Jerry Ruiz

Early life and education

Jerry Ruiz grew up in Brownsville, Texas. Ruiz identifies as a Texican. He is a "former 5th grade basketball team benchwarmer." Ruiz started working in theatre at age of 11, when one of his friends invited him to a summer workshop. Ruiz obtained a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Language from Harvard University in 2000. He later obtained a Master of Fine Arts in Directing form the University of California, San Diego. Jerry Ruiz interned at the Dallas Theater Center. In 2014, Jerry Ruiz was invited to direct In the Heights, by Lin-Manuel Miranda, at the University of Texas at Austin.

Career

Jerry Ruiz has collaborated with the Two River Theater Company, acting as curator for the new play festival Crossing Rivers. In 2010, Ruiz directed Kiss Bessemer at Repertorio Español, a play written by Tencha Ávila, which demonstrates the racial and economic tensions of a Mexican-American family living in Colorado in the 1970s. In 2011, he began working with playwrights Tanya Saracho and Mando Alvarado, directing readings and productions of their plays in NYC. Jerry Ruiz was one of the directors of the New York One-Minute Play Festival of Latino Voices that took place in November 2013. Ruiz is the current Executive Director at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center. Ruiz's vision at the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center is to help those that identify as Latino, Chicano, or Mexican-American to deal with what it means to belong to these groups.

Notable plays directed:

1. Basílica, by Mando Alvarado, at the Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
2. Mariela in the Desert, by Karen Zacarías, at Repertorio Español
3. Sangre, by Mando Alvarado, at SummerStage
4. Philip Goes Forth, by George Kelly (playwright), at Mint Theater Company
5. How I Learned to Drive, by Paula Vogel, at Queen's College
6. A Map of Broken Glass, by Anna Ziegler, at F*it Club
7. Rattlers, by Johnna Adams, at Flux Ensemble Theater
8. The King is Dead, by Caroline McGraw, at Highwire Theater
9. Enfrascada, by Tanya Saracho, at Clubbed Thumb

Plays as Assistant Director:

1. La bohème, directed by Baz Luhrmann at Broadway theatre
2. Measure for Measure, directed by Bill Rauch, at Oregon Shakespeare Festival
3. Taking Over, directed by Tony Taccone, at The Public Theater
4. The Winter's Tale, directed by Darko Tresnjak, at The Old Globe Theatre
5. Mother Courage and Her Children, directed by Lisa Peterson, at La Jolla Playhouse

Notable awards and fellowships:

1. Second Stage Van Lier Directing Fellow, from 2007-2009
2. NEA/TCG Career Development Program for Directors Grant, from 2009-2011
3. Phil Killian Fellow at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, 2011