The Mexican immigrant has an acting school where he develops Latino talents for film, radio and television; He is also the creator of the successful annual pastorela ‘El Portal de Nopaltepec’

Armando Rubio's greatest aspiration in life is to take one of his staging to Broadway in New York.

This area, next to Fifth Avenue, is the most famous in Manhattan; In addition to being a point of reference for 40 theaters that make up the so-called “Broadway Circuit”.

Rubio, 46 ​​years old and originally from the Federal District, is a Hispanic lover of Mexican peasant and traditional theater.

"My goal is to spread our culture through theatrical art," he says. "At the same time, I aspire to influence many new talents in his artistic career."

In fact, he was a "farmer" for a week. Strawberry on a plantation in the city of Cerritos. He was given heat stroke and although he was barely 25 years old, he immediately quit that job for which he was paid $ 25.

"I was paid for each basket of strawberries I filled," he recalls. "And I soon realized that that was not for me."

Rubio has the concept that when theater is art, it is always entertainment. He is now the director of Rubio’s Studio, an art learning center in the city of Norwalk.

On the hill of the nopales

Graduated from the Center for Dramatic Arts and Specialized Scenic Studies (CADEEE), in Cuernavaca (Mexico), he has directed more than 30 plays, fashion shows, beauty contests and conventions of Latin talent.

One of his works, already classic for more than two decades in southern California, is the pastoress “El Portal de Nopaltepec”, an imaginary place in Mexico where the child God is born and that gives meaning to the tradition of Christmas and Christmas. Evangelization of indigenous peoples.

Nopaltepec is composed of two words the Nahuatl language: "nopalli" which means nopal and "tepet" or tepec, whose meaning is hill. The ending "c" means "en". Thus, Nopaltepec means "on the hill of nopales."

Each year, this work is done for different Latino communities in Southern California. On its 22nd anniversary, on December 15 and 16, the staging will be at the Lynwood High School Theater. Before it has been performed at the Los Pinos theater and the Million Dollar.

Rubio ran the pastoress in Mexico and when he emigrated to the United States he brought his dramatic art career.

The pastoress ‘The Portal of Nopaltepec’ has 22 years of presenting each December in LA. / photos: supplied.

"I made her a little devil, I still do it," he said. "Here I made some adaptations and some language changes to the story so that the audience that is Chicano could understand."

The pastora was modernized; It contains parliaments in Spanglish – a mixture of Spanish and English – without being completely one of both languages. Its central message is the triumph of good over evil.

More than 28 years endorse the career of actor, theater director and acting and modeling teacher of Armando Rubio, a character that is considered as a simple, humble human being "and with an enviable passion for art."

On television, he played the role of a gang member in the telenovela “Amor a thousand per hora”, on Televisa and played the role of a police commander in the “Masked” series of LATV, in addition to being part of the comedy Azte Pa AC.

In theater, Armando has been in "The Golden Honeycomb", "Mexico Calls Earlier", "The Dragon", "Early Morning Pass", "And the Miracle", "The Trunk of Wonders" and "The Garden of the cherry trees".

When the Latin Art Academy “Rosy and its Stars” disappeared, where she taught acting, and then Patricia Sturla Studio, a talent agency, Armando decided in 2001 to open her own theater company in the city of Norwalk.

“Being Mexican in a country that isn't strange to me, every time I show up in a play it's like bringing a little piece of Mexico to the stage,” Armando said.

“When we present“ El Portal de Nopaltepec ”, people (assistants) begin to comment when they see the actors play“ A la vibora de la mar ”or play with a spin… Many are transported to their roots, as well as the girls who didn't grow up there, but whose mothers had fun in their childhood with rag dolls. ”

Armando's intention is fully fulfilled when the work ends and the message of the pastoralist transcends among the families that evoke their traditions, customs and culture.

Rubio plays the character of the ‘little devil’ on the pastorela, which had arrangements to have phrases in ‘spanglish’.

“In more than 20 years of the staging of“ The portal of Nopaltepec ”about 500 actors have participated; among them, children who also participated in the American-Mexican comedy film “Nacho Libre,” said Armando Rubio. "Many actors who have gone through my studies have transcended."

One of them – and the most recent – is Rubén Sandoval, a 21-year-old Mexican-American young man who was a finalist in the La Voz USA contest in 2019 of the Telemundo network. Sandoval is a Mexican ranchera music lover who performs in jaripeos.

Also, their own daughters Anahí, 13, and Alondra, 12, have excelled in acting and television commercials.

They, also with their talent, may one day get to step on a stage in the Broadway marquee, as is the goal of his father ..

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