EXCLUSIVE: The Tony Award-winning Buena Vista Social Club musical kicking up a glorious storm on Broadway is heading to London’s West End in 2027, lead producer Orin Wolf tells Deadline.
The show won five Tony trophies last year, including a Special Award and a Best Featured Actress In A Musical honor for Natalie Venetia Belcon.
It imagines the origin story of the old-school Cuban musicians who assembled in Havana in 1996 to make what is now considered an historic recording session of their intoxicating music. Related Stories News Tony Nominees See Gains In Final Pre-Awards Week; Maya Rudolph, Tom Felton & Mariska Hargitay Stay Strong - Broadway Box Office News 'Stranger Things: The First Shadow' Sets Broadway And West End Closing Dates
The resulting 1997 album was volcanic. Produced by Ry Cooder, who partnered with London-based music entrepreneur and producer Nick Gold, it taught the world once again how to rumba and do the mambo – that infectious blend of Afro-Cuban rhythm and Spanish melody that had us all shaking our bamba, hey. Watch on Deadline
It was a view Wolf shared. “The good news is that this sort of political story would be very boring. So I’m not interested in telling that story.”
Over the course of over two years, Wolf made half a dozen trips to Cuba, some accompanied by Yazbek, who was to become the show’s musical dramaturg. But, most of those visits were to assure the surviving musicians and their families that they would share in any financial success.
I’m glad Wolf introduced this topic because it had been at the top of my mind to ask about whether compensation was due to the Cuban artists, who some felt had been, perhaps been taken for granted earlier on.
After its initial run at Atlantic Theater Company, representatives from many of the musicians’ families went to the Broadway opening in March last year.
The royalty split is a good thing to do. Others have done variations thereof on other shows, but the Cuban musicians, singers and their descendants are kinda owed this.
Wolf says that the contract negotiations with many of the original members of the Buena Vista Social Club were the first building blocks in building the production’s architecture.
I get why Wolf feels anxious about finding the right spot for Buena Vista Social Club.
But he’s in good hands because Broccoli knows London theaters like the back of her hand, and the good people at Playful Productions UK, who are also producing, are just as adept in the art of securing a theater.
I love all the behind-the-scenes chess moves that are going on right now involving a dozen big shows with about two, possibly three theaters in play.
Look, I could do with the dance exercise, so there’s that.
Source: deadline.com