By Joe Contreras, Latin Life Denver Media (see video trailer below)

Steam rises from the street grates, clothes hang on makeshift clothes lines high above the city’s street. The metal fire escape stairs dangle outside the window, while inside a New York City apartment the music of Leonard Bernstein’s “Somewhere” from the 1957 Broadway hit play, ‘West Side Story’ drifts through the living room coming from a record player that belongs to the Candelaria family. They have lived in their cherished home for decades.

So begins the story of “Somewhere’, by Matthew Lopez, a beautiful and wonderful dance drama about a family who has migrated from Puerto Rico in the 1930’s in hopes of making their American show business dream come true. The song ‘Somewhere’ represents a yearning for a happy ending that the harsh reality of the world makes almost impossible, “A Place for Us”. ‘Somewhere’ is currently playing at The Kilstrom Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts through May 31, 2026. Tuesday May 12th evening performance is offering 2 for 1 tickets with a pre-show Latin heritage dance party. Click HERE for details.

It is said, “home is where the heart is,” as that is where dreams are born and where passions are practiced. The kids sing songs into a hairbrush and dance throughout the living room, even if it is with a curtain as a dance partner. They practice their lines for the school play, all the while imagining becoming a big star someday. The house is their stage and memories of growing up in that home shaped their life that ran deep and lasted a lifetime.

Sadly, what happens is the carpet gets, or in this case the entire home, is literally pulled out from under them. When the home, the neighborhood, the community are condemned in order to make room for some big city urban renewal project.

Many Denver Latino families can relate to their story, as it happened in 1969 when the Denver Auraria neighborhood was condemned to construct a tri-institutional higher educational campus (the Auraria Campus). That action led to the displacement of the neighborhood, which had been a vibrant community for over a century.

There are fears that it may happen again to another West Denver Neighborhood with the constructions of the new Bronco NFL football stadium. While there are concessions made to residents, the uprooting of an entire community is a traumatic event. It is Denver’s “Somewhere”. Unfortunately, as they say, in the entertainment industry, “the show must go on”.

In ‘Somewhere’, the Candelaria’s are a close-knit Puerto Rican family that have migrated to the New York City slum of San Juan Hill. Their apartment building has been condemned along with the rest of neighborhood to make way for the construction of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. They have 30 days to vacate, but will they?

Not if the matriarch of the family has anything to say about it. Despite the sounds of a wrecking ball pounding away outside and the plaster from the wall shattering onto the living room floor, she remains locked in her bedroom refusing to leave her home. It is the heart and soul of the family’s existence. It is the stage where so many memories and dreams were shaped and she refuses to let them be destroyed.

That is just act one. What follows is the story of practice, perseverance, and a mother’s love with a desire for not just a better life but for a fabulous life in show business for her children, no matter what may come.

Each of the five characters performances by DCPA Theatre Company cast in this production all stand out as strong determined individuals in their own right. Each delivers a delightful and convincing portrayal of their character.

Pepe is the absentee father who is in pursuit of his own singing career along with the mother and her three kids who each are very talented and also have big time show business dreams. However, the eldest son Alejandro Candelaria (played by Angel Lozada) has given up on his passion to care for the rest of the family in their father’s absence.

Alejandro Candelaria (played by Angel Lozada) the eldest sibling in the family has sacrificed his own dancing ambitions to work 80 hours a week in a grocery store to support the family. He appeared on Broadway in ‘The King and I’ opposite to Yule Brenner in a very brief scene. Still Alejandro made it to Broadway and had been the role model for the rest of his family. That is, until he gave it all up to take care of them. He carries the weight of the family’s wellbeing on his shoulders and makes sure the rent is paid, food is on the table, and that his younger siblings do their chores. He has become the father figure. A character many older Latino families know too well.

Alejandro’s mom, Inez Candelaria (Adriana Sevan) works all day as a theatre usher and a waitress. ‘West Side Story’ in currently playing and her job allows her to see the production that she has fallen in love with daily.

Inez is more concerned with her children’s show business aspirations than household responsibilities. She wants them to dream big and to pursue those dreams with passion. Her love for them is paramount and she wants nothing but success for each of them, no matter what.

Rebecca (Bella Serrano) like her older brother is a dancer. She is a teenager who also has big dreams of dancing in a Broadway play but after audition rejections, one after another she begins to wonder if she will ever make it to the big stage.

Francisco (Danny Gomez) who is perhaps the most endearing character, studies to become an actor. He sees himself as the Puerto Rican Marlon Brando and is a kid who hangs out on the streets too much. He does not look for trouble, but trouble seems to find him. Francisco (cisco) is full of energy and optimism with a little bit of resentment at not being taken seriously as an up-and-coming actor.

Jamie (Keaton Miller) although he is not a blood relative of the Candelaria family, he grew up in their household and became part of the family. He developed his own dancing skills thanks to the encouragement of Inez. Jamie went on to become a big sensation and now has found success as an assistant to the renown choreographer Jerome Robbin. Unfortunately, he Jamie lost touch with the Candelaria family until one day when they run into him on the street and then everything begins to change. There is word on the street, that a film version of ‘West Side Story’ is being filmed in Manhattan and who knows, opportunity may just come knocking.

‘Somewhere’ is a must-see theatrical experience for anyone who wants to keep their dreams alive no matter where you come from or who you are today or in the past.

Somewhere by Matthew Lopez and dance choreography by Laurie Woolery plays the Kilstrom Theatre at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts through May 31, 2026.

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