Umar1

What do a halffrench, halfvietnamese nightclub owner, a Stanford student and a gang

in Manhattan have in common? They all have hopes for a better life and selffulfillment. These
aspirations can be summed up by one all encompassing idea: The American Dream. In West
Side Story, Puerto Rican immigrants come to America and are at odds with the already settled
Caucasian denizens of their neighborhood. Miss Saigon features a nightclub, full of girls
desperate for better lives, run by a man named The Engineer, who has his own aims for
American glitz and glam. Finally, IntheHeightsspansthreegenerationsofimmigrantsandtheir
children, struggling to balance old culture with their new lives.Eachshowrepresentsadifferent
perspectiveanderaofthiskeyelementtoAmericasfoundation.
At the turn of the century, the American Dreamwasastrong,literalidea,representinga
new and better life and a chance of success that could only be found in America. Immigrants
would come to America in the hopes that their children would have ahappier life.Americawas
the land of golden streets and endless possibilities. Now, one way to interpret the American
Dream is finding and keeping that sense of culture, while becoming successful. The new
American Dream is fueled more by parental pressure and the underlying feeling to prove worth
andbethebest,ratherthansurvivalandhope.

Umar2

I will examine the American Dream as viewed through the dual lensofimmigrationand
Broadway. The immigrantsperceptionoftheAmericanDreamchangesastheyaredisappointed
and realize that the American Dream can only be fullylivedoutinthesucceedinggenerations.I
will first look at the rootsofmusicaltheater,includingcomposersandperformerswhouseditas
a tool to assimilate and succeed in America. Then I will analyze both plotandmusicalnumbers
in the Broadway shows West Side Story, Miss Saigon and In the Heights to support the ideaof
theeverchangingAmericanDream.
BackgroundHistory(OriginofAmericanMusicalTheatre&theAmericanDream)
America is the pillar of freedom, opportunity,acceptance, andsuccess,atleastaccording
to The American Dream. Coined by James Truslow Adams in his book The Epic ofAmerica,
The American Dream represents a better life where all can grow to the fullest
developmentunhampered by the barriers (Adams 1931). The term has developed and
expanded to encompass the many aspects of American culture, like economic, political and
social success. These goals are modified and applied to those of all living circumstances and
their own personal fulfillment. A more currentdefinitionoftheDreamisthatpeoplearefreeto
pursue opportunity and that through hard work, they can make a better life for themselves and
their children (Ellis and Guettler, 2015). Even before it was officially named, it was an ideal
that was widely accepted from inhabitants and observers alike the American Dream exists
because we live in a nation founded in the principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness(US1776).
The birth of musical theatre in the US is intertwined with both immigrants and their
hopes of achievingtheAmericanDream.AsEuropeanimmigrantscametoNewYorkattheturn

Umar3

of the 20thcentury,entertainmentwasoneoftheprofessionswheretheycouldthrive. Successin

more conventional industries was hard to achieve, so theater, where there were fewer class
boundaries and discriminations, was where immigrated individuals could become successful.
Due to the nature of the industry being talent based, it helped eliminate many of the challenges
immigrants faced when trying to find work in huge factory companies. Compared to the
dehumanizing and degrading manual labor options, theater was where immigrants adopted the
characteristics and values of [America], and their performances reflected this assimilation
(Kantor 2004). These new immigrants prospered in careers in the arts, includingcomposersand
lyricists such as Jerome Kern, Irving Berlin and the brothers George and Ira Gershwin.Allfour
of these musicians were either immigrants or first generation Americans, with Kern of German
background, and Berlin and the Gershwin brothers of RussoJewish descent (Encyclopedia
Britannica). Their ethnic makeup inspired some signature musical theater motifs to sound
Jewishinspired and their strong work ethic to rise above their class brought them recognition
(Kantor2004),
A fascinating pattern is that each of the musicals I focus on in this paper, center their
American dream around New York City. New York City was the most logical and appropriate
choice for theatre to take root immigrants flocked to the urban city centers and used art as a
much neededescape fromthehardshipofdailylife(Kantor,2004). WestSideStory issetinthe
Upper WestSide,theEngineerfromMissSaigonfantasizesaboutTimesSquare,andthecitizens
of Washington Heights view their lives as a mixtureoftheculturestheybroughttotheborough.
The idolization of New York could be due to the fact that Ellis Island, a major hub for
immigration was nearby, but it could also be taken as a way for the artists behind the pieces to

Umar4

express their ideals of the American Dream. To the artists, appearing on Broadway meant the
ultimate acceptance as an artist and as an American, so the charactersintheirworksalsoclung
tothecitythatnurturedtheirefforts(Kantor2004).
The themes of many of the first musicals were centered around the dream of the
American culture and the Caucasian citizens of America, in shows such Show Boat and
Oklahoma. However, theater is a business and producers had to choose the stories that would
become the most successful the economy forced many changes in the kind of shows that were
being produced and seen by major audiences. Theatregoers wanted a happy show, where they
could escape the harsh realities of the world. America was celebrated, but only the facade of
happinessandsuccess,asnotalloftheinhabitantswererepresented.
WestSideStory(1950s)
The groundbreaking musical West Side Story, based onShakespearesRomeoandJuliet,
played on Broadway in 1957 and went on to becomeoneofthebestknownmusicalstoday.The
show was written by Arthur Laurents and composed by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen
Sondheim. Interestingly, these three men were all first generation Americans, with Jewish
immigrantparents.Itwas astorysetintheUpperWestSideofNewYorkCity,wheretherewere
many ethnicities and many blue collar citizens in the neighborhood (Waxman). Itstartsoffwith
two opposing gangs, the Sharks and Jets, the former were newly arrived from Puerto Rico and
the latter a more assimilated mixed Caucasian group. Though both gangs are immigrants, the
amount of time spent in this new country and their race are different, and that gap provides the
justificationneededfortheJetsracialstereotypingandtreatmentbythetowardstheSharks.

Umar5

Halfway through Act One, the song America is performed by the newly immigrated
Sharks. Rosalia and Anita play off each other in describing their feelings towards the country.
Rosalia dreams of her family and the beautiful scenery of her old home, while Anita scolds her
and contrasts it with the shiny, new, and grand life in America, opposed to the small, dank and
hopeless seeming life of San Juan. The musical number opens with Rosalias yearning for her
lovely island, island of tropical breezes and Anitas response of it being an ugly island...of
tropic diseases..and the money owing, and the babies crying, and the bullets flying (Laurents
and Sondheim, 1957). At this time period, Puerto Rico was already a part of the U.S., and thus
they always had been part of America however, their fixation on the mainland and their
dreams of New York is significant totheidealoftheAmericanDreamand itsglory.Thesong is
written in a mixed meter1, alternating between 6/8 and 3/4 time whichprovidestwokeyeffects.
First, it mimics a Latin style and the effect that it is moving forward then slowing quickly, and
second, the mixture of two rhythmic feels mirrors the mixtures of culture the song is based
around(Judd,2014).
There was a large influx of Puerto Rican immigrants in the 1950s2, a result of the
economic changes on the island from a plantation to a more industrial system (Puerto Rican
Emigration). Many of these immigrants hoped that America was the place where they could
finally achievethesuccessandthelifethattheywanted.However, therealitywasthattherewere
still high racial tensions and stereotyping taking place, as represented by the gangs. Despite all
that it brought the industry, West SideStorywasbeatoutfortheTonyAwardforbestmusicalin
1958 by Meredith Wilson's The Music Man. The Music Man was a primarily white show, with
1
2

SeeAppendixA.
SeeAppendixB.

Umar6

the only immigrantlike characters being ostracizedorlookeddownupon(Hoffman,2014).This

loss for West Side Story mirrors the lossofhopefortheimmigrantsdreamstobefulfilledatthe
time. These hopefuls would not yet be able to achieve the aspirations they came toAmericafor
and were helpless to circumstance save for workinghardinhopesthatthefollowinggenerations
wouldhavebetterluck.
MissSaigon(1980s)
Miss Saigon is not set in America, but rather in Vietnam, right in the midst of the
VietnamWar.Thismusicalbringstheperspectiveofanoutsider,asitalsowaswrittenbyFrench
librettists and first debuted on theWest EndinLondon. Producedin1989,itcarriedmanyofthe
old ideals of America that musicalshadjuststartedtoprogressawayfromThe1970shadbeen
a moment of multiculturalism and ethnic pride, the 1980s would witness a firm turnbacktothe
whitenessandthemythologiesoftheAmericanDream(Hoffman,pg327).
The protagonist of Miss Saigon is a girl named Kim who works at the nightclub
Dreamland, run by the mixedrace Engineer. He has had the ideal of the American dream of
success become a reality for him because he grew upinadverseconditionsandroseabovethem
achieve his goals. Having achieved these smalltime hustles he wants to go to the land where
he learned his ways make me Yankee, theyre myfamily(BoublilandSchonberg,1989).His
American Dream is now one of the place itself, and the wealth and glamour he believes is
America. His American Dream was one that would be hopelessly shattered upon arrival,
especially because of his ignorance he had already attained more successinVietnamthanmany
soughtforinAmerica.

Umar7

The glowing vision of America the Engineer holds is outdated to those immigrants who
now lived in America. Those already in America knew the harsh realities that this outsider had
yet to realize. Due to the fall of Saigon and the end oftheVietnamwar,therewasahugeinflux
of VietnameseimmigrantstotheUnitedStates (RkasnuamandBatalova,2014).Thiscontributed
to Vietnams idealization of America, since they were the ones who aided them in thewar.The
Engineerlistedawayforaplacethatdidnotexistbesidesinstories.
IntheHeights(2000s)
In the Heights was what West Side Story might havebeeniftoldfromthepointofview
of the Sharks (Hoffman, 2014, pg. 390). The cast of the show features mainly first generation
American performers, who can relate to the messages and themes of the show. LinManuel
Miranda, a New York native of Puerto Rican descent, composed and starred in the musical and
offered his thoughts on immigrants children growing up in America: They dont know where
they belong and what theyre supposed to navigate and what traditions youre supposed to take
with you theres a whole first generation of immigrants. You grow up with your parents
tradition and you go to school with a completely different set of traditions, and you try to find
yourselfwithinthemargins(MirandaqtdinKantor,2009).
This show is unique in its examination of a community throughout three generations.
First is Abuela Claudia, who came to America in19433fromCuba,thentheRosarioswhocame
most likely in the early80s4fromPuertoRico,andfinallyUsnavi,Vanessa,NinaandSonny,the

Forpurposesofclarity,Ihaveplacedtheeventsoftheshowin2004.MirandanotesClaudiacametotheUSin1943
atayoungage.IfIsettheageto7,andhaveherbornin1936,shewouldthenlineuptohercurrentagelate
sixties(68).Shewouldbe21during1957,soitisofnotethatsheisofthesamegenerationandcultureasthemain
charactersinWestSideStory,thustheyhaveasimilarrelationshiptotheAmericanDream.(StageNotes2007)
4
ItisaninterestingconnectionthatthetimetheyimmigratedwouldvebeenthesameastheEngineerfromMiss
Saigon,hadhebeensuccessful.

Umar8

first generation Americans who have lived in America their entire lives. The American Dream
and how it has changed and been realized is very clearly seen through thisshow.Abuelashares
her story of learning the ropes in America, in Espanol,andthenfinally gettingajob asamaid
(Miranda in Huedes, 2006). She tried to earn enough so that she and her mother could go visit
their home, but living day to day slowly turned into a lifetime and she stayed in America. She
feels that shes spent [her] lifeinheritingdreamsfromhermotherasentiment similartomany
others who immigrated in that generation (Miranda in Huedes, 2006). Those who came in the
mid1900s and were the first of their family to come to America, often had to work just to
survive and their dream of a better life couldnt be realized, and instead onlypassedontothose
thatfollowedthem.
In the musical, the character Kevin Rosario is an immigrantwhocameinthe1980swith
his wife Camila, when they were in their late teens.Nowintheirmid40swiththeir19yearold
daughter, Nina, he struggles with her choice to leave college and with his own role as a father.
When he was growing up, he told his father, a farmer, that he was going farther, in life and
was slapped for it. He now hopes that Nina will go farther than him, and he wishes for her to
change the world someday since he couldnt himself. However his fear of failure and the
pressure to make his family great is passed ontoNinaIwillnotbethereason.Thatmyfamily
can't succeed, I will do what it takes, they'll have everything they need or all my work, all my
life,everythingI'vesacrificedwillhavebeenuseless(MirandainHuedes2006).
NinaisafirstgenerationAmerican,inthesamepositionasmanyyoungperformers
today. We first meet her when she has just came back from California, and she sings the song
Breathe about the pressures she faced her whole life. She saved up and was the first to go to

Umar9

college in her family, yet ended up dropping out and is confused about her own identity. Her
love interest, Benny, comforts her as she questions, What would happen if [her] parents had
stayed in Puerto Rico (Miranda in Huedes, 2006). Nina feels as if she has had to work harder
than other nonimmigrants to achieve success, as well as learn Spanish and the culture her
parents came from. Benny reminds her that with hard work, she can achieve the success that
every generation before her sought after and thatthoughherheritagewasfromacrossthesea,in
America,shewashome(MirandainHuedes,2006).

Conclusion
These musicals each represent a different stage of the representation of immigrants and
their dream through theater. Through each decade and with each set of characters, the ideal is
constantly challenged and shattered by reality. The AmericanDreamisanideologythatclearly
does not play out in real life, or for that matter in the Broadway musical (Hoffman 2014, pg
279). However, though it may not be achievable at its original definition, it has adapted to new
circumstances and generations Immigrants continue to pursue the American Dream, but the
specifics of the dreamhaschangedasthesocietyhaschanged(Lee2015).Thedreamcontinues
to develop as the generations pass, one can soonhopetoseeachievablesuccessforpeopleofall
culturesbothonandoffthestage.

Umar10