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The Arts Intel Report

Buena Vista Social Club

Natalie Venetia Belcon pictured in the art for Buena Vista Social Club.

Feb 21, 2025 – Jan 4, 2026
236 W 45th St, New York, NY 10036

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 adapted the story of the improbable sensation into a musical, which premiered Off Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2023. Helmed by Saheem Ali, the Tony-nominated director of Fat Ham, and choreographed by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, who worked on Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story, the show was described as “full-of-riches” by The New York Times. That production now comes to Broadway. —Jensen Davis