The story of Buena Vista Social Club, the musical ensemble primarily comprised of Cuban musicians (many of them elderly), whose acclaimed debut album from 1997 became a global sensation, will arrive on Broadway early next year, producers Orin Wolf, John Styles and Barbara Broccoli announced on Monday (Sep. 16).
The musical BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB, which had its world premiere off-Broadway in December 2023, will begin preview performances at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater (36 West 45th St) in New York on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025, before opening officially on Wednesday, March 19, 2025.
With a book by Marco Ramirez inspired by true events, the Saheem Ali-directed show will feature a band of international musicians to narrate the legendary story of the artists who brought the original album to life. BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB will features music from Cuba's golden age, with choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck and a music team led by David Yazbek and musical supervisor Dean Sharenow.
The Broadway company features Natalie Venetia Belcon as Omara Portuondo, Julio Monge as Compay Segundo, Mel Semé as Ibrahim Ferrer and Jainardo Batista Sterling as Rubén González -- with Isa Antonetti, Da'von Moody, Wesley Wray and Leonardo Reyna as their younger versions, respectively. Renesito Avich will play Eliades Ochoa, and Ashley De La Rosa a young Haydee. Also performing are Angelica Beliard, Carlos Falú, Hector Juan Maisonet, Ilda Mason, Marielys Molina, and Sophia Ramos, among others.
The musical band will consist of Marco Paguia (piano, musical direction, composition, and arrangements), David Oquendo (guitar, additional arrangements), Gustavo Schartz (bass), Hery Paz (wind instruments), Eddie Venegas (trombone), Jesús Ricardo (trumpet), Javier Díaz (percussion, additional arrangements), Mauricio Herrera (percussion) and Román Díaz (percussion).
Buena Vista Social Club was formed in Cuba 1996, in a project organized by World Circuit executive Nick Gold, produced by American guitarist Ry Cooder and directed by Juan de Marcos González, who named the group after a popular music venue in Havana in the 1940s. To showcase popular styles of the time, such as son, bolero, and danzón, they recruited a dozen veteran musicians, some of whom had been retired for years.
The group's eponymous debut album was released in September 1997 and quickly became an international sensation. On the Billboard charts, it reached No. 1 on Tropical Albums, where it stayed at the top for 24 weeks and spent a total of 266 weeks on the chart. It also reached No. 1 on Top Latin Albums and World Albums, and spent 19 weeks on the Billboard 200. In 1988, it won the Grammy for Best Tropical Latin Album, and the Billboard Latin Music Award for Tropical/Salsa Album of the Year by a Group.
"It's been my honor to help develop Buena Vista Social Club into a new musical alongside Marco Ramirez, Saheem Ali, Patricia Delgado, Justin Peck and David Yazbek -- all artists at the very top of their game," producer Orin Wolf says in a press release. "From our trips to Cuba getting to meet the incredible artists who created the album to our Off-Broadway premiere, the artistic process has been as invigorating as the energy and music that will begin pouring out of the Schoenfeld Theatre next year."
"I first heard the Buena Vista Social Club as a precocious youngster growing up in Nairobi, wearing out the original album from my father's eclectic CD collection," adds director Saheem Ali. "Though we spoke Swahili and not Spanish, I memorized the lyrics in my broken accent. I felt connected to the beautiful songs embodying the spirit of a distant culture. Decades later, I'm thrilled to be joining Orin, Marco and the entire creative team on the journey to bringing this extraordinary, singular musical to Broadway."
Book writer Marco Ramirez says: "In 1968, my grandfather left Cuba and got a job washing dishes a block from the Schoenfeld Theatre. Almost 60 years later, we'll be blasting his favorite songs there. Alongside some of the best artists -- and people -- I've ever met, I'm humbled by the chance to forge connections between two of the most musically iconic islands the world has ever known- Cuba and Manhattan."
BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB is produced on Broadway by Orin Wolf, John Styles, Barbara Broccoli, Atlantic Theater Company, Luis Miranda, LaChanze and John Leguizamo, with executive producer Allan Williams. The off-Broadway production was nominated for Best Musical by the Drama League and Outer Critics Circle organizations.
