Buena Vista Social Club musical runs through Friday at Music Hall

The Buena Vista Social Club musical is currently playing at the Music Hall in Fair Park. The performance runs through Nov. 15.

The production has a strong track record in New York. It received five Tony Awards while on Broadway. The 2000 documentary about the ensemble was nominated for an Oscar. The group also won a GRAMMY Award in 1998 for a recording of its work.

The musical is based on the history of Havana’s Buena Vista Social Club. The ensemble dates back to the 1930s and became a known group of musicians by the 1950s.

The story follows Omara, a singer who never left Cuba, and her sister who did. The plot centers on the decision to take one of the last flights out of Havana. The action is set in two time periods: pre-Fidel 1956 and communist 1996. These two eras are interwoven throughout the show.

Karmine Alers portrays older Omara, while Isabel Gonzalez plays the younger version. The two actresses work together on stage. Marco Ramirez wrote the book for the show. The music is credited to the Buena Vista Social Club. The songs are primarily in Spanish, though the production is bilingual.

David Taffet, who reviewed the show for the Dallas Voice, noted that the musical performances by the band are brilliant. He observed that one audience member in the seat ahead of him was dancing in her seat. No one was standing in the aisles, but the energy in the theater was high. Taffet described the experience as a joy and a shining star in the genre of bilingual musicals.