Mando Alvarado

Mando Alvarado is a Mexican-American playwright, screenwriter and actor originally from Pharr, Texas. At age nine, his father died. He grew up with two younger brothers and describes himself as a bully towards them in their younger years. He first got involved with theater in middle school, when his Drama teacher told him he would need to take a role in a production to pass the class. Alvarado's first play-writing experience was a monologue inspired by Luis Valdez's Zoot Suit, particularly Edward James Olmos' character El Pachuco. His first full-length play was written after he first moved to New York City, while he worked a temp-job in Midtown. After a reading with Raúl Castillo in a Lower East Side bar, Alvarado decided focus his career on writing.