The Brief Story of a Long-Lasting Milagro, Part III

As we gear up for a party three decades in the making, our own Vicente Guzman-Orozco gives us a glimpse (for some of us, a memory) of the lasting legacy and accomplishments of the unique institution that is Milagro. 
Join us on June 24th for a sangría (or Deschutes beer) toast, delectable tapas from Mayahuel Catering, and the passionate flamenco of Mark Ferguson. Buy your ticket to Milagro's 30th Cumpleaños today!

The company’s growth led to finding its own home away from the Northwest Service Center in what would become El Centro Milagro in 1995, and as its inaugural event it organized one of the most iconic Latino celebrations in the city: the annual festival around Day of the Dead, complete with ofrenda exhibits and an original production. The celebration continues to draw participants from near and far, with the most recent edition featuring a play written and directed by Lakin Valdez, who grew up as an integral part of El Teatro Campesino, the company founded by his father, Luis.

Audience members are not the only ones impressed by the results of Gonzalez and Malán’s hard work. In addition to attracting artists to participate and collaborate with the company, critics have also taken notice, and Milagro has won 27 Drammy acting and technical awards since 1999, and garnering the support of foundation and corporate supporters such as Nike, Inc. and the Northwest Area Foundation.

The connection to the local Hispanic community has also prompted collaborations with health, housing and education organizations to produce everything from summer camps to creating entire outreach campaigns preventing smoking, breast and cervical cancer and HIV/STIs. While the touring component continues to perform for young children to encourage interest in the arts and literacy, the reach of the educational efforts is grown, touring nationally and even participating in international events, such as Mexico’s Festival Cervantino in Guanajuato. This summer, Malán will be a presenter at the Oregon Association of Bilingual Education.

Milagro established itself as a reflection and representation of the professional artistry in the Hispanic community, and it continues to serve as a beacon for people seeking to present and experience the immense variety of Latino art and culture. At its 30th Anniversary mark, it is remarkable what it continues to contribute to Portland's cultural landscape: commissioning and exhibiting visual artists; developing local performing talent; hosting international musicians in a rich panoply that encompasses Flamenco, classical, hip hop and folk musicians; presenting and promoting Latino playwrights whether emerging or established, the company stands strong . “Always irreverent, never irrelevant”, Milagro's most recent production was the Northwest premiere of “Learn to be Latina”, a scathing comedy skewering preconceptions and the winner of the first “Great Gay Play” contest.  

Milagro proudly continues its evolution into the future, utilizing social media, creating interactive projects such as Mujeres, and making green improvements to El Centro Milagro. From dream to reality, what Gonzalez and Malán created is as much a part of the history of Portland as its Hispanic population, and the Latin beat keeps pulsing in Central Eastside.

Walk down memory lane with us as we celebrate three decades of the best of Latino art and culture in the Northwest and help set the stage for many more! Get your ticket to Milagro's 30th Cumpleaños today!



Help us to do what we do better! follow the link and fill out our  anniversary season survey, you can win tickets to any of our 2014-2015 season productions!

The Brief Story of a Long-Lasting Milagro, Part II

As we gear up for a party three decades in the making, our own Vicente Guzman-Orozco gives us a glimpse (for some of us, a memory) of the lasting legacy and accomplishments of the unique institution that is Milagro.
Join us on June 24th for a sangría (or Deschutes beer) toast, delectable tapas from Mayahuel Catering, and the passionate flamenco of Mark Ferguson. Buy your ticket to Milagro's 30th Cumpleaños today!

The journey to the Milagro of today, like all great adventures, was everything but straightforward. 

José Gonzalez and Malán started out by producing various experimental and avant-garde works under the name ArtPaz, (joining “art” to the Spanish word for “peace”). The inaugural production was Ayckburn's “Relatively Speaking”, foreshadowing the combination of irreverence and wit that characterizes many of the productions today. A couple of years later, they founded the Ancient Greek Theatre Festival, finding a temporary home in the Northwest Service Center. It was here that, moved by Gonzalez’s nostalgia for the Southwest and its Latino vibrancy in particular, the company organized the first Hispanic Cultural Festival in the city.

The inaugural festival defined the direction and flavor of the company with important Latino works like Milcha Sanchez Scott's “Roosters” and Antonio Skarmeta's “Burning Patience” sharing the  playbill with the Andean folk band Illapu, and the couple began a history of fostering emerging local talents, like dancers and poets. The festival became an annual event, alternating with the Greek Festival, which shared a similar purpose of highlighting the richness of cultural identity while exploring age-old themes and modern dilemmas.

Perhaps influenced by the birth of the couple's first child, the festival also featured programming for young children with an original work, Perez y Martina, which would mark the beginning of Milagro's touring and educational projects. The itinerant component was also a nod to the work and history of El Teatro Campesino, founded by Luis Valdez in California and considered the birth of Chicano theatre.

The festival connected with a local audience and desire for the programming it offered, not only from the public in general but also from the growing number of Latinos in the Portland metropolitan area, having gone from less than 4% in 1990 to 6.8% according to the 2000 census. Now at an estimated 9.4%, the community has grown in a great deal in size and influence, and so has Milagro, transitioning to focus on promoting the works of Latino artists of local, national and global renown by 1992. 

Walk down memory lane with us as we celebrate three decades of the best of Latino art and culture in the Northwest and help set the stage for many more! Get your ticket to Milagro's 30th Cumpleaños today!


Help us to do what we do better! follow the link and fill out our  anniversary season survey, you can win tickets to any of our 2014-2015 season productions!

The Brief Story of a Long-Lasting Milagro, Part I

As we gear up for a party three decades in the making, our own Vicente Guzman-Orozco gives us a glimpse (for him, a memory) of the lasting legacy and accomplishments of the unique institution that is Milagro.
Join us for a sangría (or Deschutes beer!) toast, delectable tapas from Mayahuel Catering, and the passionate flamenco of Mark Ferguson. Buy your ticket to Milagro's 30th Cumpleaños today!

When a young transplanted couple decided to nurture their dream into reality back in 1984, Portland was a bit different than today.  

The Timbers soccer team, then known as FC Portland, was just warming up to the United Soccer Leagues, the Trail Blazers passed on signing Michael Jordan, and Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. would be known as Union Avenue for another decade and a half. And José González and Dañel Malán set out to create a theatre company whose authenticity and originality set it apart from the rest.  

Today, the Timbers and Blazers fire up fans all over the country, and in addition to Rev. King, the City of Roses honors other civil rights heroes by naming important thoroughfares after Rosa Parks and Cesar Chavez. And the hopes and efforts of José González and Dañel Malán have transformed their dream into an organization that reaches well beyond its home in the Central Southeast district.  

El Centro Milagro on Stark St. (a few feet east of MLK Jr. Blvd.) is at once a distinctive and unassuming building. Outside, warm desert tones set it apart from the grey workaday structures surrounding it. Inside, Caribbean pastels and tropical bright welcome you to a truly multifaceted community center. This is the tangible heart of Gonzalez and Malan’s dream: Milagro, a vibrant theatre company now celebrating its 30th Anniversary Season, firmly established as the premier Latino arts and culture organization in the Pacific Northwest. 

Walk down memory lane with us as we celebrate three decades of the best of Latino art and culture in the Northwest and help set the stage for many more! Get your ticket to Milagro's 30th Cumpleaños today!


Help us to do what we do better! follow the link and fill out our  anniversary season survey, you can win tickets to any of our 2014-2015 season productions!