think the arts are so essential to the continuation of all of our evolution as civilized human beings.

We reflect back ourselves and in doing that, we gain greater understanding about ourselves, our communities, how each of us struggles in different ways.

But there's a similar connection through all of that struggle and through all of our differences.

There's connection.

Hi, I'm Conrad Erica moore, and this is how Art changed me.

My first real exposure to the arts happened later than most people because I grew up on Air Force bases.

My dad was just super silly, which is weird because you think military Air Force guy would be super stoic and and harsh, but he was so goofy.

Probably out of necessity to keep his sanity because he was a single father from the time I was an infant.

And he performed for my brother and I and we were just like laugh and giggle while I was getting my psychology degree in undergrad.

I had to fill out my time with electives, and acting was one of the electives.

There was something that happened.

My teacher assigned me a monologue.

That was a teenager who was meeting their estranged parent for the first time, and I read it and it was exactly what my real life experience was.

And I was staring at this writer who I had never met on a page, writing what felt so personal to me.

And I got up on stage and just spoke the words and felt like I could speak them with authority.

And I felt this electricity in the room because it was an honest moment.

And I remember finishing the monologue and looking out and everybody was just like, like, whoa.

Like we all just, like, experienced something together.

That was when I was hooked on acting and storytelling.

I was in my third year of grad school for my MFA in acting when I saw the New York Times wrote an article about David Byrne and his he was writing a musical about Imelda marcos and the People Power Revolution.

I had this feeling like, Oh, I should be a part of this.

So I flew up on to go to an open call and they wanted to call me back the next day.

And then they called me back another time.

And then there I was in the room with David Byrne and Alex Timbers and the rest of the creative team.

I was still finishing up my third year of grad school and then I had to fly back to school the next day and that's when I got the call that I was cast in the show.

It really got me in touch with my own roots and a part of who I've always been, but had no idea about the history until I did the research for the show and then talking and sharing experiences with all of my Filipino American and sometimes Filipino cast mates.

Really, we all had these shared stories of our parents not really wanting to talk about it when after they left.

So it was really meaningful to dive into this part of our history, and especially playing somebody like Ninoy, who was speaking truth to power, which seems now more than ever, more important than ever.

And who was in prison for seven years.

It's funny, when I booked the show, my stepmom said, My dad, your dad is dancing around the house and so excited.

I was like, Oh yeah, it's pretty cool.

And then he was like, You know, your great uncle worked in the Aquino administration, and I had no idea because my dad doesn't talk about any of that stuff.

Little things like that kept happening over and over again to all of us in the cast where we would do research on the show.

And then our parents would talk to us, our family members would talk to us about their time in the Philippines in a way that they never had before because it had never been celebrated.

Growing up, I didn't have a lot of examples of representation or positive representation for Asian-American men.

I always felt like we were kind of the butt of the joke, that we were being emasculated, which resulted honestly in teasing and bullying in real life that I experienced growing up.

And then it started to shift in the early 2000.

I remember seeing Daniel Dae Kim in Lost and being like, Oh, finally there is where Asian-American men are allowed to be like strong and sexy and powerful.

Yeah, it feels good to be a part of that movement too, to show Asian-American men that you can be everything and not just one thing.

I brought with me today this denim patchwork bag that was made by my dear friend.

Jay Majeste, who is also a Filipino actor.

He's also an artisan.

And he started making these bags from recycled denim.

I love the concept of using what you have, showing up with what you have.

I think as an actor sometimes that you feel pressure to be something more than what you are.

But it's important to remember that you already have within you what you need.

And I love that this bag reminds me of that.

But you know, I don't want to think about what it would be like if I didn't have the arts.

I think they're so essential to having catharsis, feeling, connection, feeling.

seen and heard and feeling a sense of community in a world right now where we're so divided and so polarized and ostracized by our devices, especially something like theater showing up and connecting and having a shared experience in one room at one point in time, I think is so important.