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:When Herminia was forced to leave the
country for political reasons, the family lived in Spain for one year
before emigrating to the United States in the 1970s, when Fernandez
was a child. They lived first in North Bergen, New Jersey and then in
Union City, New Jersey, where he grew up. 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.
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:When Herminia was forced to leave the
country for political reasons, the family lived in Spain for one year
before emigrating to the United States in the 1970s, when Fernandez
was a child. They lived first in North Bergen, New Jersey and then in
Union City, New Jersey, where he grew up. 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.
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