Luis Q. Barroso, a theater man who worked for decades in front of and behind the scenes in many New Orleans-area productions, died Monday at his Bywater home. He was 78. bottom.
A cause of death has not been determined, said Charlie Hayes, a friend who worked with Barroso for years at the Tulane Summer Lyric Theater.
Luis Q. Barroso depicts William Shakespeare celebrating his 431st birthday in the Two Sisters Pavilion in New Orleans City Park, 1995.
If there was a building with a stage in the New Orleans area, Barroso probably worked there as an onstage talent or as a producer or director. In the 1970s alone, she worked at the Puppet Playhouse, People Playhouse, NORD Opera, St. Charles He Community Theatre, and Summer He Lyric Theatre. He has since staged, produced and directed shows at the Rivertown Repertory Theatre, Southern Repertory Theatre, Delgado Community College Theatre, University of New Orleans Theatre, Le Chat Noir, Minacaperiz Dinner Theatre, NORD Theatre, and the Contemporary Arts Center. In 2002, he became the interim artistic director of “Drama”! theater company.
He also produced industrial entertainment programs for conventions under the banner of LUQBAR Productions and directed the Italian Village show at the 1984 World’s Fair.
“he was David Cuthbert, former theater critic for The Times Picayune, said: “He had great talent and he spread his talent around.”
Director Luis Q Barroso (left) discusses scenes with actors Jay Kleindorf and Bill Holliday in the 1979 production of The Odd Couple at the Minacapelli Dinner Theater.
Although Barroso worked primarily with adult performers, he also directed children’s theater at the Gallery Circle Theater and later served as artistic director of the Children’s Corner at Le Petit Theater du Vieux Carré. .
Among the budding actors on Le Petit was Peggy Scott Laborde, now a senior producer at WYES-TV.
“I was always impressed that he didn’t treat us like children when we were teenagers in a play,” she said. “He treated us like actors. This was community theater, but it was an opportunity to pull yourself together and do your best. …Professionalism was always there, but he always We enjoyed being together.”
By the time Labordo graduated from Cabrini High School in 1971, Barroso had built a reputation for producing quality plays. The nuns gave Laborde permission to be late for the graduation ceremony because they had to perform a matinee for “Little Her Mermaid”.
From left to right, Luis Q. Barroso, Greg Beiber, and Victoria Rebels in “Dancing at Lugnatha” for the Dog and Pony Theater Company in 1993.
“They got it,” she said. “They knew this was a very rewarding opportunity. He was well respected.”
Originally from Havana, Luis Quintin Barroso moved to Florida with his family in 1955. He discovered his love for performing at his Jackson High School in Miami and Winter, Florida where he received a full scholarship at his College in Rollins Park. He came to New Orleans when Tulane University offered him a full scholarship to pursue a master’s degree in art direction program. Barroso did his graduate studies at Tulane and his UNO, but did not complete his master’s degree.
In 1980, after directing a work on a visiting basis in Atlanta, he took a position at the city’s Puppet Arts Center. Several of his shows have toured nationally. Some have performed at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington.
Barroso returned to New Orleans in 1999 and began working as an instructor for the Orleans Parish Public Schools’ “Talented in Theater” program. He also worked with the Dog and Pony Theater Company and appeared in the production of “Shakespeare in the Park.”
David Tlingari (left) and Luis Q. Barroso in The Emperor’s New Clothes, 1990 at Le Petit Theater.
He has received awards from the New Orleans Music and Theater Foundation and the New Orleans Arts Council. He received his Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2013 Big He’s Easy Awards ceremony. His last stage appearance was in 2017 as part of his 50th anniversary celebration of Summer Lyric.
Despite his years of experience and his awards, Barroso never got over the thrill of performing in front of a live audience. , enthusiastically about his role as Mr. Muchnik, who meets a terrible fate.
“I like being eaten by plants!” he said. “That’s an actor’s dream, a death scene being devoured by a giant plant, isn’t it? It’s thrilling every time!”
Survivors include nieces and nephews.
Funeral arrangements are imperfect.
