In 1945 while he studied at the Faculdade de Ciências Econômicas de São Paulo (Economy at São Paulo’s College), Osmar Rodrigues Cruz organized and opened the Teatro Universitário of the Centro Acadêmico Horácio Berlinck (Academic Theater of the Student’s Association), directing the play Adeus Mocidade by Sandro Camasio and Nino Oxila which made its debut in that same year, on October 15th. There he also directed other shows, like: Feitiço by Oduvaldo Vianna; As Mulheres Não Querem Almas by Paulo Gonçalves, and Ghosts by Ibsen. During a two-years period started then, he attended the Conservatório Dramático e Musical (Conservatoire for Drama and Music) and directed another mounting for the Teatro do Grêmio Politécnico: Nossa Cidade by Thorton Wilder.
When he graduated at the Economy College he found himself totally devoted to theater. He opened the Grande Teatro Tupi (Canal 3 – Channel 3), on Mondays, and between many performed plays are highlighted, L’Imbecille by Pirandello; A Florentine Tragedy by Oscar Wilde; Il faut che qu’une porte soit ouverte ou fermée by Musset and Sganarelle by Molière. Some years later, Osmar Rodrigues Cruz came back to direction at the extinguished Televisão Excelsior (Excelsior Channel), where he staged the play The Country Girl and Golden Boy, both by Clifford Odets, and also the novel Sozinho no Mundo by Tatiana Belink.
Working for the Caixa Econômica he then directed many shows, which the most important are: O Badejo by Arthur Azevedo and As Guerras do Alecrim and Manjerona by Antonio José da Silva. The last one competed in the Theater Festival during the festivities of São Paulo’s IV Centenary (1954) awarded with the Arlequim Award for Best Director.
In exactly 55 years ago, he joined as a director the SESI’s amateurs group, working under scarce conditions to develop a work. The groups were composed by people who worked in the industries – some of them without any necessary foundation, others imprisioned in many kinds of problems – which used to forbid them to have an effective participation in the rehearsals and even in the shows. But Osmar Rodrigues Cruz didn’t give up. He went on devoting all his efforts to create an organized theater, based on good texts with a high level cast and not any longer with industries’ imprisioned workers, but then focused on conceiving shows for the industrialists. In 1958 he ministered rendition classes at the Curso de Atores para Cinema at the Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (Course for Cinema Actors at the Modern Art Museum in São Paulo). In 1959 he conceived the Teatro Experimental do SESI(SESI’s Experimental Theater) making his debut at the Teatro João Caetano with the play A Torre em Concurso by Joaquim Manoel de Macedo, what was followed by: The Rainmaker by Richard Nash, The Country Girl by Clifford Odets and A Beata Maria do Egito by Rachel de Queiroz.
In 1962 he directed Girls of Summer by Richard Nash at the Teatro de Comédia de São Paulo (Comedy Theater of São Paulo) and in the following year Osmar worked out on a detailed plan what included from the group operation up to the shows promulgation inside the industries.
The plan was approved and so the professionalizaton of that theater group, since then called SESI’s theater group composing the TEATRO POPULAR DO SESI - TPS. Osmar directed many plays, most of them with unbelievable success among audience and reviewers.,
· CIDADE ASSASSINADA by Antônio Callado - 1963· WHITE NIGHTS by Dostoievski - 1964
· LE JEU DE L’AMOUR ET DU HASARD by Marivaux – 1964 APCT “Honra” – Honor award for
the his work at TPS
· LA ZAPATERA PRODIGIOSA by Garcia Lorca - 1965
· L’AVARE by Molière - 1965
· MANHÃS DE SOL by Oduvaldo Vianna - 1966
· THE MIRACLE WORKER by William Gibson - 1967 – this mounting was given all 1969’s
awards: Associação Paulista de Críticos Teatrais, Governador do Estado and Molière
Award
· KABALE UND LIEBE by Schiller - 1969
· THE MIRACLE WORKER by William Gibson, creating the Touring Group - 1969
· MEMÓRIAS DE UM SARGENTO DE MILICIAS by Manoel A. de Almeida -1970
· WHITE NIGHTS by Dostoievski – Touring group – remounting - 1970
· SENHORA by José de Alencar (Sérgio Viotti’s adaptation) - 1971
· LE JEU DE L’AMOUR ET DU HASARD by Marivaux – Touring group - 1971
· UM GRITO DE LIBERDADE by Sérgio Viotti - 1972
· O PRIMO DA CALIFÓRNIA by Joaquim M. de Macedo – Touring Group - 1972
· CAIU O MINISTERIO by França Júnior - 1973 – Molière Award for Best Director
· LE MÉDECIN MALGRÉ LUI by Molière – Touring Group - 1973
· LEONOR DE MENDONÇA by Gonçalves Dias - 1974
· O BARÃO DA COTIA by França Júnior – Touring Group - 1974
· A MOSQUETA by Angelo Beolco – Touring Group - 1975
· O NOVIÇO by Martins Pena - 1976
· GUERRAS DO ALECRIM E MANJERONA by Antônio José da Silva – Touring Group - 1976
· O POETA DA VILA E SEUS AMORES E SEUS AMORES by Plínio Marcos, this play was specially
written to TPS - Molière Award for Best Director and APCA Award for Best Leading
Actor - 1977
· A FALECIDA by Nelson Rodrigues – the playwright attended its opening and considered TPS
mounting one of the best for his text - 1977
· MADALENA SEDUZIDA E ABANDONADA by Ronaldo Ciambroni – Touring Group -1981
· O SANTO MILAGROSO by Lauro Cesar Muniz - 1981
· COITADO DO ISIDORO by Sebastião Almeida – Touring Group - 1982
· CHIQUINHA GONZAGA, Ó ABRE ALAS, specially written to TPS by Maria Adelaide Amaral –
Commemoration of TPS’S 20 years - 1983
· SENHORA by José de Alencar, remounting with Sérgio Viotti’s adaptation for the TPS’s Touring
Group, presentations in the countryside of São Paulo and in uptown neighborhoods - 1984
· REI DO RISO specially written to TPS by Luiz Carlos de Abreu, this text is about Francisco
Correia Vasques, the actor who was the first popular star in Brazil from the middle up to the
end of the XIX century - 1985
· MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING by Willian Shakespeare. Unpublished text in Brazil Brazil, by
a world’s literature genious, with translation by José Rubens Siqueira - 1986
· FEITIÇO by Oduvaldo Vianna - 1987
· O CASO DA CASA by José Rubens Siqueira, an adaptation from Machado de Assis’s original tale - 1988
· ONDE CANTA O SABIÁ by Gastão Tojeiro, Commemoration of TPS’s 25 years - 1988
· PAESE DELLA CUCCAGNA by Carlo Goldoni, with José Rubens Siqueira’s translation, great
success among audience from 1990 to 1991.
· O TIPO BRASILEIRO by França Júnior – Touring Group – 1992
· A ÁRVORE QUE ANDAVA by Oscar Von Pfuhl – for children
· Since the April 6th of 1992, the Teatro Popular do SESI stage has been called “SALA
OSMAR RODRIGUES CRUZ”
Osmar Rodrigues Cruz created around the Teatro Popular do SESI almost a propaganda machine, not only through the shows promulgation next to the written and spoken press, but also through the distribution of free tickets in the industries, bringing the workers to the theater. He increased the theater prerogatives creating an Art Gallery, Weekly Erudite and Popular Music Concerts, Theater Course, and also Conferences and Rendition Groups for kids and teenagers who took part of the SESI’s educational groups.
Simultaneously to the Teatro Popular do Sesi actvities as organizer and director, he developed actvities as a translator, being a member of the Sociedade Brasileira de Autores Teatrais (SBAT – Brazilian Playwrights Society) since 1950. Through the Livraria Teixeira (publisher) there were published: A marriage proposal by Chekhov, La Grammaire and Les Deux Timides by Labiche. Osmar Rodrigues Cruz was also author of one of the first books about theatrical technique published in Brazil: O teatro e sua técnica - 1960.
In the begining of 1968, in a new production by Joe Kantor, he directed at the Teatro Aliança Francesa, Two for the Seesaw by William Gibson with great reviews and excelent reception among the audience, the actors were awarded the Molière Award for best rendition. That same year in November, he directed a new adaptation of Noites Brancas with the Grupo União, at the Teatro Itália.
In 1969 he directed at the Teatro Anchieta A Moreninha, a musical adaptation by Cláudio Petraglia and Miroel Silveira from the famous Joaquim Manoel de Macedo’s novel, with an independent production by Cláudio Petraglia.
In 1970 he directed 2 musical and poetry performances at the Teatro Anchieta, their titles were Música e poesia no Brasil and Modinhas Brasileiras, which were Inezita Barroso’s productions. In this same year he ministered Brazilian Theater History at the Theater Course of Fundação Armando Álvares Penteado. He directed the comedy Putz by Murray Schisgal, a John Herbert’s production at the Teatro Aliança Francesa. In this same year on May he directed another comed: Hans Staden no país da antropofagia, a musical superproduction musical, with Francisco Pereira da Silva’s text, Laerte Morrone’s production, at the Teatro São Pedro.
In 1972 he directed the comedy Day of Change by Lawrence Holofcener, an independent production at the Teatro Aliança Francesa. At this same theater he directed L’Amant Anglaise, by Marguerite Duras, with the Elizabeth Ribeiro’s production. In this same year he directed Little Murders by Jules Feiffer, a John Herbert’s production, at the Teatro Oficina.
In 1973 he directed a Sandro Polonio’s production, Double Jeu by Robert Thomaz, played at the Teatro Cacilda Becker.
In the begining of 1975 he traveled to study in Europe, what resulted in 1973 in another Molière Award for his work to popularize theater with the Teatro Popular do SESI, that was then commemorating 10 years of activities.
In 1976 he directed the remounting of Putz by Murray Schigal at the Teatro Maison de France, in Rio de Janeiro.
In 1979 he directed Quando as Máquinas Param, by Plínio Marcos – a Luiz Gustavo’s production.
Through the Bolsa Vitae de Artes (Scholarship for Arts) that he won in 1999, Osmar wrote with the coauthoress Eugênia Rodrigues Cruz his theater biography - Osmar Rodrigues Cruz – Uma Vida no Teatro, published by the Editora Hucitec (publisher), in 2001.
In 2006 he was honored with the Exposição Memória do Teatro Paulista - Osmar Rodrigues Cruz na Galeria da Caixa Cultural da Paulista (an exhibition to celebrate his devoted years to theater).
At this moment the book Osmar Rodrigues Cruz – Uma Vida no Teatro began to join the American Congress Library collection which is the biggest available collection on the internet. The exhibition brochures were also forwarded to tem american universities.
Memória do Teatro Paulista - Leituras Dramáticas at the Caixa do Conjunto Cultural da Sé conceived in 2006’s first semester and made use of Osmar Rodrigues Cruz’s texts collection.
On April 5th of 2007 Osmar Rodrigues Cruz passed away.