By Elvia Diaz
The Arizona Republic
Some couldn’t contain themselves, quietly dabbing tears to the U.S. citizenship oath of the Marine who’d never be.
Their eyes were transfixed on the stage where the young man poured his heart out, reciting the faithful pledge that the character he portrays never got to take in real life.
It’s a powerful, patriotic moment nearly at the end of ¡Americano!, the Phoenix Theatre production that its creators one day hope to take to Broadway.
The play churns you with a whirl of emotions about the life of a teen caught between his patriotic fervor that boiled after the 9/11 terrorist attack, a family secret and the country’s strict immigration laws.