- Antonio Pantojas
Infobox actor
name = Antonio Pantojas
birthdate = birth date and age|1948|11|25
location =Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico
yearsactive = 1968–presentAntonio Pantojas , November 25, 1948 born inRio Piedras ,Puerto Rico , is an actor, comedian, dancer and a pioneer in the art of drag.citation |title=De travesti a sacerdote |first=Mario Rodríguez |last=Guerra |url=http://www.orgulloboricua.net/comunidad/noticias/locales/2006_antonio_pantojas_030106.html |language=Spanish |accessdate=2007-11-14 |date=March 1 ,2006 ]Early years
Antonio Pantojas was born in
Rio Piedras , the largest district of the city of San Juan,Puerto Rico 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 Rio Piedras. His missionary work, was to promote wholesome, and enjoyable cultural folkroric, and ballet dancing in his town. Later he enrolled inBallets 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 aBachelor's degree in drama atRio 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"Santurce . Later he carried out the role ofHerodes , in "Jesus Christ Superstar " at theMatienzo Theater in Santurce, alongsideMarian Pabon , among others.The female impersonator
Pantoja's career as a transvestite 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 , theUnited States ,Mexico andPerú , and also hosted his own talk show, "Estoy Aquí", (I'm Here), inWIPR-TV , channel 6-affiliated broadcasting fromPBS ).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 asEstragon andPozzo , in "Waiting for Godot ",Juliet in "El Público", (The Audience) byFederico 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 ofAlexandre 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 inNew York (writing) andFlorence (creativity).Recent years
In 2003, Pantojas moved to New York, and decided not to perform again as a transvestite 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 theLower East Side ofManhattan .ee also
*
List of famous Puerto Ricans
*References
External links
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* http://www.prpop.org/noticias/may05/antonio_pantojas_may10.shtml
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