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Deborah Magdelna : BIO
Deborah was born into a very talented musical family. As the sister of Latin Grammy winner Nestor Torres and grandniece of legendary Puerto Rican singer Ruth Fernandez, it was in her blood to entertain friends and family from an early age with her spontaneous comedic sketches and dance numbers.
Born in Puerto Rico, raised in New York, and seasoned in Miami, Deborah quickly accumulated TV and film credits, including Sesame Street (CTW), The Apollo Comedy Hour (Tribune Entertainment), The Newz (Columbia-Tri-Star), Safe Harbor (Warner Brothers), Striptease (Castle Rock), Holyman (Caravan), and For Love or Country (HBO).
“She carries with her a warm heart and refreshing vitality that is always a pleasure to be associated with…” Andy Garcia on working with Deborah
On September 11, 2001 a phone call from her best friend Tanya drastically changed the course of Deborah Magdalena’s life. She felt like her spirit was about to jump out of her body when she learned that Tanya’s firefighter fiancé, Sergio Gabriel Villanueva was down at the South Tower of the World Trade Center. During the yearlong journey of yearning to heal while learning to accept her family’s loss, Deborah turned to writing poetry and launched a new career by performing her spoken word at open mics across the country with vigor and pain.
Deborah worked for and was commissioned to create workshops for various after-school programs with Arts For Learning, and The Dranoff 2 Piano Foundation – Piano Slam, one of the signature community outreach programs of the Adrienne Art Center. She also takes great pride in her role as an in-school presenter for YoungArts , a core program of the National YoungArts Foundation, the sole nominating organization for the U.S. Presidential Scholar in the Arts
Inspired by theological experiences, love addiction, redemption from an emotional suicide, and 70’s Latin Soul music, Miami-based Puerto Rican actress/poet Deborah Magdalena gave birth to FUNKdalena, her first album in 10 years:
“This is the first time I’ve written pretty poetry, funky poetry– the kind of poetry that makes you want to dance and make the ugly FUNK face”, proclaims Deborah.
Produced by her long time musical collaborator The Brass King, this dynamic duo have meshed, hashed, re-arranged, composed, poetically ciphered, fixed and remixed tracks inspired by funk and soul legends including Eddie Palmieri, Jimmy Smiths, Roy Ayers, Tanya Gardner, Donny Hathaway, The Delfonics, and Earth Wind & Fire to name a few. With FUNKdalena Deborah bares her poetic soul while celebrating her Latin and Jazz FUNK roots. Her Latin Grammy winning brother Nestor Torres jams along with his famed Jazz flute on “Voodoo Princess”, a poem they co-wrote 8 years ago. Deborah pays homage to her late aunt Ruth Fernandez on “Mi Tia” featuring Rafael Hernández’s legendary hit “Gracias Mundo”. FUNKdalena also features the powerful vocals of Antonia Jenaé in what is slated to be the next women’s anthem, “Diosa”, and listeners are in for another treat with “Razones”, a unique Spanish take on Earth Wind & Fire’s “Reasons”, with vocals by up-and-coming singer, Kinetic.
FunkDalena The Triology
A dance, multi-media, spoken word three-part work inspired by theological experiences, love addiction, redemption from an emotional suicide and 70’s Latin soul music. Originally setting out to complete just an album, FUNKdalena organically evolved into a Trilogy. FUNKdalena the album evolved into a brand which consists of a one woman show, one act play and a musical. Deborah Magdalena’s FUNKdalena is not just a mix of poetry and FUNK music, FUNKdalena sets out to poetically inspire positive growth and change in the human soul, the stage and dance floor.
DM Ink Publishing 