The Other Americans

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Comedian and actor John Leguizamo’s The Other Americans, his first full-length and full-cast play, aside from his satiric one-person shows, is making its Off Broadway debut and proves to be an impressive dysfunctional family drama. Following in the tradition of Arthur Miller’s All My Sons and Death of a Salesman, Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun and August Wilson’s Fences, as well as Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey into Night, the play focuses both on its 59-year-old Colombian American protagonist Nelson Castro and his estranged son Nick, and his pursuing the American Dream in all the wrong ways. While this New York play is both generic and derivative, its authentic Latino milieu makes it particularly notable as it is difficult to name any other play that fulfills this role.

The play begins in the grand tradition with a 1998 Queens family homecoming (although the time is never made clear): Nelson and his wife Patti’s son Nick is returning from a ten-month stay in a psychiatric hospital after a nervous breakdown in his first year of St. John’s University. However even before his entrance we are made aware of family problems. Nelson has inherited a series of laundromats from his late father but he is always needing money to upgrade them, while some of his ideas have been risky failures, like the upscale coffee shops in the matts as he calls them.

Although his half-sister Norma has inherited equally many, she appears to have been more successful with her businesses and her money, and is about to expand to Los Angeles. She refuses to lend him any more money for his wild schemes and the bank has turned down his request for a loan. Little do his wife and daughter Toni who both work in his office know but he has mortgaged their home in order to help with his bills which include an above ground pool ostensibly for Nick, a former high school championship swimmer, but in reality as a status symbol for himself.

As part of his pursuit of the American Dream he has moved his family from an apartment in the socially diverse neighborhood of Jackson Heights to a detached house in the nearly all white neighborhood of Forest Hills. While he feels like he has made it, his wife feels cut off from her roots and friends, as well as shunned by her stand-offish neighbors. She dreams of returning to Jackson Heights where her best friend Veronica still lives.

When Nick returns, it is obvious that he has not been cured and still has a remnant of his condition. His doctors have told him that he needs to live alone which his parents immediately reject and he has no intention of returning to St. John’s (as his mother wishes) where his problem first started. He wants to be a choreographer while his father still expects him to go into the business. He also has a girl from the facility who he wants to be able to bring to New York.

However, his biggest problem is that the doctors have told him he must discuss his past with his parents in order to deal with his PTSD, the night of the brutal assault by a gang of white boys when he was back in high school and dating a white girl Leslie. Although he knows he has blacked out part of the assault, he has always wondered why his father did not go to the police to report the crime. There is, however, more to be revealed. Like Joe Keller, Willy Loman and Walter Lee Younger, Nelson is hiding a guilty secret which will bring the family down.

While the detail, authenticity and acting are quite impressive, the play evolves very generically for such stories and its surprise can be guessed in advance. Nevertheless, Ruben Santiago-Hudson’s production is first rate though not all the roles are as well defined as others. In the leading role of a man who is both a hustler and a charmer, Leguizamo gives a very fine performance as Nelson, a man he knows intimately. As his vivacious wife Patti, Luna Lauren Velez is the perfect foil, compassionate, understanding, and forgiving. However, it turns out she has her limits too. As their children older Toni and the younger Nick, Rebecca Jimenez and Trey Santiago-Hudson (the director’s son making his New York stage debut), we never learn enough about them or their growing up, though they are interesting enough characters.

While the other actors are fine in their roles, we learn little about them also. Rosa Evangelina Arredondo as Nelson’s half-sister Norma is elegant, chic and efficient, having learned it is better to leave than to try to argue with Nelson. As Veronica, Sarah Nina Hayon is also a woman like Patti disappointed with her life but keeping a good face on things. Bradley James Tejeda as Toni’s fiancé Eddie is amusing as a socially inept college grad, always allowing Nelson a chance to needle him while seemingly at Norma’ beck and call as her assistant.

Arnulfo Maldonado’s spectacular setting puts the entire first floor of the Castro home on the Anspacher stage, living room, dining room, kitchen, pool and driveway. It is remarkable how much he has been able to shoehorn onto the theater’s thrust stage. The costumes by Kara Harmon are expert in giving each of the characters his or her own look from Norma’s stylish dresses to Patti’s matronly outfits to Veronica’s brightly colored maternity clothes. Jen Schriever’s lighting suitably depicts various times of day for the play’s seven scenes. Justin Ellington’s lively sound design includes Nelson’s favorite pop songs as well as Ricky Gonzalez’s original music. Lorna Ventura’s choreography is given a fine display on two separate occasions.

John Leguizamo’s The Other Americans is an impressive piece of work though it fails to approach the grandeur and tragedy of the other named plays in this genre. For one thing, Nelson Castro never learns anything from his mistakes and failures unlike Willy Loman, Joe Keller and Walter Lee Younger. Nevertheless, the play fills in a gap for Latino plays that deal with family tragedy. The production now at The Public Theater is a vigorous evening in the theater which should provoke talk and discussion.

The Other Americans (extended through November 23, 2025)

The Public Theater in association with Arena Stage

Anspacher Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, in Manhattan

For tickets, visit http://www.publictheater.org

Running time: two hours and 25 minutes including one intermission