Jose, Can You See?: Latinos on and Off Broadway - Tapa dura

Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez is among the most interesting and original minds at work in performance studies and American studies. "Jose, Can You See?" is a landmark achievement, an important contribution to 20th century American cultural history. Quite simply, there is no other critic of Latino popular culture who speaks with so much wisdom and wit, so much eloquence and expertise. David Roman, University of Southern California"

In two acts, complete with overture and intermission, Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez shines his spotlight on representations and stereotyping of Latinos on stage. In act one, "Jose Can You See?" scans the way Latinos get typecast on Broadway and in popular culture from enduring icons like Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz to full-scale musicals like West Side Story and A Chorus Line. In act two Sandoval-Sanchez offers a fresh perspective on how Latinos/as represent themselves in their own theatrical productions by introducing a whole body of relatively unknown Latino plays. Suggesting that all these plays pose a response to popular culture s stereotypes, he discusses the ways in which Hispanic theater both confronts the dangers of assimilation and validates Latino traditions and culture."