Lucio P. Fernandez is a Cuban-American politician and entertainer, who works as the Commissioner of Public Affairs in Union City, New Jersey, where he serves under Mayor Brian P. Stack. He is also an artist, author, singer, actor, dancer, playwright, screenwriter, producer and film director who has been credited with being instrumental in reviving the arts in Union City.
Lucio Fernandez was born in Havana, Cuba to Lucio Pablo Gallardo and Herminia Fernandez, a seamstress. He has a brother Frank and two sisters, Anna and Pabla. Lucio and his family lived in poverty, a situation made worse by the fact that Lucio Pablo was a political prisoner.
Years later, as a citizen of Union City, New Jersey, where Cuban émigrés are common, Fernandez commented on these roots thus: I’m as Cuban as a cheeseburger. But I know the history. My father and stepfather were both political prisoners. My father had his hair and nails pulled out. For many people in Union City, there are such stories in their families.
After attending Union Hill High School, he studied at Rutgers University/Newark Campus, initially double majoring in engineering and business. According to Fernandez, he was strolling through the campus with a friend one day when they stopped at the Theater Department. After seeing the black box theater, Fernandez explains, “I knew right away that’s where I wanted to be.” Fernandez switched majors, and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in Theater Arts. He later graduated from the Bobby Lewis Theatre Workshop in Manhattan.
After graduating Fernandez began auditioning, sending out hundreds of photos and résumés every week, while simultaneously taking classes for singing, acting and dancing. He eventually began to get responses, and joined the Screen Actors Guild, Actors’ Equity Association and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, with whom he did television and radio acting, including TV commercials and small roles in movies and soap operas.
From 1985 to 1997, he toured nationally and internationally with productions of shows such as West Side Story, Jesus Christ Superstar, A Chorus Line and Guys and Dolls, working alongside performers such as Marc Anthony, Shirley MacLaine and Gene Kelly, and with directors and choreographers such as Jerome Robbins, Jerry Zaks, Michael Peters. In the course of his touring he traveled as far as Ecuador and Mexico City. –Wikipedia
| Credit Type | Production | Season |
|---|---|---|
| Actor | In Dahomey | 1998-99 Season |