‘It never would have happened without Buff State’: Q&A with playwright Marco Antonio Rodriguez
When he enrolled at Buffalo State as a psychology major, Marco Antonio Rodriguez, ’97, could never have predicted the trajectory his career would take.
After graduating with a theater degree and completing his master’s in fine arts at Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas, Rodriguez worked extensively on camera in voiceover until his play Ashes of Light—La Luz—launched his playwriting career. This week, he celebrates the off-Broadway opening of his newest play, Domino Effect. (His play, The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, has been running off-Broadway for 5 years.)
Rodriguez gave us a few minutes of his time to talk about his time at Buffalo State and how it paved the way for the career he enjoys today.
What drew you to Buffalo State?
I had been in the arts since I was 12 years old and was attending LaGuardia Performing Arts High School in New York City. By my senior year, I was kind of burnt out and didn’t know if I wanted to do theater anymore. I was interested in human behavior, so I thought psychology sounded interesting. Buffalo State had a great psychology program, and the financial aid was good, so off I went.
How did you find your way back to theater?
I took one psych class and knew it was not for me. I was doing great academically, but I was kind of at a loss, so I applied to the exchange program. I had an aunt living in Florida, so I went to Florida International University for a year. I took a bunch of classes—acting, theater production, movement—and got involved with a show as an assistant stage manager. I got the itch again, and decided I would see what Buff State’s theater department was like. I went back at the perfect time—the faculty was amazing and Casting Hall was on fire. I auditioned, I got cast, and that was it. I was back.
How did Buffalo State help lay the foundation for where you went next?
We had this wonderful team of people who really cared about us—coaching us, doing private lessons when we were auditioning for graduate school programs—they just really took care of us and ensured we were ready. I was offered a full ride to SMU, so I moved to Dallas. I was so ready. It didn’t bother me that I had to do classes all day long and go to rehearsals at night, or that I had to figure out all the business stuff like headshots and resumes—I was living that at Buff State. Once I graduated, I started working on camera and doing voiceovers with plans to move to Los Angeles, but next thing you know, I was making a living. I was like, “I don’t have to do other jobs. Why would I leave?” It was 19 years before I left; I met my husband and did the whole life there.
What was the “turning point” in your career?
I wrote a play called Ashes of Light—La Luz—inspired by my life. It’s a Dominican American contemporary story about a mother and son on the upper West Side and the son is struggling with his sexuality. I did a lot of work with Martice Enterprises; we changed the landscape of the Dallas theater scene because were doing Latino comedies and musicals—things that were not being done. We did a lot of plays by [OBIE Award-winning playwright] Carmen Rivera, and I asked her to read La Luz. She fell in love with it, passed it on to one of her contacts in New York; he became obsessed with it, so we did a reading of it in the city. It was something that hadn’t been done before—the contemporary Dominican American experience in Dominican Spanish—and the night of the reading, the people from the theater grabbed me by the arm and said, “We want to produce this show.”
What happened from there?
La Luz burst open all doors for me. That success was in Spanish, but it spilled into the mainstream. I got a production of my play Barceló on the Rocks. I was doing Spanish work in the United States; I was able to go beyond the elite and target the people who really want to feel invited to the party but typically don’t. When they do, they are extremely loyal. I was finding myself in NYC more and more often, so while I wanted to move to LA, my work brought me back. It was right; I still do voiceovers and the occasional on-camera thing, but I have a wonderful writing career.
How did your time at Buffalo State prepare you for your career?
It never would have happened without Buff State—not a chance. Buffalo State is where I learned discipline, craftsmanship, and how to embrace failure as an opportunity to upgrade, learn, and grow. This is where I learned directing, playwriting, producing, and about being able to do everything, not just be on stage in a spotlight. I got it all here at Buff State.
What lessons from Buffalo State do you carry with you?
I was Anthony Chase’s teaching assistant for 2 years; I learned the importance of knowing our history, of organization, of being succinct and educated about our business. It really instilled in me what I still hold as my artistic vision today: bring in the folks who aren’t used to be invited to the theater, so someone like my mother can sit next to Anthony Chase. They’re going to have different experiences, but they’re both going to enjoy it. It doesn’t mean dumb down the work; it means make it accessible. That’s been my mission.
What advice do you have for current Buffalo State students?
Learn the business—know how it works, know your place in it, understand how to function in it—but also find balance in your life. Go for a hike. Spend time with your friends. See the world. That’s going to make you better.
Photo by Melissa Hamburg.
