When Tony Valdovinos tried to enlist in the Marines at 18, Uncle Sam didn’t want him.
Valdovinos, who arrived in the U.S. from Mexico when he was 2 years old, loves his adopted country, and the 9/11 attacks five years earlier motivated him to serve when he was old enough.
But he soon learned the truth about his immigration status when he was rejected at the recruitment office in Phoenix, Ariz. The now 31-year-old immigration and voting rights advocate told the Daily News when confronted, his mom revealed “we were what is considered ‘undocumented,’ which means zero, no permission, nothing.”
Valdovinos decided to share his story with the world — through musical theater: “¡Americano!”, now in previews at New World Stages with opening night set for Sunday, is that story.
Valdovinos turned his disappointment about his immigration status into a new goal, getting into local politics and enrolling in Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the program initiated by former President Barack Obama in 2012 that allows immigrants brought to the U.S. as children to work, and protects them from deportation.
His story caught the attention of theater producer Jason Rose and stage veteran Michael Barnard, who has been the producing artistic director of the Phoenix Theatre Company for the last 20 years. In 2015, the two began talks about a musical about DACA recipients, also known as Dreamers, and a show about Valdovino’s story, and “¡Americano!” began to take form.
Barnard was joined by Jonathan Rosenberg and Fernanda Santos as co-writers. In early 2019, “¡Americano!” opened in Phoenix for a critically acclaimed record-setting run.
Featuring a nearly all-Latin cast headlined by “proud Colombian” Sean Ewing (“West Side Story” and “Amazing Grace” on Broadway), the show has now made its way to New York City. It is presented by Roses’ Quixote Productions in association with Chicanos Por La Causa, a social justice advocacy group organization that fights for the rights of minorities.
More than a story of the difficulties faced by an estimated 1.8 million children of immigrants who entered the U.S. before their 16th birthday, however, “¡Americano!” is about “continuously moving forward,” Valdovinos told The News.
Ewing, who plays the role of Valodvinos, added that the show is not just about one person. “Of course, it’s the story of Tony and his life experience,” said Ewing, who plays the role of Valodvinos. “However, it is so relatable for every person that is sitting in that audience. And I think that it strikes a very poignant message of a human story.”
Barnard agrees.
“This is a story of what it means to be an American, and what it also means to be resilient, and to not give up,” he said. “[And also] to pursue what you believe is right and to stand by it, and by doing that, to not live in fear of trying to express that and, and to be able to hold your head up high.”
Among those who were touched by the message of “¡Americano!,” one audience member stands out.
Arizona’s Republican Gov. Doug Ducey — who once fought a lengthy battle in court to prohibit Dreamers from getting a driver’s license — shared his take on Twitter after seeing the show in February 2020.
“Powerful and inspirational!,” he wrote in a tweet that ended with a happy-face emoji.
“The story of “¡Americano!,” the story of Tony, the story of Dreamers is all about hopefully pushing the audience to rethink the way that they define ‘American,’” said co-writer Santos.
After moving to the U.S. from Brazil at the age of 24, Santos went to work at The News as a national reporter and later at 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? Or are they already?” Santos asked. “And what is it that we as a society need to do to allow them to fully embrace that role, that title and the benefits and the great privileges that come with it?”

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