Buena Vista Social Club: What It Means to See Yourself on Stage
As schools across the country celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, bringing Latino culture and history into classrooms, Miami has an opportunity to experience that culture on stage. Starting September 29th, Broadway hit Buena Vista Social Club is coming to the Adrienne Arsht Center.
Written by Miami-born, Cuban-American playwright Marco Ramirez, the musical has left audience members in tears since its debut at Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre. Its score features Cuban classics like “Chan Chan” and “Lágrimas Negras,” songs that triggered nostalgia for many Cuban-Americans. It’s also become the first Broadway musical to have an all-Spanish score, according to Broadway Buzz.
The story kicks off in 1950s Havana, when a group of young musicians created a groundbreaking new sound, blending traditional Latino music styles. Among the group are real-life Cuban musicians Omara Portuondo, Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo and Rubén González.
Omara, who had been singing at Cuban cabarets, discovered and regularly performed at the Buena Vista Social Club, a private venue that had existed since the 1930s. Nonetheless, following the Cuban Revolution, the club was closed down in 1959 as the new socialist government abolished private organizations (Havana Musicians).
Decades later, in 1996, Omara joined the landmark recording sessions at Areito Studios (now called Egrem Studios) in Havana, where she famously sang “Silencio” with Ibrahim and “Veinte Años” with Compay.
What makes this musical so emotional? For the performers, the original venue was symbolic of the musical world of their youth. Seeing them age as the story progresses is representative of lost time after the closing of the club; most of the artists had stopped creating music during the gap between 1959 and 1996. Even after the final album, Buena Vista Social Club’s members continued to influence the careers of Cuban musicians who came after them.
“In the National Theater of Cuba, there were 4 well-known venues: the Sala Avallenada, the Sala Covarrubias, Cafe Cantante and the Delirio Habanero, where my group performed. In 1989, a Puerto Rican reporter called Noel Cruz saw us and loved it. He went and told a famous composer called Tite Curet Alonso about us, and he wrote 10 songs for Ana to sing,” said Cuban artist and owner of Miami’s Cafe Cantante, German Piniella.
German, Ana Piniella and Ari Piniella were the main performers of Cuban band Los Tres de La Habana at the time.
“Through Tite’s songs, Compay Segundo eventually heard about us and Tite then brought him from Cuba to Puerto Rico with us in the year 2000. We performed at a gala, opening the show, and Compay closed it,” explained German.
In the world of Buena Vista Social Club, music became both a cultural and personal memory that didn’t freeze after 1959, but continued to evolve. This was especially true for Omara, as her sister, Haydee Portuondo, left Cuba in 1961 (2 years after the venue closed), while Omara stayed but continued to perform.
While the story is rooted in Cuba, its arrival in Miami poses the question: what does it mean for a city with such a large Latino population to see this history on the stage?
Since the Cuban Revolution, millions of Cubans have come to the United States. With these numbers, Miami’s history and culture were, in large part, shaped by that migration (miamidade.gov).
Buena Vista Social Club, therefore, resonates beyond the Cuban community of Miami, reaching the overall Hispanic population of all cultures who were raised here, listening to styles of music that were directly influenced by Cuban son and bolero.
Music and history can travel beyond the communities they come from. Performances can introduce audiences to cultures different from their own, bringing people together through a shared experience.
With that in mind, in a school filled with students of different cultures, when do those stories get a stage? Can the same effect being created by the Adrienne Arsht Center be recreated in MLEC, only on the student body?
“I grew up with traditions from here as well as traditions from Colombia and Venezuela. I really love this because I got to see and have a bit of a feel of what my parents grew up with. I think if MLEC had a theater program, many students could benefit from it. They could have a place to show who they are and have fun,” said sophomore Samantha Jaramillo.
While MLEC already offers many clubs for personal expression, including Hispanic Heritage Club, Black History Club, Caribbean Culture Club, Equal Rights Alliance and Flow Latino, some students feel there’s still something missing: a drama club.
“I was always around music as a kid. My father would constantly play music everywhere we went. I remember being intrigued about learning more about it and how to play. I think the school should have a theater program because it’s important that we celebrate our cultures so that we could share them with other people. Cultures are meant to be shared,” said junior Robert Canales.
MLEC does have a Music Club, giving students the opportunity to express themselves through music. A drama club, however, could offer a different kind of creativity. Instead of focusing on music itself, musical theater combines music with acting, storytelling, writing, directing and visual design.
“Growing up in Miami as a French American, I wasn’t much different from anyone else in Miami. I absolutely believe that we should start a theater program because it would just allow so many kids to open up about their feelings towards musical theatre and it would also just be so much fun,” said sophomore Chloe Dorsainvil.
For MLEC students, drama could provide another way to participate in the arts. While Music Club focuses on only music, theater can include several different forms of creative expression in one production. In fact, musicals have ultimately become a way to explore culture, identity and even political commentary through performance.
At the Adrienne Arsht Center, Buena Vista Social Club will bring music, culture and history to Miami audiences. At MLEC, a drama club might just do the same.
