiesta Infantíl con Joaquín Santiago directed by the theater's MC, in which parents were encouraged to bring their children as participants. In the winter of 1953, Ramón "Diplo" Rivero
and his troupe traveled to New York City to perform before the Puerto Rican community and for three weeks Rivero and his show "El Tremendo Hotel" held sell out performances at the teatro.
) a week with a featured star attraction, attracting patronage from non-Puerto Rican Latinos all over the Greater New York area. As a consequence, Carlos Montalban, the older brother of actor Ricardo Montalbán
, who had connections in Hollywood
was contracted to bring Mexican entertainers and cinema celebrities who were shown in the movies. Among those who were contracted for comedy skits or to talk about their lives and careers were Cesar Romero
, Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno
, Jorge Negrete
and Pedro Infante
. Miguel Poventud often participated in comedy sketches with Mexican comedian Germán Valdés
also known as "Tin Tan". Among the international singers and actresses who headlined at the teatro were Spain
's Sara Montiel
and Argentina
's Libertad Lamarque
. In 1949, Lamarque's gross profits of her show for one week came in third place after two Broadway
Musicals
, "Kiss Me, Kate
" and "As the Girls Go
".
, Vicentico Valdés, Marcelino Guerra
, Machito
, Arsenio Rodríguez
, Charlie
and Eddie Palmieri
, Orlando Marin
, Manny Oquendo
, Ray Barretto
, Barry Rogers
, Johnny Pacheco
, Joe Loco
, Joe Quijano, Willie Colón
and Héctor Lavoe
performed at the Teatro.
In the late 1960s, the neighborhood went into decline and theTeatro could no longer compete with larger theaters in contracting performers. For a brief period theTeatro presented live wrestling matches; however, attendance at the Teatro Puerto Rico continued to drop and it closed its doors in the late 1970s. In 1992, Mr. James Sanchez, a real estate developer, invested $1.2 million and in 1994, after a year of renovations, Teatro Puerto Rico opened its doors once again as a performing arts center for the Hispanic community. The auditorium was divided into three sections, two for "live" performances and one for showing the latest Hollywood movies with Spanish subtitles.
In 1996 the owner rented the theater to New York State Senator Pedro Espada
. Six months later the Teatro finally closed its doors indefinitely after the senator failed to pay its rent. As a consequence, the senator was evicted and pled guilty to using false information to win a $95,000 state grant, which was supposed to pay theTeatro Puerto Rico's $10,000-per-month rent.
Hispanic and Latino Americans
Hispanic or Latino Americans are Americans with origins in the Hispanic countries of Latin America or in Spain, and in general all persons in the United States who self-identify as Hispanic or Latino.1990 Census of Population and Housing: A self-designated classification for people whose origins...
in the South Bronx what the Apollo Theater
Apollo Theater
The Apollo Theater in New York City is one of the most famous, and older, music halls in the United States, and the most famous club associated almost exclusively with Black performers...
was to the African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
community in the Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
section 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...
. During its 1940s to 1950s "golden era," it was the hub of la farándula, a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
-style package of Spanish-language events, and attracted entertainers from all over Latin America
Latin America
Latin America is a region of the Americas where Romance languages – particularly Spanish and Portuguese, and variably French – are primarily spoken. Latin America has an area of approximately 21,069,500 km² , almost 3.9% of the Earth's surface or 14.1% of its land surface area...
. In the late 1960s, the neighborhood where the theater was located was in decline and the theater closed its doors until 1994, when a real estate developer invested over a million dollars in renovations. After two years in operation, a political scandal involving misappropriated public funds forced the permanent closure of the theater as such. The building which the theater once occupied, however, is now being used as a place of religious worship.
Historical background
Located at 490 East 138th Street, at the corner of Brook Avenue in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, the theater was built in 1917. It opened its doors in February 1923, under the name of the Forum Theater. The theater, which had 2,300 seats, was a popular gathering spot which provided vaudeville shows and later movies, first for the German immigrant families who lived in the area and then for the Irish and Italian families who came after them. The Forum Theater, which was owned by the Ansel family, struggled to survive and compete with the arrival of the larger modern movie theaters such as Loew’sLoews Cineplex Entertainment
Loews Theatres, aka Loews Incorporated , founded in 1904 by Marcus Loew and Brantford Schwartz, was the oldest theater chain operating in North America until it merged with AMC Theatres on January 26, 2006. From 1924 until 1959, it was also the parent company of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios. The...
and RKO
RKO Pictures
RKO Pictures is an American film production and distribution company. As RKO Radio Pictures Inc., it was one of the Big Five studios of Hollywood's Golden Age. The business was formed after the Keith-Albee-Orpheum theater chains and Joseph P...
.
"The Great Puerto Rican Migration"
Several factors contributed and led to what became known as "The Great Puerto Rican Migration" to New York. They were the Great DepressionGreat Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, and the advent of air travel. The Great Depression which spread throughout the world was also felt in Puerto Rico. Since the island's economy had been made dependent on that of the United States, the U.S. economic crisis was felt on the island, as well. Unemployment rose steeply and, consequently, many families fled to the U.S. mainland in search of jobs.
The outbreak of World War II opened the doors to many of the migrants who were searching for jobs. Since a large portion of the male population of the U.S. was sent to war, there was a sudden need of manpower to fulfill the jobs left behind. Puerto Ricans, both male and female, found themselves employed in factories and ship docks, producing both domestic and warfare goods. The new migrants gained the knowledge and working skills which in the future would serve them well. The military also provided a steady source of income.
The advent of air travel provided Puerto Ricans with an affordable and faster way of travel to New York. A common denominator amongst all the migrants was their desire for a better way of life than was available in Puerto Rico. Although each one held personal reasons for migrating, the decision was generally rooted in the island's impoverished conditions, as well as the public policies that sanctioned migration.
It wasn't long before the Puerto Rican barrios
Barrios
Barrios, de Barrios, Barrio or Berrios is a surname of Basque origin. The name may refer to:-People:*Agustín Barrios , Paraguayan guitarist and composer*Artur Barrio , Brazilian artist...
in the South Bronx, Spanish Harlem, Manhattan's Lower East Side and Brooklyn's Atlantic Avenue began to resemble "Little Puerto Rico's" with their bodegas (small grocery stores) and piragueros
Piragua (food)
A piragua is a Puerto Rican shaved ice dessert, shaped like a pyramid, consisting of shaved ice and covered with fruit flavored syrup which are sold by vendors, known as piragüeros, in small colorful pushcarts...
(Puerto Rican shaved ice vendors) in every corner. It is estimated that from 1946 to 1950 there were 31,000 Puerto Rican migrants in New York.
"Teatro Puerto Rico"
Puerto Rican music flourished with the likes of Rafael HernándezRafael Hernández Marín
Rafael Hernández , was one of the most important composers of Puerto Rican popular music during the 20th century.-Early years:...
and Pedro Flores
Pedro Flores (composer)
Pedro Flores born was one Puerto Rico's best known composers of Ballads and Boleros.-Early years:Flores was one of 12 children born into a poor family in the town of Naguabo, Puerto Rico. Flores' father died when he was only nine years old and therefore, he was forced to work at a young age...
, who formed the Trio Borincano and gained recognition in the city. Myrta Silva
Myrta Silva
Myrta Silva was a Puerto Rican singer, composer and television producer. She was known affectionately as "La Gorda De Oro".-Early years:...
, who later joined Hernandez's Cuarteto Victoria, also gained fame as a singer after the group traveled and played throughout the United States.
Like other newcomers before them, the Bronx’s newly arrived Latinos converted existing theaters for their own use. The South Bronx became a hub for Puerto Rican music. Theaters which served previous groups of immigrants, such as the Irish and the Italians, to stage their dramatic works or vaudeville style shows, now served the growing Puerto Rican population with musical performances from musicians throughout the island.
In 1948, the Forum Theater (briefly named the Brook Theater) was renamed Teatro Puerto Rico and began presenting Hispanic stage shows that attracted patronage from all over the Greater New York area. It was not just the main concert spot for Latino performers in New York, attracting stars from all parts of Latin America, it was one of the few places where Puerto Rican families from all over New York City could gather to celebrate their culture.
In the early stages of the Teatro
Teatro
Teatro may refer to:* Theatre* Teatro , musical act signed to Sony BMG* Teatro , 1998* Teatro , 2008...
’s golden era (1947–1956), trovadores (troubadors), singers and musicians from Puerto Rico were contracted to perform. Joaquín Santiago
Joaquín Santiago
Joaquín Santiago was a radio and theatrical producer, international artists' manager, and MC of the renowned Teatro Puerto Rico in New York City...
, the director of New York's second Hispanic radio show Heraldo de las Antillas at WEVD, served as MC (Master of Ceremonies) of the Teatro from 1950 to 1957. He was also the Secretary of the Spanish Actors Association, and in this capacity was in charge of the contracts signed between the entertainers and the management of theTeatro.
Among those who entertained the crowds with their "Cuatros
Cuatro (instrument)
The cuatro is any of several Latin American instruments of the guitar or lute family. The cuatro is smaller than a guitar. Cuatro means four in Spanish, although current instruments may have more than four strings....
" and interpretation of the island’s "jibaro" music (typical country music) were Florencio Morales "Ramito" Ramos
Florencio Morales Ramos
Florencio "Flor" Morales Ramos , much more better known as Ramito, was a famous Puerto Rican singer, trovador, and composer who was a native of Caguas, Puerto Rico. He is considered the king of Jíbaro music...
, Jesús Sanchez "Chuito de Bayamon" Erazo, Pedro Ortiz "Davilita" Davila
Pedro Ortiz Davila
Pedro Ortiz Davila a.k.a. "Davilita" was a popular singer of boleros and Puerto Rican patriotic songs.-Early years:...
and Tomas "Maso" Rivera. Acts by Tito Rodríguez
Tito Rodriguez
Tito Rodríguez was a popular 1950s and 1960s Puerto Rican singer and bandleader. He is known by many fans as "El Inolvidable" , a moniker based on his most popular interpretation, a song written by composer Julio Gutierrez.-Early years:Rodríguez , born in Santurce, Puerto Rico,...
and his band and from trios such as Trio Los Duques, Trio Borincano, Los Panchos
Los Panchos
Los Panchos was an internationally famous Latin pop trio known for its romantic ballads and boleros.-History:...
, and Vegabajeño were often seen. Shows by Felipe "La Voz" Rodríguez
Felipe Rodríguez
Luis Felipe Rodriguez, better known as Felipe "La Voz" Rodríguez, born in Caguas, Puerto Rico, was a singer of boleros. He is regarded as the most popular Puerto Rican male singer of the 1950s based on record sales and live audience records...
, a singer of boleros, were in much demand and sell outs. Two child prodigy performers who made their debuts in the Teatro were, José Feliciano
José Feliciano
José Feliciano is a Puerto Rican singer, virtuoso guitarist and composer known for many international hits including the 1970 holiday single "Feliz Navidad".-Childhood:...
, whose family moved from Lares, Puerto Rico
Lares, Puerto Rico
Lares is a small mountain municipality of Puerto Rico's central-western area located north of Maricao and Yauco; south of Camuy, east of San Sebastián and Las Marias; and west of Hatillo, Utuado and Adjuntas. Lares is spread over 10 wards and Lares Pueblo...
, to El Barrio in 1950, got his start when he debuted at the Teatro Puerto Rico in 1954 at the age of nine and Miguel Poventud
Miguel Poventud
Miguel Poventud a.k.a. "El Niño Prodigio de Guayama" and "Miguelito" , was a Puerto Rican musician, singer, actor and composer of Boleros...
"El Nino Prodigio de Guayama". Poventud made his professional debut in El Teatro, with the song which he wrote to his mother's memory "Soy Un Huerfanito". He also sang "De Que Me Sirve La Vida" and "Hechame a mi La Culpa". Poventud continued to make further presentations at the theater with "Yomo Toro y su Conjunto
Yomo Toro
Victor Guillermo Toro is a guitarist and one of Puerto Rico's most famous cuatro players...
" playing Rock and roll
Rock and roll
Rock and roll is a genre of popular music that originated and evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s, primarily from a combination of African American blues, country, jazz, and gospel music...
, singing in English and boleros in Spanish.
During the Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
season, shows featuring la música jíbara were offered. The Teatro also presented a children's talent show called Fiesta Infantíl con Joaquín Santiago directed by the theater's MC, in which parents were encouraged to bring their children as participants. In the winter of 1953, Ramón "Diplo" Rivero
Ramón Rivero (Diplo)
Ramón Rivero — known as Diplo — was a comedian, actor, composer and a pioneer in Puerto Rico's television and cinema industries...
and his troupe traveled to New York City to perform before the Puerto Rican community and for three weeks Rivero and his show "El Tremendo Hotel" held sell out performances at the teatro.
International entertainment
The Teatro Puerto Rico soon began to feature one or two Spanish-language films (primarily MexicanMexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
) a week with a featured star attraction, attracting patronage from non-Puerto Rican Latinos all over the Greater New York area. As a consequence, Carlos Montalban, the older brother of actor Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...
, who had connections in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
was contracted to bring Mexican entertainers and cinema celebrities who were shown in the movies. Among those who were contracted for comedy skits or to talk about their lives and careers were Cesar Romero
Cesar Romero
Cesar Julio Romero, Jr. was an American film and television actor who was active in film, radio, and television for almost sixty years...
, Mario "Cantinflas" Moreno
Cantinflas
Fortino Mario Alfonso Moreno Reyes , was a Mexican comic film actor, producer, and screenwriter known professionally as Cantinflas. He often portrayed impoverished campesinos or a peasant of pelado origin...
, Jorge Negrete
Jorge Negrete
Jorge Alberto Negrete Moreno is considered one of the most popular Mexican singers and actors of all time....
and Pedro Infante
Pedro Infante
José Pedro Infante Cruz , better known as Pedro Infante, is the most famous actor and singer of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema and is an idol of the Latinamerican people, together with Jorge Negrete and Javier Solís, who were styled the Tres Gallos Mexicanos . He was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa,...
. Miguel Poventud often participated in comedy sketches with Mexican comedian Germán Valdés
Germán Valdés
Germán Genaro Cipriano Gomez Valdés Castillo , better known as Tin-Tan, was an actor, singer and comedian who was born in Mexico City but was raised and began his career in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua. He often displayed the pachuco dress and employed pachuco slang in many of his movies, some with his...
also known as "Tin Tan". Among the international singers and actresses who headlined at the teatro were Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
's Sara Montiel
Sara Montiel
Sara Montiel is a Spanish singer, and actress. She is still a much-loved and internationally known name in the Spanish-speaking movie and music industries....
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
's Libertad Lamarque
Libertad Lamarque
Libertad Lamarque was an Argentine-Mexican actress and singer. Originally from Argentina, she reached fame throughout Latin America while living in Mexico and working in Mexican cinema.-Career:...
. In 1949, Lamarque's gross profits of her show for one week came in third place after two Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
Musicals
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, "Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate
Kiss Me, Kate is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter. It is structured as a play within a play, where the interior play is a musical version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The original production starred Alfred Drake, Patricia Morison, Lisa Kirk and Harold Lang.Kiss...
" and "As the Girls Go
As the Girls Go
As the Girls Go is a musical with music by Jimmy McHugh, lyrics by Harold Adamson and a book by William Roos.After an out-of-town tryout at the Opera House in Boston in October 1948, the original Broadway production of As the Girls Go opened at the Winter Garden Theatre on November 13, 1948,...
".
The decline in the 1960s
During the 1960s, the growing Puerto Rican and Latino population was entertained not only by the performances of musicians from Puerto Rico and Cuba, but also from the local Bronx’s burgeoning second generation Latino American musicians whose music and styles were influenced by the local nation musical trends. Musicians such as Tito PuenteTito Puente
Tito Puente, , born Ernesto Antonio Puente, was a Latin jazz and Salsa musician. The son of native Puerto Ricans Ernest and Ercilia Puente, of Spanish Harlem in New York City, Puente is often credited as "El Rey de los Timbales" and "The King of Latin Music"...
, Vicentico Valdés, Marcelino Guerra
Marcelino Guerra
Marcelino Guerra, also known as "Rapindey" was a Cuban singer and songwriter who spent much of his life in the United States. His primary role was as a segunda voz, or harmony, singer....
, Machito
Machito
Machito , born as Francisco Raúl Gutiérrez Grillo, was an influential Latin jazz musician who helped refine Afro-Cuban jazz and create both Cubop and salsa music...
, Arsenio Rodríguez
Arsenio Rodríguez
Arsenio Rodríguez was a Cuban musician who played the tres , reorganized the conjunto and developed the son montuno, and other Afro-Cuban rhythms in the 1940s and 50s...
, Charlie
Charlie Palmieri
Charlie Palmieri was a renowned Bandleader and musical director of salsa music. He was known as "The Giant of the Keyboards".-Early years:...
and Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri
Eddie Palmieri , is a Grammy Award winning Puerto Rican pianist, bandleader and musician, best known for combining jazz piano and instrumental solos with Latin rhythms.-Early years:...
, Orlando Marin
Orlando Marin
Orlando Marin is a Puerto Rican band leader and timbales player born in the Bronx, New York in 1935. He formed his first band, Eddie Palmieri and his Orchestra, in 1951-52 with himself as director and Eddie Palmieri as musical director and later on the piano.-Career:After his first group broke up,...
, Manny Oquendo
Manny Oquendo
Manny Oquendo was an American percussionist. His main instrument was the timbales, and was strongly influenced by Cuban drumming.Oquendo grew up in New York, and began studying percussion in 1945...
, Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto
Ray Barretto was a Grammy Award-winning Puerto Rican jazz musician.-Early years:Barretto was born in New York City of Puerto Rican descent...
, Barry Rogers
Barry Rogers
Barry Rogers was a salsa musician and jazz fusion trombonist.Born Barron W. Rogers in The Bronx, he descended from Polish Jews who came to New York City via London and was raised in Spanish Harlem...
, Johnny Pacheco
Johnny Pacheco
Johnny Pacheco is a Dominican producer, musician, bandleader, and one of the most influential figures in American salsa music.-Early life:...
, Joe Loco
Joe Loco
Joe Loco was an American Latin jazz and Latin pop pianist and arranger.Loco first played with an ensemble called Montecino's Happy Boys in 1938. In the early 1940s he served as Machito's pianist before joining the Air Force from 1945 to 1947...
, Joe Quijano, Willie Colón
Willie Colón
William Anthony Colón is a Nuyorican salsa musician. Primarily a trombonist, Colón also sings, writes, produces and acts. He is also involved in municipal politics in New York City.-Early years:...
and Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Lavoe
Héctor Juan Pérez Martínez , better known as Héctor Lavoe, was a Puerto Rican salsa singer. Lavoe was born and raised in the Machuelito sector of Ponce, Puerto Rico. Early in his life, he attended a local music school and developed an interest inspired by Jesús Sánchez Erazo. He moved to New York...
performed at the Teatro.
In the late 1960s, the neighborhood went into decline and theTeatro could no longer compete with larger theaters in contracting performers. For a brief period theTeatro presented live wrestling matches; however, attendance at the Teatro Puerto Rico continued to drop and it closed its doors in the late 1970s. In 1992, Mr. James Sanchez, a real estate developer, invested $1.2 million and in 1994, after a year of renovations, Teatro Puerto Rico opened its doors once again as a performing arts center for the Hispanic community. The auditorium was divided into three sections, two for "live" performances and one for showing the latest Hollywood movies with Spanish subtitles.
In 1996 the owner rented the theater to New York State Senator Pedro Espada
Pedro Espada
Pedro Espada, Jr. was a Democratic member of the New York Senate for the 33rd Senate District. He was the New York State Senate Majority Leader and Vice President Pro Tempore for Urban Policy of the Senate...
. Six months later the Teatro finally closed its doors indefinitely after the senator failed to pay its rent. As a consequence, the senator was evicted and pled guilty to using false information to win a $95,000 state grant, which was supposed to pay theTeatro Puerto Rico's $10,000-per-month rent.
Currently
After the scandal the owner decided to put the building up for sale. Teatro Puerto Rico was sold, to "Iglesia Universal del Reino de Dios" (The Universal Church of the Kingdom of God). Which has converted a portion of the theater into a television and radio station. The legacy of the Teatro Puerto Rico continues to live on at the church, which presents Latin gospel music, with full jazz bands on its stage on Sundays.See also
- List of famous Puerto Ricans