This transcript was automatically generated and might contain errors.

[0:00] Linedy Genao: Hello, hello, mi gente. Welcome to Entre Acts, your favorite podcast, Ya Tu Sabe. I'm Linedy Genao, and this is the show where we talk about the in-between and what that means to us as artists when life yells intermission and forgets to tell us what's next. And I'm so excited to introduce this week's guest, the Menorican Colombiano, Ya Tu Sabe. Born and raised in the heart of New York City, our guest is more than just a performer. He's a storyteller across every medium. Whether he's originating roles in Tom Kitt's Almost Famous, filming upcoming features alongside Rachel Leigh Cook, or directing his own collaborative art pieces, he sits at the intersection of traditional theater and modern digital media. As the co-founder of the Homo Sapien Experience, he's built a community of millions through humor and queer advocacy. Now currently starring in the Tony-nominated musical Operation Mince Meat, mi gente, please welcome Brandon Contreras.

[1:06] Brandon Contreras: I'm Ying. I'm so happy to be here. I am so happy to see your face in the morning. It's just lights my life.

[1:14] Linedy Genao: I know. The last time we saw each other was in the middle of the street.

[1:18] Brandon Contreras: That's how it works. That's New York.

[1:19] Linedy Genao: And then you stop. You're like, Hi, I love you so much. I'll do anything for you. I have to go. That's literally, I told like, literally, I would do anything for you. But I also have to get on time. I have to get to my rehearsal at two. You know what I mean?

[1:30] Brandon Contreras: I love you. Thank you so much.

[1:31] Linedy Genao: I'm so happy to be here. I'm so happy. I'm so proud of your podcast. It's so good. All your guests are so fun. I'm just happy. I'm happy, happy.

[1:41] Linedy Genao: So we're gonna start with a little game of dominoes. Because you know, in the Latin culture, dominoes. Yeah, is a thing. So yeah, yeah. So we're gonna play the interacts way, which is you're going to pick a domino, sum up that number. And that'll pertain to an icebreaker question. We'll do like four or five. Are you ready?

[1:59] Brandon Contreras: Yes, vamos. Dale.

[2:01] Linedy Genao: Yeah, I get the magic. I know you gotta. Okay, eight, eight, number eight. Sabado Gigante.

[2:08] Brandon Contreras: Oh, my God. Perfect. Perfect. Um, we that's a hard one. That's hard. That's like two parts of my life. Same. I don't know. I want to. I want to sit here. Oh, I said, I don't want to say I have to say I ran home from school. I really tried. I thought it was like so cool. I also didn't know I wanted to look at the fashion to like what people were wearing. You know what I mean? That was a time that was a time. Now we're bringing it back the bag of jeans like we're doing it. It's all coming back. Yeah. So we were always a part of it. We know we know.

[2:38] Linedy Genao: Okay. For four. What is your bodega orders?

[2:49] Brandon Contreras: Oh, it's funny enough. I just have it in my bag. But I have three I have three different versions. Tell me because you got to get the breakfast one, then you got to get the lunch or dinner. It's that's or you got to get like the late night. I shouldn't be having this. Okay. You know what I mean? So in the morning, I usually get like a platter. I usually get like three eggs over easy home fries, toast turkey bacon. But if I'm on the road, if I need a quick quick, it's a sandwich. It's eggs on a hero bacon, bacon, egg and cheese on here. At night, I get a chicken Caesar wrap, spinach wrap, extra dressing, grilled chicken. Yes. But then if I'm being if I want to be a bad girl, if I want to be a bad girl, at late night, I'll get a double cheeseburger with mayo katsu.

And I'll get lettuce and I'll get steak fries like the big but I need them. Well done. Yes, I tell him to he knows him. It's Adam in the morning. That's the cook. Adam is in the morning. That's that's my morning guy. And then I got Tommy at night. So Adam and Tommy shout out shout out my people.

[3:57] Brandon Contreras: Um, wait, I have to admit I've never had a chopped cheese. I know. That's also we that's also the that's also the dirty little trick to the chopped cheese is so good. It's essentially a hamburger mommy. See, you take the hamburger patty that I get. And then they do that with a little mash. Yeah, they mash it up. And then they put American cheese on it. And then they put it on but you can get the works on it. I don't like the worst. I don't like tomatoes like that. So they just do like mayo, ketchup, lettuce and tomatoes. Okay, it's just a burger. It's great. But you have to go to a bodega that seasons their meats. Me and a salt and pepper is not enough. It's not enough. Never enough. No, never. They got they have they have a double in my they have a double and they know that's right. I know. I know that I hit when I know I see the red little shimmer. I'm like, you're putting us on it. Exactly. Yeah. That's how I know. That's how you know.

[4:47] Linedy Genao: Okay, next. Seven, seven, the fear of the unknown or the boredom of the routine.

[4:54] Brandon Contreras: Fear the unknown. Yes. Come on. Yes. I'm a brave little toaster. I I don't care. I will fly into in find to the sun without knowing why it's too short. Yeah, no, no people someone you'll be fine. You'll be someone will catch you. You'll be fine. Yep. Yep. But like, the only fear of the unknown that I do not mess with is that if you drop me in the ocean, the ocean, I don't I don't play. I don't play if you were to drop me in the middle of the ocean. That's the unknown. Listen, I as I've gotten older, especially, you know, living here, the ocean is not clear where you can see your toes. Like if you go to Dr. PR, like, oh, you can see your toes. Exactly. So it feels a little safer. But at the same time, if you could see what's coming, that's also dangerous.

But still, I'd rather know I read and like, not know. But miles. Yeah, leagues. I as I've gotten older, I'm terrified. Like I'm swimming in the ocean because I live by the beach. And I'm like, today's the day. And also, when I was like, 13 years old, my family, we went to Hawaii because my brother had cancer and make a wish foundation sent my whole family to Hawaii because he wanted to see Pearl Harbor. He like knew everything about World War Two at like 10 years old. And we went parasailing. They paid for us to go parasailing. I had never done that in my life. And it was amazing when you're up in the air. But what goes up must come down. So when they drop us in the deep blue sea, and we're waiting for the boat to come pick us up.

When I tell you I was screaming at the top of my lungs, also flailing my entire body. And I'm like, No, the shark is gonna think that I'm bait. Yeah. And I'm done. This is how you go that I would have absolutely done the same. I don't want I don't want there's so much vastness underneath me. There's cities, things that we haven't discovered. There's like 70% of the ocean we haven't or 80% of the ocean we haven't explored yet. That's crazy. That's the only unknown. I don't know. I don't want it. I don't want it. I don't want it.

[6:42] Linedy Genao: Okay, one more. So okay, who's the one person in your life who's red receipts you actually fear?

[6:49] Brandon Contreras: That's such a good question. That's a really good question. I have to say my sister, my sister, she older or younger. She's older. I know. That's right. I knew that. Because if she if I like need an opinion, or like, let's say I'm like, this is what I think and it's red. And she didn't respond. Usually it's because she's busy because she's a boss girl. Like she is. She is in charge of a lot of things. She's a businesswoman. Heck yeah. So it's mostly because she's busy, but I'm still like, so do you like me? Do you still like me? Do you want to be my? Do you want to be my sister still? Or do you hate me? Or it's like, it's like, it's like, was this Oh, should I do this? Or did I make the bad decision?

I'm like, I made the worst decision. I have to go. That's it. That's the end of me. And so that's it. If I don't get if I'm let if I'm red, for my sister, I'm like, well, the world is ending and I should probably give up. I made the worst decision in my life. And it was really nice knowing everyone. And then she'll come back and be like, sorry, I was in a meeting. Oh my god, I love that. I'm like, Oh my god. It's the best feeling in the world. It's the best feeling in the world. She's my best friend. So but she's also the original arch nemesis. You know what I mean? Okay, your siblings are your original monsters, but they're also original saviors. Yeah, absolutely. Oh my god, that's real right there.

As the oldest sister. That's real. Yeah, you're an older sister. So like, exactly. Let's take a round of applause. Round of applause. Thank you very much. That's that's a hero's journey. That's a hero's journey. Being the eldest is a whole nother thing. I know. You can have a whole pockets on that. We'll be right back after these two messages.

[8:20] Linedy Genao: Bueno, Brandon. Thank you for playing the juego of dominos. Okay, of course. Um, so as you know, entre acts in between right in between acts, we here we talk about our transitional periods as artists. And I wanted to create a space for that because I found myself in a big transition after Bad Cinderella. Yeah. You know, I've said this a ton, but like reaching the apex of my career, and then it was gone. And not only feeling the internal pressure, but the external pressure. What comes next? Are you what are you doing? You know, where are you? You know, are you working right now and the shame and guilt and embarrassment that we feel as artists with that, but in the in between is where the growth happens, where some of the most beautiful things happen. And, and so I wanted to ask you, what does the in between mean to you?

[9:10] Brandon Contreras: I think the in between is stillness. I think really what it is, is that we don't we even just set up a starting like I don't see people like we I see you in for a second on the street, and then we got to go. Like we don't, we don't rest, the hustle always stops, right. So but I think the in between, that I think that I still try to find now, even in the betweens of like my days, my nights off, like, is the stillness? Can I be still? Can I like, and that deals with self reflection, and who I am and what I want to do and what I want to be. So I think that has to do with that. And then, like you're saying between shows and like finding your worth without a job, right, necessarily, it's like you went from something so visible, and so seen to feeling the complete opposite.

And like how, how that affects you. And I think that we have to learn to find it now while we're, we're so visible. So that when that happens, like, what, who are we without that? And I think that's what I've learned is like the self reflection of that all. It's when can we take time to truly sit and self reflect. And if we can do that during this time, when we're so busy, then I think we'll absolutely be fine in the inbetweens.

[10:28] Linedy Genao: I love, love, love that. Because you're absolutely right. We are, you know, with the public, so defined by our artistry. When we're not working, who are we? And finding that for ourselves is what's most important, because labels are always going to be put on us. But making sure that in those inbetweens and in that stillness, we revert back to who we are. And that then later informs our artistry with whatever comes next.

[10:54] Brandon Contreras: Of course. And we're also so like, we live in a business of, of affirmations. It's like, we like you, your cast. Thank you. You get this immediate. So it's like, unfortunately, like, we also need that as well in order, it's, you know, it's like when you when you're teaching a kid to grow self assurance, right? It's or, like, you want to, you want to give them praise, you want to give, let them grow to something positive. So I feel like that's kind of like this business, too. It's like you're, you need to be affirmed in order to believe in yourself. But you can only believe in yourself so much before you start questioning it, right? So it's like, we have to do that work ourselves, too. But it's always just so hard.

[11:33] Linedy Genao: It is. It is. Thank you for sharing.

[11:35] Brandon Contreras: Thanks for everything.

[11:37] Linedy Genao: Of course. And so I know you also were in a similar situation with Almost Famous. Yeah. Was that your principle?

[11:43] Brandon Contreras: I wasn't even a principle. No, I was ensemble in that. But yeah, okay, that's but that show like,

[12:33] Brandon Contreras: And also during that time, I was going through a breakup as the show closed too. So you're like, oh my God, I was like, so it just was an astounding thing. And I remember I had had some savings and I just blew all my savings and I got out of the country and I went away. I went to, I went to Paris, Amsterdam, and Barcelona. I went to Barcelona. And it was, I just was like, wanted to, I needed to get away. And that was like, that was me trying to find my in-between. Like, who am I without a relationship that wasn't serving me? And then also something that was bringing me a lot of joy. And I like went out and I learned a lot about myself. And that's, that's what I did. I went with my two best friends. But, and I had the privilege to do that. Like not everyone could pick up and go, right? So, but it was something that I was like, oh, if I don't do this, I'll be sad for a long time.

[13:31] Linedy Genao: How long did you go?

[13:36] Brandon Contreras: I went for like two weeks. Yeah, it was really special. I thought like, you know, people are like, oh, go away for a month. I was like, I don't got that month kind of money. You know what I mean? But I did have something to treat myself well to as a congratulations of what I was doing.

[13:48] Linedy Genao: You know, that's amazing. You're right. And we don't often reward ourselves. At least I don't. You don't reward yourself.

[13:54] Brandon Contreras: Well, you're the oldest, you're the oldest daughter. You can't, you have to reward everyone else first. And that's what makes you the best person.

[14:03] Linedy Genao: Oh, gosh, thank you. I think that also is from also being the daughter of immigrants. You know, it's just like, you can't, we have to work, we have to work, provide for everybody else. And then it's like, oh, yeah, but, but me. So I'm glad that you knew what you needed for yourself to refill your cup.

[14:19] Brandon Contreras: Yeah. To be able to just come back and just have this. Oh, God. Yeah. I mean, we're very good. Because we like we are so close to their families, right? Like we, we will always have a soft place to land. We're very fortunate like that. Right. But I remember like, I bought that ticket. I had broken up with my boyfriend at that time. And I went home to my parents live in Jersey now. And I went home and I was crying all day, all day. And that next day, I remember sitting up in my bed. And I remember my two best friends were planning a trip. And I was like, you know what? Okay, so I had just a new credit card. And I just bought a one way ticket to Paris. And I was like, I can't sit here and be sad.

I cannot. And so I bought a one way ticket to Paris. And I was like, I'll find you guys and I will work it out. And I'll buy my return flight. And I just like, and I told my parents, I went downstairs and they're like, I bought a ticket to Paris because I'm really sad. They're like, good for you. You're going to Paris. And then of course, your mom worries. And then your mom was like, Oh my god, you're gonna get killed over there. Oh my god. You're so everything's so dangerous. Oh my I was like, Oh, geez. And it was a but it was fantastic. It was like so we I was very lucky. But I was in my parents home when I decided to like I needed to do something for myself. It was crazy.

[15:33] Linedy Genao: Oh my gosh, I love that. And it's better to be sad in Paris than New Jersey.

[15:43] Brandon Contreras: Oh, absolutely. That's it. Tag that that's the end. Thank you so much for coming. That's it.

[15:49] Linedy Genao: So talk to me about the Homo Sapien Experience and how you were inspired to do that. Did that come from an in-between moment in your life?

[15:55] Brandon Contreras: That is a very good question. Um, I am. I have to give most of the credits to my best friend, Matt Cariano. We had always wanted to create things together. We went to school together. And we went to college and we always wanted to make funny things. We're both queer. We both wanted to be seen a little bit. And I remember Matt had bought a camera and was starting to film stuff and editing and he really wanted to take this on and but at that time, I was like seven years ago, seven, eight years ago now. I was going a lot for regional contracts. I was doing so many regional shows. I was barely here. And that was exhausting. So it never got to like really work out until finally, like, finally, I got back.

And we started to make this a thing. We started to like figure out what this was. And essentially, it became it's a lot. It's been a lot of different things. But we are a queer sketch comedy platform. And we like to tell stories about the human experience with the emphasis on homo. And yeah, it's just so silly. And now we've morphed into a lot of things. Now we're like content creators. But we also are now known as like, TikToks and Instagrams, like gay best friends. And we used to be roommates, like roommates. We were there. We were their roommates, too. Like it was, it's been a whole thing. And now we just are a community of people. And we love to have our friends be in sketches and little things.

And we are more than the sum of our parts that we have, I like to say. And it did kind of started from the in-between, I guess it's because definitely, for Matt, and I know he could speak on that. But I know when I was back, it was something that we were always passionate about. It's because we didn't see ourselves. You know, we didn't see ourselves queer people representing queer people with unique queer stories. Also, to not take ourselves so seriously. We're such dummies. You know what I mean? We're such silly geese, you know? And so it's, it's like, we wanted to not take ourselves in this community so seriously. And so that's what we kind of aim to do. And funny, now that it's become a business, and it's become a really wonderful thing.

And now, it's not so much in between, but it is our, our like beacon, our like little lighthouse, essentially. So we can do our jobs, we can we he's currently a masquerade right now. Everyone go see it. Matt Cariano. Oh my god, it's so good. Okay. So but we can always find like our lighthouse back and it's like, oh, this is also what I want to do. This is also a big passion of mine. We would love to have a show one day like a scripted series, you know, movie like we would love to do that just because I think it's important for I mean, especially like the intersection of being Latin and how we want to see ourselves, but also queer people too. And how we see ourselves and queer stories and queer humor and queer silliness. And that's, that's what we like. That's what it is. And that's what brings us so much joy.

[18:46] Linedy Genao: I love that. And it's a different creative outlet.

[18:56] Brandon Contreras: Oh, because you're also I'm sure, directing, editing. Oh, yeah. Wearing all the hats. Oh, yeah. We are prop masters. We are dressers, customers, lighting design. We are everything. We do everything. Everything.

[19:10] Linedy Genao: You have such a better one. I can't get your other hand.

[19:13] Brandon Contreras: No, I've always been mad at I've always been bad.

[19:17] Linedy Genao: I wonder if it looks good. Is there a name to that?

[19:20] Brandon Contreras: No. What would you call it in Spanish? Like, what is the sound?

[19:24] Brandon Contreras: Fuakata. Fuakata.

[19:25] Linedy Genao: Fuakata. Fuakata.

[19:27] Brandon Contreras: Buam. Buam.

[19:29] Linedy Genao: I'm, I'll get better. We'll do it.

[19:31] Brandon Contreras: We'll do it. It's okay. It's okay.

[19:34] Linedy Genao: I love that you along with so many other guests, especially Latin guests that I've had on here. You know, we don't often, unfortunately, see ourselves represented. So we create our own doors. We open those doors for ourselves and for others. So it's very inspiring to hear, to see how the Homo Sapien Experience has evolved and how now it's become a community.

[19:56] Brandon Contreras: Oh, my gosh.

[19:56] Linedy Genao: And that you're, you know, out here trying to give fun and accessible representation to the queer community, to the Latin community, to anybody that feels represented in that.

[20:07] Brandon Contreras: Absolutely. It's just like, we all have to kind of take care of each other in a way, especially like, we can't be what we can't see. We can't be what we can't see.

[20:15] Linedy Genao: That just blew my mind. We can't be what we can't see.

[20:17] Brandon Contreras: If I, it's like the tale as old as time. Like, if you, if I can't see, if you can't see, like, I mean, I'm sure this was like the most mind blowing thing for Bat Cinderella, too. It's like, if you can't see a Latin, you know, leading actress falling in love with someone, you know, storming the castle at the end, you know, like doing all that stuff. And how can you believe in yourself?

[20:36] Linedy Genao: Oh, you're absolutely right.

[20:37] Brandon Contreras: I mean, we have, we have, we have absolute beacons. We have, you know, legends like in Andrea Burns, we have all these incredible humans, Raul Esparza, we have like, but we can't see it. And it's, it's been so long. And how are we going to possibly so we have to do we have, unfortunately, for us, we don't have the luxury of, of, of just like, too much rest.

[21:00] Linedy Genao: Yeah.

[21:01] Brandon Contreras: Especially with the things that we want to do, and the stories that we want to tell.

[21:04] Linedy Genao: Absolutely. You're absolutely right.

[21:08] Brandon Contreras: If you could go back to the Brandon, who was sitting in his in New Jersey, going through that intermission, what's the one thing you'd tell him that it was gonna be okay?

[21:19] Brandon Contreras: Oh, God, I absolutely think it'll be okay. I think the most important thing is that it, it's you will be loved. I've never felt like my family is the greatest family in the world. I love them so much. They're my besties. I love them. I love them. I love them. But there was always something inside of me that always feared that I wasn't gonna be loved. And you know, there are also times in like, in romance, too, if you don't feel that way, but like, I am surrounded by such incredible friends. And at that time, I was bullied a lot. I had a small group of my drama friends, you know, but I was thinking about high school and things like that, but I you I will be fine. Like, I will, I will find an incredible community that loves me. I'll find the best friends in the world. I will do what I love to do. And that's a blessing. And not everyone can say that. So I think I would tell him that you like, don't worry, you will always be loved.

[22:11] Linedy Genao: I love that. Yeah. Oh my God. It's a little softy.

[22:18] Brandon Contreras: Oh, I love that.

[22:23] Linedy Genao: Brandon, we've reached the other part of the sandwich. I forgot to say you know, the show is a sandwich. We have some fun in the beginning, you know, in the middle, we get exactly and at the end, we end with a sandwich eat.

[22:28] Brandon Contreras: Oh, that's how we treat over me is going to be a chop cheese. I need to have you. I can't believe we should go do that. I would do that with you. I would find a good bodega around here. So there's a plan. We can plan a chop cheese.

[22:43] Linedy Genao: So this next segment, because we try to keep it PG 13. We're gonna play the game. Mary kill got it. It's gonna be bedwet dead.

[22:49] Brandon Contreras: Bedwet dead. Okay, I love this one. Okay, bedwet dead. The quinceanera loud, expensive and you have to dance with your tia who asks why you aren't online already yet. Quinceanera. Noche Buena, which is Christmas Eve. The pork is amazing, but you're stuck in the messy middle of a political debate with your cousins. Or clean the whole house on a Saturday morning ritual. Mark Anthony is blasting the fabuloso stinging your eyes and there's no escape. So quinceanera Noche Buena cleaning the house on Saturday. bedwet dead. I'm gonna bed. Okay, I'm gonna bet the quinceanera just because I'm just like, just get over with. Get over it. It'll be good. It's fine. It happens. My tia is gonna come anyway. Like it's gonna it's gonna happen. You're gonna have to deal with that forever.

[23:32] Linedy Genao: Yeah. Wed. I'll do the cleaning. I don't mind.

[23:38] Brandon Contreras: I love that. But I think that's so sweet. Like, thinking that your family like that's always great. But then when I, you know, when you're an adult, like you do that with you can do that with your partner. And like, that's wonderful magic. You lock in. And it's just so sweet. I think that's so endearing. And if I can have a partner who can also listen to Mark Anthony with me while I clean, then we will be good.

[24:03] Linedy Genao: That's it. That's it. Dead is Noche Buena. If you can't, if you can't, if you can't get to them around.

[24:07] Brandon Contreras: When can you ever get married? You know what I mean? When you feel the joy of marriage and you can't get political issues through their brains because they don't want to learn. Then what's the use? Why am I bothering? Why am I bothering? I have things to do. People to go. People to see. Places to go. Ok? Get me the pork to go and I'm gone. Bye. Bye. Adios. Ok.

[24:31] Linedy Genao: Bed, Wed, Dead. Daniela. Abuela Claudia. Camila. I know. I know. This is so bad. That's not good. That's. Ok. We can skip it. No. No. It's fine. We have to do it. We love you, lady. We love you, lady. So much. Bed. Daniela. You know it's going to be a good time. Also, I think that was in the right key. So I just want to say. You're welcome. Andrea Burns. Andrea Burns. Miss you. Love you so much. Text me. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you. Love you so much. Text me.

[25:07] Brandon Contreras: Um. Uh. Wait. Abuela Claudia. Like. Claro. Come on. Like. What a. Princesa. Reina. Really. Reina. But. Princesa at heart. Yes. And then dead Camila. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Yo. They. They deaded her in the movie. I was about to say. She got deaded already. So. Hey. Pour one out. The voice of a generation. Singing enough. I only got to work with her during On Your Feet. Her voice. I was jaw dropped. Yeah. Jaw dropped. Draw. And then the acting. Forget about it. Forget about it.

[25:46] Linedy Genao: Okay. Last one. Elder Price. Evan Hansen. Orpheus. I know. I'm sorry. We could. We could skip. No. This is good. This is good. Okay. Elder Price. Evan Hansen. Orpheus. Do you want me to. No. You know. You know. I'm sorry. No. This is so good. Do you want me to change it? No. This is good. It's good. I think I would bed Elder Price. Okay. Because. He has a lot. To learn. To learn. Wow. And we'll keep it at that. And then. Wed. See. This is where I'm. This is where I'm problem. Yeah. Is. I'm mad at Orpheus. Correct. You turn around. He turned around. That gets me so mad. He turned. Every time. Right. When they were right there. I've seen. I've seen him four times. Every time. I'm like. So. But Evan Hansen.

He's just a little nugget. Who just wants to be loved. I know. But he has a lot of. Yeah. I know. But let me. Let me read Evan Hansen. I love a project. Yes. You can help him. Oh my God. I love a project. I will help you. I will help you. We will find the light together. You will be found. You will be found. You were not alone. You were not alone. Cell phones. You were not alone. Listen. Those cell phones. Those cell phones. Listen. Yo. Wow. I would have. Oh, I would have loved to hear your Requiem. Oh, thank you. Oh my God. I love that song. I love that song. Me too. I think that's such a. The bops. Yeah. Bops. And yeah. Dead Orpheus. Dead Orpheus. Peace. You had one job, bro. Trust. Trust. One job. Trust in the woman. Damn. Trust in the woman. And that's the lesson from this podcast. Trust in the woman. Trust in the woman.

[27:41] Linedy Genao: Lastly, we're in the chisme hot take section. Oh, fun. Like this whole time hasn't been chisme. Like. Like this whole. Like this whole. Please. I know. This is another this or that. Because I have to. You have to. Fabuloso or Mistolín? What? What was your household raised on? Fabuloso or Mistolín? Do you know? Or neither? No, it depends because my grandma. It depends if it was like my own house or my grandma's house. Mistolín was mine, but Fabuloso was my grandma. I think that was the same in my house. Mistolín in my house. Or Fabuloso in my house. Mistolín in my grandma's. Something like that. Yeah.

[28:12] Brandon Contreras: Okay. If we caught you on a Monday morning on your day off and the absolute deepest pause between your errand, etc. What is the gremlin chic outfit you're wearing? Gremlin? Unless you are always put together. We don't all have that privilege. No, I'm not. I'm not always put together. But most recently I'm starting to like dress how I want to be. Like if I want to be super rich and invited to so many things and like access and access and access. I have to dress like that. I have to feel good about myself. So I've been trying to feel good. But you would probably see me in like a gym outfit, to be honest with you, because I'm trying to get fit it and wit it. You know what I mean? Fit it and wit it, honey. So you probably see me in a gym outfit or like an oversized like this. I love that. Oversized shirt with like a short in the summer. Some high socks. Always some high socks. Always some high socks.

[29:00] Linedy Genao: Where do you get? I need to get good high socks. Where do you get yours? I just get mine on Amazon. Okay. Sometimes. But I don't buy on Amazon too much anymore because. But you just got to do a classic white gold toe. You know what I mean? Yeah. No, no. I need to get more. What reality TV franchise would you be cast in? Okay. It's kind of. I don't. So I'm not good at reality TV shows. Me neither. I'm not good. If I were to do one, I think it'd be amazing race. I think it'd be amazing race with my best friend Maddie. And then I think I may have, I may get the villain edit. And that's not my fault. Okay. I know you're going to say that a villain would say that, but I want to be very clear. When I'm on the amazing race, I want you to put this clip online so that I can say it's not my fault.

It's because follow me. I got you, you know? I would take care. And I always joke with Maddie. It's when we travel, it's very much like, okay, let's go here. Let's go here. And he's like, I love this. This is great. And I'm like, no, we have things to do. Places to go. Let's go. They have, they joke with me when we travel. It's like, okay, we have to get there in this amount of time. We're going to, we're going to hustle there or we're going to brand and hustle there. Like that walk is fast. It's a New York city walk. You got to keep up. I know we're in Barcelona, but we have to, we have to, we have to move fast people. Cause we're not going to make that reservation. And then if you're 15 minutes late, it's canceled.

And then we've come to the city for nothing. Correct. You know? So I think I do the amazing race, but I think I'd get a villain edit. And that makes me sad. And I would work really hard to be, to not, I'd be like, sure. Let's, um, let's go this way instead. Like I would have to fake so hard to not get this on. Amazing race. You heard it here first. Make sure to include this clip from Entre Acts to make sure that you know that Brandon is not the villain. I am not the villain. I want us to win. That's it. And to have fun on the way. And maybe make some friends.

[31:00] Brandon Contreras: What is your most used emoji? Can you show us into your face? Oh, explain. It's it's two. It's either the, it's the hearts all around or the, or the red. Oh, that can mean two different things. The red is like, Oh, that person is hot. That that's what you. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Or like, I can't do this anymore. Okay. You know, but mostly it's like, I don't know if the listeners can hear what we're doing, but we're tucking our hair behind our ear. Behind our ear. Oh my God. Oh my God.

[31:35] Linedy Genao: Okay. And last question. Well, you, you're hearing the ambulance outside and also my stomach growl. Cause I haven't, I haven't heard. I didn't hear your stomach growl. I didn't hear it. It's louder than the ambulance. Oh my God. We need to get some breakfast. Where's crafties? Manifest that for me. Let's do it. Now I'm going to manifest it. You're going to have a whole system and set up your crafties. What is your song? What is the song you're shaking? Okay. When nobody's watching or when everybody's watching. It's seasonal. It's like seasonal. And it's like era time. Like right now, right now, most recently it's the lady Gaga. Bring it to the runway. Like that's my jam right now. Okay. Like, um, but I love like queer artists.

I love Vincent is one of my favorite artists. They're a Brooklyn base. They're black, queer, wonderful. I love them. Uh, I also have Z machine Z machine. They're also queer. It's just like fun, queer music that makes you like, love yourself more and like, forget the rest. Forget your, forget the haters, forget your exes, forget all the people. And then just remember that you're incredible and you're hot. Anything that makes you feel like incredible and hot and like, no one can break me, you know? And that's it. And then also, you know, like Beyonce, cowboy Carter or something like that, or, or Renaissance. Like that's easy. That's classic. But I think anything that, but in the Christmas time, in the Christmas time, it is always Gloria Stefan's Christmas through your eyes, Christmas album.

I haven't thought about that. Okay. When, when we play that, that's the start of Christmas. My family knows. Wow. That's the start of Christmas. So I shake ass to that, to that in this, from Thanksgiving to new year's Eve before the ball drops. No, because in the Latin culture, I don't know about others as well, but Christmas starts like the second Thanksgiving is, Oh, I'm already decorating. Same.

[34:00] Linedy Genao: I'm taking down. I'm taking down the turkeys and replacing them that way. Do you take down your Christmas decor? I've gone into February. No, right. I've got a kid January. Everybody's depressed. Cause it's so cold that there's nothing to do. I want to see the Christmas lights. I hear you, but that's it. The Christmas tree or the Christmas lights. There's difference. If you need help, mama. No, you can take down the, you have to take down the tree. You can give it the lights that brings joy and merriment, but you have to take down the tree. This year I took it down in January. When January? Definitely after the 15th. That's too long. But three Kings day is like the eighth or the third. I don't remember.

So it's not too far off. You don't need the tree for three Kings day. And you know that. You can't kid a kidder. You can't. So I'm going to, I'm going to text you January 3rd next year. Okay. Okay. And you're going to keep your lights up. Hey, I got you. You're okay. You're safe. You're safe. I'm going to text you in January 3rd. That tree has to be down, but you can keep the lights up to the 15th. Okay. And then I'm gonna text you again on the 15th. Okay. And then we're going to, we're going to replace it with like flowers. I do decorate for Valentine's day, even though I don't care for the holiday, but I liked, I want to bring joy to my house. I decorate for Valentine's day too, for everyone else.

Because if I think about myself, I'm usually single. Valentine's day. So if I think about myself, I get sad. So I will decorate for everyone else so that everyone else is happy. And I make them all my Valentine's. I love that. Yeah. I love that.

[35:06] Brandon Contreras: Thank you so much. Thank you. Thank you. Oh my God. I thank you so much. I would do anything for you. And I love you. I love you so much. If you wouldn't mind ending this episode with me with our tagline. Because life doesn't pause. It just moves. Entre Acts. Brandon Contreras everybody. Yay. I love you. I love you. I love you so much. This was so much fun. This is great.

[35:30] Linedy Genao: Entre Acts is created, hosted, and executive produced by yours truly, Linedy Genao. Produced in partnership with Alan Seales and the Broadway Podcast Network. Carlos E. Hernandez of IJIGAY Management and Media serves as our lead executive producer. Original music by Johan Beltré and Pedro F. Fortunato. And special thanks to welcometotimesquare.com. The billboard where you can be a star for the day. Don't forget to subscribe and follow Entre Acts so you never miss an episode. Nos vemos.