In 2010, Ortiz and classmates from the acting conservatory at
Purchase College, including
Jason Ralph whom he had met at
Collin College, founded the theater group Strangemen and Company. With Strangemen, Ortiz co-conceived and developed the play
The Woodsman, based on
L. Frank Baum's
Tin Woodman, which premiered in 2012 in Brooklyn. He co-directed and performed in the work, playing the title character, Nick Chopper.
The Woodsman had three
off-Broadway runs, in 2014, 2015, and 2016; Ortiz won an
Obie Award for puppet design for the 2016 production. Ortiz's first job after college was with the British puppet theater Blind Summit and
Tectonic Theater Project at the
New Victory Theater as a puppeteer in
El gato con botas (Puss in Boots). He has built puppets for
Theatre for a New Audience and
The New Group. In 2017, he designed the puppets for The Public Theater's
Public Works production of
As You Like It, which was remounted in 2022. With Public Works, he also designed the puppets for a 2019 production of
Disney's Hercules. In 2023, he directed, and designed the puppets and scenery for
Leonard Bernstein's
Candide at the
Skylight Music Theatre in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ortiz won the
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Puppet Design for the 2022
Broadway production of
Thornton Wilder's play
The Skin of Our Teeth. In 2022, his puppet designs also appeared on Broadway in a revival of
Into the Woods. Working with designer
Neal Scanlan, Ortiz led a team operating the puppet for the alien character Rocky in the 2026 film
Project Hail Mary. During filming, Ortiz recited Rocky's dialogue for actor
Ryan Gosling to play against, believing the lines would be replaced by a more famous actor, but directors
Phil Lord and Christopher Miller kept his performance in the film. and the fall 2026 premiere of
Missy Mazzoli's
Lincoln in the Bardo, adapted from the
novel of the same name. == References ==