🎶 Buena Vista Social Club: A Matinee of Memory, Music & Meaning

By: Cynthia Litman

Pearl of the Play: Music is Memory

Hit a Wednesday matinee with a theater group of women 50+, organized by Robin Newman, a producer of the then Grammy Winning and now Tony winning “Buena Vista Social Club” at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theater.

After hitting the midpoint of my life and feeling through a transformative year of reflection and change, this show hit home. 

Buena Vista Social Club is based upon a true story based upon legendary Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, and is a musical layered with afro-cuban rhythm, nostalgia, and the ache of memory and now re-imagined on stage. It is a soulful homage to Cuba's golden era of music, infused with loss, love, and second chances.

The main character - a middle aged woman who was once on the brink of stardom as a singer sits in silent solace. A young producer goes to great lengths to re-assemble the band, a mix of old and young to lure her back. The bravery it took for her to even re-try to find her voice.

In the play the pearl is said. "Old songs stir old memories" and through the music an interplay of then and now appears on stage. Her younger self with her sister back then, a dynamic duo.

Facing down revolution in Cuba, the sister hops on an opportunity to become a star in New York. Omara stays behind, faces disappointments and is left to wonder what if. The choices that once felt so small and inevitable, now loom large. With her sister gone, her city changed, she silenced her voice. Her life unfolded into regret and quiet grief. The world outside moved on.

Life is a symphony.

What made the experience unforgettable wasn’t just the show—it was the audience.

A mix of women in their second acts seated alongside teenagers from NYC public high schools, brought there by Matinee Mission, a 501(c)(3) dedicated to making theater accessible. Many of these students had never been to a live performance. They hollered, laughed, and caught every innuendo. They were the best!

They lived that show and created an experience only Broadway can summon.

Music is the language of the soul. It encodes and unlocks memory, releases grief, summons our core essence and reveals truth. The past merges with the present, and we see all versions of ourselves and remember the moments, missed opportunities the songs we stopped singing.

For those in our 50s, the unsung dreams sing the loudest.

Buena Vista Social Club is a story about music, memory, belonging, exile, and the echoes that never leave us. The world was once divided between those who left Cuba and those who stayed. Just like many of us are divided between who we were, who we are, and who we still hope to become.

When they shut down all the music clubs in the play, it felt eerily familiar. What happens when a voice is silenced? When art is no longer welcome? When we’re told our time is up?

And yet, one character—the Picasso of the Piano—he can no longer remember names or faces anymore. But when he takes a seat at the piano in one of many moving moments in the show, he remembers and plays it with such grace and dignity.

In the second act, the band's newly produced record takes off and the band achieves their dreams of performing at Carnegie Hall and getting that brass ring - a Grammy!

That’s the kind of magic we witnessed that afternoon.

Seeing Buena Vista Social Club with women at midlife and students just starting out created a powerful echo chamber—where all possibilities, all ages, all timelines coexisted. It reminded me that we are always both the older self and the younger self, walking the same path in parallel.

It also reminded me why we need more of this - more matinees, music and moments that bridge the generational gap.

Music keeps the dreams alive.

Show Page: https://buenavistamusical.com