
Performance, Trauma and Puerto Rico in Musical Theatre
Colleen Rua(Author)
Routledge (Publisher)
1st Edition
Published on 11. August 2023
Book
Hardback
136 pages
978-1-032-25195-0 (ISBN)
Description
This study positions four musicals and their associated artists as mobilizers of defiant joy in relation to trauma and healing in Puerto Rico.
This book argues that the historical trajectory of these musicals has formed a canon of works that have reiterated, resisted or transformed experiences of trauma through linguistic, ritual, and geographic interventions. These traumas may be disaster-related, migrant-related, colonial or patriarchal. Bilingualism and translation, ritual action, and geographic space engage moments of trauma (natural disaster, incarceration, death) and healing (community celebration, grieving, emancipation) in these works. The musicals considered are West Side Story (1957, 2009, 2019), The Capeman (1998), In the Heights (2008), and Hamilton (2015). Central to this argument is that each of the musicals discussed is tied to Puerto Rico, either through the representation of Puerto Rican characters and stories, or through the Puerto Rican positionality of its creators. The author moves beyond the musicals to consider Lin-Manuel Miranda as an embodied site of healing, that has been met with controversy, as well as post-Hurricane Maria relief efforts led by Miranda on the island and from a distance. In each of the works discussed, acts of belonging shape notions of survivorship and witness.
This book also opens a dialogue between these musicals and the work of island-based artists Y no habia luz, that has served as sites of first response to disaster. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in Latinx Theatre, Musical Theatre and Translation studies.
This book argues that the historical trajectory of these musicals has formed a canon of works that have reiterated, resisted or transformed experiences of trauma through linguistic, ritual, and geographic interventions. These traumas may be disaster-related, migrant-related, colonial or patriarchal. Bilingualism and translation, ritual action, and geographic space engage moments of trauma (natural disaster, incarceration, death) and healing (community celebration, grieving, emancipation) in these works. The musicals considered are West Side Story (1957, 2009, 2019), The Capeman (1998), In the Heights (2008), and Hamilton (2015). Central to this argument is that each of the musicals discussed is tied to Puerto Rico, either through the representation of Puerto Rican characters and stories, or through the Puerto Rican positionality of its creators. The author moves beyond the musicals to consider Lin-Manuel Miranda as an embodied site of healing, that has been met with controversy, as well as post-Hurricane Maria relief efforts led by Miranda on the island and from a distance. In each of the works discussed, acts of belonging shape notions of survivorship and witness.
This book also opens a dialogue between these musicals and the work of island-based artists Y no habia luz, that has served as sites of first response to disaster. This book will be of interest to students and scholars in Latinx Theatre, Musical Theatre and Translation studies.
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Academic
Illustrations
4 s/w Abbildungen, 4 s/w Photographien bzw. Rasterbilder
4 Halftones, black and white; 4 Illustrations, black and white
Dimensions
Height: 235 mm
Width: 157 mm
Thickness: 13 mm
Weight
373 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-032-25195-0 (9781032251950)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Book
12/2024
1st Edition
Routledge
€62.60
Shipment within 10-20 days

E-Book
08/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€55.49
Available for download

E-Book
08/2023
1st Edition
Routledge
€55.49
Available for download
Person
Colleen Rua is Assistant Professor of Theatre Studies in the School of Theatre and Dance at the University of Florida, USA.
Content
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Chapter 1: Bilingualism and Translation as Caring Performance
Chapter 2: Caring Performance in Public Art
Chapter 3: Spaces of Care
Chapter 4: Transforming Disaster through Defiant Joy
Afterword
Index
Introduction
Chapter 1: Bilingualism and Translation as Caring Performance
Chapter 2: Caring Performance in Public Art
Chapter 3: Spaces of Care
Chapter 4: Transforming Disaster through Defiant Joy
Afterword
Index