The Los Angeles theater community is mourning the passing of beloved marketing consultant, community liaison and producer C. Raul Espinoza, who passed away from cancer on Monday, June 2, at the age of 63.
Right from the beginning
Born on October 31, 1961 in Guayaquil, Ecuador, Raul immigrated to the U.S. in 1968 to join his mother, who had remarried and was living in California. Raul attended Fishburn Elementary School in Maywood, Nimitz Jr High School in Huntington Park, and Bell High School in the City of Bell. According to Raul, it was a lonely existence – until he discovered music and art. By the age of ten, he had become a “theater nerd,” acting in school plays and community theater productions. His family had little money. But in 1975, Raul’s mother bought them tickets to see the first national tour of A Chorus Line. “It was life-altering,” Raul was fond of telling friends.
Raul had moved to Texas and established a lucrative career in the tech industry. In 1999, he made the decision to follow his heart and try to make a living in theater. He returned to Los Angeles in November of that year and immersed himself in the L.A. theater scene. He joined the LA Stage Alliance and volunteered with the Ovation Awards.
Raul’s good friend, Debra De Liso, was in the room one afternoon when Raul received a call from an IT firm in Dallas. The firm offered him a six-figure salary to return to IT. He turned it down on the spot, turning to her with tears in his eyes… “I can’t believe I just did that.”
His professional career
Raul’s first professional opportunity came when he was hired by the Mark Taper Forum as a marketing consultant for Luis Alfaro’s play Black Butterfly. He knew immediately that he had found his calling. That job evolved into a seven-year-long staff position with Center Theatre Group. While there he did targeted outreach and audience development for the Ahmanson, Mark Taper Forum and Kirk Douglas Theatre.
Beginning in 2009, when his agreement with CTG ended, until his death in 2025, Raul enjoyed a thriving freelance career. His work in audience development, community engagement, and theatrical marketing saw him partnering with some of the most recognizable theaters, theater companies, and independent productions in L.A.. These included the Hollywood Pantages, Geffen Playhouse, Pasadena Playhouse, A Noise Within, Independent Shakespeare Company, Rogue Machine Theatre, Skylight Theatre, Boston Court Pasadena, Cabrillo Music Theatre, Interact Theatre Company, Latino Theatre Company, Caltech Public Programming, About Productions, Sierra Madre Playhouse, and The Actors’ Gang, just to name a few.
In New York
He spent three years in New York City, where he worked for The Public Theater, Shakespeare in the Park, Mobile Shakespeare Unit, the 5th Anniversary Broadway reunion concert of In The Heights. He was also an was an adjunct member of the Broadway League’s ¡Viva! Broadway initiative. For numerous years he mentored interns from the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture Summer Intern Program. And he conducted marketing roundtables for their Arts Tune Ups.
Raul sat on the boards of the L.A. Stage Alliance, Furious Theatre Company, and National Repertory Theatre Foundation. He was a member of the NoHo Arts Center Ensemble as well as an Associate Artist of Interact Theatre Company.
In 2024, Raul was honored by Playwrights’ Arena . He was awarded the Henry Ong Community Leader Award for outstanding leadership in the Los Angeles theater community.
C. Raul Espinoza is survived by his mother, Fanny Teresa Almaguer; his brothers, Jorge Roque Almaguer and Jose Omar Almaguer; and by his dear friend, Steve Curtis, who was Raul’s caretaker and angel until the end.
A celebration of Raul’s life and lasting impact on the theater community will be announced at a later date.
Photo by Kelly Stewart: C. Raul Espinoza was honored with Playwrights’ Arena’s Henry Ong Community Leader Award for outstanding leadership in the Los Angeles Theater community on April 28, 2024.
