We recently connected with ARIS ALVARADO and have shared our conversation below.
Hi ARIS, thanks for joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I’ve been in the cast of “The Diary of Anne Frank” LatinX since 2018. We have done 6 runs of the show in various theaters from the Dorie Theatre on Theater Row, Temple Emanuel in Beverly Hills, Chutzpah! Festival in Vancouver and the Colony Theatre in Burbank. We are returning again to close out the 3rd annual El Centro Del Sur Latinx Theater Festival: Tu Hogar at A Place Called Home Theater September 17th at 7pm and three 10am shows September 19th, 20th and 21st at the Colony Theater.
The Director, Stan Zimmerman (a writer from Gilmore Girls a show where I recurred as Caesar) got the idea for this production after reading a CNN article that examined the real-life story of a Jewish woman in L.A. who signed an apartment lease as a cover for an immigrant mother and her two high school-aged daughters after their father was deported by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). The woman, who is unnamed in the story, is involved with an underground interfaith network that gives shelter to hundreds of people across Southern California called LA Voice. He remembered the Anne Frank story and got the idea to cast LatinX actors, using the bridge of safe houses used today to the ones used during WW2. At first there were concerns about LatinX actors playing Jewish characters, but Stan’s vision makes sense once you see this play. I approached it as Jewish people, like LatinX, have people from many different countries and races. In fact, we have had several actors in our production that are Jewish and LatinX, one who’s parents and grandparents were Holocaust Survivors.
This show has been most meaningful to me when we perform it for schools, because believe it or not “The Diary of Anne Frank” isn’t even read in most schools anymore. This is a story that should be told over and over again, so we remember what happened. Since the stay at home order during Covid, kids have a better sense of how these people had to live in order to survive. During our Q&A’s after the shows, kids tell us how this story hits close to home because of what their families have been through with their immigration stories. During Stan Zimmerman’s research on the Frank family, he found this connection. “Anne’s father tried to get their family to America, but because of strict immigration laws they were not allowed here,” he says. “To think, she could still be alive today if we had let their family in.”
I’m so proud to be part of this production. I know that it is important because it keeps coming back and I will continue to be part of it for as long as I can.
ARIS, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
As an overweight shy kid, I wanted to live in all those worlds that I saw in TV and Movies. I wanted to make people feel the same way those worlds made me feel. I had this desire to live all those different lives.
I started performing lip sync dance shows at parties, but being shy I always needed my dad to give me that extra push to perform in front of people. But once I started to perform I was in it and I loved it. In sixth grade, after getting in trouble for being a class clown, my teacher dared me to audition for the school play. I did and I got the lead role in “The Littlest Angel”. With that experience, I knew I was going to do this for the rest of my life. As a teenager I did musicals at the Boy’s Club Community theater and joined a teenage acting group called Teatro Tempo that perform sketches about teenage social issues at schools, rehab centers and community festivals. This was really fun because after each sketch the audience got to interact with us in character.
I attended Tisch School of the Arts at NYU. Did several off-off Broadway shows before deciding to move to Los Angeles. I started as a background actor where I ended up going back to pretend high school and getting my SAG card on the TV show “Boston Public”. I did several short films before landing my first co-star on the TV show “Gilmore Girls”. Unfortunately while watching my episode I found out my scene ended up on the cutting room floor. I called my agent and he forgot to tell me I was cut from the episode but they said that they might use me in the future. I didn’t keep my hopes up. I took it as they were being nice. That’s when I learned the lesson that I can never be sure I made it on the show until I see my episode. Good thing because that wasn’t the only time I’ve been cut from a job. I can’t take it personal. I just move on and live in the next world I get to play in. But this first cut has a happy ending.
Several months later Gilmore Girls offers me the recurring role of Caesar, my most recognized role to date. I am so proud to be part of this timeless show. Gilmore Girls is watched by mothers and daughters and those daughter then watch it with their daughters multiple times. It’s an endless tradition that has only been amplified with streaming services having the show available to fans anytime. I’ve been fortunate to meet the many wonderful fans of this show every year since 2016 at the Fan Fest Society Events. Many of them I’ve began to call Fan-mily because they have become closer than just fans. I look forward to seeing the Fan-mily every year. It’s really like a Fan-mily reunion. I understand their love for the show because I myself am a fan of many shows and movies. It makes me so happy to see them happy. I love to be happy and I think that is one thing that sets me apart. I always bring a happy, positive and helpful attitude to set. I want to make everyone’s job easier, like bring my wardrobe back to the wardrobe department, so I can save someone a trip. It may be a little thing, but I hope it gave someone five extra minutes to be home.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
This is industry is tough. I’ve had many ups and many more downs. Even occasionally contemplating to give it up. But that little overweight shy kid in me just won’t let me give it up. I’m so proud of his resilience. It fuels my drive to work hard and continue learning to be truthful in my work. To realize that what I do affects others. It matters to me to enter those worlds, because it matters to the audience to see these worlds. I want to continue to live in all these worlds, so the audience can get to live in these worlds through me.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
It think people need to be empathic and open to different ideas, opinions and lifestyles. Accept and support creativity even when you might not understand it. Don’t shut it down, let it evolve. It might grow into something you do understand or maybe the next person might get it. Creativity needs space a time to grow.
Support small live theater and small film festivals. There is a lot of heart in these projects. You might be surprise to see and feel something original and authentic. Experience the power of creativity when artists have to create with very limited resources and a whole lotta of love.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: ArisAlvaradoActor
- Twitter: AR1STOCRAT
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@sapo110?si=nFcM11OM9C4QVjyA
- Other: Bootyology Movie Available on iTunes
Image Credits
Greg Crowder, Billy Moon, Stan Zimmerman, Shana Gagnon, and Angela Ream