{"id":879,"date":"2020-02-26T17:41:06","date_gmt":"2020-02-26T17:41:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.americanothemusical.com\/?p=879"},"modified":"2021-09-03T23:02:37","modified_gmt":"2021-09-03T23:02:37","slug":"debut-of-groundbreaking-musical-about-a-dreamer-shatters-arizona-box-office-records-attracts-diverse-audiences-next-stop-new-york-city-for-performance-on-april-17th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/debut-of-groundbreaking-musical-about-a-dreamer-shatters-arizona-box-office-records-attracts-diverse-audiences-next-stop-new-york-city-for-performance-on-april-17th\/","title":{"rendered":"Debut of Groundbreaking Musical About a DREAMer Shatters Arizona Box Office Records, Attracts Diverse Audiences; Next Stop New York City for Performance on April 17th"},"content":{"rendered":"

Debut of Groundbreaking Musical About a DREAMer Shatters Arizona Box Office Records Attracts Diverse Audiences; Next Stop New York City For \u201929 Hour Read\u2019 on April 17th<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

(PHOENIX)<\/strong> \u2014 A world premiere musical in Phoenix has set box office records and attracted younger and more diverse audiences with its uplifting story and original and compelling music.<\/p>\n

Americano!<\/em><\/strong> \u2014\u00a0 the groundbreaking new musical \u2014 has completed a record setting 27-show run on February 23rd at The Phoenix Theatre Company<\/strong>, breaking all-time, state box office records for an original musical production.<\/p>\n

Americano!<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0 also attracted a more diverse audience, upward of 30 percent of those attending the musical were Latino or African American breaking the traditional mold of theater fans.<\/p>\n

Americano<\/em><\/strong>! premiered January 29th<\/sup> and ended its very successful Phoenix debut with an extra Sunday night closing show added to meet strong ticket demand and the string of 10 sold out performances that concluded the run.<\/p>\n

Americano!<\/em><\/strong> eclipsed previous state box office records held by Dream a Little Dream <\/em>\u2014 a musical based on the hits of the \u2018The Mamas and The Papas\u2019 \u2014 for an original musical production.<\/p>\n

The Mamas and The Papas had 11 Top 40 hits and were a worldwide band compared to the new work that was and is Americano!<\/em><\/strong>. \u00a0The production also eclipsed the 2016 box office of In The Heights <\/em>at The Phoenix Theatre Company<\/strong> for its four-week run there.<\/p>\n

The next stop for Americano!<\/em><\/strong> will be a \u201929 Hour Read\u2019 on April 17th <\/sup>at the New World Stages in New York City. Broadway veteran Ryan Conway has been hired as the General Manager. Most of the cast and band from the Phoenix production will be traveling to New York with a casting director hired for the balance.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are overjoyed at the record-setting reception Americano!<\/em><\/strong> received from the community. The most rewarding part for me has been to witness how this musical\u2019s telling of Tony\u2019s story is not only emotionally connecting with audiences, but how it\u2019s also offering us an opportunity for a healthy and compassionate dialogue concerning immigration, DREAMers, and what it means to be an American – which is so hard to come by in these divisive times.\u00a0 We are excited for the next chapter, which will be to share Tony\u2019s story with New York and beyond, starting with a \u201929 Hour Read\u2019 in April,\u201d said Carrie Rodriguez, the show\u2019s composer.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Besides the box office record 9,048 people saw Americano!\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> 27 shows.<\/p>\n

Americano!<\/strong><\/em> is the true-life story of Antonio Valdovinos<\/strong>, a DREAMer who grew up in Phoenix and learned of his undocumented status on his 18th<\/sup> birthday when he tried to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps. Valdovinos wanted to serve his country after the 9\/11 terrorist attacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are so proud that Americano!<\/strong> emotionally connected with such a diverse audience during our run in Phoenix. Our story, our message and our music resonated with the Latino community, with African Americans and with students and other young people concerned about what will happen to DREAMers like me. But we presented all this with a positive focus on family and love \u2014 including love for our country,\u201d Valdovinos said<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The positive reviews and reception for Americano!<\/em><\/strong> came from both sides of the political aisle. Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey, a Republican, praised the musical along with Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego and U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton and Ruben Gallego (all Democrats). The show ran just as the U.S. Supreme Court is deciding the fate of DREAMers such as Valdovinos and the Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program protecting them from deportation. A Supreme Court decision is expected in June and immigration will a top issue in the 2020 elections including the race for President.<\/p>\n

Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego also proclaimed February 23, 2020 as \u2018Americano!<\/em><\/strong> The Musical Day\u2019 in the city of Phoenix. And the next day, the San Francisco Giants welcomed the cast of Americano!<\/em><\/strong> on the field before their spring training game with the Arizona Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis artistic gem is truly an \u2018only in Phoenix\u2019 story. In our city we have overcome economic downturns, political strife and natural disasters. Nothing has stopped Phoenicians from surmounting these challenges because like Tony Valdovinos Phoenix\u2019s residents are determined to achieve their goals and dreams,\u201d Mayor Gallego said in her proclamation announcement.<\/p>\n

Tony Award-winning producer<\/strong> Ken Davenport<\/strong> is Americano!\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> Executive Producer. Davenport has produced 20 Broadway shows. He won Tony Awards for Kinky Boots<\/em> and Once on This Island<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Americano!<\/em><\/strong> \u00a0was one of the centerpieces of The Phoenix Theatre Company\u2019s<\/strong> 100th<\/sup> Anniversary. Michael Barnard<\/strong>, The Phoenix Theatre Company\u2019s Producing Artistic Director, is Americano!\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> director. Barnard also wrote the original musical with Jonathan Rosenberg<\/strong>. Former New York Times reporter Fernanda Santos<\/strong> and Phoenix playwright James Garcia<\/strong> have joined the production as creative consultants. Americano!<\/em><\/strong> was produced by Scottsdale public relations executive and entrepreneur Jason Rose<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Americano!<\/em><\/strong> features 20 original songs composed by acclaimed singer, songwriter Carrie Rodriguez<\/strong>. Nine of those songs were released on January 24th<\/sup> as a concept album from Time Life Records. A portion of the proceeds from the album are going to the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund.<\/p>\n

Americano!\u2019s<\/em><\/strong> arranger is Sergio Mendoza <\/strong>from the border town of Nogales, Arizona Mendoza is a member of the Grammy nominated band Calexico and pioneering group Orkestra Mendoza.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debut of Groundbreaking Musical About a DREAMer Shatters Arizona Box Office Records Attracts Diverse Audiences; Next Stop New York City For \u201929 Hour Read\u2019 on April 17th \u00a0 (PHOENIX) \u2014 A world premiere musical in Phoenix has set box office records and attracted younger and more diverse audiences with its uplifting story and original and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-americano","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":984,"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879\/revisions\/984"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/983"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.roseallynpr.com\/qp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}