By Jessica Oates
Lawrence playwright inspired by story of illegal immigration
A controversial subject that often leads to debate has inspired Lawrence Township resident Noemi de la Puente to write. Her musical comedy, “Manuel versus The Statue of Liberty” brings humor to bear on the issues and intricacies of illegal immigration while delivering a poignant message.
De la Puente was inspired by a true story told by a Princeton University professor during a panel discussion on race relations at a conference the university hosted in 2007.
She told the story of a young undergraduate student who was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study classical Greek and Latin literature at Oxford, but was unable to pursue his dream since his lack of citizenship meant he couldn’t travel to and from the United States.
De la Puente was fascinated by the story of this brilliant young man, and cornered the professor after the discussion to find out more about the student.
That’s when she began writing. Fortunately, de la Puente was able to meet the subject of her work, who had gone on to pursue graduate studies at Stanford University.
“I wanted to get a sense of his character and who he is as a person, so that I could capture his spirit and my play would be an homage to him.”
De la Puente’s intention is to raise awareness of the issues surrounding illegal immigration so that people begin to see immigration reform differently, so that it becomes impossible for law makers to ignore.
“It’s a story that crosses cultural barriers, combining Latin rhythms, American pop, rock and gospel music, so it doesn’t have a typical sound. It’s pretty funny,” de la Puente said. “The statue of liberty had a voice. The piece makes fun of our immigration system and how broken it is. I find that humor makes these difficult subjects more palatable.”
Manuel versus The Statue of Liberty was presented as a staged reading in New York City as part of the 2014 New York Music Theatre Festival (NYMF). The musical comedy won the Developmental Reading Series Award, which includes a Next Link Production scheduled for NYMF this July.
Until then, the dedicated playwright will be busy perfecting her script and applying for grants—she will need to raise nearly $70,000 to properly produce her musical.
The festival is the largest musical theatre event in America. It is the preeminent site for launching new productions and discovering fresh talent, providing an affordable platform for artists to mount professional productions for their peers, industry leaders, and fans. More than 90 shows have been produced on and off Broadway, in regional theaters in 48 states, and worldwide in more than 20 countries.
NYMF is the flagship program of National Music Theater Network, Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Those interested in supporting de la Puente as she prepares her piece for production may go online to formstack.com/forms/?1699469-BPiZfVWAxx and select “Manuel versus The Statue of Liberty” from the dropdown menu.
De la Puente holds a master’s degree in theatre arts from the University of Iowa. Before pursuing her theatrical education, de la Puente was urged by her parents to major in engineering and applied science at CalTech, and went on to earn a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from Princeton University.
Finding herself unsatisfied working in the engineering field, de la Puente decided it was time to follow her passion for theater.
She is a member of the Dramatists Guild and a founding member of the Dramatic Question Theater (DQT), along with her esteemed colleague Michael Mejias. Together with their peers, they formed DQT in 2009 to provide support to each other throughout the creative process, meeting once a month to share work and obtain valuable feedback.
Mejias and de la Puenta first met as members of the professional playwriting unit at the Puerto Rican Traveling Theatre Company. As members of the company, they reviewed and critiqued each other’s work, providing valuable dramaturgical support.
“We weren’t being featured with enough regularity, so some of us decided to take matters into our own hands. That’s when we formed DQT,” explained Mejias, DQT’s Executive Producer.
Mejias became familiar with “Manuel versus The Statue of Liberty” in its early stages in 2010 when he and de la Puente were participating in a new playwright development initiative called The Playwright Director’s Lab. Participants met weekly to share their work, and together the group developed eight to nine plays over the course of six months.
“Manuel was Noemi’s entry, and it’s a story of exceptionalism based on a real person, which is very attractive to me,” Mejias said. “Noemi was putting the story to music, which made it a very ambitious project. On top of being highly intelligent, Noemi is a very ambitious person.”
Mejias said that meeting her fiscal goal will be a challenge, but if anyone can do it, de la Puente can.
“Manuel versus The Statue of Liberty speaks to some very timely issues, asking questions about who we are, not as any specific ethnic group, but as a country. As the complexion of the nation changes, how does are value system change? These are all questions that Noemi posits in her play, and it manages to be sensitive and poignant and funny and beautiful—and that’s certainly worth something in our society,” Mejias said.
Both of de la Puente’s parents were immigrants, her father from Spain and her mother from Argentina, which really shaped the way the way she was raised.
She has written other plays, including “Generic Hispanic,” a 2012 MultiStages New Works Finalist, and “The Legend of Suicide Jack,” which is still in development and review with the DQT group that de la Puente is a part of. Her plays are almost always comedies and usually feature women in leading roles.
She also continues to make use of her background in engineering, working part-time as the executive director of the NJ Environmental Lobby.
De la Puente lives in Lawrence Township with her husband, Ron Cohen. She has been a resident of Lawrence Township since 1986.
To learn more about “Manuel versus The Statue of Liberty,” visit Noemi’s blog online at noemidlp.com, where you can hear a selection of the music and learn more her about journey to produce her work.
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