LA OSA MENOR (or Ursa Minor/the Little Bear)

About this show

What if everything you've ever wanted to be was already written in the stars?

When a daughter discovers her father’s forgotten poetry, she is inspired to set his words to music.

Chicago actor Isabel Quintero and her musical guests perform original Latin American music by Gonzalo Córdova, exploring her father's journey of love, loss, family and his beautiful patria, Colombia.

Performed by:
Vocals: Isabel Quintero
Guitar: Gonzalo Córdova

Musical Guests:
Raul Fernandez
Zacbe Pichardo
Diego Salcedo
Thomas Kimball

About Isabel Quintero

Isabel Quintero is a radio, television, film and stage actor. She self-produced the Latin American music album La Osa Menor in 2015 with partner Gonzalo Córdova, performing the songs at Steppenwolf's LookOut Series in May 2019. It premiered as La Osa Menor: Poesía original hecha en canción, a cabaret-style show with storytelling. She is honored and grateful to be the recipient of the City of Chicago's DCASE Esteemed Artist Award 2022. The award allowed her to learn and explore her craft more deeply and to partner with Colombian director and deviser Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez to create this latest version of her show titled La Osa Menor (or Ursa Minor/the Little Bear). She has appeared on a number of Chicago stages (Goodman, Steppenwolf, Porchlight) on television (The Chi, Chicago P.D.) and in independent feature-length and short films (Holy Trinity, L.A.I.D: Life as It's Dealt, A Handful of Dirt, Lunch in Lima, Little Sparrow, Under the Skyway). Recent regional theater credits include Mojada: A Medea in Los Angeles at Indianapolis Shakespeare Company, IN, Quixote Nuevo at Roundhouse Theater, Bethesda, MD and The Roommate at Renaissance Theater, Milwaukee, WI. She is a member of SAG-AFTRA and the Actor's Equity Association.

About Gonzalo Córdova 

Gonzalo Córdova is a Latin American singer and guitarist from Mexico City. His musical career is infused not only with traditional Mexican music, but also Trova, Nueva Canción, Bolero, Rumba Flamenca and World music.

He is a founding member of Grammy nominee Sones de Mexico Ensemble and with them worked as a musician, singer and educator of Mexican music and culture in Chicago and on tour performing at venues such as The Smithsonian and the National Library of Congress, as well as our own Harris Theater at Millennium Park. ​He was singer and guitarist with the flamenco trio Lunares, and his group Mitote continued his musical exploration of Latin and World rhythms.

The album Al Pie De La Letra (Word for word), his first recorded solo work, is a tribute to the performers and songs that have greatly influenced his career as a musician.

His unique fusions of Latin American genres, rhythms and styles can be heard on the album La Osa Menor.

About Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez

Esteban Arévalo Ibáñez (he/him)(Director) is a Colombian-Spanish Chicago based director. His most recent projects were Sanctuary City, by Martyna Majok (TheatreSquared), and Miss You Like Hell, by Quiara Alegría Hudes (TheatreSquared). Some of his local credits include American Side Efectos, by Debbie Baños (The New Coordinates); Sandusky, by Daniela Mauleón (Collaboraction); Dreamers, by Joseff Stevenson (Arc Theatre); Thoughts on Racism…by Sarah Illiatovich-Goldman (Encounter - Collaboraction); People’s History of The Block, by Kevin Coval (Collaboraction). Other credits include Invitation To A Beheading, by Vladimir Nabokov, as Assistant Director and deviser (LookOut Series - Steppenwolf); The Stranger and The Shadow, by Rough House Theatre, as Assistant Director and deviser (Adventure Stage Chicago); The Adding Machine (University of Arkansas), The Dumb Waiter (Step One Theatre) and Our Town and Pervertimento with Teatro Lunático, (Salamanca, Spain) as a company member and Director. He has a Spanish Major from Universidad de Salamanca and holds an MFA in Theatre Directing from the University of Arkansas, where he attended as a Fulbright Scholar.

Artist Links: www.laosamenoralbum.com