Front, left to right: Jared Machado as Young Compay, Kenya Browne as Young Omara, and Olly Sholotan as Young Ibrahim in Buena Vista Social Club at the Atlantic Theater Company.
Theatergoers who yearn for a tropical getaway need look no further than the musical Buena Vista Social Club, set in Havana, Cuba, and alternating between 1996 and 1956. With music by the eponymous collective—the subjects of German director Wim Wenders’s 1999 documentary that inspired this production—the show presents young and old versions of the principal characters (played by different actors) as they cut their professional teeth as artists and learn to jam—and survive tough political times—together.
Natalie Venetia Belcon plays the legendary singer Omara, performing an Afro-Cuban song in the new musical Buena Vista Social Club, inspired by true events.
The action unfolds on Arnulfo Maldonado’s pastel-colored set, that conjures up Old Havana with a two-tier building unit, replete with rainbow façades and an open space that alternately serves as recording studio, nightclub space, or the interior of a local home. The story plays out in two strands: the Buena Vista Social Club recording session in 1996, and a glimpse back at these notable artists four decades earlier when they jammed together at the Buena Vista venue.
The musical proper begins with the vibrant rhythms of “El Carretero,” an ode to the dignity of labor and the resilience of the human spirit. It offers the audience its first taste of son Cubano (a genre blending elements of Spanish and African origin). The song is entirely in Spanish, as are all the musical numbers.
The work truly comes into focus, however, with musicology student and bandleader Juan de Marcos (Luis Vega), who has long had a bone to pick with the musical world for overlooking the great Cuban musicians and vocalists. Juan is creating an album to right this wrong; to this end, he tries to persuade the legendary singer, Omara Portuondo (Natalie Venetia Belcon), to allow him to record her voice for posterity.
I know that I spent eight years in conservatory,
Where lecturers from Moscow and Vienna went on about Mozart,
About Bach and Rachmaninoff and even Sgt. Pepper,
But never Ernesto Lecuona,
Never Maria Teresa Vera.
As if the greats are always from somewhere else…
Unlike the documentary, which mostly focuses on the artistic contributions of Compay Segundo, Ibrahim Ferrer, and Ruben Gonzalez at the Buena Vista Social Club, this staged version showcases Omara. The diva finally agrees, with some qualifications. Moreover, she enlists some of her “old friends” who performed with her at the Buena Vista Social Club in the ’50s to come on board the project.
What is terrific about this musical version is that it allows the audience to see not only a re-enactment of the 1996 recording project, but the artists in their salad days, cooking up songs during a time of intense political ferment in Cuba. It also shows how Young Omara’s worldview was changed and her social conscience formed. On the brink of recording for Capitol Records, Omara tries to explain to her sister—and performing partner—that the Buena Vista offers her a freedom that doesn’t exist at the Tropicana.
Omara with Julio Monge as the older Compay. Photographs by Ahron R. Foster.
I don’t want to sing for tourists.
Or for Capitol Records.
I want to sing for our people.
The evils of racism are writ large in this musical. Young Abrahim (Olly Sholotan), a dark-skinned busboy turned vocalist at the Buena Vista Social Club, was invited to sing in a large chorus show at the Tropicana Club, but, after scraping together enough money to buy himself a new pair of shoes for the occasion, he was told on arrival that he would be performing under the stage. Later on he shares his humiliation with Young Omara, who sadly sees how the color of one’s skin can close the door to opportunity.
Although this show soars with its music, and its choreography by the married team of Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck is top-notch, Ramirez’s book provides little political context to the goings-on. For example, there’s a scene in which Young Compay (Jared Machado), who’s a small-time hustler of rum, watches in horror as men uncover rifles hidden in a rum crate at the club. But, oddly, there’s no further mention of this shady incident in the story.
Admittedly, this is nitpicking. For this song-driven musical has much else going for it. Indeed, one would be hard-pressed to find a more exhilarating show this season than Buena Vista Social Club. The legends who come alive in this toe-tapping musical make up a veritable Who’s Who in Afro-Cuban music. Move over, Mozart.
The production of Buena Vista Social Club runs at the Atlantic Theater Company (336 W. 20th St.) through Jan. 21. Evening performances are 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday and at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. No performance on Jan. 1. For tickets and more information, call or visit atlantictheater.org.
Book: Marco Ramirez
Music: Buena Vista Social Club
Direction: Saheem Ali
Choreography: Patricia Delgado & Justin Peck
Sets: Arnulfo Maldonado
Lighting: Tyler Micoleau
Costumes: Dede Ayite
