MUSICAL: AMERICA

A story of immigration

The USA has always been a land of immigration... no doubt Ellis Island played an important role in the history of immigration from  1892 to 1924. Over 12 million immigrants poured in from all over the world: from the Middle East, the Mediterranean, Southern and Eastern Europe. Ellis Island, located in Upper New York bay within the shadow  of the Statue of Liberty, became the gateway to the New World. Ellis Island immigration station  was opened on January 1, 1892 replacing Castle Garden, America’s first official immigration center. It  processed all the immigrants who escaped poverty, political and economic oppression, as well as persecution, destitution and violence... to start a new life; for this reason Ellis island was nicknamed "The Island of Hope".  It operated from 1892 to 1954. The peak year was 1907 when 1,004,756 immigrants were processed ; they came from Europe and the largest number were Italians. Later in 1924, when the Immigration Act was passed, immigration was greatly restricted; for the first time it put a limit  on how many people could come into the country and established Visa requirements and a quota of 150,000 admissions a year. Today over 100 million Americans  can trace their ancestry to the immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island.

Ellis Island and Statue of liberty

The scariest part for the newcomers was the medical inspection  they  had to pass ; they generally spent from 2 to 5 hours at Ellis Island. Then they were interwieved by inspectors in order to determine if they could support themselves in America. They were asked 29 questions including name, occupation, country of origin, and the amount of money carried on. It was important to the American Government that the newcomers had money to get started. 

Ellis Island – The main hall

The ones with visible health problems or diseases were sent home or held in the island hospital facilities  for long periods of time (a lot of them died, more than 3,000). The medical inspection was particularly painful : they used unusual techniques such as the use of a buttonhook to examine immigrants for signs of eye diseases (particularly trachoma) and the use of a chalk mark code. These symbols were chalked on the clothing of potentially sick immigrants. The symbols used were:

B – Back C – Conjunctivitis TC – Trachoma E – Eyes F – Face FT – Feet G – Goiter H – Heart K – Hernia L – Lameness N – Neck P – Physical and Lungs PG – Pregnancy S – Senility SC – Scalp (Favus) X – Suspected Mental defect ⓧ – Definite signs of Mental defect

Ellis Island – the medical inspection

Those who couldn't pass, were sent home. For example handycapped people were not allowed to enter America as well as unaccompanied women travelling alone and without a husband. Sometimes children were separated from their parents or one parent was sent home. For this reason Ellis Island also had the name of The Island of tear. These strict procedures were crucial to the crowd control techniques that had been developed as a matter of necessity at the world busiest immigration station.

Nowadays Ellis Islands hosts the famous Immigration Museum. It is located in the Main Building of the former Immigration Station complex and tells the tales  of the 12 million immigrants who entered America through the Golden Door of Ellis island. Today the descendants of those immigrants account for almost half the American people. The U.S. was the largest single recipient of Italian Immigrants in the world. Once they passed through Ellis Island, many of them settled right in New York City, bringing with them their culture and beliefs. The new American- Italians clustered into groups that corresponded to their place of origin.

A M E R I  C A

The musical

Characters

young Mother Cabrini    the nun

old Mother Cabrini          the nun

Bartolomeo                        the musician

Bianca                                the young widow

Tommaso                            the mentally disabled young man

Rosa                                    Tommaso’s sister

Ferdinando                        the immigrant trafficker

Plot summary

A one-night-long trip, the last one while on this earth. A journey into the memories of a woman who devotes her entire life to assisting her countrymen in foreign lands. During this long night, the protagonist, Mother Francesca Saverio Cabrini, "meets" many of the people who have made her journey into an unforgettable experience. And so it is that the stories of many emigrants come to life in the memories of the Sister who in a sort of delirium-revelation has the opportunity to talk to herself, the person she was who, 30 years ago, embarked on a journey to the new continent loaded down with suitcases full of hope and love. And this is how the stories of Bartolomeo, Bianca, Amalia, and Tommaso reveal themselves to the public and to the nun herself who, thanks to this last journey of hers, finally realizes what an epic enterprise she managed to accomplish.