Reinaldo Povod (1960 - July 30, 1994 Brooklyn) was an American playwright.[1]
Reinaldo Povod, known to his friends as Rei (Ray) grew up on the Lower East Side. The son of a Puerto Rican mother and a Cuban father of Russian descent.[2] In 1977, his play Cries and Shouts played at the Nuyorican Poets Café, where Mr. Povod was a protege of Miguel Piñero.[3] Bill Hart brought Mr. Povod to the attention of Joseph Papp, who invited him to become a resident playwright at the Public Theater.In 1986, Cuba and His Teddy Bear opened on Broadway, with Robert De Niro in the lead, for which Mr. Povod received the George Oppenheimer/Newsday Award (The Oppy).[4] In 2009, Cuba and His Teddy Bear received its Chicago premiere by the Urban Theater Company and People's Theater of Chicago.[5] Reinaldo Povod co-authored the play Super Fishbowl Sunday with longtime friend and collaborator Richard Barbour, which was produced in 2001 at the Krane Theater in Manhattan, directed by Mr. Barbour.[6] The play Super Fishbowl Sunday has since been adapted into a screenplay by Richard Barbour and Joseph Barbour and is in pre-production at Bergen Street Ent.
Mr. Povod died at the age of 34 from TB and complications from AIDS.