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(Music) 

THIS IS YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2GO BRIEFING.

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I’M JOHN BROWN

MARCH FOR UKRAINE IN PHOENIX

People marched through the streets of Phoenix this week to show awareness of the current situation happening in Ukraine.

AS RUSSIA CONTINUES ITS INVASION OF UKRAINE, HUNDREDS OF UKRANIANS AND THEIR SUPPORTERS MARCHED THIS WEEKEND IN PHOENIX. CARS SHOWED THEIR SUPPORT AS THEY PASSED BY. 

***NATS/CARS DRIVING BY: 4 SECONDS***

THE FIGHTING CONTINUES BETWEEN RUSSIAN AND UKRAINAIN FORCES. PEACE TALKS BEGAN YESTERDAY  BETWEEN BOTH COUNTRIES. CLOSER TO HOME, ASU STUDENT, ALONA DCON (A-LANA ZAWN) SAYS SHE IS WORRIED ABOUT HER FAMILY WHO IS CAUGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF A WARZONE. 

“I don’t know how long it’s going to last. I don’t know when I’m going to see them.”

ON MONDAY, UKRAINE APPLIED TO BE A PART OF THE EUROPEAN UNION. 

Republicans help defeat Arizona abortion pill ban 

THREE REPUBLICANS IN THE ARIZONA HOUSE DEFECTED FROM THE PARTY AND  VOTED LAST WEEK AGAINST A MEASURE THAT WOULD HAVE BANNED MANUFACTURING AND PRODUCTION OF MEDICINE THAT WOULD CAUSE AN ABORTION. THE ABORTION PILL IS USED BY HALF OF THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE ABORTIONS IN ARIZONA. THE BAN WOULD HAVE LEFT A SURGICAL PROCEDURE AS THE ONLY OPTION. 

ARIZONA HAS SOME OF THE MOST RESTRICTIVE ABORTION LAWS IN THE NATION AND THE MEASURE WAS ONE OF TWO MAJOR ANTI-ABORTION BILLS BEING CONSIDERED THIS YEAR. THE OTHER WOULD OUTLAW ABORTION AFTER 15 WEEKS OF PREGNANCY AND HAS PASSED THE STATE SENATE. DATA FROM THE ARIZONA DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH SERVICES SHOWS OUT OF ABOUT 13,000 ABORTIONS PERFOMED IN ARIZONA JUST OVER 600 WERE AFTER 15 WEEKS OF PREGNANCY. THE GUTTMACHER INSTITUTE, WHICH ADVOCATES FOR REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS, SAYS  SEVERAL STATES ARE CONSIDERING SIMILAR LEGISLATION TO BAN MEDICATION USED IN ABORTIONS. 

Governor Ducey outlines plan to boost water supplies 

ARIZONA GOV. DOUG DUCEY AND A TOP LEADER IN THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAVE FILLED IN A KEY PART OF A NEW PLAN TO BOOST THE STATE’S INCREASINGLY STRAINED WATER SUPPLY. THEY PLAN TO CREATE A STATE AGENCY TO ACQUIRE SUPPLIES AND DEVELOP AND FUND PROJECTS. THE ARIZONA WATER AUTHORITY WILL HAVE DEEP POCKETS AND THE ABILITY TO GO OUT AND FIND SOURCES THAT CAN SECURE THE STATE’S WATER FUTURE. ONE POTENTIAL PROJECT IS A MULTIBILLION-DOLLAR DE-SALINATION PLANT IN MEXICO, BUT MANY OTHERS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. HOUSE SPEAKER RUSTY BOWERS (BOW-ERS) SAYS IT’S IMPORTANT TO ACT NOW BECAUSE ARIZONA HAS ALREADY ABSORBED CUTBACKS IN ALLOCATION OF COLORADO RIVER WATER. 

Arizona musical brings Dreamer’s story to New York   

Summary: An Arizona-born musical is on its way to become an off-Broadway production this spring.  ¡Americano! is based on the true story of Tony Valdovinos (val-DOH-VEEN-ose (nose) ), who came to  Arizona as a child illegally. The story follows his journey to find purpose after he discovers the truth about his citizenship status.

HOST INTRO: HOST INTRO: 

AN ARIZONA THEATER PRODUCTION ABOUT A CHILD WHO IMMIGRATED TO THE U.S. AND GREW UP IN PHOENIX IS ON ITS WAY TO NEW YORK. ¡AMERICANO! WILL DEBUT IN NEW YORK IN APRIL. AND AS CRONKITE NEWS’S  KIRSTEN (KER-STIN) DORMAN EXPLAINS, ¡AMERICANO! IS THE TRUE STORY OF AN ARIZONAN DREAMER.

———– 

¡AMERICANO! IS THE STORY OF TONY VALDOVINOS, A PHOENIX MAN WHO WANTED TO JOIN THE U-S MARINE CORP GROWING UP.  WHEN HE TRIED TO ENLIST, HE DISCOVERED THAT HE WAS AN UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANT.  THE MUSICAL FOLLOWS VALDOVINOS THROUGH HIS SEARCH FOR A PATH FORWARD.

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THAT’S JOHANNA CARLISLE-ZEPEDA. SHE PLAYS VALDOVINOS’ MOTHER : 

JOHANNA CARLISLE-ZEPEDA: 

“Soy Americana, soy Mexicana … soy actriz … y estoy muy orgullosa de estar en esta historia mexicana.” 

CARLISLE-ZEPEDA AND 95 – PERCENT OF THE CAST OF AMERICANO ARE LATINO OR HISPANIC. 

JOHANNA CARLISLE-ZEPEDA: 

“Estamos viendo más historias Latinos and Hispanos, que es muy importante, pero a mi, mi familia vino de (difficult to hear), so para mi es tan importante 

tener una historia Mexicana.” 

CARLISLE – ZEPEDA  SAYS IT’S IMPORTANT THAT LATINO AND HISPANIC STORIES BE TOLD ON THE STAGE.  HER FAMILY, SHE EXPLAINS, IS FROM MEXICO, SO  ¡AMERICANO! HELPS TELL A STORY THAT HITS HOME.

AMERICANO PREMIERED IN JANUARY 2020 AT THE  PHOENIX THEATER COMPANY. 

MICHAEL BARNARD: 

“This whole show began in 2015, at a wedding reception, where Jason Rose, producer, came up to me and said, ‘Hey, you’re from the Phoenix theater, aren’t you? Would you be interested in doing a musical?’” 

THIS IS MICHAEL BARNARD. HE’S ONE OF ¡AMERICANO!’S CO-AUTHORS.

briefly fade in MUSIC, duck down

 BARNARD SAYS HE AND THE MUSICAL’S CO-AUTHORS,  JASON ROSE AND FERNANDA SANTOS, KNEW THEY WANTED TO TELL A PARTICULAR KIND OF STORY : 

MICHAEL BARNARD:  

“…we decided that we wanted to do a human story, a positive story, a story about a dreamer that was so committed to this country, and deserved and desired to be a citizen. 

SO THEY SEARCHED THE INTERNET FOR STORIES AND IDEAS … 

And we landed on a young man by the name of Tony Valdovinos … and we called him out of the blue.”

TONY VALDOVINOS:

“I had never in my life gone to a musical or the theater. 

THIS IS TONY VALDOVINOS. HE INSPIRED AMERICANO. 

I think the only theater I’ve ever gone to is Harkins but I just honestly didn’t understand the scope of what was trying to be achieved here. But I did understand it as my responsibility to share my story and hopefully inspire other dreamers to get involved.”

THE ARIZONA BASED NON-PROFIT CHICANOS POR LA CAUSA  HAS INVESTED NEARLY 2 MILLION DOLLARS INTO THE SHOW.  DAVID ADAME, THE ORGANIZATION’S PRESIDENT AND C-E-O, SAYS STORIES LIKE TONY VALDOVINOS’ ARE IMPORTANT TO EMPOWERING THE COMMUNITY THEY SERVE.

DAVID ADAME:

“We saw this as an opportunity to change the narrative and bring this to a national stage and talk about dreamers.”

ADAME HOPES THAT NEW AUDIENCES WILL LEARN FROM ¡AMERICANO!. 

FOR VALDOVINOS, HE SAYS SEEING HIS STORY ON STAGE WASN’T EASY..

TONY VALDOVINOS:

“The first time I watched it, I absolutely was not prepared for the experience of taking a memory, very painful memory and watching it in front of you.”

VALDOVINOS REMEMBERS TALKING WITH A MILITARY RECRUITER WHO ASKED FOR HIS SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER.  HE SAID HE’D NEVER USED ONE BECAUSE HE WORKED FOR HIS FATHER.

TONY VALDOVINOS:

“His demeanor changed. And for some reason, I understood that he knew something, I didn’t. And he looked me in the eyes and he said, ‘Get out of my car. You’re wasting my time, and you’re wasting yours.’” 

THOUGH THESE MEMORIES ARE PAINFUL, VALDOVINOS SAYS, IT IS IMPORTANT TO SHARE THEM.

TONY VALDOVINOS:

“…watching it just really, really brought me back to those times, but also solidified that reason that I do what I do, is that you got to stand up for yourself, you got to stand up for others, and you absolutely just cannot give up on what you want to do in this life.”

MUSIC 

¡AMERICANO!’S MESSAGE, CARSLILE-ZEPEDA SAYS, IS THAT IT DOESN’T MATTER WHERE YOU’RE BORN – WHAT MATTERS IS WHERE YOU DO WHAT’S IMPORTANT TO YOU.

JOHANNA CARLISLE-ZEPEDA: 

“Y para Tony, América es todo que él sabe, y el es americano.”

(swell of music here, fade out)

———– 

KIRSTEN DORMAN, CRONKITE NEWS.

HOST OUTRO: ¡AMERICANO! WILL OPEN ON APRIL 21, AND TICKETS WILL BE ON SALE THROUGH JUNE 19.

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WE HAD HELP TODAY FROM KIRSTEN DORMAN, THALIA LOPEZ, AND MITCHELL ZIMMERMANN. THANKS TO MASON MILLER WHO PRODUCED THE SHOW. 

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YOU CAN LEARN MORE ABOUT THE STORIES YOU HEARD IN TODAY’S NEWS UPDATE, BY GOING TO CRONKITENEWS-DOT-AZPBS-DOT-ORG. 

THAT’S ALL FOR YOUR CRONKITE NEWS 2 GO. I’M    JOHN BROWN            . 

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