Jai Rodriguez says his feet hurt. He’s stepping into the role of Chita Parol, a hot Latin mama in Chico’s Angels 2: Love Boat Chicas, and the Queer Eye veteran is not used to wearing heels.
“It’s such a challenge, the things I have to do in heels,” Rodriguez says of his current cross-dressing role.
Yet he is no stranger to performing in heels. The host/actor/musician is probably best known for his portrayal of another Angel in Broadway’s Rent, one of his first acting gigs. Just this year, he portrayed a drag queen in an episode of ABC’s Detroit 1-8-7 and again as a transgender woman in NBC’s Harry’s Law.
“This is quite a different beast,” Rodriguez explains. “These shoes are pretty, high and pointy.”
Performing on stage – in any type of footwear fashion – is rare for Rodriguez these days. After starting his career on stage, he has been concentrating on television. In addition to guest dramatic roles, he has been the host of Ultimate Style on the Style Network, Styleyes on Si TV (now Nuvo TV), GSN Live on the Game Show Network and the reality show Groomer Has It on Animal Planet.
Now, he is moving behind the camera and working as executive producer for an upcoming, un-named and currently top-secret series.
“Professionally, where I stand now is executive producing a new series that’s all about therapy,” Rodriguez hints. “Television is where I make my living. Now that I will be producing, I can pick and choose what on-camera appearances I want to do.”
And he’s been excited about the roles he’s picked. Although he doesn’t see himself as a representative to the LGBT community – “although there is this expectation,” he says – he says television writing has evolved and gay roles are no longer comedic or stereotypical characters.
“The roles that are being written for the LGBT community are real meaty and juicy, more than ever before,” he says. “The roles that I have been getting are really freaking great.”
So how did this character actor and up-and-coming TV exec get dragged back on stage? Like just about any job, it’s the people he knows.
“I’ve been a fan of the show for years,” he says, admitting he has been a regular in the Los Angeles audience. When Ray – who has been playing the role for many years – needed to take a break, Rodriguez was asked to take over. He performed for a week in LA, and is performing during San Diego’s two-week run, opening this weekend.
“It’s really hard stepping into a role that was created by someone that has been doing it for so long,” Rodriguez says. Still, he has been able to personalize the role and make it his own. “I have to. I’m not Ray. He has all these really great mannerisms that I just can’t replicate.”
Rodriguez uses the show’s description of Chita, the smart one of the three Angels, as a guide to create his own personality. The character bio, in short, describes Chita fighting in a gang, dancing in the Debbie Allen School of Dance, studying in college and attending the police academy – all of which she was kicked out of, with a few restraining orders along the way.
“She’s definitely ghetto,” Rodriguez adds. He says that Chita fancies herself as the pretty one, “and she wants to show it off. I would never think I would be a hot chick, but apparently I have really hot legs.”
Chita is joined on stage by fellow Angels Kay Sedia and Frieda Laye.
“They are three little Latin girls that got kicked out of the police academy and flunked out of detective school. So Chico got them cheap,” Rodriguez says.
The three angels are hired by Spanish singing sensation Charo to find a wannabe assassin aboard The Love Boat and save Charo’s ocean-going career. The trio discovers almost everyone on board has a motive for murder, and even find themselves being entranced by The Love Boat’s charm.
“This is the campiest thing you will ever see. This is over the top,” Rodriguez explains. He admits the show is extremely politically incorrect, but doesn’t come across as insulting because the three Latin Chicas are joking about themselves. Besides, he adds, “All stereotypes are based on truth.”
Charo actually saw the show during one of Rodriguez’s recent performances in Los Angeles. “She loved it,” Rodriguez says. “Essentially, the creators of the show wrote it almost as a love letter, even though it is a parody of her.”
She even stayed after the show, went backstage, took photos and laughed with the cast and crew. “She was really generous with her time and really wonderful,” Rodriguez adds.
Afterwards, he did what he jokingly considers the best part of the show. “That’s when I get to take my shoes off and put on sneakers.”
