Latero Story by Miguel Algarin

The Latero Story is a poem written by Miguel Algarin. It is a very interesting story about a twentieth-century welfare recipient who collects garbage cans in order to survive in America. The most touching part that got to me was that Miguel colleted cans all day no matter if it was day or nite and had to go through so much in order to make money and provide himself with his needs. Sometimes he had to go through garbage which was filled with many diseases and other nasty stuff. The truth was that he was an expert at collecting cans and was considered best at his job. The overall part that I liked the most about this poem was that, Miguel never gave up on his job. He worked almost the entire day collecting cans and kept moving forward to achieve his goals. I think that people who come to America and have the passion to work hard, are the ones who are always successful because once you put your heart into something, it does pay off no matter how long it takes you.

West Side Story

Last week, I went to see the remake of the 1957 classic, West Side Story, on Broadway. For those who may be unfamiliar, it is a Romeo and Juliet tale that takes place in the west side of Manhattan in the 1950s. The entire story revolves around two rival gangs. The Jets are the local "American" kids, and the Sharks are the recently arrived Puerto Rican boys. The Sharks were originally willing to co-exist with the Jets. However, the Jets resented that their fathers had lost jobs to the newly arrived immigrants willing to work for less. Therefore, the Jets would settle for nothing less than a rumble to establish turf domination.

There is a wonderful backstory about the play's development. The original draft was entitled East Side Story. The protagonist Tony, had been Polish then Italian and his love, Maria, was conceived Jewish before becoming Puerto Rican. I would like to tell you that I regularly attend the theater and know all of this information because I am a highly cultured individual. If I did I would be lying. My boyfriend surprised me with the tickets, then proceeded to sing each word of each song along with the cast. I had never seen this "showtune" side of him. During intermission he explained that his father, a Chinese immigrant, played this soundtrack throughout his childhood. Admittedly classic Bernstein and Sondheim, it is apparent that this music and this story speak of American immigration in a quintessentially American way.

An interesting twist in this current production is that now most of the lines spoken by the Puerto Ricans are in spanish. I speak no spanish and was concerned that I would have difficulty following the story. Unlike Esmeralda Santiago's book, there was no translation in the Playbill. So in fact, I may have missed a few lines but the effect of feeling transported into the story far outweighed any lost dialogue. The only time I was aware of my seat was when I remarked on the incredible talent of the cast. If you can't make it to the theater, I recommend renting the movie from 1961. This story is a valuable contribution to my understanding of America.