Today we’d like to introduce you to Ruben Carrazana.
Every artist has a unique story. Can you briefly walk us through yours?
I like to say I was born and raised in Miami, Florida, though technically I was born in Hialeah, a suburb of Miami with the highest percentage of Cubans and Cuban-Americans of any other US city. I was ten years old when I saw the outtakes during the end credits for Jim Carrey’s LIAR LIAR, and it was then that I thought, “Man, they look like they’re having so much fun. Like a family. I want that.” I didn’t have the word at the time, but I know now that what I desired then was a sense of “community”. I grew up locked in my room and consuming books and movies. I would watch the same movies and read the same books over and over again. I didn’t really go out much, and I only had a small handful of friends who I only ever saw in school. But after that moment, I decided to take theater classes as an elective my first year in middle school, and it quickly took over my life. It’s quite literally the only think I’m good at. I was lucky to find that at just ten years old. I don’t know where I’d be without it. I moved to Dallas in 2009 to study theater at Southern Methodist University, and I decided to stay here after graduation. I am primarily an actor, but in the past few years I’ve started venturing into directing, writing, and producing.
Please tell us about your art.
I am a theater artist. Acting is what I feel most comfortable doing as it’s what I’ve done the longest, but I’m also a director and producer, and I am just now ALMOST starting to feel comfortable calling myself a writer, though I’m still hesitant. A few years ago, I made the decision to never do anything that I don’t want to do, both in my personal life and in my professional artistic endeavors. Theater is a collaborative art form, and so compromise is invariably a part of the process, but the less I have to compromise the happier I tend to be. This means that my preference is almost always to work independently, that is to say, outside of existing institutions. Raising money and hiring collaborators and creating a project from scratch is much more difficult without the infrastructure that comes with an existing non-profit, but the artistic freedom is something I wouldn’t trade for anything. That’s not to say, however, that I don’t work with established organizations, it’s just that I’m much more selective about what projects I choose to join. As far as what people should take away from my work? I have no idea. That’s something I give very little thought to, as what the audience thinks or experiences is completely out of my hands. I’d like to think that my work simply presents truth (“a truth” never “the truth”), and it’s the audience’s job to figure out what they want to do with it. I’m interested in work that is complicated and layered and troubling and that makes us ask questions of ourselves, not large and political questions that we pose during family dinners and Facebook rants, but more personal ones, the truly scary ones that we don’t even want to ask ourselves in the privacy of our own minds.
We often hear from artists that being an artist can be lonely. Any advice for those looking to connect with other artists?
See as much work as possible. You can’t know what you’re doing or what you’re talking about unless you know what’s going on. See it all. The good work and the bad work. Break out of your immediate circle of friends. Your best buddy might be really easy to work with, but that doesn’t mean that he’s the best person for the job. There are so many talented and hard-working artists in Dallas. Support their work. I am not a networker. I run away after my shows and hide in my room at home. I don’t go to parties or socialize anywhere near as much as I probably should. My anxiety won’t let me. But I see everything going on in my theater community, so when it comes time to cast a show I’m working on, I know exactly who to reach out to without even auditioning them, even if we’ve never met, because I’ll have seen them in three different shows around town.
How or where can people see your work? How can people support your work?
As a freelance theater artist I jump from gig to gig. I’ve acted with the Dallas Theater Center, Undermain Theatre, Second Thought Theatre, Stage West, the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group, The Tribe, Prism Movement Theater, and Cara Mía Theatre. People can check out videos and photos of my work at www.rubencarrazana.com.
My latest project is a film adaptation of a play I wrote in 2016 called STACY HAS A THING FOR BLACK GUYS. It’s my first time writing and directing a feature film and we cannot wait to share it with everybody. It was filmed in Dallas and features an all-local cast and crew. If people want to stay updated on that project they can follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/stacyhasathingforblackguys.
I am also currently writing the book for an original musical called JUST GIRLY THINGS, along with Danielle Georgiou and Justin Locklear. It is being produced by the Danielle Georgiou Dance Group and will be presented at the Festival of Independent Theatres. People can find out more about that at www.dgdgdancegroup.com/current-production.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.rubencarrazana.com/
- Email: Rubcar91@gmail.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rubcar91/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ruben.carrazana
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/RubCar91
Image Credit:
Angelica Peterson, Evan Michael Woods, Adolfo Cantú-Villareal, Photos with Kenni, Alisa Eykilis.
Getting in touch: VoyageDallas is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
