Jay Españo

Jay Españo is ecstatic to work with Theater Alaska! He is a Manila-born actor, director, and multi-hyphenate whose career spans theater, TV and film across Southeast Asia and Chicago. Jay trained with Tanghalang Pilipino Actors Company, then studied musical theater at LASALLE College of the Arts in Singapore. An MFA in Film Directing scholarhship from Columbia College Chicago led him to Illinois and meet Doug, the love of his life. His thesis Mahal earned multiple international festival awards and seed-funded  for a full-length feature. Favorite stage roles include the King in The King and I (Chicago, Canada, Oregon, Arizona), Felicia in Priscilla Queen of the Desert, Smudge in Forever Plaid, and Lysander in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Currently serving as PrideArts’ Artistic Director, he continues expanding the company’s repertoire to reflect a broader range of queer voices and experiences. Offstage, he’s drafting a psychological mystery thriller for Amazon KDP. For balance, he practiced and teaches yoga. Much love to Doug!