For Conrad Ricamora, Starring in TGA's A Chorus Line Is a Rite of Homecoming

(SPOT.ph) It is a rare thing in one’s lifetime to find oneself handed an opportunity that impacts you in more ways than you can imagine. Call it serendipity, but for Filipino-American actor Conrad Ricamora, that moment would be bagging the role of Zach in Theatre Group Asia’s soon-to-open production of A Chorus Line.

For Ricamora, joining the show meant flying halfway around the world from New York City to Manila, but it was a journey he was willing to make. After all, it was more than just a show. As an actor, it was a character that he felt perfectly placed to portray. But more importantly, it also makes him the son who fulfills a promise—to, one day, return to the land of his father. For the charming, soft-spoken performer, it feels as though the stars aligned at just the right time. And when the curtains finally fall, this homecoming is one he’ll carry with him long after the final bow.

Also read: Meet Karla Puno-Garcia, the Emmy-Winning Choreographer Directing A Chorus Line in Manila

Acting and performing are pretty much the lifeblood that runs through Conrad’s veins. Over the past two decades, his career has taken him down many paths—theater, film, and television. Roles in critically acclaimed series like How to Get Away With Murder and The Resident made him a household name. On the big screen, he was most recently seen in Searchlight Pictures’ Fire Island, loosely based on the Austen classic Pride and Prejudice. He is also set to slay in the soon-to-be-released Devil Wears Prada 2.

On Broadway, Conrad’s take on Abraham Lincoln in Oh, Mary!, a spoof on the life of Mary Todd Lincoln leading up to the president’s assassination, scored him a 2025 Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actor in a Play in 2025. The recognition was, in part, validation not only for his own work, but also of the changing theater landscape, especially when it came to casting. Shows like Hamilton opened doors for Asian-American actors like Conrad to get cast, regardless of race, in a variety of roles, allowing them to flex their acting chops across shows.

"It finally feels like we're reaching the beginning of this new era where we are going to have not only equal representation as it relates to our population numbers," the actor notes. "The types of roles that we're able to play are not just going to be roles that are defined by how white people see us."

And if that Tony for Best Featured Actor doesn't cement that feeling, it's hard to say what will.

The same can be said of A Chorus Line, with its all-Filipino cast telling what is quintessentially an American story. Conrad joins the cast as Zach, the demanding choreographer and director taking the ensemble through a rigorous audition process. A role that he frames as one he would never have been able to play at any other point in his career.

“Instead of thinking I am the oldest person in the room, I am also the person with the most experience, so it makes sense that I play a character like Zach.”

As to how he intends to handle such a browbeating role, or how to bring it into 2026, he says his process involves waiting to meet the other actors first and feeling the energy in the room. “I don't want to make any decisions about the character until then, because that is when the world comes alive for me, and how you create something that lives and breathes every night,” he enthused. 

In A Chorus Line, Zach is the stern older character who pushes the ensemble to put on a show at every turn. Offstage, Conrad opts for a much gentler approach when sharing advice with younger actors. “Do your vocal exercises, whether you have a job or not. Keep expanding so you will have an instrument—voice and body—that is flexible enough to take on a wide variety of characters,” he points out. “If you don’t, you’re constantly going to be waiting for the one or two characters that fit your range.” 

For an actor like Conrad, a career spanning twenty years is an inspiring collection of scenes, stories, shows, and everything in between. A life built on the stage and hard work, replete with life lessons. Built on the practice of the advice he gives to younger actors who ask. All that has become the backbone of who he is as an actor today, informing each performance he puts out on that stage.

Every touchpoint he could get of his father's homeland—lumpia and adobo for dinner, joining his father at Fil-Am groups, and even giving tinikling a go (“then the wood hit my feet, and that hurt”) would become an integral part of Conrad’s identity as a Filipino-American. Working on Here Lies Love, both off and on Broadway, where he was surrounded by Filipino castmates and their constant chatter about titos and titas, gave him the sense of community he craved. “It was like I was getting the education that I was missing from a huge part of who I am,” he explains.

But for his role in A Chorus Line, that's taken up a notch. Not only is Conrad able to work alongside more Filipinos and have a deeper immersion into our culture beyond backstage chatter, but Conrad must also constantly fly to Manila. And while that may seem like a trial to most, it is actually the fulfillment of a lifelong dream for the actor: working on this show brings him to the land where his father was born but had to leave behind as a child.

He could barely contain his emotions at his first sight of the islands. He shares the moment in a teary-eyed video on Instagram, where the caption reads: “60 years ago, my dad said goodbye to the Philippines as a 10-year-old, unsure if he’d ever return. Now I’m here for the first time, walking in his shoes, on the soil of my ancestors, carrying him in my heart.”

When A Chorus Line first opened in 1975, it caught Broadway by surprise, focusing on the lives of the ensemble and exploring their ambition versus the cost of pursuing a life on stage. The show would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, as well as five Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Choreography in 1976. 

The musical, with its iconic choreography and deeply personal monologues, is an ode to the sacrifice and perseverance it takes to make it.  Conrad digs even deeper into the story, seeing it as an introspective study of their lives as actors, insecurities and all. "This show gives the audience a peek behind the curtain, at our inner lives as performers," he explains. "The same reasons why our characters want to perform and express themselves are the same reasons why we want to express ourselves. [This show lets you] see into the actor’s mind."

For the actor, the show’s themes are universal, ensuring its continued relevance decades later. This new staging aspires to honor the legacy of the original show, while breathing new life into its message for a new generation. "This show is about passion—that fire burning inside of you," he muses. "You will see that on the stage."

Rehearsals for the Manila production of A Chorus Line are underway, with opening night barely a month away. The audience got a glimpse of how it’s going in an excerpt showcased at the recent Night At The Theater. It was all on point, from the synchronized movements (which we hear the cast only had a couple of days to perfect) to the singing. Judging from that, it looks like Conrad Ricamora found himself on serendipity’s good side with this one—a meaningful fulfillment of a son’s promise, and a chance to celebrate the artform he has built his life on not only with other actors, but fellow Filipino artists. And that is something Conrad is candidly emotional and excited about: "I feel really blessed to have this opportunity."

Theatre Group Asia’s A Chorus Line runs from March 12 to March 29. Tickets are available at TicketWorld, starting at P900. For more information, visit Theatre Group Asia's website.