Cuchipinoy was founded during the summer of 2002 by Mario Corrales, Rodney E. Reyes and Jonathan Calindas, graduates of the theatre program at Rutgers-Newark and NJIT.
For the past couple years prior to Cuchipinoy's beginnings they had all been involved with Off-Off Broadway Theatre through the Spotlight On Productions primarily. Jonathan Calindas submitted his original play The 4am 'lizbeth to the festival and included Mario Corrales and Rodney E. Reyes into the cast in what would be Jonathan's Off-Off Broadway debut as a director as well as his play's New York City debut.
Jonathan continued to submit to Spotlight On Productions with his plays Jersey Stories and The Green Dragon and Mario and Rodney were never far behind. After some time the three of them discussed going into a joint venture as a theatre company. All had something to contribute to the company with their distinct abilities and talents.
During that first meeting many topics were discussed including what to call ourselves as a theatre company. We settled on "Cuchipinoy" which is sort of an amalgamation of two words "Cuchifrito" and "Pinoy," in essence a combination of two cultures: Latino and Filipino. Cuchifritos also had a deeper meaning for us since it was the name we dubbed our One-Act Sketch Comedies/Dramas we performed at college. In retrospect the name is a combination of history, identity and the knowledge that the melting pot is still open to new discoveries and new experiences.
In the fall of 2002, Cuchipinoy made it known to the world with their highly acclaimed inaugural productions of The 4am 'lizbeth and Who Am I at the Spotlight On Halloween Festival . The 4am 'lizbeth was written by Jonathan Calindas and directed by Mario Corrales. Who Am I was written and directed by Rodney E. Reyes, and included Jonathan and Mario in the cast, as well as many graduates and students from the Rutgers/NJIT Theatre Program.
Since then the Artistic Directors/Founders expanded on the three-person theatre company to ten. These other individuals comprised on specific aspects of the theatre company such as Production, Marketing/PR & Development. With a staff on board and committed to producing exceptional theatre, Cuchipinoy has never been stronger.
Since the inception of the company, original works by all founders have been produced in New York City as well as a quarterly reading series in conjunction with _gaia in Hoboken has been developed entitled the Nine Muses Reading Series.
