REVIEW | John Leguizamo’s The Other Americans
Compelling new play by the Hollywood multi-hyphenate deconstructs the classic theatrical archetype.
photo by Tony Powell / Arena Stage
Written by Dominic Painter
From Oct. 18 through Nov. 24, 2024, the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., is the home to a new original play, The Other Americans, written by and starring John Leguizamo, with Ruben Santiago-Hudson directing. Known for his breadth of character acting in film and TV (Romeo & Juliet, To Wong Fu, When They See Us) and award-winning one-man shows on and off Broadway (Mambo Mouth, Latin History for Morons), Leguizamo brings us an ensemble piece exploring the experience of a New York family teetering on the brink of tragedy.
The play opens with Nelson (Leguizamo) and Patti (Luna Lauren Velez of TV’s New York Undercover and Dexter), a middle-aged couple preparing their suburban home to celebrate the return of their son Nicky (Trey Santiago-Hudson) from the hospital. The home is modest, and the foods being prepared are authentic dishes found in Latin homes. The couple’s music collection bounces between salsa standards of the 70s and disco classics, revealing the influences of their heritage and their experiences growing up as first-generation Americans. Through casual conversation, we learn that Nelson is a small business owner of multiple laundromats around Queens, NY, a business he carried on from his late father who immigrated to the States from Colombia. Despite the humor and flirtatious energy between Nelson and Patti, there is obvious tension: Nelson’s drinking, financial strain from the business and looming concerns about their son who has been in a mental health facility for the better part of a year due to circumstances they are uncomfortable discussing in detail.
The family is rounded out by their older daughter Toni (Rebecca Jimenez), Toni’s push-over fiancé Eddie (Bradley James Tejeda), Nelson’s successful sister Norma (Rosa Arredondo) and Veronica (Sarah Nina Hayon), a family friend since high school when the main couple first met and began dating. They have all gathered to greet Nicky. However, what should be a joyous occasion is constantly dragged down by Nelson’s domineering and oppressive behavior. It is apparent that his dream of being a successful American capitalist has become a losing obsession, with his shortcomings subsequently inflating his need for patriarchal respect from those around him. It’s all a recipe for a toxic machismo that becomes even more apparent after Nicky returns home. Aside from brushing off the legitimacy of his son’s mental illness, Nelson discovers that Nicky has no desire to take over the family business. To add insult to injury, with the help of his new Jewish girlfriend, Nicky has become a Buddhist vegetarian, and, by Nelson’s response, you can’t tell which of the new developments is more offensive to the father’s sensibilities.
There are two threads that allow us to explore the family dynamics: a pending financial disaster, the extent to which Nelson has not been honest about, and the incident that led to Nicky being hospitalized. We bounce between joyous voyeurism into the rich culture of Latin Americans and the tragedy that too often is the common thread between families in the States, regardless of ethnic background. The latter point is the foundation of the play. In a recent NPR interview, Leguizamo stated, “The beauty of theater and plays is that, for generations, [they’ve] given white people, especially the average Joe and Jane, a sense that their lives have value and meaning.” In the 2018 blockbuster film, Black Panther, director/writer Ryan Coogler used the modern Hollywood action archetype of the superhero to culturally normalize the Pan African diaspora as having the potential to be brilliant, courageous and prosperous in a way that popular media has purposefully avoided since the invention of celluloid. Likewise, Leguizamo has taken an archetype of classic American dramatic theater, the working class white family, and reframed them to show that — although the food, music and slang may be a little different — the experience of being in this country, and all that goes into succeeding and failing in pursuit of happiness and prosperity, is universal.
photo by T. Charles Erickson Photography
This is nothing new for Leguizamo who has made it a personal mission to bring Latin voices to stage and screen by any means necessary for over 30 years. He does this with no apologies — only authentic language and attitude. If you don’t get it, that’s on you for not being open to it, not on him for refusing to dumb it down. He is electric throughout The Other Americans, showcasing the humor we know from classic characters such as Chi-Chi in To Wong Foo and Sid the Sloth in Ice Age (or for you OG fans, House of Buggin and The Pest), while grounding Nelson with all the dramatic gusto he has used to uplift classic films but has yet to be properly awarded for. As Nelson slowly reveals the true ugliness within that he masks with charm, we rely on the rest of the family to be our proxy through which we connect to the story. The cast is exhilarating, jumping effortlessly from love to confrontation, both shocking and entertaining us as the secrets slowly reveal themselves. Trey Santiago-Hudson carries the weight of the play as Nicky struggles with his mental health within a family that is more concerned with their own guilt, projected aspirations and personal ego than empathizing with someone who only wishes to be seen for who he is. If we can’t believe Santiago-Hudson and care for Nicky, then the play fails, no matter how good everyone else is. He succeeds in his task, conveying the manic unease of a young man who has experienced hard trauma, being the human collateral damage in the wake of his father’s schemes and inability to “fail up” like others do in America.
The play makes us question the dangers of integration and what we often give up of ourselves to achieve acceptance in this country. But the play never loses track of the point that, in general, working class American lives of all backgrounds are compelling and have value. With the results of the 2024 election being called a mandate by the working class in addition to a demand for immigration reform, it seems as timely as ever to explore these narratives. Despite the divisiveness of our rhetoric toward each “team,” John Leguizamo once again breaks down walls to show commonality — that being American is something that transcends ethnicity and politics.
See The Other Americans at the Arena Stage in Washington, D.C., through Nov. 24.
photo by T. Charles Erickson Photography
