- The musical is based on the true story of Dreamer Antonio Valdovinos. Tony learned of his undocumented status when he tried to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps on his 18th He wanted to serve his country after the 9/11 attacks.
- Tony graduated from Camelback High School in Phoenix. On January 22nd, ¡Americano! held a special performance at Camelback High for 500 students. The school has a significant number of Dreamers and undocumented students. Valdovinos is now the owner of the La Machine Consulting Firm which specializes a grassroots and voter mobilization.
- Before and during its run, ¡Americano! generated voluminous state and national headlines including from the Associated Press, National Public Radio, Telemundo, La Voz, Univision and the Arizona Republic.
- ¡Americano! set an all-time state box office record for an original production eclipsing both Dream a Little Dream, a musical based on The Mamas and The Papas, a group that produced 11 Top 40 hits. ¡Americano!’s box office also beat In the Heights’ 4-week Phoenix run in 2016.
- !Americano! ended its 27-show debut at The Phoenix Theatre Company with 10 consecutive sellout performances at the 378-seat MainStage Theater. The original musical was a centerpiece of The Phoenix Theatre Company’s 100th The Phoenix Theatre was where Steven Spielberg debuted his first film.
- Over 50 DREAMers attended ¡Americano!’s Opening Night on January 29th.
- ¡Americano!’s Executive Producer is Ken Davenport. He has won Tony Awards for Kinky Boots and Once on This Island.
- Sergio Mendoza, the musical’s arranger, is part of the Grammy nominated band Calexico. He is also the founder of Orkestra Mendoza, a pioneering band that melds Latin music with indie and psychedelic rock.
- In describing the show’s emotional impact one learned Broadway observer called it a production with a ‘gentle roaring impact’. Arizona Governor Doug Ducey (a Republican) and Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego, U.S. Reps. Greg Stanton and Ruben Gallego (all Democrats) attended shows and wrote raving reviews of the musical.
- Singer, songwriter Carrie Rodriguez composed 20 original songs for the musical. Carrie’s album Lola was named one of National Public Radio’s Top 50 albums of the year.
- ¡Americano! co-author Jonathan Rosenberg has been a songwriter for rock bands in San Diego and his musical 33 1/3 – House of Dreams broke box office records in San Diego.
- Michael Barnard — the musical’s director and co-author — is the Producing Artistic Director at the Phoenix Theatre Company and is a recipient of the 2018 Ellis Island Medal of Honor.
- ¡Americano! released a 9-song concept album via Time Life Records. Portions of proceeds from the album are going to the Marine Corps Scholarship Fund.
- Phoenix Mayor Kate Gallego proclaimed February 23, 2020 as ‘Americano! The Musical Day’ in the city of Phoenix.
- Twenty-seven people introduced shows including 10 state lawmakers. Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs, Phoenix City Council members Sal DiCiccio and Betty Guardado, former Tempe mayor Neil Guiliano, former Phoenix mayor Phil Gordon and prominent journalists Olivia Fierro and Pat McMahon also introduced shows.
- The San Francisco Giants hosted the cast of the musical on the field at a Spring Training baseball game on February 24th.
Tiananmen: A Brave and Necessary New Musical Making Its World Premiere October 6th, 2023 At The Phoenix Theatre Company
With over three decades having passed since the tragedy on China’s Tiananmen Square, and in what promises to be one of the most important new