With a title like “Somewhere Over the Border,” you can’t help but wonder if it is about immigration or is it a take on the song, “Somewhere, Over the Rainbow.” It turns out that this musical is about both. Reina is a 17-year-old girl in El Salvador in 1978 who has just given birth and wonders if her country is the best place to raise the child. She eventually decides to flee to the United States, leaving all behind (including the baby) where she hopes she can find a better life and eventually bring her family with her. It is a trail far more intimidating than the Yellow Brick Road from “The Wizard of Oz,” though she does meet others who want to go with her. People’s Light presents this beautifully written tale, with on-stage musicians performing hip-hop, rock, and more traditional theater music as this superb cast of 6 shares this journey with us.
The story is told to us by The Narrator (Arusi Santi), one of the musicians. But in effect, each character is a narrator, as we understand their many struggles and hopes.
El Salvador is a dangerous place to grow up and live in the 1970’s. Hearing idyllic stories about what life is like in America, Reina (Isabella Campos) dreams of a better life. She has a supportive brother and lives with a cantankerous mother. One day, at the market, she meets a neighbor whose daughter has escaped to San Diego and is living the good life. Unfortunately, there’s no way to enter legally so she must raise a hefty sum of money to sneak across the border.
She is lent money by that neighbor, by the man she works for, and from her brother, and she begins her trek. She is told how to meet a contact person to whom she will pay the money, the man who will smuggle her across the border. She leaves only a note for her mother. En route, she meets three others who also have personal reasons for wanting to get to America. But rather than a scarecrow, a tin man, and a lion, these are real people with real motives for wanting to emigrate and I won’t spoil the story by telling you too much about them. The banana farmer, the innkeeper, and the nun will all join her, each coming up with the money they need for the payoff.
This first act was filled with song and humor that keeps us on the edge of our seat while also making us laugh with the comedy in the script by Brian Quijada (whose mother fled from El Salvador before he was born). This talented man also composed the most entertaining songs that revealed the plot and allowed us to see what the characters were thinking. In relating the inner thought, he used rap. Other times, old fashioned rock told the stories. And then, the were the soft songs that every lover of old musicals could relate to- all masterfully performed by the band.
The first act, an hour and twenty minutes of the two-act play was flawless. While there were clear comparisons with the film, they were understated, and we could appreciate the struggles that the travelers faced without it being thrown in our face. The second act was not as powerful. Expecting lots of drama, I was disappointed in how the 40-minute second act sped through the events of the crossing and the aftermath, including her disappointment in America and what followed when she sought to bring her son there many years later. That first act was so good, I wanted more!
Still, I highly recommend this remarkable and unusual play. We care about the tales of each character as well as understand why so many people seek refuge in America. You will come away talking about this for a long time!
“Somewhere Over the Border” by Brian Quijada at People’s Light, 39 Conestoga Rd., Malvern, PA 19355, 610-644-3500, peopleslight.org Thru August 11, 2024
Philadelphia Theater Reviews by Frank Burd 