Why Conrad Ricamora Would Happily Play Queer Characters for the Rest of His Life
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With a resumé that includes “How to Get Away With Murder,” “Fire Island” and the upcoming comedy “How to Die Alone,” Conrad Ricamora has gotten some of his best screen work playing queer characters. And the actor, now starring on Broadway in “Here Lies Love,” wouldn’t want it any other way.
Listen to this week’s “Stagecraft” podcast below:
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In the new episode of “Stagecraft,” Variety‘s theater podcast, Ricamora said he has no fear of getting pigeon-holed or typecast. “A lot of times I feel like when actors are starting out in their careers, they don’t want to come out, or don’t want to be thought of as a gay actor, because then they’re just going to get gay roles,” said Ricamora, who is gay himself. “But gay people are so different, and there’s so much variety within the characters that exist with the LGBT community that if I played queer characters for the rest of my life, I would be so happy because I would still be able to play a variety of people.”
He’s not playing a queer character in his latest Broadway gig, but it’s a part that’s still near and dear to him. Ricamora first appeared in David Byrne and Fatboy Slim’s immersive musical “Here Lies Love” in its 2013 Off Broadway premiere, and then returned to the show in two subsequent productions. He said his involvement in the musical, which retells the life of Filipino first lady Imelda Marcos against the backdrop of the Filipino political history, allowed him to explore his own roots as a Filipino American.
“To see this immense pride come up [in my father] when I’m telling this Filipino story was something that I hadn’t experienced from him, and it in turn made me want to learn more about my own history,” Ricamora said. “That was a new experience of my identity for me. It healed a part of myself that I didn’t expect.”
In “Here Lies Love,” the actor plays Ninoy Aquino, the leader of the opposition to the famously corrupt Marcos regime. Ricamora likens the dance-party atmosphere of “Here Lies Love” — a participatory event inspired by karaoke and its deep connections to Filipino culture — to what happens when a party, political or otherwise, spins out of control.
“It feels like this meditation on power and on following idols and celebrity,” Ricamora said. “To be playing this character in the middle of a dance party, especially toward the middle and definitely toward the end of the show, it’s this cognitive dissonance that feels like, ‘I hate to break up the party, but people are being beaten in the streets and your rights are being taken away.'”
To hear the full conversation, listen at the link above or download and subscribe to “Stagecraft” on podcast platforms including Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the Broadway Podcast Network. New episodes of “Stagecraft” are released every other week.
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