Brian Quijada began his playwriting career by reproducing a scene from his third-grade classroom in his award-winning play WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS?. When learning about Rosa Parks, Quijada asked “Where did we [Latino/Latine people] sit on the bus?”. His teacher responded, “They weren’t around”. This untrue statement demonstrated to Quijada the absence of Latine stories in the US American zeitgeist. Combining his love of spoken word poetry, Latin music, hip-hop, and R&B, Quijada set out to make the stories of people like him part of the cultural conversation.

In his sister project to WHERE DID WE SIT ON THE BUS?, Somewhere Over the Border, Brian tells the story of his mother’s journey to the United States and artfully blends it with the narrative structure of The Wizard of Oz. Complete with its own Dorothy, Scarecrow, Tin Man, Cowardly Lion, and Wizard, his musical odyssey takes us from El Salvador to Guatemala to Mexico to the USA.

Brian said he chose to use The Wizard of Oz as inspiration because he “wanted to write a piece that no one would walk out on." He continues, "Whatever your political views may be, you had to root for Dorothy. I feel like we as Americans grew up with the iconic story of The Wizard of Oz, so in a weird way, you feel like you know my mother’s story and root for her before she even speaks because you feel like you already know her. It’s one of my favorite books and movies, and linking that story to such a personal one, is my love letter to my family and my American identity.”

Not only does the musical remix an old story with a new one, it also blends traditional Latin music with modern styles like hip-hop, rap, and show tunes, using Lin-Manuel Miranda’s signature flair as inspiration. Before its current run at People’s Light in Malvern, Somewhere Over the Border was performed at Pittsburgh’s City Theatre to critical acclaim. Greg Kerestan at Broadway World writes, “Brian Quijada is a rising star, and if this show is his thesis for the career to follow, don't miss your opportunity to see it here first.”

Quijada stresses the importance of stories like his and his mother’s, not only in the wake of a political climate that is increasingly hostile towards immigrants, but in general. “The thing is, a lot of people are like, ‘Oh, this show is so relevant right now!’...But I think that it’s relevant always; it’s just that we forget about it a little bit. We put it in the back of our heads and we put it on the back burner. But really, it’s still burning, it’s still right there, it’s just that now we’re talking about it again,” he told Stage & Candor reporter Margarita Javier. In the same interview, he described what his shows represent to him: “To me this show is a celebration of the path that this country is going in. Hopefully. That maybe there’s a little bit of humanity and compassion in all of us, and if we unite we’ll be able to come out all right. This is the country that experiments, so let’s try to go into this experimentation with good vibes and good intentions.”

Somewhere Over the Border is showing now through August 11, 2024 at People’s Light. Learn more about the show and purchase tickets.