Buena Vista Social Club Broadway Reviews

But this latest iteration of the “Buena Vista Social Club” franchise makes its point by making music instead of spelling things out. The older Compay introduces Eliades Ochoa (Renesito Avich) by saying that he “plays the tres like a Cuban Jimi Hendrix,” referring to a kind of Cuban guitar. He does, too: Avich is onstage the entire time, and when he takes a solo, by God, he shreds.

Fortunately, the plot is just a hanger for the musical numbers, which is where Buena Vista Social Club comes to thrilling life. The show makes no attempt to rope its score into character work; all 15 songs, of which 10 were part of the original 1996 recording sessions, are presented as performances in nightclubs or studios, sometimes heightened by the six excellent dancers who execute Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck’s gorgeously fluid and individuated choreography. The lyrics are untranslated, but that hardly matters. The music itself is the story.

Giving authenticity to this latest jukebox show, notable Hispanic artists appear among the dozen musicians who grace a bandstand usually kept at center stage during the proceedings. They masterfully deliver variously swinging or sorrowful or sensual arrangements of vintage heartbreakers like 'Dos Gardenias' that illustrate and/or decorate a nostalgic, at times dramatic, storyline set mostly in mid-1950s Havana as the coming Cuban Revolution smolders. I am no authority on Afro-Cuban anything, but it is wonderfully easy to drown in the dreamy music lovingly being made by the artists who light up the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.

In the end, the fuel that powers both show and movie is of two types. There’s the sheer joy of folks of all ages coming together to celebrate a shared musical culture; the sense of community engendered is palpable and hits you where you live, even if you don’t understand a single word of Spanish lyrics. And through the swirling choreography of Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, the ensemble of six youngsters repeatedly echo in movement the sainted emotions of the score.

But this deeply rooted music is a powerful magnet not only for her but for the audience, too, even if some wouldn’t know a bolero from a guajira. Though all lyrics are untranslated, the essence is easily understood and deeply felt. You don’t have to be Cuban to feel the nostalgia, romance, loss, liberation, joys, and pride in such well-lived music.

What tunes, though, and what a thrill to see these particular live performances. Obviously, there are plenty of venues for live music in New York and elsewhere, but the precise experience of watching actors, dancers, and a full razor-sharp band all integrated on stage together is difficult to replicate.

On a recent Saturday matinee, the roars of the crowd following every song were akin to a [insert any popstar] at MSG. The music won the world over in the late nineties for a reason. Its delicious blend of Cuban rhythm and Afro-Cuban percussion harkens back to the heyday and Golden era of Havana, yet feels timeless and perfect for today. It’s a sound we don’t get all that often on Broadway, and boy, do I hope it stays a while.

Buena Vista Social Club is the story of survival through the preservation of what artists do best, not only for them but for a whole island and its culture.

The ideal way to present ‘Buena Vista Social Club’ would have been as a nightclub concert or a revue that discarded the new book altogether.

Still, few people in the house are there for the story. They bought tickets to hear the great music and watch the thrilling dance, here rendered as an ebullient social form with balletic flourishes, as skillfully crafted by co-choreographers Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck. Bravura performances flow to the ear and eye from pretty much the entire company.

Really, though, the plot is just a means to more exceptional music. What gets our blood pumping is the fabulous onstage band that stirringly performs some 20 numbers, including 'Chan Chan' and 'Dos Gardenias.' The songs are accompanied by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck’s vibrant, fluid, full-bodied choreography that’s so athletic and rubbery it makes you question if the dancers actually have bones.

It is a privilege and treat to hear these musicians play; the whole theater vibrates with their collective energy and mastery—sound design is by Jonathan Deans—and each are accorded individual moments to shine. Its too-vague narrative framing does not affect the brilliance of Buena Vista Social Club’s execution of music and dance. Thanks to its supreme ensemble of musicians and singers, we can all be grateful that, as de Marcos’ character says to the audience at the end, “a sound like this…tends to travel.”

Faults in the sometimes wooden acting from principal cast members (some of whom, to be fair, come from the music world) are eclipsed by the sonic brilliance of it all. Co-choreographers Justin Peck and Patricia Delgado match that brightness. Their exuberant movement melts into the musical numbers. Some phrases of choreography repeat, as do Ali’s stage pictures, but the energy, like this production overall, is electric from start to finish.

As a band and a brand, “Buena Vista Social Club” has been gold from the get-go: It was a hit Grammy-winning album that in 1996 had brought together an impromptu group of old-time Cuban musicians into a vintage 1950s recording studio in Havana. The album’s popularity turned some long-forgotten musicians into stars, which led to international tours, an acclaimed 1999 documentary, and then another film 18 years later. In 2023, it became an exciting Off-Broadway musical. “Buena Vista Social Club” is now an even better Broadway musical, opening tonight at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater.

Unapologetically sentimental, the slender story gets the job done. Choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck is explosive. Director Saheem Ali’s production mambos across time, all while showcasing the BVSC music.