{"id":15243,"date":"2025-12-13T23:44:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T06:44:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-graduate-cruz-hernandez-nominated-for-new-mexico-scenic-design-award\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T21:46:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:46:43","slug":"cortez-graduate-cruz-hernandez-nominated-for-new-mexico-scenic-design-award","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-graduate-cruz-hernandez-nominated-for-new-mexico-scenic-design-award\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez graduate Cruz Hernandez nominated for New Mexico Scenic Design award"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cruz
Cruz Hernandez, a 2025 Montezuma-Cortez High School graduate, was nominated for a BroadwayWorld New Mexico Scenic Design award for his work on the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company\u2019s production of \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d in Farmington. (Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Cruz Hernandez, a 2025 Montezuma-Cortez High School graduate and first-year student at the University of Colorado Boulder, has been nominated for a 2025 BroadwayWorld New Mexico-Albuquerque Award for Best Scenic Design.<\/p>\n

He earned the nomination for the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company\u2019s production of \u201cThe Little Mermaid\u201d in Farmington. He is among 22 scenic designers from theaters statewide and ranks second in public voting, trailing Doug Montoya of \u201cMatilda: The Musical\u201d by one percentage point.<\/p>\n

Hernandez said the Four Corners Musical Theatre Company received 10 nominations across multiple categories: choreography, directing, ensemble, lighting design, musical, best performer in a musical, scenic design, sound design, best supporting performer and favorite local theater.<\/p>\n

\"Cruz
Cruz Hernandez is a freshman at the University of Colorado Boulder. (Cruz Hernandez\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

He began working with the company about a year ago and has designed sets for at least six productions, including \u201cYoung Frankenstein,\u201d \u201cA Charlie Brown Christmas,\u201d \u201cLegally Blonde,\u201d \u201cHairspray\u201d and \u201cThe Addams Family.\u201d He is currently designing the set for the company\u2019s upcoming production of \u201cSister Act,\u201d scheduled to open in March.<\/p>\n

Hernandez creates physical mini models for his set designs before they are built full size for the stage.<\/p>\n

Hernandez said his process starts with reading the script once for enjoyment, then a second time to note key locations, such as a church or a pub in \u201cSister Act.\u201d A third reading helps him break it down further. \u201cOnce I settle with that, I\u2019ll do some basic drawings, and I meet with the director \u2026 Then from there, I\u2019ll do a final drawing and then make the model.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Some
Some of the model designs for \u201cThe Little Mermaid.\u201d (Cruz Hernandez\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Once the drawing is done, he uses foam core and other materials, depending on the set, to create the models. Each model takes about 40 to 50 hours to complete.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of a bunch of random stuff you wouldn\u2019t expect, like toothpicks can be carved down into stair spindles, just a plethora of things,\u201d Hernandez said. \u201cI use 3D printed things, sometimes for furniture or that sort of thing. Then I paint, or use various types of craft papers for wallpaper.\u201d<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe Little Mermaid,\u201d Hernandez used plaster to make the rock texture.<\/p>\n

Hernandez credited drama teachers Angela Gabardi, Nicholaus Sandner and Marla Sitton with sparking his interest in scenic design. He had enjoyed art and crafts, but a compliment from Sandner about his model-making helped sharpen his focus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat inspired me to go on from there in the scenic area,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"One
One of the sets for \u201cThe Little Mermaid.\u201d (Cruz Hernandez\/Courtesy photo)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Even while pursuing his theater degree in Boulder, Hernandez remains active with the company in Farmington, continuing to build scale models in his dorm room and transporting them home to Cortez on breaks.<\/p>\n

Public voting for the BroadwayWorld New Mexico\u2013Albuquerque awards is open through Wednesday, Dec. 31, at bit.ly\/BroadwayAwardsVoting<\/a>. Voters must provide an email address and create a simple password to cast ballots in any category.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u2018The Little Mermaid\u2019 earns nomination<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":15244,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[363,1060,21,155,28,60,36,29,910],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-15243","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-arts","tag-arts-entertainment","tag-cortez","tag-education","tag-headlines","tag-montezuma-county","tag-montezuma-cortez-high-school","tag-newsletter","tag-theatre"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15243","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15243"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15243\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19555,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15243\/revisions\/19555"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15244"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15243"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15243"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15243"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=15243"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}