Alejandro Candelaria is the best dancer in his family — and the only one who’s stopped dancing. In “Somewhere,” now running at the Guthrie Theater, his sacrifice anchors Matthew Lopez’s raw look at what artists give up to keep their dreams alive.

The play, written by Tony-winner Lopez, follows the Candelarias, a Puerto Rican family of performers living in New York City. The story unfolds against two major historical events. One is the destruction of the San Juan Hill neighborhood to make way for Lincoln Center in 1959. The other is the filming of “West Side Story” in 1960. 

The Candelarias experience these highs and lows on an intimate set by Lex Liang, framed by a collage of black-and-white buildings and scaffolding that evokes the New York City skyline. The apartment set suggests how closely Broadway and the movies loom over the Candelaria family’s lives.

The family’s ambitions are expressed through bursts of dance that punctuate the play’s most emotional moments — and take place in a liminal space just in front of the apartment, making the Candelarias break the established reality to explore the dream-like space. 

But in a house of dreamers, there needs to be at least one realist — and for the Candelarias, it is the oldest son, Alejandro. He gave up his dancing shoes to work long hours and kept the rent paid, even though he was the most promising performer.

With his bandleader father away on the road, Alejandro has taken on a parental role at home. Despite his own thwarted artistic career, he supports his siblings by setting aside cash for classes. He also runs lines with his brother Francisco and encourages his sister Rebecca to go to auditions.

Most of Alejandro’s warmth comes from Preston Perez, who plays him in the Guthrie’s production with the reserved care and quiet swagger of a big brother.

Director Joseph Haj has given Perez soft, domestic moments to highlight this — in one scene, he tends to family chores, while also correcting Rebecca’s posture as she practices ballet.

But in his effort to keep his family’s dreams alive, Alejandro has forgotten to dream for himself.

Despite his mother’s pressure, he skips dance classes and auditions, believing it is his responsibility to keep the family afloat. His sense of responsibility is understandable. His mother Inez, played by Maggie Bofill, seems untethered from reality in her insistence that her children follow their dreams. Inez often clashes with Alejandro over his unwillingness to take a dance class or play hooky to audition for “West Side Story.”

As Alejandro and Inez quarrel over the show’s two acts, the gap between them widens. 

Their conflict unfolds across a tense dinner, where Alejandro sits apart from the family table, through the power being cut off, and finally into teary apologies. By the play’s end, we understand the trauma of uprooting their lives and losing a father and husband to the road. That trauma explains why each of them clings so tightly to their beliefs. It also offers a bridge across the chasm between them.

In the end, the play argues that dreaming and practicality have to live side by side. Art demands ambition that stretches the bounds of reality, but it can’t come at the expense of your obligations. 

Collected from Minnesota Public Radio News. View original source here.