Magno Rubio: The Musical

Loosely based on the short story “The Romance of Magno Rubio” by celebrated Filipino American author, poet, and activist Carlos Bulosan, Magno Rubio: The Musical follows a Filipino farmworker who falls in love with a woman he knows only through letters and stakes his hard-earned savings on the life he imagines they could share. His bunkmates supply the English, the teasing, and the warnings. But as the courtship grows more expensive, an impossible romance becomes a test of friendship, dignity, and how much a man will risk to feel worthy of love.

With a score drawing on swing, jazz, and the yearning of Filipino love songs, Magno Rubio: The Musical moves between the grit of the fields, the swagger of the dance hall, and the longing of one man's imagination. The Manongs (Filipino migrant farm workers) came to America to work. They refuse to surrender the right to dream.