Hugo Medrano

Hugo Medrano is an Argentinian-born theatre director, playwright, and actor. He co-founded the GALA Hispanic Theatre in Washington D.C., with his wife Rebecca Read Medrano. The GALA Hispanic Theatre features Spanish and Latin American plays and has staged over 220 productions since its founding in 1976. Hugo Medrano serves as the theatre's Founding Producing Artistic Director. He received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role as Molina in El Beso de la Mujer Arana in 1994. For promoting Spanish culture in the United States, Medrano received Spain's Order of Queen Isabella.

Early life and education Hugo Medrano lived in Argentina for much of his early life. He attended Escuela de Teatro de La Plata and graduated with a bachelor's degree in theatre. He reported that many of his friends were some of the students, intellectuals, and artists who disappeared as a result of the war. These experiences inspired the political themes of Medrano's early work. Medrano co-founded this theatre in 1976 to deliver quality plays to the growing Spanish-speaking community of Washington. In its early years, the GALA Hispanic Theatre performed in a townhouse in the multicultural Adams Morgan neighborhood of the city. Medrano produced and directed the group's first production, La Fiaca by Ricardo Talesnik, which received recognition by the Washington Post. Medrano would go on to direct, produce, and act in a multitude of successful productions over the next 40 years.

As a theatre director at GALA, Medrano faced challenges concerning the bilingual nature of his productions. To appeal to both Spanish-speaking and English-speaking audiences, Medrano would often present two different productions of the same play, an English version and a Spanish version. The theatre was abandoned in 1976 but was restored with the help of a $4 million fundraising campaign started by Medrano and others.

Awards Hugo Medrano was recognized as a "Visionary" by the Mayor's Arts Awards in 2014. He also received an Immigrant Achievement Award from the American Immigration Council in 2014. In 2010, both Hugo Medrano and his wife Rebecca Read Medrano were named Washingtonians of the Year by the Washingtonian magazine.