'¡Americano!': Musical about illegal immigrants to be shown in New York

Valdovinos, who came to the US from Mexico when he was 2, loves his adopted country. And the September 11 attacks five years earlier encouraged him to serve when he was old enough. When Tony Valdovinos tried to enlist in the Marines at 18, Uncle Sam didn't want him, reports Daily News.

He soon learned the truth about his immigration status when he was turned down by an employment agency in Phoenix, Arizona. The now 31-year-old immigration and voting rights advocate recounted how his mom used to say: "We were 'undocumented', which means zero, no permission, nothing."

Valdovinos decided to share his story with the world through a musical

Premiere of the musical “¡Americano!” on stage New World Stages will take place on Sunday.

Valdovinos turned his frustration with immigration status into a new target by getting involved in local politics and enrolling in a delayed action program for arriving children. A program initiated by former President Barack Obama in 2012 that allows immigrants brought to the US as children to work and protects them from deportation.

His story caught the attention of theater producer Jason Rose and stage veteran Michael Bernard, who for the last 20 years has been artistic director-producer of the Phoenix Theater Company. In 2015, they began talks about a musical about DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, and a show about the history of Valdovinos, and "¡Americano!" started to take shape.

Bernard was joined by Jonathan Rosenberg and Fernanda Santos as co-writers. At the start of 2019, “¡Americano!” was shown in Phoenix and was critically acclaimed as a record.

Thanks to an almost entirely Hispanic cast led by "proud Colombian" Sean Ewing ("West Side Story" and "Amazing Grace" on Broadway), the show has now made its way to New York. It is presented by Roses' Quixote Productions in association with Chicanos Por La Causa. It is a social justice organization that fights for the rights of minorities.

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However, “¡Americano!” is more than just a story about the hardships faced by the 1,8 million immigrant children who entered the United States before their 16th birthday. “¡Americano!” “It is, as Valdovinos said, a constant movement forward.”

Ewing, who plays the role of Valdovinos, added that the show is not just about one person. “Of course, this is the story of Tony and his life experiences,” he said. “Nevertheless, it is so important for every person who sits in the hall. And I think that's a very poignant message of human history." Bernard agrees: “This is a story about what it means to be an American. And also about what it means to be resilient and not give up.”

Among those touched by the message of “¡Americano!”, one viewer stands out

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, who once fought a lengthy court battle to bar Dreamers from getting driver's licenses, shared his sentiment on Twitter after watching the show in February 2020.

“Powerful and inspiring!” he tweeted.

“The story of ¡Americano!, the story of Tony, the story of the dreamers all hopefully encourage audiences to rethink how they define an American,” said co-writer Santos.

After moving to the US from Brazil at the age of 24, Santos began working for the News as a national reporter and then for the New York Times, eventually moving to Arizona as the Times' bureau chief.

“What does it mean to be an American? Why are dreamers not Americans? Should they be like this? Or do they already exist? Santos asks. “And what do we need to do as a society to allow them to fully embrace this role, and the benefits and greater privileges that come with it?”