"They say the industry has become tougher, and it was always a tough business" he reflects as we sit in a small restaurant in Park Slope. A few years back Jay used to get 3-4 auditions a week, a few call backs and a select number of bookings. Currently work of a slower nature has been turning up but he is not ready to give up on his dreams and settle for Crestol and Viagra commercials. He may not be the perfect man to cast as an epic warrior but that does not restrict him to erectile disfunction commercials either.

Alvarez is currently busy promoting and starring in "Sharks", a show that he wrote in honor of his father. The idea came to him as he was sitting in an LA park, listening to a recording of his father right before he passed away. As Jay was absorbed in the story, he decided to document it, framing it with what he imagined must have happened. It took Jay just two weeks to finish the piece. The resulting work featured some things that were actually said and others that he believed sounded appropriate for those involved in the tale.

The story recounts the journey Jay's father took to relocate his family from Cuba to the shores of America during Castro's rise to power. The move was illegal and conducted in the middle of the night under a cloak of secrecy. Needless to say the details were extraordinary and should be heard from Jay himself. He is the only man who can tell the tale with honor since he lived through the experience and the man responsible for it was his old man. "I admire my dad's courage," says Jay, "this is the part where people may roll their eyes but I believe my dad wrote it through me".

The story lay untouched for two years in the storage space of Jay's computer. He continued going to auditions and working until one fateful day. Jay received a call back for a show, only the call back was scheduled on the same evening Jay had a prior reading engagement at his friends party. Realizing that he did not wish to become an actor that shot to fame at the expense of his friends, he chose to honor his prior commitment and skip the call back. At the party he met a woman named Teresa who took Jay's play from the computer and put it on the stage in only 6 months.

"I don't know what made me want to be an actor. It was not a great performance" Alvarez muses. "Every time (I have to go onstage) I feel I want to throw up,,,it's like extreme sports, where the adrenalin is rushing and it's this extreme high. And you're just that focused that everything else disappears but you are still aware of all the details". For Jay, this is exhilarating, it's exciting, it's acting. He calls himself an "Old World" person. He loves classic storytelling, he prefers simple and honest performances. "My acting teacher did not accept non truths. He made me cry. He was right - can't get to the truthful part without doing the work first. "

Jay believes that on stage the actor is fundamentally still himself. "I have to honestly out myself and simultaneously pretend. Sometimes I connect to characters easily, sometimes props help". He gets really serious now and seems to be choosing his words carefully. "You are only as good as your last performance" he finally states. Jay believes that many actors are harmfully self critical and absorbed, sometimes not seeing things others are not noticing. "We are not the centers of the universe. Acting frees me from myself, I am working through myself but I am acting myself".

What I like about Jay is his social responsibility towards acting. He remains respectful but true to the characters in his works. "Sharks" is not political or historical. "History is an anchor to the story so that it does not float" he tells me. He takes great care making sure that he does not offend anyone and strives to show the communities reflected in his plays, that the shows are in the honor of the people and not at their expanse. "I am thankful to the people who have been there".

"The immigrant communities sometimes tend to become isolated, there is this wall between them and what this country is. They tend to forget in this day and age, as well as political environment, what people go throughout to get to these shores. I would hope that it (the show) kind of reminds people that you are both American and what ever else. I hope it bridges the gaps of who they are".

Someone told Jay that his play was "a love letter to my father" - having seen the show I am inclined to agree. " The journey lends itself to be truthful and I am simply honoring it" states Jay. In my opinion, he does not only honor and enlighten people with his performances but he reminds us of how amazingly lucky we are to have what we have and live where we live. It is my honor to tell you about Jay.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=726094549

For more articles like Jay Alvarez: The Actor, The Man, please visit the Stage Features Section of TimesSquare.com