Omar Perez

Born and raised in the South Bronx, Omar Perez made his stage debut in dance performances at P.S 55x. He continued dancing in his years at the Bronx High School of Science. While attending Alfred University Omar joined the sketch comedy troupe Pirate Theater, as well as directed Mosaic, another comedy troupe based on exploring college issues. These experiences lead him to take part in the Performing Arts division’s staging of Mary Gallagher’s De Donde? His role as Teto garnered him an invitation to the American College Theater Festival as an Irene Ryan Scholarship nominee. The skills he gained there allowed him to begin staging his own works. While at Alfred, Omar created and performed in Raices, an exhibition of Hispanic culture and The Journey, a two man show that challenged the concepts of traditional theater.

Omar’s professional career began with Pregones Theater’s summer stage production of El Apagon. Since then he has continued working with Pregones in The Red Rose (winner of the 2006 HOLA award for Best Musical), The Beep (winner of the 2007 HOLA award for Best Ensemble) as well as Aloha Boricua, Harlem Hellfighters and Piojos. Other stage credits include Man of La Mancha, Spinning into Butter, September 12th, The Missteps of a Salsa Dancer, and The Unblackening (winner of the Grand Prize at the BP festival). His film credits include Shut up and do it (which screened at the 2007 NYILFF, and CinemaFest in Puerto Rico) Broken Hearts (screened at 2007 LALIFF), and Evergreen. Omar was recently awarded a Career Advancement Fellowship from the New Visionaries Initiative of the Ford Foundation and the New Visionary Fellows of Pregones Theater.

In addition to his work on stage, Omar is a Teaching Artist and Director. As a Teaching Artist he has worked with Inmates at Riker's Island, Residents in Homeless Shelters, Victims of Domestic Violence, as well as Seniors and Students ranging from 2nd graders to college freshmen. His work as a Director includes developing new works with Dreamscape theater including Whale Song and Name and Blame Inc.