{"id":252752,"date":"2026-06-02T21:33:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:33:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/252752\/"},"modified":"2026-06-02T21:33:32","modified_gmt":"2026-06-02T21:33:32","slug":"joe-ortiz-to-bring-musical-memoir-escaping-queens-to-actors-theater-tpg-online-daily","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/252752\/","title":{"rendered":"Joe Ortiz to Bring Musical Memoir: Escaping Queens to Actors\u2019 Theater \u2013 TPG Online Daily"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Capitola songwriter and restaurateur Joe Ortiz will bring his musical memoir Escaping Queens\u2013Over the Roof to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.santacruzactorstheatre.org\/tickets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Santa Cruz Actors\u2019 Theater<\/a> this summer.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tpgonlinedaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/03OrtizMusicalMemoir_Greg_Fritsch_at_Rehearsal.jpg\" data-rel=\"penci-gallery-image-content\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64094\" class=\"wp-image-64094\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/03OrtizMusicalMemoir_Greg_Fritsch_at_Rehearsal-261x300.jpg\" alt=\"Escaping Queens Times Publishing Group Inc tpgonlinedaily.com\" width=\"300\" height=\"345\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-64094\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Greg Fritsch at Rehearsal<\/p>\n<p>The production runs Thursdays through Sundays from July 3 through Aug. 2 at Santa Cruz Actors\u2019 Theater.<\/p>\n<p>The musical tells the story of an immigrant family living near New York\u2019s Queensboro Bridge. The family struggles with poverty and a father\u2019s problems with alcohol, gambling and money. At the center of the story is 12-year-old Joey, who learns about family, music and hope while trying to escape a difficult life.<\/p>\n<p>The show includes colorful characters such as a Puerto Rican father, an Italian mother, a teenage daughter, a neighborhood bookie and a group of Doo Wop singers.<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz based the musical on his memoir, Pastina\u2014My Father\u2019s Misfortune, My Mother\u2019s Good Soup. The production first premiered at Cabrillo Stage in 2012.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/tpgonlinedaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/03OrtizMusicalMemoir_Lori_Rivera-Darren_Daily.jpg\" data-rel=\"penci-gallery-image-content\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-64090\" class=\"wp-image-64090\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/03OrtizMusicalMemoir_Lori_Rivera-Darren_Daily-205x300.jpg\" alt=\"Escaping Queens Times Publishing Group Inc tpgonlinedaily.com\" width=\"300\" height=\"438\"  \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-64090\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Lori Rivera and Darren Daily<\/p>\n<p>Actor Adam Saucedo stars as Herman, the father of the family. Saucedo previously played the lead role in Cabrillo Stage\u2019s production of Sweeney Todd. Lori Rivera stars as Mama, the family\u2019s mother. Rivera has performed in Santa Cruz productions for many years.<\/p>\n<p>The musical is co-directed by Greg Fritsch and Cathy D. Warner.<\/p>\n<p>According to reviewer Wallace Baine, the musical turns \u201can earthy story full of pain and passion into an elegant and sophisticated evening of cultivated emotional complexity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ortiz is also known in Santa Cruz County as co-owner of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gaylesbakery.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">Gayle\u2019s Bakery<\/a> in Capitola. In addition to his bakery work, he has written multiple theater productions, including Bread!\u2014The Musical and Smoke Cabaret.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u2022\u2022\u2022<\/p>\n<p>Tickets available at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.santacruzactorstheatre.org\/tickets\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">www.santacruzactorstheatre.org\/tickets<\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Visited 9 times, 9 visits today)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Capitola songwriter and restaurateur Joe Ortiz will bring his musical memoir Escaping Queens\u2013Over the Roof to the Santa&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252753,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-252752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252752"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252752\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}