In 1997, the British record label World Circuit released Buena Vista Social Club, an album made by a loose collective of Cuban musicians, most of them retired. “We knew we’d made a special record,” said Nick Gold, who ran the label, “but nobody could have imagined how it would take off.” Recorded in Havana, Buena Vista Social Club turned the entire world on to Cuban music, earned a Grammy, and is still the best-selling Cuban album in history. Playwright Marco Ramirez has adapted the story of the improbable sensation into a musical. The world premiere is helmed by Saheem Ali, the Tony-nominated director of Fat Ham, and choreographed by Patricia Delgado, who was an associate choreographer for Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story. —Jensen Davis