Now Maria’s outrageous and thought provoking comedic talents are coming to PBS with the filming and airing of her television comedy special, accompanied by a 16 tour of her hilarious one women stand up performance, Macho Men and the Women Who Love Them and half hour series based on her comedy. Macho Men, which was filmed live at the Kodak Theatre, is also distributed worldwide with Image Entertainment on DVD and is available online through Target, Walmart, Amazon, Netflix and Blockbuster. Maria’s large and loyal fan-base continues to grow with hundreds of sold out Macho Men performances under her belt and Macho Men shows for U.S. troops overseas in over 15 cities and 6 counties with the Armed Forces.

Maria is an Alma Award Nominated Actress who has starred on several primetime television shows such as Universal Remote on Showtime and ABC's Ugly Betty as Valerie, the sassy owner of the Cosmetology Institute of Queens. She has appeared as a series regular on both the Bravo reality series The It Factor and the ABC drama Dangerous Minds. She also had a recurring roles on the CBS drama Joan of Arcadia and guest starred on Lifetime's Strong Medicine.

Born in Detroit, Maria says she initially found her artistic inspiration at home, having been born to a Hungarian mother and Cuban father. Her grandmother, an opera singer and pianist from Hungary, and her Hungarian uncle took on the responsibility of raising her in Southwest Detroit. "They did everything they could to understand my world. The very first thing that they did when they brought me home from the hospital was to run out to buy a hot comb". Her uncle, an entrepreneur and pharmacist, taught her the value of persistence, a precious trait in a competitive world. "He taught me to make opportunities verses wait for them to come to me.”

Maria takes every opportunity she can to pay it forward by sharing her time and knowledge nurturing the talents and minds of  high risk children and youth teaching Latin dance in under-served communites.  Maria has also given back to her community with several Macho Men performances for organizations like NCLR (National Council of La Raza) and the NAACP (The National Association of Advancement of Colored People) and CHIRLA Coalition for Humane Immigrant rights for Los Angeles to name a few.

As an undergraduate at Wayne State University, Maria immersed herself in Chicano-Boricua Studies and theatre. As an actress, she began her career performing in such plays as For Colored Girls Who Have Committed Suicide When the Rainbow Was Enough, Anthony and Cleopatra, The Colored Museum and Kuru at the Purple Rose Theatre actor Jeff Daniels encouraged pursue her career.  As for comedy, Maria is no stranger to the stand-up and sketch circuit. She has headlined at the infamous Improv and the Icehouse, not to mention her numerous appearances in comedy festivals like The Latino Laugh Festival and the Big Stinking Comedy Festival. Through her performances at these comedic venues, she found the characters we know and love in Macho Men.