A moral fable about the perils of abandoning one's roots, Crossover Dreams is a backstage musical with a bite: success, it says, is not always worth the compromise. Rubén Blades in his first feature film portrays Rudy Veloz, a salsa singer working the latino clubs in New York with eyes on another prize-crossing over into mainstream pop music. He gets a record contract, some big ideas and some big new friends but celebrity eludes him and casts him back to the barrio. Blades has taken on a curious and even daring role here; Veloz is a negative alter ego, perhaps a nemesis for the real-life Panamanian salsa star with a degree from Harvard and a savvy with success. A screen natural, he approaches the subject with heart and much humor. This is the second film from Leon Ichaso and writer Manuel Arce, whose El Super (1979) was another sophisticated comedy, about Cuban refugees in Spanish Harlem.