“Buena Vista Social Club” is a love letter to Cuban music, dance, traditions, and pride that you will want to open and reread again and again. This Broadway musical, which shook the theater world off-Broadway, is now shaking the Schoenfeld Theater on W 45th Street. The story of the Buena Vista Social Club, of its music, its artists, is a story that begins with words and is taken over by the vibration, sounds, and rhythms of a people. You will feel the vibrant rhythms deep in your soul. I dare you not to sway your body and rock your head to the beat.
The mesmerizing book by Marco Ramirez, with music by Buena Vista Social Club, takes the audience to a Cuba of long ago, just before the revolution. A Cuba where you have two sisters who have great success doing commercialized songs, and you have the local club where the locals go and perform. They play exciting music, perform dazzling dances, and feel the romance and rhythm of a proud culture.
The voices of this cast and these classic Cuban songs are sublime. While hearing these songs performed with power and love, you also get to know the history of these songs as you look through your playbill, where each song is named and its history shared.
The audience is introduced to Omara (Natalie Venetia Belcon) and Juan (Justin Cunningham). Omara is a beloved singer who prides herself on singing traditional Cuban music to uplift and inspire her people, and Juan is a young producer who is attempting to create an album of her beloved songs with her after all these years. The story of Omara and her sister Haydee (Ashley De La Rosa) who were successful singers performing accepted Cuban music for the big clubs, is shared with the audience. We soon learn that Omara was not happy performing these types of songs, and when she found out about a club called Buena Vista Social Club, where the local musicians and singers performed, she found herself choosing to be there instead. She preferred singing the traditional songs of her people, even when political unrest took over the country. The story of Omara, the musicians and singers she got to know and care about, including Young Compay (Da’von T. Moody), Young Ruben (Leonardo Reyna), and Young Ibrahim (Wesley Wray), is a marvelous tale that is stunningly shared with the audience. While we see the story unfold, the constant in this musical is the performing of these fantastic, classic Cuban songs. We get to experience flashbacks of a young Compay, young Ruben, and Young Ibrahim and see what occurred that separated them from Omara. The adult versions of these three characters are performed by incredible actors. Juilo Monge being funny, charming, and a caring friend as Compay. Mel Seme has an amazing voice as he performs Ibrahim, a singer and the love interest of Omara. Jainardo Batista Sterling is stirring as Ruben, the former piano-playing genius who could rock the keys on any piano. As we see Omara recalling moments in her life, Young Omara is preciously performed by Isa Antonetti, who has a remarkable vocal instrument, as does this entire cast.
The energy in this show is phenomenal! You will not have this music, fun, and inspiration at a Broadway show again. In this musical, there are so many times when the music takes over, where band members get to shine and play their hearts out, which in turn fills the hearts of the audience. This production got a standing ovation from the time that the ensemble dancers came out, and the ovation continued until the stage was cleared! It is incredible to see how many generations of Latinx families were in the audience, just drinking in the spotlight on this culture, the songs, the stories, the traditions.
Everything about this production was meticulously done, from the stunning choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck to the music direction, orchestrations and arrangements by Marco Paguia, music supervision by Dean Sharenow, set design by Arnulfo Maldonado, vibrant costumes by Dede Ayite, lighting by Tyler Micoleau, sound by Jonathan Deans, hair, wig and make-up by J. Jared Janas, and the triumphant development and direction of Saheem Ali.
Ali is a gifted director, who always creates work that exudes his brilliance. “Buena Vista Social Club” will have you dancing in and out of the theater. For ticket information visit buenavistamusical.com.