Driving On (or Brown and Gay Play as some prefer it to be called)

Over summer of 2024, I visited my favorite bookstore, Bel Canto Books, a Filipina-owned store on Retro Row. Grabbing Brown and Gay in LA: The Lives of Immigrant Sons by Anthony Ocampo, I headed to the beach to read. Every page resonated with me.

Being gay, Filipino, the son of an immigrant, and born and raised in LA, the book was made for me. In hearing the poignant or uplifting stories of people like me, I realized I wanted to see those kind of stories on the stage. And so, the seed for Driving On was planted.

Drawing from my own experiences and the experiences of my fellow “brown and gay” friends, I crafted this story alongside bookwriters Nora Jones and Julia Orr. It follows a group of five friends making their start in LA: searching for stardom, trying to make ends meet, wondering if they’ll ever be accepted for who they are.

The story centers around connection, around the friends finding community and love with each other, and around the pain and heartbreak as you grow closer with those around you. But, most of all, it is about telling a story you don’t yet know and haven’t seen on the stage yet. It is a story for a little boy who just wants to be seen and understood.