The GALA Hispanic Theatre features Spanish and Latin American plays and has staged over 220 productions since its founding in 1976.
He received the Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Actor for his role as Molina in El Beso de la Mujer Arana in 1994.
For his dedication to promoting Spanish culture in the United States, Medrano was bestowed the Order of Queen Isabella by Carlos I, former King of Spain.
[5] Hugo Medrano co-founded this theatre in 1976 to deliver quality plays to the growing Spanish-speaking community of Washington.
In its early years, the GALA Hispanic Theatre performed in a townhouse in the multicultural Adams Morgan neighborhood of the city.
[6] Hugo Medrano produced and directed the group's first production, La Fiaca by Ricardo Talesnik, which received recognition by the Washington Post.
Medrano found this approach to be inefficient, and the GALA Hispanic Theatre subsequently transitioned to producing plays in Spanish and providing English subtitles or headphone translations to the audience.