Broadway’s Buena Vista Social Club welcomed TV favorite Gina Torres (Suits, Firefly) for a limited run as Omara Portuondo October 13 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre, and newly released production shots and a music video are offering a first look. See the video above and the photos in the gallery below.
Torres will continue in the role through November 29, stepping in for Tony-winning regular star Natalie Venetia Belcon while she’s out to play Claudia in New York City Center‘s In the Heights. The musical also recently welcomed former Mets player José “Candelita” Iglesias as the Narrator through November 15. Yankees legend Bernie Williams, also a Latin Grammy-nominated jazz guitarist, will join the musical’s Tony-honored band at the Schoenfeld for a limited run October 22–November 29, and screen star Xolo Maridueña (Cobra Kai, Practical Magic 2) will make his Broadway debut as Juan De Marcos November 17, 2027-January 3, 2027.
Buena Vista Social Club, which opened March 19, 2025, at the Schoenfeld Theatre, was nominated for 11 Tony Awards in 2025, winning five prizes.
Inspired by the Grammy-winning 1997 album of the same name, Buena Vista Social Club features a book by Marco Ramirez (The Royale). The musical brings the album to life and tells the story of the legends who lived it. Director Saheem Ali directs the musical, after staging its 2023 world premiere Off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company. Choreographers Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, who won a 2025 Tony Award for their work on the show, also worked on the Off-Broadway production.
The Broadway cast currently also features Julio Monge as Compay, Mel Semé as Ibrahim, Jainardo Batista Sterling as Rubén, Isa Antonetti as Young Omara, Da’von T. Moody as Young Compay, Wesley Wray as Young Ibrahim, Leonardo Reyna as Young Rubén, Renesito Avich as Eliades, Ashley De La Rosa as Young Haydee, and Justin Cunningham as Juan de Marcos. Casting is by The TRC Company.
The Buena Vista Social Club band features music supervision by Dean Sharenow; orchestrations, arrangements, and music direction by Marco Paguia; additional arrangements by Javier Diaz and David Oquendo; music consultation by Juan de Marcos; and creative consultation by David Yazbek. Comprising the band are Paguia, Oquendo, Gustavo Schartz, Hery Paz, Eddie Venegas, Jesus Ricardo, Díaz, Mauricio Herrera, and Román Diaz.
The production also features scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado; costume design by Dede Ayite; lighting design by Tyler Micoleau; sound design by Jonathan Deans; and wig, hair, and makeup design by J. Jared Janas. Arabella Powell serves as production stage manager.
Buena Vista Social Club is both the name given to this extraordinary group of musicians and the album, recorded in just seven days in 1996. The trio of Cuban bandleader Juan de Marcos González, American producer and guitarist Ry Cooder, and British producer and label owner Nick Gold assembled an impromptu group of Cuban musicians in Havana’s 1950s vintage EGREM studios. The album would become a worldwide phenomenon: awarded a Grammy in 1997 and, at over eight million copies, outselling any other record in the same genre. The acclaim of the album has elevated the artists (including Ibrahim Ferrer, Rubén González, and Omara Portuondo) to superstar status and inspired an award-winning film by Wim Wenders.
The producing team is led by Orin Wolf, John Styles, Jr., Barbara Broccoli, Atlantic Theater Company, Viajes Miranda, LaChanze, Yazbek, and John Leguizamo. Allan Williams is executive producer.
Visit BuenaVistaMusical.com.