Gypsy Finds its Herbie: Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle winner Danny Burstein (Moulin Rouge, Fiddler on the Roof, Follies) will star as Herbie alongside six-time Tony winner Audra McDonald in the upcoming revival of Gypsy. Previews begin Nov. 21 at the Majestic Theater for this sixth Broadway production of the musical based on the memoirs of legendary strip-tease artist Gypsy Rose Lee. This show opens Dec. 19, 2024. Previous Herbies include Jack Klugman, Karl Malden, Rex Robbins, Jonathan Hadary, John Dossett, and Boyd Gaines.
Directed by six-time Tony Award-winning director George C. Wolfe, Gypsy features a book by Tony Award winner Arthur Laurents, music by Tony and Academy Award winner Jule Styne, and lyrics by Tony, Grammy, Academy Award and Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Sondheim, choreography by four-time Tony Award nominated Camille A. Brown, music direction and supervision by Andy Einhorn, and additional orchestrations and arrangements by Tony Award winner Daryl Waters.
Gypsy will have scenic design by four-time Tony Award winner Santo Loquasto, costume design by four-time Tony Award nominee Toni-Leslie James, lighting design by nine-time Tony Award winner Jules Fisher and three-time Tony Award winner Peggy Eisenhauer, sound design by Tony Award winner Scott Lehrer, hair and wig design by Academy Award winner Mia Neal, makeup design by Michael Clifton, casting by Jordan Thaler CSA/Heidi Griffiths CSA, and production stage management by Rick Steiger.
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Buena Vista on Broadway: Buena Vista Social Club, the musical about musicians in Castro’s Cuba which had a run last season Off-Broadway at Atlantic Theater Company, is transferring to Broadway. Previews begin Feb. 21, 2025 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater prior to a March 19 opening. Buena Vista Social Club was also the subject of a documentary—Wim Wenders’s 1999 Oscar-nominated feature which spotlights the making of the titular album and a legendary Carnegie Hall concert. The Off-Broadway production won a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Orchestrations and received three Outer Critics Circle nominations and seven Lortel nominations. The book is by Marco Ramirez and Saheem Ali (Fat Ham) directs and also developed the show. Choreography is by Patricia Delgado and Tony winner Justin Peck (Illinoise). The score is the Grammy-winning Buena Vista Social Club. The music team is led by Tony Award winner David Yazbek (The Band’s Visit) and Music Supervisor Dean Sharenow.
The Broadway company features Natalie Venetia Belcon (Omara), Julio Monge (Compay), Mel Semé (Ibrahim) Jainardo Batista Sterling (Rubén), Isa Antonetti (Young Omara), Da’von Moody (Young Compay), Wesley Wray (Young Ibrahim), Leonardo Reyna (Young Rubén), Renesito Avich (Eliades), Ashley De La Rosa (Young Haydee), and Angélica Beliard, Carlos Falú, Héctor Juan Maisonet, Ilda Mason, Marielys Molina, Sophia Ramos. Additional casting will be announced at a later date.
The Buena Vista Social Club band features Marco Paguia (Piano, Music Director), David Oquendo (Guitar), Gustavo Schartz (Bass), Hery Paz (Woodwinds), Eddie Venegas (Trombone), Jesus Ricardo (Trumpet), Javier Díaz (Percussion), Mauricio Herrera (Percussion), and Román Diaz (Percussion).
“It’s been my honor to help develop Buena Vista Social Club into a new musical alongside Marco Ramirez, Saheem Ali, Patricia Delgado, Justin Peck and David Yazbek – all artists at the very top of their game. From our trips to Cuba getting to meet the incredible artists who created the album to our Off-Broadway premiere, the artistic process has been as invigorating as the energy and music that will begin pouring out of the Schoenfeld Theater next year,” says Orin Wolf, producer. “Fans of the album and documentary will love how this new show opens up the story and we know Broadway audiences who come with fresh ears will be blown away as Buena Vista Social Club comes alive on-stage.”
“I first heard the Buena Vista Social Club as a precocious youngster growing up in Nairobi, wearing out the original album from my father’s eclectic CD collection,” said Saheem Ali, director. “Though we spoke Swahili and not Spanish, I memorized the lyrics in my broken accent. I felt connected to the beautiful songs embodying the spirit of a distant culture. Decades later, I’m thrilled to be joining Orin, Marco and the entire creative team on the journey to bringing this extraordinary, singular musical to Broadway.”
“In 1968, my grandfather left Cuba and got a job washing dishes a block from the Schoenfeld Theater,” said Marco Ramirez, book writer. “Almost 60 years later, we’ll be blasting his favorite songs there. Alongside some of the best artists – and people – I’ve ever met. I’m humbled by the chance to forge connections between two of the most musically iconic islands the world has ever known- Cuba and Manhattan.”
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