MANUEL ANTONIO MORÁN MARTÍNEZ was born in San Juan, Puerto Rico and has worked as an actor, singer, writer, composer, puppeteer, theater and film director and producer in his country, Latin America, Europe and the United States. He is the Founder and Artistic Director of SEA, Society of the Educational Arts, Inc. (www.teatrosea.org), with offices in Puerto Rico, Florida and New York City. Celebrating its 40 years in 2025, SEA’s objective is to offer a real entertainment alternative, with cultural value and educational quality, for kids, the youth and adults through bilingual educational programs like workshops, seminars, theater and other cultural artistic expressions.
Morán graduated from the University of Puerto Rico with a Bachelor of Arts in Humanities and Drama. From New York University (NYU) he obtained a Master’s degree in Musical and Educational Theater, and later a Ph.D. in Educational Theater. He did specialized studies at Temple University in Philadelphia, USA, Menéndez Pelayo University in Santander, Spain and the Holborn Centre for the Performing Arts in London, United Kingdom.
He has received numerous recognitions and awards from The City of New York, the Latin Press Association of New York (ACE), the Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors and the Independent Theater Actors, to name a few. He was Grand Marshall of the National Puerto Rican Day Parade in New York. New York’s El Diario Newspaper gave him the “El Award” as one of the most prominent Latinos in the city. The specialized international magazine Puppetry International selected him as one of its most prominent 40 puppeteers under 40, and he also received the “UNIMA-USA Citation of Excellence”, an award established by Jim Henson for the most prominent Puppet Theater in the United States. The Puerto Rican Culture Institute (ICP) dedicated him its 51st Puerto Rico International Theater Festival and presented his musical theater show ‘Sueño’ to thousands of spectators in the San Felipe del Morro Castle in San Juan. The 2020 International Biennial of Puppetry in Puerto Rico was also dedicated to him. He is the recipient of the Harold Oaks Award for Sustained Excellence in Theater for Young Audiences from TYA/USA (ASSITEJ) at the TYA/USA National Conference, Washington, D.C., May 2025.
Dr. Morán is responsible for establishing the professional Latino Children’s Theater in New York City, after 18 years of abandonment. In 1999, he inaugurated Teatro SEA @ Los Kabayitos Puppet & Children’s Theatre, the only Latino theater for kids in New York City and possibly the United States. In 2011, the theater was expanded and moved to a new and renewed hall (now Teatro SEA), where an annual season for audiences of all ages is offered.
In NYC he has established and produced various community, arts and theater festivals reaching thousands of audience members including BORIMIX: Puerto Rico Fest, Three King’s Day Festival, Arte Pa’ Mi Gente Festival, MicroTheaterNY and the very successful and first of its kind, The International Puppet Fringe Festival of NYC. His 3-episodes film, “Títeres en el Caribe Hispano/Puppetry in the Caribbean” a documentary about puppet theater in Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, premiered at the Havana Film Festival in Cuba. In April 2016 his first book ‘Migrant Theater for Children: A Caribbean in New York’ was published in Havana, with an anthology of his theater plays. His second book: ‘Mantequilla/Butter; Adventures and Tribulations of a Puerto Rican Boy’ (SEA Publications, NYC) was published in 2017. The Colors of Frida was published in 2018 (SEA Publications, NY). His 8-Theatre-Books Series was published (SEA Publications/TMG/Lectorum, Serie Libros-Teatro) in 2021. In 2022 he published The Journey of Pura Belpré’s Tales, and in 2024 Nunito’s Calendar (Activites Book) and Las Locaventuras de Don Quijote.
He has lectured in Harvard University, New York University (NYU), University of Connecticut (UConn), Georgia Tech University, University of Puerto Rico as well as in other academic symposiums in Cuba, Argentina, Uruguay and India. He is the creator of the upcoming Bachelor Degree in Musical Theater, a high-level, rigorous, and quality program in Spanish, and one of the few—if not the only—of its kind in all of Latin America, offered at the Conservatorio de Música in Puerto Rico.
He produces and curates art exhibitions: Pinocho alrededor del mundo, (2011-SEA’s LittlePuppet Museum); 25 Years of SEA Puppetry, (2012-SEA’s Little Puppet Museum); Puppetry around the world (2018-SEA’s Little Puppet Museum, International Puppet Fringe, NYC); Las manos de un titiritero, 40 years of the work of José López (2018-Abrazo Interno Gallery, International Puppet Fringe, NYC); SEA’s International Collaborations (2021-Teatro SEA, International Puppet Fringe, NYC); Hecho en Puerto Rico, 4 Generations of Puerto Rican Puppeteers (2022-Ballard Museum, Connecticut).
He is the former Vice-President of UNIMA (Union Internationale de la Marionnette), the oldest international theater organization in the world, with chapters in 96 countries.
He stars in the web series El Avión The Airplane on the YouTube Channel SEA Kids Network. With them he released a Musical Album A Volar Let’s Fly (2020), the singles Feliz Navidad (2021), Víspera de Reyes (2022) and the EP Rancho Songs (2024)
Dr. Morán is also the Founder of El Musical, a groundbreaking initiative under Teatro SEA and Grupo Morán LLC dedicated to developing, producing, and investing in new Latiné musical theater—amplifying the voices, stories, and rhythms of the Latiné community and ensuring artistic and financial ownership in the field. (www.elmusical.nyc)
Dr. Morán is the proud Dad of Manuel Gabriel. They live in New York City and San Juan, Puerto Rico.