¡Mambo!: La evolución de la identidad puertorriqueña a través de las adaptaciones de West Side Story

¡Mambo!: La evolución de la identidad puertorriqueña a través de las adaptaciones de West Side Story explores Puerto Rican diasporic representation in the beloved American Musical Theatre production, West Side Story. After a fundamental discussion of underlying musical motifs and rhythmic structures, ¡Mambo! discusses the grassroots of Puerto Rican identities in New York and, more broadly, the United States following World War II. The project closely analyzes the impact of the misrepresentation of Puerto Rican and Nuyorican identities throughout various reproductions of West Side Story over more than half a decade. Additionally, the project seeks to educate Puerto Rican citizens about the detrimental effects of the show on their cultural perception and further invites them into a conversation about how future productions of West Side Story may be adapted to avoid such caricatured representation. This project serves as one of the first of subsequent publications about the systemic marginalization, oppression, and misrepresentation of Spanish-speaking communities, specifically those located in the Caribbean, on the stage and screen in the United States.