00:00I had always heard so many incredible things about the Philippines, so for me to get the chance to come
00:05and tell a story that means so much to me and get to immerse myself in a culture as beautiful
00:09as yours, it was something that I truly was looking forward to and I'm so glad that I'm here.
00:19It's so incredible, you know, I'm always so grateful to be alongside prequels that love what they do, as do
00:25I, and you know, getting to do it alongside this wonderful cast means the world to me and I'm truly
00:31enjoying this.
00:31You know, the similarities are quite surprising to me because, obviously, we're geographically so far away from each other, however,
00:40the familiarity that I feel being here is wild to me because I truly do feel at home, I was
00:48joking around earlier, you couldn't tell the difference between a room full of Cubans or a room full of Filipinos,
00:54it feels so great to be received the way that I have been,
00:58and, I mean, truly, you guys have to come and watch the show because the level of talent from the
01:04dancing to the singing to the acting is truly top-notch.
01:08Being a first-generation Cuban-American, I truly, I appreciate so much the sacrifice that my family made for me
01:17to be born in a place, sorry, to where I am able to have the opportunities that I have.
01:23You know, I'm not sure if you're aware, but Cuba right now is under the longest-standing dictatorship currently, almost
01:3270 years.
01:33And so, unfortunately, the only place that a Cuban can be successful is outside of Cuba.
01:40And so, as a Cuban-American, when I got to step into the role of Emilio and go to that
01:46journey of really pioneering that crossover from Latino into the Anglo market,
01:54I resonate so much with it because growing up, again, as a first-generation and seeing everything that my family
02:02had to go through
02:03so that my siblings and I can have the opportunities that we have today, it's truly a story that's ingrained
02:10in my DNA.
02:11And so, I wouldn't say there's just one or two things that I identify with, and with Emilio's story, it's
02:16truly the entire scale.
02:17Aside from the dreams that they were able to achieve,
02:21I mean, it's the story of how family is so much more than what the word even describes.
02:31You know, family is not perfect.
02:33I think it's okay to understand that every family has its struggles.
02:38The important thing is that we stick together and that we truly know that at the root of it all,
02:44nothing is more important than family.
02:47And that shines big time in this story.
02:52This story, I said it earlier, I'm always so grateful when I get to be blessed with the opportunity to
02:58practice my craft.
03:00But this story specifically, it always feels like home when you're doing it.
03:06For me, personally, being Cuban-American, getting to tell it in Miami was one thing, right?
03:14Because you're speaking to an audience that truly, you know, went through the experience, lived it.
03:20You know, they are the Emilio's and the Gloria's of our world.
03:26But when I got the call to come and tell this story here in Manila,
03:30it wasn't a hard decision to make.
03:34You know, I had always heard so many incredible things about the Philippines.
03:39So for me to get the chance to come and tell a story that means so much to me
03:42and get to immerse myself in a culture as beautiful as yours,
03:46it was something that I truly was looking forward to.
03:49And I'm so glad that I'm here.
03:50I'm already sad that I know that there will come a day that I have to go back.
03:56But I'm truly enjoying every moment of it.
03:58And I'm just taking it day by day.
04:00And again, so grateful to the entire cast and the production for allowing you to tell this story here.
04:07Guys, do not miss the opportunity to come and see On Your Feet at the Proscenium Theatre this July.
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