August 2, 2022 • 40 mins
Listen up, mi gente! This time around Darilyn is sitting down with Christopher Ramírez to discuss their love of Shakespeare, their relationship with Spanish, and their upcoming role as Touchstone at the Delacorte theater this August! Tune in and vibe with us. ¡Te invito!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Oh yeah, me hint that. I just want to give
you a heads up. The program you are about to
hear may have some explicit language, it may not. It
also depends on where the vibes and the spirit leads us.
Hope you enjoy. Welcome to Monita, a deep dive into
the Latin X experience with more Anita. We want to
(00:23):
create a community and a shared space with you while
sharing knowledge and inspiration. This show is about celebrating our
culture with guests who exemplify the best of us. I'm
Darrylene Gastillo, Bethane Veetle. Oh yeah, me hinted. Today we
have the hilarious, the charismatic, just all around amazing human
(00:48):
and actor Christopher I met Is and we are talking
about our love trem language. Now not just any old language. Well,
actually it is kind of old. Here. I'll give you
a hint. To be or not to be? That is
the question. Got it? For those of you who don't
(01:09):
got it? We are talking about Shakespeare. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
don't switch it off just yet. I challenge you to
give this one a curse. Listen, because not only do
we talk about our love for Shakespeare, but we connect
this with our love for our language, Spanish and our
relationship with both of these languages. I know, I know,
(01:32):
how do we do that? Yeah? Keep listening. Chris goes
even deeper into how he has been a true follower
and lover of Shakespeare, but found himself being rejected and
told many a times how latinid people had no place
in these classical, prestigious pieces. Chris has looked at all
(01:52):
of that rejection dead in the eye and faced it
head on. To prove all those people wrong, he created
his path and studied at the University of San Diego
and the Old Blow, which only chooses seven lucky actors
to enter their master's program. Now, get this, tuition is
free while you get paid a stipend to receive your
(02:14):
masters and Chris got one of those spots out of
those seven people. Where do I sign up? Now? He
talks about his journey to Shakespeare as well, and how
where he went for undergrad did not really encourage his
journey into the classics. It gets really real. I totally
felt this conversation because I too am a lover of
(02:37):
Sir Shakespeare. In case you didn't know, I studied at
the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and I
played that bettine mantaining of the Shrew. I also drank
tons of cider and met the most wonderful people while
living in London. But Shakespeare changed my life as an actor,
and I have an obsession with the language. Now. I
(02:59):
had some similar battles, such as Chris, But to hear
from an other fellow Latina actor literally take all these
battles and win the war is pretty epic. Oh yeah,
did I mention that Chris will be making his delacour
public theater debut at Shakespeare in the Park and as
you like it as Touchstone, I mean talk about rejection
(03:20):
and turning it into the most badass move. Oh Latina,
people can't be in Shakespeare. Oh Latin that people can't
be in the Shakespeare. Peace cool. I'll just book one
of the most prestigious Shakespeare theaters and go star in
the show super casual Chris, congratulations. I want to give
a warning as well that this episode contains bird noises,
(03:40):
shakespeare in accents, laughter, joy, knowledge, and so much pride
within our language. For the love of language, than veto
welcome to more and Nita, Oh my god, sale. I'm
(04:00):
so happy to be here, thank you for having me
come on ballet Um. So Christopher or do you prefer Chris?
You know, I'm kind of feeling out both. When I
was like, uh, in grad school, I was like, it's Christopher.
I'm getting my master's degree, It's Christopher Michael. But now
now I'm like, that's pretendially. I mean, you know, yes,
(04:23):
there was the name I was given, you know, by
my my parents. But Christopher, Chris whatever kind of you know,
sinks into your mouth the best, whatever you like saying
the best. You know, where did you go to grad school?
I went to grad school at the University of San
Diego and the Old Globe. They had a partnership program
and they bring seven actors in every year we auditioned
(04:43):
to New York Um. They bring in seven talented actors,
the Lucky seven, that's right, and we study, you know,
acting with predominantly a focus on classical like Shakespeare. And
it's for two years, and the perk is it's free.
You get a stipend and I feel like they need
(05:04):
they're gonna they need to pay me for this's gonna
do a promo for them. And you get to participate
in four festival stage Shakespeare productions at the Old Globe
during the summertime, so we work year round. So that's
why they're able to do it in two years as
opposed to like I think other programs are a lot
of them are three years. Uh some even four. But
(05:26):
the reason why we were able to do it in
two years is because we work through the summer, so
we don't have any recess for two years. But that's
great because also, like the Old Globe is like professional,
I mean, it's it's like a very prestigious professional theater company,
um that everyone wants to work for. It's amazing too
because you're in Balboa Park, which if you've never have
(05:46):
you ever been to San Diego, scourge is out there.
You've ever been to San Diego, you're in this The
first time I went there, it was way before I
went to you know, school there, and you get there
and you feel like you're in Spain or something. It's
like all of these sort of like Spanish style buildings
and then this beautiful, the amazing like you said, theatrical
(06:09):
institution just right there, um with the zoo behind. I
mean literally you'll go out there and you'll see Shakespeare
in the evening among the stars and behind the actors
who are working, you'll hear lions roaring, or you'll hear
animals because the zoo in San Diego Zoo is right there.
It's amazing. Or you'll hear like weird like you know,
(06:30):
peacock birds just being like you know, like just in
the background. Why you're like to be or not to be?
That is the question question. I love that. I love that. Okay,
so I know we just dived right in. We were like, but, um,
how did you decide to go to grad school? Because
(06:51):
I think there's a stigma with that with some actors.
I don't know if you've ever heard of that stigma,
but of course it was of course, I mean the
ones that I have heard of. Our Like, Okay, you
go to grad school when you know, you're kind of
like auditions aren't happening, or things aren't rolling, or or
you just like want to go study to be a
teacher or things like that. What was the reason that
(07:11):
you decided to go to grad school? And obviously this
was around COVID time frame I'm guessing, which we're still
in to be real, but you know, yeah, to start
with getting into acting. Um, I was just, first of all,
I have a d h D. And I'm proud to
be somebody with a d h D. Uh, just because
(07:31):
like it's just my brain just worked completely different, you know. Um.
So as a child, I just was all over the place,
always doing just you know, different skits. I just always
wanted to be kind of entertaining, not necessarily like the
center of attention, but just entertaining and making people laugh.
(07:52):
And I was always singing songs and everything and so actually,
but I didn't really fall into acting. I found the
choir first, so I was like singing first, you know,
and then it was you know, I think I did
like a community theater show. I was supposed to do
a community theater show of Fiddler on the Roof when
I was like ten, but then I broke my wrist
(08:14):
on a gas powered scooter so I couldn't do it.
So actually it wasn't really until eighth grade that I
did Greece, and I was like, you know, I played
the teen Angels like beauty school dropout because I was
a soprano at that time. Um, And but then I
really fell in love with it in in high school
(08:34):
and like what maybe want to really go into it,
specifically musical theater. Um at first was playing Captain Hook
in the playing Peter Pan. Wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry
you played Captain Hook? I did? I did? I played
captain Did you have the hair and everything as you do? Now?
I did not have the long hair. They dive, they wig,
they put a wig. They put a wig on my head.
(08:57):
Um wait. And I wasn't even imagine, like you're tending.
I can just see yourself. I can see your young
self just playing this role and killing it. I just
have to say that I did win a Thesbian Award
for it, so you know, but I feel back to
Rohanran because Rohan bless the guys, he's a he's an
old friend from from high school and he was so
involved in in get acting and he was like the
(09:21):
star pupil and I was doing musical, but he would
do the plays, you know. And then I just one
day after school, I was like, I think I'm I'm
an audition for Captain Hook. It's a play though you know,
I don't have the singing to like back me up.
And everybody thought Rohan was gonna get it. And I
I stole it from Rohan as Mr Hook does. As
Mr Hook does, Where did you grow up? I grew
(09:56):
up in Carmel, Indiana, which is at which is a
suburb of Indianapolis. Um, it's about twenty five minutes north. Um.
And now it's like basically Disney World. It's this little,
like wild little town. And it used what used to
be corn fields and like farmland has now blossomed. They
(10:17):
had this beautiful performing arts center over there and like
a huge arts district and it's like just a beautiful
little suburb, you know. Um, that's where I grew up.
So I found my So I found my way in
with the choir. So let's fast forward. So then I
went to the Bostonservatory. Okay, just casual foco, let's move on.
(10:39):
Graduated and moved to New York and I did the
musical theater track, and I was really I was like
in the ensemble and then like understudying and working a
lot regionally. But I got this, I got bit by
the bug of like, you know what, like I want
to do Shakespeare. I feel like I need I feel
like I want to be I don't want to just
(11:01):
be doing the ensemble and I don't always want to
be having to sing eight shows a week. In this
demanding sounds like he wanted more tools. I wanted more tools.
I still had some stuff, you know, as a as
a Latin a actor in undergrad and you know, I
had a couple of professors that I am not too
(11:23):
fond of. That kind of just made me feel like
I didn't have a place in classical theater. If we
if we don't have to like dive super deep, if
you don't, if that's not comfortable, But I think it's important.
I think it's important. You know, I had a teacher
I won't mention their name. So we're working on Shakespeare
and I started and he cut me off, like on
the first line. I was like, you did. It's interesting,
(11:44):
you did city latinos doing the classics, and and then
he was like interesting, isn't it. M hm, that's it?
And then he kind of just like brushed over me
and told me to sit down. And just essentially I
just felt like that wasn't for me, that wasn't for us,
(12:05):
you know what I'm saying. I never really even tried
to do it, but then I saw I was um
working at the old Globe on this great show The
Heart of Rock and Roll, which is about Huey Lewis
and hue Lewis and the News musical. And I saw
Shakespeare on the stage and I saw people of color
doing Shakespeare, and I was like, I want to do
I want to do that. That would be an incredible
(12:28):
thing to accomplish, To get to sink my teeth into
that kind of language that you know, and reclaim it
through my point of view, my perspective, my experience. I
auditioned for for grad school I think a year out
of my undergrad and I didn't get in, and but
I got great feedback, and it was like, you know,
(12:48):
go and get some more experience, your little green And
so I went and got a bunch of experience and had,
you know, a great career before I went to school. Um,
and then I just got that, I got the itch
again and I auditioned and I and I got into
that the best program for me was was the Old
Globes program. And so for me it was about yes,
(13:10):
there's teaching. You know. Those are some some of the
things you mentioned earlier, Darylyn, about people going because they
want to teach, or people going because they're not really
getting success in the professional realm. And for me, it
wasn't that. For me, it was I was getting success,
but I found myself going kind of staying in one track,
(13:32):
which is like musical theater, um, jukebox musicals. And not
to say that I don't love doing that. I just
was like, I'm not getting any auditions for Shakespeare, and
if I am, I don't I feel ill equipped to
a certain extent to be able to handle it. And
for me, I would always use this analogy where I
felt like I was grabbing at fireflies in the work,
(13:53):
where like I would reach out and something when I
would catch, when I'd be this, you know, incredible, awesome thing,
and and the work would be fantastic. But then a
lot of the times I would, you know, kind of
miss and I'd be like, I don't know what I'm
I'm doing, And that's a beautiful thing. I think we
should always kind of be like I don't really know
what I'm doing, because the infinite possibilities could come out
(14:16):
of that. But I just wanted to feel like I
could have more to cling onto and more to build
from and open myself up to a higher echelon and
have more options in terms of like because I want
to do it all. I want to do film, I
wanted to TV, I want to do I'm so in
love with Shakespeare right now and I and I still
don't know what the hell I'm doing at the time,
(14:38):
but I go back to the text hour after hour
and just sink more and more into it and find
things that I can relate to in it. Um so,
you know. And I think that's a testament to how
powerful it is and it's lasted this long, and that
we can find new things within it and and bring,
you know, again, as a Latin Latin a man, bring
(14:59):
my own experiences to it. I love that. I mean,
just going back to Boco for a hot second, because
I think it's really important, just because I also think that,
like many of many of us Latina people have experienced this,
whether or not even if you weren't an actor, right,
let's say you don't. We've had so many other guests
here who've been chefs and politicians that you know Latina
(15:21):
person doing that well, I've never I would have never interesting, right,
you know. And I just want to kind of like
even go further for you, because it's you know. I
mean you're about to start at the Public Theater um,
and I'm just gonna say it. You can't get any
more like fuck you Boco than that. I mean you
(15:41):
are about to do Shakespeare in the Park at the Delicore.
I mean you can't come on man, like, where's the
round of the clause? Oh? Because it's a dreamy man.
I literally am. I'm listening to you and I'm like
I want to cry because I'm like, I do we
because you know I you know that you know my
(16:02):
love for Shakespeare, and I studied in London and I'm obsessed.
And and you're working with Lorie Woolery, who directed dream
House was a dream of herself and she's an amazing
Latina woman that we hopefully have on the show. Um.
But I love hearing you speak and like hearing how
this is all coming full circle to you, because it's like, yeah,
we don't know what the fuck we're doing. We don't,
(16:23):
but we're working towards something. And when you listen to
that little thing in your mind and your voice, that
little voice in your head, and you're like, you know what,
I'm going to do this again and look at where
it's led you Shakespeare the part talk to us about that?
Oh my gosh, yeah for me, like it's so eat,
I want to talk about that. Um. I obviously am
(16:45):
so excited to do this. This has been a huge
dream of mine. And what I've realized in my life
is and not not to say that I needed to
switch my mentality less from like product orientation to process
and loving the process, loving and like loving the craft,
you know, because for so long I was like, I
just gotta be I I need to be on Broadway
(17:07):
and I don't care what it is, and I'll take anything,
you know, And there's nothing wrong with that. That's obviously
like still there, it still exists that as a dream,
you know. That's the child who went and saw that,
those those shows here everybody remembers their first Broadway show
and there and and wanting to achieve that. But I
switch my mentality more to like taste all the different
(17:28):
like mediums of theater, you know. And as soon as
I started doing that and sticking true to my gut
in that way, and I accomplished this thing here that
I've wanted to do for for ten years. I've wanted
to do. I remember, as people are like you know,
that's that's where you do Shakespeare. The real Shakespeare actors
they work at the they work on the Delacourt and
(17:50):
all these amazing names that have come through there, you know,
Al Paccino and and Meryl Street and Raoul Julia, amazing
Latino actor God rest his soul um who have worked
on that stage. And it happened a lot sooner than
I thought, you know, like it happens so much sooner
than I thought, because it was the right thing. You know.
It's this beautiful adaptation um with with music and lyrics
(18:15):
by Gina Tobb. And she just did stuff at the
Public Bolory. She's she's amazing. I know you did Dream
House with her, and I'm so happy that I got
to see that as well. And that was before I
even met you. But I was like, we love her
so okay, I'm rambling. I'm going on a tangier No. No,
I think it's so important to hear your hear your
(18:36):
pure excitement for this show. I cannot wait. When does
it actually open? It opens on August tenth, and then
it runs through uh September eleven. Um. Right now, we're
in rehearsal. Started rehearsal was last week. I got to
be a fly on the wall. Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(18:59):
It's an incredible group of people. So this is part
of the Public Works, which is an incredible organization they
have at the public I think this is the ten Theater,
and they bring professional actors and community actors from all
five bureaus of New York together, and we yesterday we
went around and all introduced ourselves, and um, there's somebody
(19:24):
represented from from all five and such a wonderfully diverse
group of people. And you just seek passion for for
Shakespeare and for storytelling and for this story as you
like it, which is so important right now, and a
really powerful message within there. And and then Lorie Woolery
(19:44):
at the helm of it, she just has this huge heart,
you know, like it's just you can see like her
passion is for theater, but it's for people more than
anything else. And she just knows how to bring all
the best people together. I'm just so humbled and excited
and everybody should come and see it because it's just
gonna be this beautiful, colorful, magical story And you're playing
(20:10):
I'm playing Touchstone, the clown Latin is in Love with Shakespeare?
Oh my god, are we're gonna write a book called
Latin is in Love with Shakespeare? We should? We should,
we should? We should get together to actually we need
to work on something together. Yeah, yeah, we should do
a comedy together. Like I'm thinking, like, like I don't know,
(20:32):
maybe like Twelfth Night. Let's call Laurie. We'll figure this out.
Let's she'll figure it out. She'll figure it out. I
want to kind of like change gears for a second,
(20:52):
because I know that there's something that you and I
have spoken about that you're also extremely passionate about. Um,
I should I shouldn't say passionate. I should say you
have thoughts about because throughout our conversations of us getting
to know each other recently, we have spoken about our
upbringings and being Methanis and obviously being in this community,
(21:17):
but also like not within our own community. Language. And
I switched over to language because I mean, Shakespeare's a language,
and this episode is obviously about language. Um so switching
from Shakespeare to Spanish. Um, what is your relationship to
the language. It is a relationship, you know what I'm saying.
(21:39):
It is a relationship. And and I don't. I'm not
I'm not fluid, and so often it's a tumultuous thing
because it's this, it's this odd thing. I shared a
wall with my grand I'm Colombian, that's my background. In
the late nineties, when my grandmother passed away, so I
would do my dad's my columb me inside my dad's side.
(22:01):
My dad wanted to take care of his dad, so
he so he moved my grandfather Malulo into our house
in Indiana, and they they immigrated from Colombia to uh
Long Island to Bay Shore, Long Island, m in the sixties.
That's an amazing story. Um a long story, so I
(22:24):
won't get into but basically, they immigrated in the sixties
and and so with my dad settled us down in Indiana.
He brought my grandfather and to take care of him
and gave him a room in his house that he built.
And so I shared a wall with my grandfather and
I would go. I would hear my father and my
grandfather talking in Spanish every morning. And the thing was,
(22:45):
you know, my grandfather would talk to us and we
would try to talk back. The Spanish programs in school
were kind of you know, in the Midwest especially, but
also so the reason why I say tumultuous is because
and I wrote about in my thesis in grad school
about this um You know, my father was bullied a
(23:06):
lot growing up on Long Island, and he was I
mean back in the sixties when he was growing up,
they didn't have the programs they have now, and so
he was held back. Twice. He was put in special
education class because he didn't speak English, and he was
(23:26):
bullied and ridiculed, and they told him that he you know,
they called my my grandfather and said, you know, your
son has a super low i Q, which wasn't the case.
He just didn't know how to He didn't know what
the questions were in English on the i Q test.
So I think all of that took a toll in
my dad, and he wanted to do and I don't
(23:47):
blame him, you know, he wanted to assimilate my, my
sister and I into whiteness the most he could and
americanize us too, you know, English to the best he
could in Indian so that we could fit in and
we could have we wouldn't go through the things that
he went through growing up. And so he made the
(24:07):
choice and not really talk to us in Spanish, and
so I do have a relationship to when I hear
people speak Spanish, whenever I throw in little Spanish words
here and there. I talked to my grandfather as and
it's difficult, you know, because I struggle to repeat things.
I have to ask him to repeat things. But it's
this beautiful negotiation of like identity, you know, because it's
(24:32):
been an identity crisis thing. You know. I feel like
the first eighteen years of my life growing up in Indiana,
being a minority there in in in a school full
of four kids, high school kids, and there was like
twenty Latino people there. I just I just felt like
a huge part of my culture. I don't want to
(24:52):
say that though, because at home, like my grandfather would
cook you know, uh some coacho and and like dotes
and like all of these you know, Colombian dishes and
my father would too, and so like I feel like
a huge part of our cuisine was like very much
you know, Colombian, and the influence from from our background
(25:16):
and our heritage from home. Um. Yeah, language was always
was always a struggle, and it wasn't until I went
to to undergrad and I was in a room full
of like a lot of these you know, classmates and
friends of mine who were from Miami, who were fluent
and so in touch with their culture that I started
(25:39):
to try to dig in and learn more than I
am on that journey now of trying to trying to
to learn the language. Um And it's a slow and
steady practice, you know, Yeah, as you're speaking, I never
really thought about, like, and maybe this is just my
privilege of like being a New Yorker, Dominican new Yorker
(25:59):
who like, you know, obviously, I go to Washington Heights
and there's thousands of us, and then you know, I
grew up upstate where there was like five of us,
and you know, so I was able to see beyond
where I grew up and understand that if I just
go to my backyard, there's a whole world of us.
And I never realized that privilege until you're you're speaking now,
(26:20):
because I feel like if I didn't have that, I
wouldn't be fluent in Spanish. I probably would. Um. You know,
my mother, um is it got her doctorate in English
education as a as a like I think, and that
was her like way of being like, you know, I
came to this country at fourteen, I didn't speak the language.
(26:42):
I'm going to master it. That's just my mom, that's
who she is, um. But it's like, and I also remember,
you know, I spoke a little Spanish at home, you know,
and that and that, but it wasn't until I went
to I begged my mom to let me go to
Costa Rica in high school as an exchange student because
I really just wanted to be immersed. And I was like,
(27:03):
I don't want to know little. I want to learn more,
and I want to go to the heights and be
able to talk to my grandmother and this and that,
and be able to talk to my friends that I've
met who are coming from d R. And so I
feel like I just closely also relate to like and
I think there's something and the reason why we both
love Shakespeare so much. I think like we both love language,
(27:23):
and that's why I wanted to like touch based on
Spanish because I know when we first met. That's my
other thing too that I'm working on. I'm like, Daryln,
don't be assuming everybody out here speak Spanish. But because
I remember I literally spoke like full on sentences to
you and you were like, um hey, and I was
(27:45):
I was like, oh my god, I'm so sorry. I
totally assumed and like, uh, I mean and I was
like Darylyn, like, you know, not everybody has that same
that is not there on their different journey with the language.
Um well, simultaneously though not everybody. I will sit there
and be like no, no, no, no, slow it down,
you know, and repeat what you said. But at the
(28:05):
same time, on my end, I can't assume that every
Spanish speaker is going to want to take the time
to break to break it down, nor should they have to. Um,
you know what I'm saying. But I also feel like
it's my duty too. Well if you want to that,
that's just free Spanish lessons for me, and I'm down
to do that and I'm down to talk to you
(28:26):
any day. So listen, we gotta we gotta all be
there for each other. And I just think that, like,
I don't know, there's something really fascinating that us as
both Americanized Latino young people in this world moving around,
Like I just related so much to you, I still
get nervous speaking Spanish, even if I feel like I'm
(28:47):
fluent or people like no, you're fluent. You're fluent. I'm like,
sometimes I get a little grammar thing, you know. Sometimes
I'm not. You know, sometimes my writing Listen, writing and
speaking is a whole different thing. So sometimes my writing
is not that strong. But there's this like disconnect that
we as Americanized young Latino people have been and there's
(29:08):
something that's been instilled in us, you know, even my mother.
I think about my mother, I'm like, she came to
American and she was like, I'm going to get the
biggest degree you can get in English literature and and
know everything in English. Like well, I mean, it's like
that aspirational immigrant mentality of like, if people are going
to give me the respect, you know, I'm gonna excel
(29:28):
and do the best, achieve the highest level of the thing,
because then I've proven to myself and proven to everybody else.
Even though why do we have to do that? You
know what I'm saying. I definitely saw that with my dad.
My dad, you know, he wanted he went to school
for for business and computer sciences, and he wanted to
own a business, and he wanted to buy a big house,
and he wanted to have, you know, all of the
(29:51):
the American dream. You know, he wanted to achieve that
and for himself, but you know a little bit so
he I think I could have that acceptance. Yeah, absolutely,
you know, as the as the outsider. Interesting how these
these things are passed on generationally, because that was a
(30:12):
huge thing for me too. I was like, I shouldn't
have to prove I shouldn't we shouldn't have to prove anything,
you know what I'm saying, Um, But there was something
inside of me that was like I need to prove
to myself maybe. And it's not the piece of paper, agree,
it's all of the struggles and everything that happened in
your process towards that. That's just this reminder, that's just
this maybe like a maybe that maybe I look at
(30:35):
my degree is sort of just like a It's like
a giant you ever write like words of aspiration, not
affirmation like a post it note. It's like I am
enough and you put it on your on your mirr
or whatever. So for me, my degree is just a
giant word of affirmation, you know. And so I wonder
if if you're if your mother you can relate to that.
(30:57):
You know, you bet that degree is sitting right in
the house when you watch it, it's proud. It's gym
prize possession. Yet and I also and also I think
as as as their children, we both wear I wear
that pride for pridefully as well, you know, like look
at what my mom's accomplished. And then it's like, you know,
obviously we are doing it in our own way as well.
(31:20):
It's it's it's wild to see generational I don't want
to call a generational trauma. It's a better word for it, Chris,
Oh my gosh. Generational people would say that, but you
know what I call it intergenerational anxiety. That's what I
would intergenerational anxiety. People would say like that the trauma
(31:42):
has passed out. But I don't want to say like
trauma because you know, anxiety is something that a lot
of us deal with on a on a day to
day thing, but for me, it's also like an energy
and fuel and it's something that I just have to
record with and deal with and overcome m But because
(32:03):
of it, I don't know if I would have achieved
all these things if if I hadn't had those traumatic
or or experiences or dealt with these anxieties. We're seeing
my father's you know, his journey and learn from that
and experience. So that's what I call it. I don't
(32:24):
know if like I love that. No, I love that
scientists are like scholars. Someone's listening to that and they're like, obviously,
people don't know what's that. It's not called that, okay.
But what I love about whatever it is that, whatever
it is that the scholars call it is what you
and I have done and are doing with it, especially
(32:45):
listening to your story. And you ny about to take
the stage to kill this production. And everybody, if you're
in the city, go catch Christopher M. Ramdaz and as
you like, get at the delicate Little Court Theater. He's
about he's about to kill it. I can't wait to
come and route you on. This is the moment of
(33:09):
mor Anita that everyone's been waiting for, because we got
some questions for you, some really special questions. Are you ready? Okay? Yes? Please?
Yespeak yes? Well, I have to I have to ask
what is your favorite Shakespeare play. That's hard. I'm gonna
have to say. I'm gonna have to say Twelve Night
(33:30):
because it was it was the play that introduced me
to and I feel like that's like everybody is, you know,
but it's the one I did a Shakespeare camp that
my my aunt and uncle enrolled, my sister and I
end when I was like eight years old, and that
was my and I played Sir Toby. We did like
a miniature, yes selections, but junior junior version. Yeah. And
(33:54):
so I have to say, like, I don't know if
I would even be here if it wasn't for that place.
So I'm going to say I'm gonna say twelve of mine.
I'm gonna say twelve. It was the first play that
I did in grad school. It was the first full
fled Shakespeare play that I did it in an entirety.
So I'm going to say twelfth Night. Okay, I love
that for you. But but but I also would say
my favorite Shacker play is the one that I would
(34:14):
say my favorite Shakespeare play is the one I'm currently
working on, of course, but I'm gonna say my favorite
Shakespeare character, we go. My favorite Shakespeare character is Iago
because I try to. I think it's a wonderful exploration
in like why villainous people do what they do what
(34:37):
they do. They're hurting, yes, they're they're hurting. It doesn't.
It doesn't, it doesn't absolve and it doesn't like justify them.
But he's hurting. It's such a great character, such a
great role. I mean, oh my gosh, such an intense journey. Okay.
Second question, if you could switch the lead character of
a movie into a different film, who would it be
(35:00):
and into what film? I'm gonna have to do some
math here. Okay. So if I could switch a lead
character from any film, from any movie into a different movie,
so he's there, they are still playing the lead in
another movie, who would it be an into what film?
(35:21):
This is an intense question. Okay, I got it, I
got it. Hannibal Lecter Okay, into like best in Show,
like mockumentary, Okay, which character in that? Like any Christopher
Guest movie? But like best and show like a dog show,
(35:41):
Hannibal Lector at a dog show being like ladies, I
love my pooches name. I think I think you have
something here. I think you have something here that's rich.
You are a clown, indeed, a clown indeed. Okay. Third
and last question, Okay, what have you seen or read
(36:06):
lately that you'd recommend to our listeners? Um, I'm gonna
do two things because they actually this is thank you
for asking this question. It really, Um, Peaky Blinders is
the TV show, of course. Yeah. I just I got
COVID recently, so I binged Peky Blinders. I just I
just love sort of like there's wit and humor, but
(36:29):
like it's dark and it's like I'm rooting for the
bad guys. You know what I'm saying. Yes, And they
also like use language except I'm going to say the
language in the script, the cinematography or like everything about beautiful. Um.
It also it's dangerous though, because it makes me want
to sit there and like light up a cigarette and
(36:49):
drink and drink all day. Chris, you're invited over going
to Blinders the next Oh, the movie. The movie's coming
out next. Did you know that there's a Chris so
exited the next level of movie? And because of because
of piggy Lins in the sixth season. I don't think
(37:10):
I'm giving away any anything away by saying this spoiler
alert if anything, but Tommy does a he delivers a
poem and I think it's in the first episode to
like a group of people that are there and it's
called the Poison Tree by William Blake. And it's just
(37:33):
a really really beautiful poem. But William Blake. I've been
reading William Blake poems a little bit every day. I
love that. That was my favorite question questionnaire moment of
Morranita so far. That was so good. That just hit home.
Chris Good, thank you so much for coming on here
(37:54):
and for like sharing the love of language with us
and like just really hits you. I feel like we
have I'm so gladly connected finally in this universe. I
think the universe works in miraculous and crazy ways. So
um so grateful that our paths have crossed and continued across.
Thank you for you have such an incredible spirit. Uh
(38:17):
Darylyn I I it's just magnetic electric. I'm so glad
that you have this podcast. Thank you for having me
on it. I'm not gonnae I get a little nervous
on these things, but you made me feel so welcome
and comfortable. And I thank you for letting me come
on here and just ramble about love and what I
love to do. And yes, if we want to follow
you and like continue following your journey, where do our
(38:40):
listeners tap in? How do we find you? What's the plug?
Um it's on Instagram, which as he as he as
he's finding it's see underscore ram brother man is it
brother with an a or brother? Are? Oh th h
(39:01):
A M A N. I'm gonna have you spell the
whole thing out, Okay see underscore r A M B
R O t H A M A N. And maybe
I need a new social public on social media guru
out there who you know. We'll have opinions about that,
(39:23):
but I love this. I love this. Everybody go follow Chris.
He's amazing, He's incredible. Go find him and as you
like it at Delacore Stage, um, Shakespeare in the Park
this summer. It's going to be incredible. We cannot wait
to see you and support you so much. Love Chris,
thanks for coming on what Anita? Thank you so much, Darren,
I thank you for having it. This has been such
a pleasure. Mon Anita is a production of Sono in
(39:48):
partnership with I Heart Radios Michael Guda podcast Network. For
more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Well then se
Oh yeah, me hint that. I just want to give
you a heads up. The program you are about to
hear may have some explicit language, it may not. It
also depends on where the vibes and the spirit leads us.
Hope you enjoy. Welcome to Monita, a deep dive into
the Latin X experience with more Anita. We want to
(00:23):
create a community and a shared space with you while
sharing knowledge and inspiration. This show is about celebrating our
culture with guests who exemplify the best of us. I'm
Darrylene Gastillo, Bethane Veetle. Oh yeah, me hinted. Today we
have the hilarious, the charismatic, just all around amazing human
(00:48):
and actor Christopher I met Is and we are talking
about our love trem language. Now not just any old language. Well,
actually it is kind of old. Here. I'll give you
a hint. To be or not to be? That is
the question. Got it? For those of you who don't
(01:09):
got it? We are talking about Shakespeare. Okay, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait,
don't switch it off just yet. I challenge you to
give this one a curse. Listen, because not only do
we talk about our love for Shakespeare, but we connect
this with our love for our language, Spanish and our
relationship with both of these languages. I know, I know,
(01:32):
how do we do that? Yeah? Keep listening. Chris goes
even deeper into how he has been a true follower
and lover of Shakespeare, but found himself being rejected and
told many a times how latinid people had no place
in these classical, prestigious pieces. Chris has looked at all
(01:52):
of that rejection dead in the eye and faced it
head on. To prove all those people wrong, he created
his path and studied at the University of San Diego
and the Old Blow, which only chooses seven lucky actors
to enter their master's program. Now, get this, tuition is
free while you get paid a stipend to receive your
(02:14):
masters and Chris got one of those spots out of
those seven people. Where do I sign up? Now? He
talks about his journey to Shakespeare as well, and how
where he went for undergrad did not really encourage his
journey into the classics. It gets really real. I totally
felt this conversation because I too am a lover of
(02:37):
Sir Shakespeare. In case you didn't know, I studied at
the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and I
played that bettine mantaining of the Shrew. I also drank
tons of cider and met the most wonderful people while
living in London. But Shakespeare changed my life as an actor,
and I have an obsession with the language. Now. I
(02:59):
had some similar battles, such as Chris, But to hear
from an other fellow Latina actor literally take all these
battles and win the war is pretty epic. Oh yeah,
did I mention that Chris will be making his delacour
public theater debut at Shakespeare in the Park and as
you like it as Touchstone, I mean talk about rejection
(03:20):
and turning it into the most badass move. Oh Latina,
people can't be in Shakespeare. Oh Latin that people can't
be in the Shakespeare. Peace cool. I'll just book one
of the most prestigious Shakespeare theaters and go star in
the show super casual Chris, congratulations. I want to give
a warning as well that this episode contains bird noises,
(03:40):
shakespeare in accents, laughter, joy, knowledge, and so much pride
within our language. For the love of language, than veto
welcome to more and Nita, Oh my god, sale. I'm
(04:00):
so happy to be here, thank you for having me
come on ballet Um. So Christopher or do you prefer Chris?
You know, I'm kind of feeling out both. When I
was like, uh, in grad school, I was like, it's Christopher.
I'm getting my master's degree, It's Christopher Michael. But now
now I'm like, that's pretendially. I mean, you know, yes,
(04:23):
there was the name I was given, you know, by
my my parents. But Christopher, Chris whatever kind of you know,
sinks into your mouth the best, whatever you like saying
the best. You know, where did you go to grad school?
I went to grad school at the University of San
Diego and the Old Globe. They had a partnership program
and they bring seven actors in every year we auditioned
(04:43):
to New York Um. They bring in seven talented actors,
the Lucky seven, that's right, and we study, you know,
acting with predominantly a focus on classical like Shakespeare. And
it's for two years, and the perk is it's free.
You get a stipend and I feel like they need
(05:04):
they're gonna they need to pay me for this's gonna
do a promo for them. And you get to participate
in four festival stage Shakespeare productions at the Old Globe
during the summertime, so we work year round. So that's
why they're able to do it in two years as
opposed to like I think other programs are a lot
of them are three years. Uh some even four. But
(05:26):
the reason why we were able to do it in
two years is because we work through the summer, so
we don't have any recess for two years. But that's
great because also, like the Old Globe is like professional,
I mean, it's it's like a very prestigious professional theater company,
um that everyone wants to work for. It's amazing too
because you're in Balboa Park, which if you've never have
(05:46):
you ever been to San Diego, scourge is out there.
You've ever been to San Diego, you're in this The
first time I went there, it was way before I
went to you know, school there, and you get there
and you feel like you're in Spain or something. It's
like all of these sort of like Spanish style buildings
and then this beautiful, the amazing like you said, theatrical
(06:09):
institution just right there, um with the zoo behind. I
mean literally you'll go out there and you'll see Shakespeare
in the evening among the stars and behind the actors
who are working, you'll hear lions roaring, or you'll hear
animals because the zoo in San Diego Zoo is right there.
It's amazing. Or you'll hear like weird like you know,
(06:30):
peacock birds just being like you know, like just in
the background. Why you're like to be or not to be?
That is the question question. I love that. I love that. Okay,
so I know we just dived right in. We were like, but, um,
how did you decide to go to grad school? Because
(06:51):
I think there's a stigma with that with some actors.
I don't know if you've ever heard of that stigma,
but of course it was of course, I mean the
ones that I have heard of. Our Like, Okay, you
go to grad school when you know, you're kind of
like auditions aren't happening, or things aren't rolling, or or
you just like want to go study to be a
teacher or things like that. What was the reason that
(07:11):
you decided to go to grad school? And obviously this
was around COVID time frame I'm guessing, which we're still
in to be real, but you know, yeah, to start
with getting into acting. Um, I was just, first of all,
I have a d h D. And I'm proud to
be somebody with a d h D. Uh, just because
(07:31):
like it's just my brain just worked completely different, you know. Um.
So as a child, I just was all over the place,
always doing just you know, different skits. I just always
wanted to be kind of entertaining, not necessarily like the
center of attention, but just entertaining and making people laugh.
(07:52):
And I was always singing songs and everything and so actually,
but I didn't really fall into acting. I found the
choir first, so I was like singing first, you know,
and then it was you know, I think I did
like a community theater show. I was supposed to do
a community theater show of Fiddler on the Roof when
I was like ten, but then I broke my wrist
(08:14):
on a gas powered scooter so I couldn't do it.
So actually it wasn't really until eighth grade that I
did Greece, and I was like, you know, I played
the teen Angels like beauty school dropout because I was
a soprano at that time. Um, And but then I
really fell in love with it in in high school
(08:34):
and like what maybe want to really go into it,
specifically musical theater. Um at first was playing Captain Hook
in the playing Peter Pan. Wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry
you played Captain Hook? I did? I did? I played
captain Did you have the hair and everything as you do? Now?
I did not have the long hair. They dive, they wig,
they put a wig. They put a wig on my head.
(08:57):
Um wait. And I wasn't even imagine, like you're tending.
I can just see yourself. I can see your young
self just playing this role and killing it. I just
have to say that I did win a Thesbian Award
for it, so you know, but I feel back to
Rohanran because Rohan bless the guys, he's a he's an
old friend from from high school and he was so
involved in in get acting and he was like the
(09:21):
star pupil and I was doing musical, but he would
do the plays, you know. And then I just one
day after school, I was like, I think I'm I'm
an audition for Captain Hook. It's a play though you know,
I don't have the singing to like back me up.
And everybody thought Rohan was gonna get it. And I
I stole it from Rohan as Mr Hook does. As
Mr Hook does, Where did you grow up? I grew
(09:56):
up in Carmel, Indiana, which is at which is a
suburb of Indianapolis. Um, it's about twenty five minutes north. Um.
And now it's like basically Disney World. It's this little,
like wild little town. And it used what used to
be corn fields and like farmland has now blossomed. They
(10:17):
had this beautiful performing arts center over there and like
a huge arts district and it's like just a beautiful
little suburb, you know. Um, that's where I grew up.
So I found my So I found my way in
with the choir. So let's fast forward. So then I
went to the Bostonservatory. Okay, just casual foco, let's move on.
(10:39):
Graduated and moved to New York and I did the
musical theater track, and I was really I was like
in the ensemble and then like understudying and working a
lot regionally. But I got this, I got bit by
the bug of like, you know what, like I want
to do Shakespeare. I feel like I need I feel
like I want to be I don't want to just
(11:01):
be doing the ensemble and I don't always want to
be having to sing eight shows a week. In this
demanding sounds like he wanted more tools. I wanted more tools.
I still had some stuff, you know, as a as
a Latin a actor in undergrad and you know, I
had a couple of professors that I am not too
(11:23):
fond of. That kind of just made me feel like
I didn't have a place in classical theater. If we
if we don't have to like dive super deep, if
you don't, if that's not comfortable, But I think it's important.
I think it's important. You know, I had a teacher
I won't mention their name. So we're working on Shakespeare
and I started and he cut me off, like on
the first line. I was like, you did. It's interesting,
(11:44):
you did city latinos doing the classics, and and then
he was like interesting, isn't it. M hm, that's it?
And then he kind of just like brushed over me
and told me to sit down. And just essentially I
just felt like that wasn't for me, that wasn't for us,
(12:05):
you know what I'm saying. I never really even tried
to do it, but then I saw I was um
working at the old Globe on this great show The
Heart of Rock and Roll, which is about Huey Lewis
and hue Lewis and the News musical. And I saw
Shakespeare on the stage and I saw people of color
doing Shakespeare, and I was like, I want to do
I want to do that. That would be an incredible
(12:28):
thing to accomplish, To get to sink my teeth into
that kind of language that you know, and reclaim it
through my point of view, my perspective, my experience. I
auditioned for for grad school I think a year out
of my undergrad and I didn't get in, and but
I got great feedback, and it was like, you know,
(12:48):
go and get some more experience, your little green And
so I went and got a bunch of experience and had,
you know, a great career before I went to school. Um,
and then I just got that, I got the itch
again and I auditioned and I and I got into
that the best program for me was was the Old
Globes program. And so for me it was about yes,
(13:10):
there's teaching. You know. Those are some some of the
things you mentioned earlier, Darylyn, about people going because they
want to teach, or people going because they're not really
getting success in the professional realm. And for me, it
wasn't that. For me, it was I was getting success,
but I found myself going kind of staying in one track,
(13:32):
which is like musical theater, um, jukebox musicals. And not
to say that I don't love doing that. I just
was like, I'm not getting any auditions for Shakespeare, and
if I am, I don't I feel ill equipped to
a certain extent to be able to handle it. And
for me, I would always use this analogy where I
felt like I was grabbing at fireflies in the work,
(13:53):
where like I would reach out and something when I
would catch, when I'd be this, you know, incredible, awesome thing,
and and the work would be fantastic. But then a
lot of the times I would, you know, kind of
miss and I'd be like, I don't know what I'm
I'm doing, And that's a beautiful thing. I think we
should always kind of be like I don't really know
what I'm doing, because the infinite possibilities could come out
(14:16):
of that. But I just wanted to feel like I
could have more to cling onto and more to build
from and open myself up to a higher echelon and
have more options in terms of like because I want
to do it all. I want to do film, I
wanted to TV, I want to do I'm so in
love with Shakespeare right now and I and I still
don't know what the hell I'm doing at the time,
(14:38):
but I go back to the text hour after hour
and just sink more and more into it and find
things that I can relate to in it. Um so,
you know. And I think that's a testament to how
powerful it is and it's lasted this long, and that
we can find new things within it and and bring,
you know, again, as a Latin Latin a man, bring
(14:59):
my own experiences to it. I love that. I mean,
just going back to Boco for a hot second, because
I think it's really important, just because I also think that,
like many of many of us Latina people have experienced this,
whether or not even if you weren't an actor, right,
let's say you don't. We've had so many other guests
here who've been chefs and politicians that you know Latina
(15:21):
person doing that well, I've never I would have never interesting, right,
you know. And I just want to kind of like
even go further for you, because it's you know. I
mean you're about to start at the Public Theater um,
and I'm just gonna say it. You can't get any
more like fuck you Boco than that. I mean you
(15:41):
are about to do Shakespeare in the Park at the Delicore.
I mean you can't come on man, like, where's the
round of the clause? Oh? Because it's a dreamy man.
I literally am. I'm listening to you and I'm like
I want to cry because I'm like, I do we
because you know I you know that you know my
(16:02):
love for Shakespeare, and I studied in London and I'm obsessed.
And and you're working with Lorie Woolery, who directed dream
House was a dream of herself and she's an amazing
Latina woman that we hopefully have on the show. Um.
But I love hearing you speak and like hearing how
this is all coming full circle to you, because it's like, yeah,
we don't know what the fuck we're doing. We don't,
(16:23):
but we're working towards something. And when you listen to
that little thing in your mind and your voice, that
little voice in your head, and you're like, you know what,
I'm going to do this again and look at where
it's led you Shakespeare the part talk to us about that?
Oh my gosh, yeah for me, like it's so eat,
I want to talk about that. Um. I obviously am
(16:45):
so excited to do this. This has been a huge
dream of mine. And what I've realized in my life
is and not not to say that I needed to
switch my mentality less from like product orientation to process
and loving the process, loving and like loving the craft,
you know, because for so long I was like, I
just gotta be I I need to be on Broadway
(17:07):
and I don't care what it is, and I'll take anything,
you know, And there's nothing wrong with that. That's obviously
like still there, it still exists that as a dream,
you know. That's the child who went and saw that,
those those shows here everybody remembers their first Broadway show
and there and and wanting to achieve that. But I
switch my mentality more to like taste all the different
(17:28):
like mediums of theater, you know. And as soon as
I started doing that and sticking true to my gut
in that way, and I accomplished this thing here that
I've wanted to do for for ten years. I've wanted
to do. I remember, as people are like you know,
that's that's where you do Shakespeare. The real Shakespeare actors
they work at the they work on the Delacourt and
(17:50):
all these amazing names that have come through there, you know,
Al Paccino and and Meryl Street and Raoul Julia, amazing
Latino actor God rest his soul um who have worked
on that stage. And it happened a lot sooner than
I thought, you know, like it happens so much sooner
than I thought, because it was the right thing. You know.
It's this beautiful adaptation um with with music and lyrics
(18:15):
by Gina Tobb. And she just did stuff at the
Public Bolory. She's she's amazing. I know you did Dream
House with her, and I'm so happy that I got
to see that as well. And that was before I
even met you. But I was like, we love her
so okay, I'm rambling. I'm going on a tangier No. No,
I think it's so important to hear your hear your
(18:36):
pure excitement for this show. I cannot wait. When does
it actually open? It opens on August tenth, and then
it runs through uh September eleven. Um. Right now, we're
in rehearsal. Started rehearsal was last week. I got to
be a fly on the wall. Oh my gosh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(18:59):
It's an incredible group of people. So this is part
of the Public Works, which is an incredible organization they
have at the public I think this is the ten Theater,
and they bring professional actors and community actors from all
five bureaus of New York together, and we yesterday we
went around and all introduced ourselves, and um, there's somebody
(19:24):
represented from from all five and such a wonderfully diverse
group of people. And you just seek passion for for
Shakespeare and for storytelling and for this story as you
like it, which is so important right now, and a
really powerful message within there. And and then Lorie Woolery
(19:44):
at the helm of it, she just has this huge heart,
you know, like it's just you can see like her
passion is for theater, but it's for people more than
anything else. And she just knows how to bring all
the best people together. I'm just so humbled and excited
and everybody should come and see it because it's just
gonna be this beautiful, colorful, magical story And you're playing
(20:10):
I'm playing Touchstone, the clown Latin is in Love with Shakespeare?
Oh my god, are we're gonna write a book called
Latin is in Love with Shakespeare? We should? We should,
we should? We should get together to actually we need
to work on something together. Yeah, yeah, we should do
a comedy together. Like I'm thinking, like, like I don't know,
(20:32):
maybe like Twelfth Night. Let's call Laurie. We'll figure this out.
Let's she'll figure it out. She'll figure it out. I
want to kind of like change gears for a second,
(20:52):
because I know that there's something that you and I
have spoken about that you're also extremely passionate about. Um,
I should I shouldn't say passionate. I should say you
have thoughts about because throughout our conversations of us getting
to know each other recently, we have spoken about our
upbringings and being Methanis and obviously being in this community,
(21:17):
but also like not within our own community. Language. And
I switched over to language because I mean, Shakespeare's a language,
and this episode is obviously about language. Um so switching
from Shakespeare to Spanish. Um, what is your relationship to
the language. It is a relationship, you know what I'm saying.
(21:39):
It is a relationship. And and I don't. I'm not
I'm not fluid, and so often it's a tumultuous thing
because it's this, it's this odd thing. I shared a
wall with my grand I'm Colombian, that's my background. In
the late nineties, when my grandmother passed away, so I
would do my dad's my columb me inside my dad's side.
(22:01):
My dad wanted to take care of his dad, so
he so he moved my grandfather Malulo into our house
in Indiana, and they they immigrated from Colombia to uh
Long Island to Bay Shore, Long Island, m in the sixties.
That's an amazing story. Um a long story, so I
(22:24):
won't get into but basically, they immigrated in the sixties
and and so with my dad settled us down in Indiana.
He brought my grandfather and to take care of him
and gave him a room in his house that he built.
And so I shared a wall with my grandfather and
I would go. I would hear my father and my
grandfather talking in Spanish every morning. And the thing was,
(22:45):
you know, my grandfather would talk to us and we
would try to talk back. The Spanish programs in school
were kind of you know, in the Midwest especially, but
also so the reason why I say tumultuous is because
and I wrote about in my thesis in grad school
about this um You know, my father was bullied a
(23:06):
lot growing up on Long Island, and he was I
mean back in the sixties when he was growing up,
they didn't have the programs they have now, and so
he was held back. Twice. He was put in special
education class because he didn't speak English, and he was
(23:26):
bullied and ridiculed, and they told him that he you know,
they called my my grandfather and said, you know, your
son has a super low i Q, which wasn't the case.
He just didn't know how to He didn't know what
the questions were in English on the i Q test.
So I think all of that took a toll in
my dad, and he wanted to do and I don't
(23:47):
blame him, you know, he wanted to assimilate my, my
sister and I into whiteness the most he could and
americanize us too, you know, English to the best he
could in Indian so that we could fit in and
we could have we wouldn't go through the things that
he went through growing up. And so he made the
(24:07):
choice and not really talk to us in Spanish, and
so I do have a relationship to when I hear
people speak Spanish, whenever I throw in little Spanish words
here and there. I talked to my grandfather as and
it's difficult, you know, because I struggle to repeat things.
I have to ask him to repeat things. But it's
this beautiful negotiation of like identity, you know, because it's
(24:32):
been an identity crisis thing. You know. I feel like
the first eighteen years of my life growing up in Indiana,
being a minority there in in in a school full
of four kids, high school kids, and there was like
twenty Latino people there. I just I just felt like
a huge part of my culture. I don't want to
(24:52):
say that though, because at home, like my grandfather would
cook you know, uh some coacho and and like dotes
and like all of these you know, Colombian dishes and
my father would too, and so like I feel like
a huge part of our cuisine was like very much
you know, Colombian, and the influence from from our background
(25:16):
and our heritage from home. Um. Yeah, language was always
was always a struggle, and it wasn't until I went
to to undergrad and I was in a room full
of like a lot of these you know, classmates and
friends of mine who were from Miami, who were fluent
and so in touch with their culture that I started
(25:39):
to try to dig in and learn more than I
am on that journey now of trying to trying to
to learn the language. Um And it's a slow and
steady practice, you know, Yeah, as you're speaking, I never
really thought about, like, and maybe this is just my
privilege of like being a New Yorker, Dominican new Yorker
(25:59):
who like, you know, obviously, I go to Washington Heights
and there's thousands of us, and then you know, I
grew up upstate where there was like five of us,
and you know, so I was able to see beyond
where I grew up and understand that if I just
go to my backyard, there's a whole world of us.
And I never realized that privilege until you're you're speaking now,
(26:20):
because I feel like if I didn't have that, I
wouldn't be fluent in Spanish. I probably would. Um. You know,
my mother, um is it got her doctorate in English
education as a as a like I think, and that
was her like way of being like, you know, I
came to this country at fourteen, I didn't speak the language.
(26:42):
I'm going to master it. That's just my mom, that's
who she is, um. But it's like, and I also remember,
you know, I spoke a little Spanish at home, you know,
and that and that, but it wasn't until I went
to I begged my mom to let me go to
Costa Rica in high school as an exchange student because
I really just wanted to be immersed. And I was like,
(27:03):
I don't want to know little. I want to learn more,
and I want to go to the heights and be
able to talk to my grandmother and this and that,
and be able to talk to my friends that I've
met who are coming from d R. And so I
feel like I just closely also relate to like and
I think there's something and the reason why we both
love Shakespeare so much. I think like we both love language,
(27:23):
and that's why I wanted to like touch based on
Spanish because I know when we first met. That's my
other thing too that I'm working on. I'm like, Daryln,
don't be assuming everybody out here speak Spanish. But because
I remember I literally spoke like full on sentences to
you and you were like, um hey, and I was
(27:45):
I was like, oh my god, I'm so sorry. I
totally assumed and like, uh, I mean and I was
like Darylyn, like, you know, not everybody has that same
that is not there on their different journey with the language.
Um well, simultaneously though not everybody. I will sit there
and be like no, no, no, no, slow it down,
you know, and repeat what you said. But at the
(28:05):
same time, on my end, I can't assume that every
Spanish speaker is going to want to take the time
to break to break it down, nor should they have to. Um,
you know what I'm saying. But I also feel like
it's my duty too. Well if you want to that,
that's just free Spanish lessons for me, and I'm down
to do that and I'm down to talk to you
(28:26):
any day. So listen, we gotta we gotta all be
there for each other. And I just think that, like,
I don't know, there's something really fascinating that us as
both Americanized Latino young people in this world moving around,
Like I just related so much to you, I still
get nervous speaking Spanish, even if I feel like I'm
(28:47):
fluent or people like no, you're fluent. You're fluent. I'm like,
sometimes I get a little grammar thing, you know. Sometimes
I'm not. You know, sometimes my writing Listen, writing and
speaking is a whole different thing. So sometimes my writing
is not that strong. But there's this like disconnect that
we as Americanized young Latino people have been and there's
(29:08):
something that's been instilled in us, you know, even my mother.
I think about my mother, I'm like, she came to
American and she was like, I'm going to get the
biggest degree you can get in English literature and and
know everything in English. Like well, I mean, it's like
that aspirational immigrant mentality of like, if people are going
to give me the respect, you know, I'm gonna excel
(29:28):
and do the best, achieve the highest level of the thing,
because then I've proven to myself and proven to everybody else.
Even though why do we have to do that? You
know what I'm saying. I definitely saw that with my dad.
My dad, you know, he wanted he went to school
for for business and computer sciences, and he wanted to
own a business, and he wanted to buy a big house,
and he wanted to have, you know, all of the
(29:51):
the American dream. You know, he wanted to achieve that
and for himself, but you know a little bit so
he I think I could have that acceptance. Yeah, absolutely,
you know, as the as the outsider. Interesting how these
these things are passed on generationally, because that was a
(30:12):
huge thing for me too. I was like, I shouldn't
have to prove I shouldn't we shouldn't have to prove anything,
you know what I'm saying, Um, But there was something
inside of me that was like I need to prove
to myself maybe. And it's not the piece of paper, agree,
it's all of the struggles and everything that happened in
your process towards that. That's just this reminder, that's just
this maybe like a maybe that maybe I look at
(30:35):
my degree is sort of just like a It's like
a giant you ever write like words of aspiration, not
affirmation like a post it note. It's like I am
enough and you put it on your on your mirr
or whatever. So for me, my degree is just a
giant word of affirmation, you know. And so I wonder
if if you're if your mother you can relate to that.
(30:57):
You know, you bet that degree is sitting right in
the house when you watch it, it's proud. It's gym
prize possession. Yet and I also and also I think
as as as their children, we both wear I wear
that pride for pridefully as well, you know, like look
at what my mom's accomplished. And then it's like, you know,
obviously we are doing it in our own way as well.
(31:20):
It's it's it's wild to see generational I don't want
to call a generational trauma. It's a better word for it, Chris,
Oh my gosh. Generational people would say that, but you
know what I call it intergenerational anxiety. That's what I
would intergenerational anxiety. People would say like that the trauma
(31:42):
has passed out. But I don't want to say like
trauma because you know, anxiety is something that a lot
of us deal with on a on a day to
day thing, but for me, it's also like an energy
and fuel and it's something that I just have to
record with and deal with and overcome m But because
(32:03):
of it, I don't know if I would have achieved
all these things if if I hadn't had those traumatic
or or experiences or dealt with these anxieties. We're seeing
my father's you know, his journey and learn from that
and experience. So that's what I call it. I don't
(32:24):
know if like I love that. No, I love that
scientists are like scholars. Someone's listening to that and they're like, obviously,
people don't know what's that. It's not called that, okay.
But what I love about whatever it is that, whatever
it is that the scholars call it is what you
and I have done and are doing with it, especially
(32:45):
listening to your story. And you ny about to take
the stage to kill this production. And everybody, if you're
in the city, go catch Christopher M. Ramdaz and as
you like, get at the delicate Little Court Theater. He's
about he's about to kill it. I can't wait to
come and route you on. This is the moment of
(33:09):
mor Anita that everyone's been waiting for, because we got
some questions for you, some really special questions. Are you ready? Okay? Yes? Please?
Yespeak yes? Well, I have to I have to ask
what is your favorite Shakespeare play. That's hard. I'm gonna
have to say. I'm gonna have to say Twelve Night
(33:30):
because it was it was the play that introduced me
to and I feel like that's like everybody is, you know,
but it's the one I did a Shakespeare camp that
my my aunt and uncle enrolled, my sister and I
end when I was like eight years old, and that
was my and I played Sir Toby. We did like
a miniature, yes selections, but junior junior version. Yeah. And
(33:54):
so I have to say, like, I don't know if
I would even be here if it wasn't for that place.
So I'm going to say I'm gonna say twelve of mine.
I'm gonna say twelve. It was the first play that
I did in grad school. It was the first full
fled Shakespeare play that I did it in an entirety.
So I'm going to say twelfth Night. Okay, I love
that for you. But but but I also would say
my favorite Shacker play is the one that I would
(34:14):
say my favorite Shakespeare play is the one I'm currently
working on, of course, but I'm gonna say my favorite
Shakespeare character, we go. My favorite Shakespeare character is Iago
because I try to. I think it's a wonderful exploration
in like why villainous people do what they do what
(34:37):
they do. They're hurting, yes, they're they're hurting. It doesn't.
It doesn't, it doesn't absolve and it doesn't like justify them.
But he's hurting. It's such a great character, such a
great role. I mean, oh my gosh, such an intense journey. Okay.
Second question, if you could switch the lead character of
a movie into a different film, who would it be
(35:00):
and into what film? I'm gonna have to do some
math here. Okay. So if I could switch a lead
character from any film, from any movie into a different movie,
so he's there, they are still playing the lead in
another movie, who would it be an into what film?
(35:21):
This is an intense question. Okay, I got it, I
got it. Hannibal Lecter Okay, into like best in Show,
like mockumentary, Okay, which character in that? Like any Christopher
Guest movie? But like best and show like a dog show,
(35:41):
Hannibal Lector at a dog show being like ladies, I
love my pooches name. I think I think you have
something here. I think you have something here that's rich.
You are a clown, indeed, a clown indeed. Okay. Third
and last question, Okay, what have you seen or read
(36:06):
lately that you'd recommend to our listeners? Um, I'm gonna
do two things because they actually this is thank you
for asking this question. It really, Um, Peaky Blinders is
the TV show, of course. Yeah. I just I got
COVID recently, so I binged Peky Blinders. I just I
just love sort of like there's wit and humor, but
(36:29):
like it's dark and it's like I'm rooting for the
bad guys. You know what I'm saying. Yes, And they
also like use language except I'm going to say the
language in the script, the cinematography or like everything about beautiful. Um.
It also it's dangerous though, because it makes me want
to sit there and like light up a cigarette and
(36:49):
drink and drink all day. Chris, you're invited over going
to Blinders the next Oh, the movie. The movie's coming
out next. Did you know that there's a Chris so
exited the next level of movie? And because of because
of piggy Lins in the sixth season. I don't think
(37:10):
I'm giving away any anything away by saying this spoiler
alert if anything, but Tommy does a he delivers a
poem and I think it's in the first episode to
like a group of people that are there and it's
called the Poison Tree by William Blake. And it's just
(37:33):
a really really beautiful poem. But William Blake. I've been
reading William Blake poems a little bit every day. I
love that. That was my favorite question questionnaire moment of
Morranita so far. That was so good. That just hit home.
Chris Good, thank you so much for coming on here
(37:54):
and for like sharing the love of language with us
and like just really hits you. I feel like we
have I'm so gladly connected finally in this universe. I
think the universe works in miraculous and crazy ways. So
um so grateful that our paths have crossed and continued across.
Thank you for you have such an incredible spirit. Uh
(38:17):
Darylyn I I it's just magnetic electric. I'm so glad
that you have this podcast. Thank you for having me
on it. I'm not gonnae I get a little nervous
on these things, but you made me feel so welcome
and comfortable. And I thank you for letting me come
on here and just ramble about love and what I
love to do. And yes, if we want to follow
you and like continue following your journey, where do our
(38:40):
listeners tap in? How do we find you? What's the plug?
Um it's on Instagram, which as he as he as
he's finding it's see underscore ram brother man is it
brother with an a or brother? Are? Oh th h
(39:01):
A M A N. I'm gonna have you spell the
whole thing out, Okay see underscore r A M B
R O t H A M A N. And maybe
I need a new social public on social media guru
out there who you know. We'll have opinions about that,
(39:23):
but I love this. I love this. Everybody go follow Chris.
He's amazing, He's incredible. Go find him and as you
like it at Delacore Stage, um, Shakespeare in the Park
this summer. It's going to be incredible. We cannot wait
to see you and support you so much. Love Chris,
thanks for coming on what Anita? Thank you so much, Darren,
I thank you for having it. This has been such
a pleasure. Mon Anita is a production of Sono in
(39:48):
partnership with I Heart Radios Michael Guda podcast Network. For
more podcast from I Heart Radio, visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
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