New York City’s identity is inextricably linked to the people who arrived here from elsewhere. On April 20, the theater company Waterwell and the performing arts center Symphony Space will present Stories from the City of Immigrants. The evening features a live performance of oral histories and monologues that span over a century of journeys to the five boroughs.
Among the headliners are Simu Liu, currently starring in Oh, Mary!, and Justin H. Min of The Umbrella Academy. They join an ensemble of performers tasked with bringing personal testimonies to life. The event is a collaboration with the New York Immigration Coalition’s “NY Proud” campaign and will be recorded for national broadcast on the syndicated radio show and podcast Selected Shorts.
A Century of Voices
The program is curated by director Lee Sunday Evans and oral historian Liza Zapol. The stories they selected offer a wide view of the city’s past and present. Zapol pulled from archives dating back to 1906, including Hamilton Holt’s The Life Stories of Undistinguished Americans as Told by Themselves, as well as modern projects like the Muslims in Brooklyn collection.
Read more: ‘Oh Mary!’: Simu Liu to Make Broadway Debut in February
The material includes the account of a Polish garment worker from the 1890s, a Palestinian man whose neighbors loved him enough to name a street after him, and a young man who fled post-war Vietnam in the 1980s. For the actors, the appeal of the project lies in this range of human experience. “Hearing immigrants’ stories in their own words has a unique power to help us understand their experiences,” Simu Liu said in a statement.
Performance and Community
Host Arian Moayed will lead a cast that also includes Micaela Diamond, Sepideh Moafi, and Tramell Tillman. To add a rhythmic pulse to the evening, the women-led samba reggae drumline FogoAzul will provide live music.
The event arrives at a time when the role of immigrants in American life is often a subject of intense debate. Kathy Landau, Executive Director of Symphony Space, noted that the organization stands firm in its belief that these individuals are an “indispensable part of the fabric” of the country. By amplifying these voices, the organizers hope to foster a renewed connection to the neighbors who help define New York’s strength.
Tickets for the April 20 performance are offered on a sliding scale starting at ten dollars. For those unable to attend the Upper West Side venue in person, the broadcast on Selected Shorts will eventually carry these stories to audiences across the nation.
