About the Show

John Leguizamo stars in a new play about family, identity, and survival in Queens.

In The Other Americans, Nelson Castro, a Colombian-American laundromat owner in Queens, is fighting to keep his business and family together as past traumas and cultural tensions surface. When his son Nick returns home from a mental wellness facility after a traumatic incident, Nelson is forced to confront buried secrets and moral compromises. His determination to succeed as an immigrant father clashes with the painful truths that threaten to unravel everything he's built.

The play is written by and stars Emmy Award winner John Leguizamo (Latin History for Morons, When They See Us) in the lead role of Nelson. It is directed by Tony Award winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Jitney, Lackawanna Blues), bringing together two of the most respected voices in contemporary theater. Additional casting has not yet been announced.

Presented by The Public Theater in association with Arena Stage, The Other Americans marks its New York premiere in the Anspacher Theater. This production continues The Public’s commitment to producing urgent, socially resonant work that reflects the multiplicity of American life and culture.

Critic Reviews (12)

"The cultural specificity in Leguizamo’s work is airtight, and in his first effort at writing for a full cast, he clears two important hurdles: a good ear for dialogue and an understanding that everyone needs strong intentions."
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" 'The Other Americans' is too archetypical, its characters too flat and easily pathologized, to feel fully fresh and alive."
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“One of the best interactions in the play happens wordlessly, when Nelson and Nick engage in a dance off. Lorna Ventura’s choreography is playful and vigorous, and both Leguizamo and Santiago-Hudson can really move.”
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" 'The Other Americans' is not without flaws. With judicious trimming, particularly of the occasional puddle of expository or repetitive dialogue, the play would gain a tauter pace. "
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" 'The Other Americans' is by no means a textbook perfect drama, and there are moments when the author’s contrivance is all too apparent"
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"Leguizamo, whose solo shows teem with raunchy, vivid, hilarious language, strikes a paler, more derivative note here, and he hasn't totally mastered the mechanics of this sort of drama."
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"For two hours, plus an intermission, we are invited to join this family's own relentless journey into night, suffused with predictable plot turns and unfortunately clichéd dialog, along with an ending that is foreseeable long before it unfolds. "
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"Overall, at this stage of development “The Other Americans” could benefit from some major revisions, but hopefully it will serve as a steppingstone to a new facet of Mr. Leguizamo’s career.”
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