Ricky J. Martinez

Ricky J. Martinez is New Theatre's Artistic Director. He is a Miami-born Cuban-American proudly residing and working in South Florida. Schooled at the New World School for the Arts, he studied with Jorge C. Guerra, Richard Armstrong, Lee Michael Cohen, Richard Janaro, Carol Cadby, Clay James, and Kimberly Daniel.

His acting credits include roles in West-Side Story, The Mystery of Edwin Drood , A Chorus Line, J&J's Wedding, Lenin's Omelet, 4 Guys Named Jose, The King and I, Steel Pier, Don Quixote In Miami, Isadora Libre, Something Cloudy...Something Clear, Bent, Marat...de Sade, Cries and Whispers, The Balcony, Balm In Gilead at Creative Arts, Broward Stage Door, Miami Light Project, Dreamers Theatre, Actors' Playhouse, Cuban-American Rep, Juggerknot, Off Broadway at HERE, Horizon's Rep, Akropolis Acting Company and Acme. In addition he has appeared in King Lear, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Othello, Twelfth Night, On The Verge, and Clarence Darrow's Last Trial, all at New Theatre.

An accomplished dancer and choreographer, he has toured nationally as Don Quixote with the Boston Flamenco Ballet and worked with choreographers Heidi Duckler, Piper Pikerell, Heather Maloney, Rosita Segovia, Maria Torres, Gerry Ebitz, Antolino Alvarez, Octavio Campos, Giovanni Luquini, Chrissi Alavaez, and Barbara Flatten. He has also worked with directors Tina Landau and Anne Bogart. As associate director, director and or choreographer Martinez has worked in many productions, including world premieres of Bump by Justin Swain, Retch by Ivonne Azurdia, One More Cloudy Day by Kristoff Skalet, Barrio Hollywood by Elaine Romero, Beauty of the Father by Nilo Cruz and stagings of A Midsummer's Night Dream, and The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant. Keenly interested in theatre for young audiences he has worked as actor, director, or choreographer on productions of Captain Nemo, Narnia, Scrooge, Anne of Green Gables, Ferdinand the Bull, Narnia, The Secret Garden and for five years in summer camp shows at Actors Playhouse, and was Artistic Director for Hollywood Playhouse's Imagination Theatre Theater for Young Audiences as well as a founding member of Akropolis Acting Company, Juggerknot Theatre Co., Horizon's Repertory, and Om Project.

He has also staged some of his own work, including Postlude 1, Bed In Heaven, EPAR, Concerning Phaedra, Snow; ED. L and CALBO, a one-man show commissioned by the Miami Light Project, which traveled to Germany and was also part of the Florida-Brazil festival. Martinez has had readings of his own plays at various theatres and festivals, including Actor's Playhouse, New Theatre, East Village Experimental Theatre, Lavender Footlights Festival, and Shotgun Productions, as part of its Cuban Artist Week/ INTAR in New York. He is the recipient of two Downtown Miami Playwrighting Program mentorships with playwrights Arthur Kopit and Tina Howe. The play has been invited for inclusion in the Cuban Arts Festival, NY for May of 2007. His play, Sin Full Heaven has been invited for inclusion in the Cuban Arts Festival, NY for May of 2007.