Buena Vista Social Club

B+

 

This vibrant musical at Atlantic Theater Company was inspired by the bestselling 1997 album of authentic Cuban music from the 1950s played by the musicians who had performed it 40 years before at the long-gone titular venue, as well as by the Oscar-nominated 1999 Wim Wenders documentary about them. The talented director Saheem Ali (Fat Ham) developed the project with David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit) as creative consultant. Marco Ramirez (The Royale) wrote the book. The wonderful music, which is the beating heart of the show, is taken from the original album and its successors. The book, which overcompensates in breadth for what it lacks in depth, touches at least briefly on a lot of themes, including ambition, betrayal, colorism, class, regret and the stirrings of revolution. We meet several of the musicians at the time of the recording and flash back to fictionalized versions of their relationships during the 1950s. Omara (Natalie Venetia Belcon; The Glorious Ones) is a popular recording artist with a reputation as a diva, who condescends to fill in as singer on the album. In her youth, she (Kenya Browne) sang in a touristy sister act at the Tropicana with her sister Haydee (Dayana Esperanza; Mary Jane). When she is introduced to authentic Cuban music at the Buena Vista Social Club, she decides to leave her sister to sing with Ibrahim (Olly Sholotan; “Bel Air”) but his dark skin becomes an obstacle. The old songs played at the recording session stir up old feelings. The musicians are all superb, but I must single out tres player Renesito Avich and flutist Hery Paz for special mention. Choreographers Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck (Carousel) have created some lively nightclub dance numbers for three couples, but their abstract duos for surrogates of the young sisters left me cold. Arnulfo Maldonado’s (A Strange Loop) efficient set combines the seedy club with the recording studio, a seaside promenade and the Tropicana. Dede Ayite’s (Slave Play) costumes are appropriately colorful. At times I wished there were English translations for the songs, but surtitles might have been a distraction. The relative weakness of the book is more than compensated for by the quality of the musical performances. I think I would have enjoyed it just as much, if not more, if they had forgone the book and just presented a concert. Running time: two hours including intermission.

The Royale ***

After the success of The Great White Hope, Howard Sackler’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1967 play about the career of early 20th-century black boxer Jack Johnson, starring James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander, it takes an act of bravery to write another play on that subject. Playwright Marco Ramirez’s drama, now in previews at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, focuses on the attempt to arrange an interracial championship bout between the black champion, called here Jay “The Sport” Jackson, with Bixby, the retired world champion. We meet Jay (Khris Davis); his trainer Wynton (Clarke Peters); Fish (McKinley Belcher III), Jay’s sparring partner; Max (John Lavelle), his white manager; and Nina (Montego Glover of “Memphis”), his sister. The emphasis is on what motivates Jackson and what collateral damage he is willing to overlook. The play would be rather pedestrian if not for the superbly stylized direction by Rachel Chavkin (“Preludes” and “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812”) which dramatically elevates the material. No choreographer is listed so the credit for staging the almost balletic fight scenes must belong to Chavkin. Punches are percussively replaced by claps and stomps. The staging of the climactic match is even more surprising. The production is enhanced by Nick Vaughn’s monochromatic brown plank set and Dede M. Ayile’s period costumes. The actors mostly succeed in enlivening their rather generic characters. Although the material is a bit thin and formulaic, Chaikin's energetic staging made me more than willing to overlook the play’s flaws. Running time: 85 minutes, no intermission.