Paso Nuevo director speaks on the GALA youth theater program
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For more than three decades, the Paso Nuevo Youth Program has worked with Latine teens in Washington, D.C., helping them bilingually tap into their creativity and connect more deeply with their culture.
Hola Cultura sat down with Chris Ríos, a local artist and current director of Paso Nuevo, to discuss the pioneering youth theater program based at Grupo de Artistas Latino Americanos (GALA) Hispanic Theatre in D.C.’s Columbia Heights neighborhood. Paso Nuevo guides D.C. bilingual youth with free mentorship and theater education.
The program enrolls new students four times a year, with each cycle ending in a showcase of their work. At their most recent Winter 2025 Showcase on Dec. 17, students acted and danced to excerpts from the 1989 musical “City of Angels” by Larry Gelbart and the adaptation of the 1954 musical “Peter Pan Jr.,” as well as their own original short scenes expressing the challenges that the immigrant community currently faces.
As director, Ríos says his main role is to mentor the young people in the program, spanning ages 14 to 19. Ríos grew up loving and participating in theater. Ever since high school, he has performed in the DMV, playing roles in iconic musicals and plays, such as “West Side Story” and “In the Heights,” at local playhouses like the NextStop Theatre Company. He joined GALA in 2023 and says the job allows him to both be creative and give back to the community.
In our interview below, Ríos discusses his experiences growing up in theater and how they influence the way he mentors his students today.
What specifically do you do as director of Paso Nuevo?
I run the day-to-day activities and programming of the program. Basically, doing the planning for what shows we’re doing, or what we’re presenting for a showcase. I also act as the director of any of the plays or showcases that we do. I also help organize the weekly schedules of classes, as well as hiring instructors for the program and student recruiting around the community.
How did you get your start in theater?
How I started in theater was basically back in high school. I did a musical. I was in the chorus backstage, and then I ended up having a line in the play. In my first production, I ended up doing a little bit of everything. Ever since then, I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for the arts.
I continued to do acting and productions after high school throughout the community and in the theater world in the DMV area. I’ve always had a passion for the arts. This position … helped me still be creative in multiple aspects. But then also helps me give something back to the community.
Did your experience in high school theater show you the importance of community? Did it make you want to work with Paso Nuevo?
My theater club felt like a second home for me, where I was able to express myself freely. But even throughout life, in theater performance or theater education, it helped me understand better the meaning of commitments and self-discipline in the arts. How it really is a team effort to bring a show together. That’s definitely something I try to instill in my students: the discipline that it takes — the commitment and the teamwork that it takes — to put something together as they learn.
How does the bilingual nature of the program influence the type of shows you present?
We have, usually, three performances throughout the year. One of them is always student-written or student-engaged in. For example, last year, in the fall, in our winter showcase, we had some of our students work on creating short scenes based off of some songs that were selected. Basically, they took that song, and they expanded on the story of that song and created a scene out of it that they used to perform. When they did that, they infused more Spanish and some English.
Have you seen Paso Nuevo students go into theater professionally or go to school for theater?
What I like about the program, it doesn’t just encourage students to just pursue theater. It’s also a mentoring program. It helps students throughout their day-to-day, or planning their future. If they want to talk to someone, there’s usually someone there — myself or a teacher that they can get insight from.
I’ve definitely seen students show more interest in studying acting or performance in theater … as they get older. We’ve also had students who had no initial plans of seeking higher education. I know a story of one of our alumni who had no intentions of pursuing a further education. She says that the program really helped save her life and change her life. She’s now in a university right now pursuing a degree in special education. And so I always say it’s not just about theater arts performance. It also is about enriching students’ lives and supporting them in any way possible.
How do you think theater education impacts the Latino community and D.C. in general?
I think it’s helpful because one of the only Hispanic theaters that focuses on putting Hispanic production, Spanish-language productions, on a professional stage. It is something that I think helps enrich the culture of the Spanish community. As far as the students, it gives them a chance to really find an outlet for performance, or in creative aspects.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.
— Story by Marlene Orantes
— Copy edited by Kami Waller
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