by Lorie Lewis Ham

Every year during Pride month we make a special effort to profile local LGBTQ+ members of the arts community. This year we have something a bit different and extra special as we are interviewing a pair of local actors/directors who also happen to be a couple– Claudio Laso and Chris Ortiz-Belcher.

KRL: Are you from this area? If so, where? If not, where are you from and how did you end up here?

Claudio: I was born in King City, CA—a small town in the mountains of Monterey County. About 90% of the population is Latine and it’s windy almost all the time. My family decided to move to Fresno when I was five years old. We moved around a bit during my childhood, from Lemoore, to Clovis, and back to Fresno. I spent the majority of my life in Fresno though. I love it here.

Chris: I was born and raised here in Fresno!

KRL: Current day job? And some of the other jobs you have had?

Claudio: Currently, I’m a Marketing Coordinator for Neighborhood Industries in Tower District. But I’ve worked many odd jobs, retail, photography, and an acting coach, and I even served on the Selma Arts Council for 7 years.

Chris: I’m currently working as the head of Social Media and Graphic Design for the Selma Arts Center. I am also a Conservation Presenter at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo, with occasional freelance graphic design projects here and there.

KRL: When did you first get involved in acting and why?

Claudio: Before doing theatre in school and the community, I started when I was a kid at home with my siblings. My siblings and I would put on “concerts” that had a setlist, choreography, and transitions. It was a group effort but I did do a lot of the choreography and heavily directed the concerts, sometimes to my sibling’s dismay. But in High School, I got to experience what being in a production was like and fell more in love with the craft. My evenings and weekends consisted of rehearsals for our drama class as well as practice for my Speech and Debate team. Speech and Debate is where I got to train my acting skills.

My coach helped us trim books down to 10-minute pieces in which we competed at various high schools and colleges around the state. If your child’s high school has Forensics, and they want to be a performer, MOTIVATE THEM TO JOIN. It’s the most intensive performance art opportunity for high schoolers. My love for acting grew because I enjoyed the storytelling aspect of the art form. Engaging audience members in a world, leaving reality for a moment, creating a shared experience that will only ever happen right there and then. This intimate exchange means a lot to me. It’s what I love about theatre.

Chris: I like to tell this story of my mom helping make a car out of tin foil and a cardboard box for my second-grade talent show. I was a small little guy walking around on stage singing a song, which on paper isn’t very impressive, but to a crowd of elementary school kids, I was a star! The second the audience and I had that connection I knew it was something I needed to do.

KRL: What was your first part?

Claudio: My first speaking role in a show was my high school’s production of The Bad Seed. We performed in the round in our drama room with a very detailed set and costumes. It was a truly magical experience. Directed by now Buchanan High School drama teacher, Abigail Paxton. That show started my deep longing for material that was off the beaten path.

Chris: My first role was in 4th grade as the White Rabbit/March Hare in Alice in Wonderland! It was very rare that a 4th grader got a working role, so it meant a lot to little me.

KRL: What are some of the shows you have been in, and the parts you have played & with what companies?

Claudio: Recently I played Henry in Sanctuary City at Fresno State, Palomo in Anna in the Tropics at Madera Theatre Project, Lion Faced Man in Pippin at Selma Arts Center, Oskar in Let the Right One In, Elder Thomas in The Whale, both at Fresno City College. This is just the last few years. But my first ever true community theatre experience was as Juror #3 in 12 Angry Men at the Selma Arts Center. This experience is when I decided to make SAC my home.

Chris: Most recently I was in a play at Fresno State called Sanctuary City where I played B, and had the chance to act alongside Claudio, which was an absolute dream! I’m currently in rehearsals for Evil Dead the Musical as Ash at the Selma Arts Center, where I spend a lot of my theatrical time haha! Other shows I’ve acted in include Dysfunction: A Song Cycle and Death of a King (both original musicals at SAC), Pippin (King Charles), and Puffs (Erin Mac and others).

KRL: When did you first get involved in directing-why and how?

Claudio: I had some experience directing scenes in High School for our sketch comedy Senior Shows, and then I was an assistant director for a Children’s Musical Theaterworks production under Abigail Paxton. These experiences, as well as my time as an acting coach, made me realize that I really enjoyed collaborating with performers.

Chris: I first got a taste for directing while acting in Carrie the Musical, which Claudio directed! I got to see a lot of what went into the process. I felt moments where my ideas were growing bigger than myself and I saw what Claudio and his team were doing and it all clicked! I knew I had to at least explore that realm of theatre!

KRL: What was the first show you directed?

Claudio: In 2017, after joining the Selma Arts Council, I built up the courage to pitch a mainstage production of Carrie: The Musical. The thought of directing a show always swirled around in my head because I always enjoyed helping actors reach their full potential with a character, building a character that felt lived in and fully realized. Looking back, I maybe should have started with an easier show, blood and telekinesis were not easy to figure out. But it was a huge learning experience and a fond memory I look back on.

At the time, it was met with a lot of mixed reviews from theatre makers I admired. This put me in a bit of a funk, questioning whether directing was for me. It wasn’t till I worked on Little Shop of Horrors with Chris as an assistant director that I rediscovered my passion for directing. That process helped me to trust in my vision and the work of my team and performers.

Chris: My first time directing was when I took part in the first Selma Originals in 2019. I directed The Upperhand, written by Haley White. Then I directed The Summit, written by Aliyah Arriaga, as part of Fresno City College’s playwriting event, Teasers. But my first mainstage production was Little Shop of Horrors in 2022 at the Selma Arts Center!

KRL: Do you have a favorite type of show? Both to be in, and to direct?

Chris: I think Claudio and I both have discovered this connection to shows that focus on strange, unique and or queer stories! We’ve also strangely had a through line follow the shows we direct, which is the theme of death. Strange! I know! It wasn’t until the rehearsal process of Ride the Cyclone this past year- which is a show about teenagers dying in a rollercoaster accident- that we put it together. Every show we’ve directed has had at least one character die, and focused on other characters dealing with that process.

Claudio: There’s something that can be said about that trope in our shows. We gravitate towards pieces that have a touch of humor and drama. We have experienced a lot of loss and hardships in our lives. Because of that, we understand the weight of grief. We also understand the need to laugh or smile through dark times. It’s important to find light when you’re down. It can turn your whole way of thinking around.

KRL: What do you like best about acting/singing/directing?

Chris: Theatre, as an art form, is all about collaboration. For me, it’s being able to work together with other amazing artists to tell a story and create a unique, shared experience for the audience. That feeling of connection you can sense in the air is what I love the most.

Claudio: I agree with Chris! Collaborating with performers and designers is my favorite part of creating theatre. Making a vision come together with zest from every artist.

KRL: What is the hardest?

Chris: For me, the hardest part is balancing work and the art itself. Unfortunately, theatre that’s at an accessible level for us doesn’t pay. And when it does, it’s barely enough to cover gas. So we end up spending a lot of energy in other places throughout our day, only to still have rehearsals or production meetings during our evenings. It’s exhausting, but we do anything for the art!

Claudio: Many people assume theatre is our “hobby.” But that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s our passion and we would love for it to be our profession. Theatre companies in the valley, or even at large, do not have the funding or support to pay performers and barely have enough to pay designers what they’re worth. Having to work full-time to get by is the hardest part of being a theatre maker.

KRL: Future goals and dreams?

Chris: I have a lot of ideas for what the future holds! But an attainable goal I’ve given myself is to find a career in theatre. I want to wake up and do theatre. Whether that’s teaching at any grade level, attempting a master’s program, or getting a full-time job doing social media and graphic design for a theatre company. I truly love this art form, and it’s what I want to spend my life doing!

Claudio: One goal of mine is to make theatre more accessible to the community while also making it sustainable for the designers and performers involved. My dream is to start a non-profit theatre company here in Fresno. But that’s something I can hopefully elaborate more on in the future.

KRL: Heroes?

Chris: Other than Patti LuPone, I’d have to say Nicolette C. Andersen who is a local community member and Artistic Director of the Selma Arts Center whom I look up to immensely! She is not only the icon of SAC, but she’s also an amazing friend and a phenomenal mother. I want to be a mom like her when I grow up!

Claudio: Of local theatre-makers in the valley I would have to agree with Chris. Nicolette is an incredibly hard worker who has supported us for as long as we’ve known her. Outside of local theatre-makers, I have to say the age-old cheesy answer, my mom. She has faced many adversities in her life, met with impossible decisions, and has changed her entire life around.
Her strength inspires me to keep pushing forward. She means the world to me.

KRL: What do you feel has helped you the most in growing as an actor and director?

Chris: Listening and asking questions. As an actor, as a director, as an audience member! Listening to what’s going on, what conversations are happening, and how people are reacting to those conversations, it helps me so much as a person in theatre! We all have something to learn from one another, especially in an art form focused on human connection.

Claudio: Nothing has helped me more than watching and listening. Whenever I work on a production, I am obsessively aware of my collaborators’ processes. Working with different directors helped inform my approach to directing. As well as discussing different approaches to acting with performers. It’s good to get out of your cycle of work to see how others do things.

KRL: What advice would you have for someone wanting to get into acting?

Chris: See a play! Take a class! If you’re nervous, maybe try assisting backstage or helping in the ticket booth! The more time you spend around it, the more comfortable you’ll begin to feel, and the more comfortable you are- the stronger of an actor you become!

KRL: What is your dream role and/or dream show to direct?

Chris: I’ve always wanted to flip the script of Little Shop where all the characters are puppets and Audrey II is a person the whole time! I think it’s something the people don’t know they need.

Claudio: I’d love to direct A New Brain, music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Finn and James Lapine. Some dream roles for me are Bobby in Company and Dracula in Comedy of Terrors.

KRL: Were you two together before you started doing shows together?

Chris: Yes! We knew each other through shows at CMT Fresno, but we actually officially met at a surprise party for a mutual friend who never showed up! So we spent the whole night talking instead and we both happened to be total art nerds (Laughs)

Claudio: We actually became official while working on Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, directed by Juan Luis Guzman, at the Selma Arts Center. We also took almost all of our classes together at Fresno City College at that time. Makes sense that FCC and SAC tend to be where we mostly work.

KRL: What is it like working with each other?

Chris: We’ve been together for 7+ years now, and when you spend that much time with another person, you have a deeper understanding of each other’s minds. So, working together for me just makes it all even more fulfilling and it makes everything 10 times easier! We understand each other’s thoughts and explanations, so when one of us speaks total gibberish to our stage manager or production team, we have a built-in translator!

Claudio: Our brains work very differently from each other. Because of this, we have a strong yin & yang dynamic when we direct or perform together. I tend to lean moody and intense while he is more comedic and carefree. We balance each other out.

KRL: Hobbies?

Chris: A big hobby we’ve started in the last few years has been Dungeons & Dragons! We’ve been a part of a solid campaign group that just recently celebrated 3 years together (Yes, that is rare and yes, that is a brag)!

Claudio: Playing D&D is a big hobby for us. It’s another form of storytelling that is collaborative and tons of fun. Aside from that, we play a lot of video games! We both grew up playing many different consoles, so that is also a mutual hobby for us.

KRL: Anything else you would like to add?

Chris: Theatre is where I found community and it’s where I feel I’m able to express who I am on a deeper level than anything else. It’s my second love (first being Claudio) and I think everyone should experience it more!

Claudio: The theatre community in the valley is vast. We have one of the most abundant theatre communities in the nation. It’s incredibly rare to live somewhere where almost every town has its own theatre company. We are special. Because of that, we must uplift and support each other. Sometimes, people think there are preconceived notions of who can audition where or who supports who. I say, F that. We can only continue to grow if we acknowledge each other’s work and act as each other’s biggest advocates. Once we do that, the greater community will as well.

Watch for more special Pride month articles going up in June, and check out the latest Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast which features an LGBTQ+ plus author and main character and is read by local actor Sean Hopper.

Check out more local entertainment articles in our Arts & Entertainment section. And don’t miss out on Mysteryrat’s Maze Podcast where we feature mystery stories read by local actors!

Lorie Lewis Ham is our Editor-in-Chief and a contributor to various sections, coupling her journalism experience with her connection to the literary and entertainment worlds. Explore Lorie’s mystery writing at Mysteryrat’s Closet. Lorie’s latest mystery novels, One of Us and One of You, are set in the Tower District of Fresno and the world of community theatre!<