Following its 2024 world premiere at DC’s Arena Stage, the limited-engagement Off-Broadway debut of The Other Americans, a new play written by and starring Emmy winner John Leguizamo and directed by Tony winner Ruben Santiago-Hudson, has already been extended twice at NYC’s The Public Theater, and with good reason. The emotionally intense two-act drama takes a deeply disturbing look at one Latino family’s pursuit of the American Dream, hindered by issues of racism, toxic machismo, and their incompatible goals for themselves and each other, and lightened by touches of humor – until it isn’t.
Set in Queens in 1998, in the middle-class suburban-style home of the ambitious first-generation Colombian-American Nelson Castro – a financially strapped owner of a chain of laundromats, who moved his family to the predominantly white Forest Hills from their largely Latino immigrant community in Jackson Heights – the story revolves around a gathering for the return of his 20-year-old son Nick from treatment in a mental health facility, necessitated by the lingering anxiety and depression caused by having been brutally beaten with a bat in high school by a well-connected white boy who was never prosecuted for the violent attack.
As the characters enter, we see their distinctive personalities and attitudes, watch their interactions and evolving relationships, and hear key points of their backstories that have shaped them, all delivered by a compelling cast of seven in a lively mix of English and Spanish, led by Leguizamo as the controlling patriarch Nelson, in a powerhouse performance filled with laughable foul language, drinking, and dancing (choreography by Lorna Ventura), angry outbursts, insults, and infighting (fight direction by Thomas Schall), incessant wheeling and dealing, manipulations and lies to get what he wants, without considering the toll he’s taking on his family. He also reveals a painful episode from his childhood that explains, but doesn’t excuse, his often coldhearted treatment of his son (though he did install a backyard pool for his return, since he was captain of the school’s swim team and always wanted one) and a money-driven secret he’s been keeping, which is unexpectedly exposed to the traumatized Nick, played with affecting vulnerability and emotional need by Trey Santiago-Hudson, who wants to leave home, get a job, pursue a career in choreography, and start a new life, free from the domination of his parents (his father wants him to work in his laundromat business; his mother wants him to return to college) and the devastating racially motivated beating he was subjected to in Forest Hills, which Nelson refuses to discuss.
In the role of Nelson’s wife and Nick’s mother Patti, Luna Lauren Velez embodies a whirlwind of activity and a range of emotions, getting dressed for the party, preparing (and burning!) the sofrito and other Latin-American favorites for dinner, stressing over the reunion with her son, dancing with her husband to the popular music he has playing in the living room, keeping the books for his business and keeping him happy in bed (intimacy coordination by Ann C. James), and expressing her desire for him to sell the failing laundromats and move back to Jackson Heights, away from the new neighborhood in which they’re clearly not welcome and she doesn’t feel at home. But he continues to ask for yet another loan from his fiscally stable and business savvy sister Norma, who runs her own successful laundromat chain – played with apropos smarts and sophistication by Rosa Evangelina Arredondo – and, after she repeatedly refuses his request, makes numerous phone calls to potential supporters and partners, rather than honor Patti’s wishes, breaking his bedroom promise that he would.
Adding to the familial dysfunction are Rebecca Jimenez as Nelson and Patti’s daughter Toni, who shares a game of backgammon with her brother Nick that triggers happy memories of their childhood, closeness, and times spent together, and then arranges a job interview for him with a business contact, who, unbeknownst to her, proves to be much more than that; and Bradley James Tejeda as her nerdy but even-tempered fiancé Eddie, who isn’t well-liked by Nelson but also works in the family business, and who is considering a move to California with Toni after their wedding – a plan she hasn’t mentioned to her parents but tells Nick, who wants to join them in their escape. Rounding out the excellent cast is Sarah Nina Hayon as Veronica, Patti’s pregnant best friend and neighbor from Jackson Heights, who comes in to see Nick – not once but twice, as the tragic conclusion unfolds.
The upscale interior set and background pool by Arnulfo Maldonado are key to the story and the understanding of the characters, as are the props by Natalie Carney, including the vintage ‘90s phone on which Nelson is constantly making calls. Costumes by Kara Harmon, with hair and wigs by Anika Seitu, accurately define the personalities, their situations, and aspirations, and lighting by Jen Schriever, sound by Justin Ellington, and original music by Ricky Gonzalez enhance the moods of the scenes and the radical shift in tone from Act I to II.
Leguizamo’s heartrending and thought-provoking work delivers many significant messages about the importance of family and community over wealth and position, assuming responsibility for one’s bad decisions and actions rather than blaming others, treating people the way you would like to be treated, not the way in which you were mistreated, and the human need for mutual love, respect, and empathy, not control and power over those who are closest to you, most reliant upon you, or different than you. While told from an under-represented Latino perspective, those are very valuable lessons that resonate and should apply to everyone, everywhere.
Running Time: Approximately two hours and 15 minutes, including an intermission.
The Other Americans plays through Sunday, November 9, 2025, at The Public Theater, 425 Lafayette Street, NYC. For tickets (priced at $30-120, including fees), go online, or find discount tickets at TodayTix.
