Issue 88

Buena Vista Social Club Revisited

Buena Vista Social Club is a new musical at the Atlantic Theater that tells the story behind the making of the historic recording of the same name in 1996.

The album which reunited and commemorated legendary Cuban musicians of the 1950s such as Compay Segundo, Omara Portuonda, Ibrahim Ferrer, and Ruben Gonzalez, was both inspirational and an unexpected huge commercial success. It won a Grammy award and sold millions of copies world-wide.

It was followed by a film in 1999 from director Wim Wenders that explored the genesis and history of the project initiated by record executive Nick Gold and American guitarist Ry Cooder. Through interviews with the Cuban musicians and elders in the Havana neighborhood who remembered the early days as well as those instrumental in making the album, the film opened the door to this storied past just enough to give us a glimpse at the behind the scenes magic that resulted.

By staging the musical version of The Buena Vista Social Club in both in the late 1950s prior to the Cuban Revolution and in 1996 when the album was recorded, it traces the evolution of the music and the lives of the musicians. The show goes a step further and throws the doors wide open to shed new light on how the musicians struggled to keep their traditions alive and well. We are invited into the club and it’s almost impossible not to tap your feet and sway to the intoxicating beat.

Original Buena Vista Social Club musicians Compay Segundo, Omara Portuonda, Ibrahim Ferrer, and Ruben Gonzalez

There’s a real danger in trying to adapt successful projects from film to stage (and vice-versa) but the creative team including Marco Ramirez (book), Saheem Ali (director) and David Yazbek (creative consultant), managed to take something extraordinary and make it even better by adding new elements.

They assembled a talented 10-piece Latin band under the direction of Marco Paguia to accompany the cast’s actors/singers (many of whom also played various instruments). Together the cast and musicians brought the traditional Cuban music known as Son Cubano and Bolero to life and with simple but creative staging, recreated the atmosphere of Buena Vista.

_{Photo by Sara Krulwich/The New York Times}

To this they added the missing piece, i.e., Cuban dance known as Danzon brilliantly choreographed (by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck) that transports you back through time and space and sews together the show’s story line into a moving tapestry. In an interview with the New York Times, Peck noted that Cuban dance embraces a variety of styles including ballet, contemporary, Afro-Cuban, and an array of social dances. “We wanted to create a dance language that honors that, so it’s not one thing, and… to allow for our imaginations to come into play, our personal touch, so it doesn’t feel like documentary dance but alive.”

Like other standout productions that started out at the Atlantic Theater (including Spring Awakening and The Band’s Visit) I’m betting this outstanding production is Broadway bound.

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A video from the Buena Vista Social Club film to whet your appetite: