Frankie J. Alvarez

My dad was very religious growing up and a little bit closed minded, and I think me being in the theater, two of my three sisters are dancers, so being in the arts world has changed and opened him up in a lot of ways.

My grandma was actually a pretty well-known opera singer in Cuba, and then my mom was a ballerina. Two of my three sisters are dancers, so we grew up in the arts.

One of my first jobs was doing children's theater. I did it to get my union card.

I can't point to my work and say, 'This is my work.' My work lives in me, so when people criticize my work, they're also criticizing me. It's really hard to sort of divorce that sensitivity.