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The University of Wisconsin Press 2537 Daniels Street Madison, Wisconsin 53718 Contents 3 Henrietta Street London WC2E 8LU, England Copyright© 1999 The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System All rights reserved vii Illustrations ix 5 4 3 2 Acknowledgments a Critical Printed in the United St tes of America Overture: An Introduction to Cultural and Analysis 3 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data "Jose, Can You See": An Introduction Representations Sandoval-Sanchez, Alberto. Act One: A Critical Reading of Latino/a Jose, can you see?: Latinos on and off Broadway / Alberto Sandoval-Sanchez. on Broadway pp. cm. Found�tional Includes bibliographical references and index. l. Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz: m ISBN 0-299-16200-I (cloth: alk. paper) Images of "Latinidad" on Broadway and b a 21 ISBN 0-299-16204-4 (p k.: alk. p per) Hollywood . a a a a de 1. Hisp nic Americ n the ter. 2. Hispanic Americ ns in motion pictures. 3. Rican Reading of the America of West Si Hispanic Americans in literature. I. Title. 2. A Puerto Story 62 PN2270.H57S26 1999 ar1 s ensa tion " 792'.089'68073-dc21 98-47441 3. A Chorus Line: Not Such a "One, Singu for U.S. Puerto Rican Crossovers 83 Some of this material has appeared before, in slightly different form, in the following publications; I am gratefulfor permission to reproduce this copyrighted material: Intermission '½ Puerto Rican Reading of the America of West Side Story." Jump Cut a 39, speci l issue: with Many Legs: U.S. Latino Theater and U.S. Latinos and the Media, Part 2, ed. Chon Noriega (1994): 59-66. 4. An Octopus 103 'jlChorus Line: Not Such a 'One, Singular Sensation' for Puerto Rican Crossovers." Its Diversity Ollantay Theater Magazine 1, no. 1 (January 1993): 46-60. in Theatrical '"An Octopus with Many Legs:' U.S. Latino Theater and Its Diversity." Ollantay Theater Act Two: Latino/a Self-Representations Magazine 5, no. 1 (Winter-Spring 1997): 66-78. Productions a a u ro i a 127 "Re-Viewing L tino The ter: Iss es of C ss ng Over, M instreaming, and Lat�nos/as <:ot to Do ':"i t? a a n 5. Staging AIDS: What's �� � C noniz tio ." In New Voices in Latin American Literature/Nuevas voces en la literatura Latma p aywng1 s latinoamericana, ed. Miguel Falquez-Certain, 157-72. New York: Ollantay Press, 1993. 6. No More Beautiful Sefiontas: Gender "So Far from National Stages, So Close to Home: An Inventory of Latino Theater on Deconstruction of Beauty Myths and AIDS." Ollantay TheaterMagazine 2, no. 2 (Summer-Fall 1994): 54-72. Stereotypes 150 "Staging AIDS: What's Latinos Got To Do With It?" In Negotiating Performance: Gender, Sexuality,and Theatricality in Latin/o America, ed. Diana Taylor and Juan Villegas, 49-66. Durham: Duke University Press, 1994. V 1 Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz Foundational Images of "Latinidad" on Broadway and in Hollywood Any attempt at mapping the politics of representation of Latinos/as on Broadway and in Hollywood must have as its foundation two artistic figures: Carmen Miranda and Desi Arnaz. Both immigrants have con tributed significantly to the contemporary stereotypical characteriza tions of U.S. Latinos/as. Miranda and Arnaz materialize the inaugural depictions of our present preconceptions and visualizations of "Latini dad" in the U.S. cultural collective imaginary. Given the political land- scape, particularly Franklin D. Roosevelt's Good Neighbor policy, both/ performers embodied the artistic translation and mediation of political relations with Latin America in the 1930s. What, at firstglance, appears to be vivid entertainment and a naive exhibition of otherness consti tutes, rather, a conscious and premeditated mode of representation and stereotypization of "Latinidad." Miranda's and Arnaz's perfor mances were loaded with political and ideological practices, maneu vers, and strategies. My goal in this firstchapter is to examine critically the first fleeting theatrical instances of each of the two performers, who appeared "co incidentally" in the same season (1939-1940) on Broadway. My archeo logical project will center on reconstructing Miranda's and Arnaz's per formances on Broadway. By analyzing their theatrical performances as in!:rpolated, imported cultural units inscribed.as exotic markers and 21 23 Carmen Mirandaand Desi Arnaz Act One: Latino/a Representations on Broadway 22 e u no co uni under th m s er an i a ned Lati mm ty tities a nd fo t m gi U.S. s ers o ot e s i l de ons r te o e r er r ances aid dad .. '# igni f hem $ ,J w l m t a h w th i p fo m l te o o a n !' � rella ca g ry f "L ti i th·e•fo1:1ndations for contemporary stereotypes of Latinos/as in th e U.S. b theatncal and cultural imaginary. My reading will be d acument e d Charting a Genealogy wi· th th_ e fil s D ownA . rgentina Way and Too Many Girls (both 1940), �:1:1 ... o ira da . c mcor ora e a ost n t eir e tire t e stars o eatric r r a es f M n whi h p d, lm i h n ty, h ' riginal artd· use to a roac t e t al pe fo m nc � is not ful pp h h h a ust e ra atnca acts itial rod ced on ad a ol oo It er r ances on roadw y m ph me l the l . In ly p u Bro w y, H lyw d · in so a on e et nic p fo m B � and az i l ti . Th ir h tinos ed t ese er r ances on r re aud ences s a resu Arn inant u tural a s of La / fix h p fo m film fo futu i . A lt, the it in a ontinu o dom c l im ge e o ated w h c um f ances orders et e n ad a and o l ood re rred eac enre b l c nction o e r erform b b w e Bro w y H l yw a blu : h g o e a e e role and fu f th i p as in t U.S. T x min th ood i is and u tura ode sta ed us al co ed and usica co e he o road an ol yw , t c l l m _ l ( g m ic m y m l film) mpl e onic ra a i a f B way d H l t e e m cultu l im g n ry iona ents a d e ca es t ot er cce tin t at road a nd o in h h g discurs e and re rese l m n ph t h h . A p g h B w y a H lly k at t e o er can iv p ntat � � c a to o h Angl -Am i ca ood ons te n unm er ted i a inar ori o n a c ra cru i l l o e o o eri n • titu a t rup m g y h z n i ultu l t e atin ot er task will b t �rt Angl -Am � : andscape of h "L h ." My r a dis ursi e ontinuu it e ossi e to a ine t e do nan l and eo ra ies o atin Ame ic c v c m, will b p bl ex m h mi t o t e cu ral a nary g g ph f L re ertoires f h ltu im gi o erate s ereo ica r resen ations o atinos as p odes o r r sentat on p , t typ l ep t f L / . ra o s ereo ica f ep e i to de ons te h w t typ l m and o in re randa and rna atinos r is anics e m t n order to d s ri e T b g , Mi A z "L " o "H p "? Th is roduc d and rculated. I e c b � � a d o eaning :e e _5.i er istor c o ent o t eir rri al ot ere n h w m on o t a n a s er is neit er t e a v b h w re rese tat o d ocati f he "L ti oth " n w , h . A th h i m m f h , e a ine t e o t cs of p n i nan l . x m h p li i ct o st e ade see as atm ncan rants o ra il and u a res ec d scursi a d s i n mu b m n L Am � • i1:1mig , fr m B z C b , p - t e do inant u ral i ve web, i tin _ . in h m c ltu do es c et n and ely. ter r n eir n tio ities er t e deter i in tor o er a d t e at m ti h ic tiv Af ��g �t10 , th a nal w e h m n g fac e een t ati r th " n h "L in _ b tw he "L n fo eign co n o a in o eir den s i t e e do inan n o ri an socioc r r ers to rants mi g fr m L t f th i titie � h U.S.