The album that took just six days to record in a crumbling Havana studio is now a Tony Award-winning musical, and it's rolling into Dallas for a run spanning parts of two calendar weeks. Broadway Dallas will present Buena Vista Social Club at Music Hall at Fair Park from Nov. 3 through Nov. 15, 2026, bringing the story behind one of the best-selling Latin albums in history to the stage for the first time locally.
The touring production, inspired by true events, brings the Grammy Award-winning album to life, according to Broadway Dallas. It stars Karmine Alers as Cuban singer Omara Portuondo, with Jaleel Battles Jr. portraying Young Ibrahim Ferrer and Armando Brydson rounding out the ensemble, per details reported by BroadwayWorld. Destinee Jimenez is also part of the ensemble, according to the original Dallas News report by Manuel Mendoza, a freelance writer and former staff critic at the paper.
The musical centers on Omara Portuondo and moves between two eras: her rise to stardom during the 1950s golden age of Afro-Cuban music and her return to the recording studio four decades later. As NBC News reports, the show dramatizes, with some creative liberties, the recording of the iconic Buena Vista Social Club album — a session that took just six days in 1996 at Havana's historic EGREM studio.
From a Six-Day Session to Eight Million Copies Sold
Portuondo began singing professionally in the late 1940s and went on to win two Latin Grammys, NBC News notes in the same report. The Buena Vista Social Club album itself, released in 1997, won a Grammy for best traditional tropical album and has sold more than 8 million copies since. American guitarist and producer Ry Cooder traveled to Havana to record traditional Cuban son music with local musicians who had fallen into obscurity, resulting in that landmark 1996 session, and German film director Wim Wenders later produced a documentary featuring the same musicians. The album's success sparked a tour in the years after its release and was eventually selected for preservation in the U.S. National Recording Registry.
The stage adaptation has racked up its own accolades since opening on Broadway at the Schoenfeld Theatre on March 19, 2025, according to Broadway.com. Accounts of its Tony haul vary: the Sun-Sentinel reports the production won five Tony Awards after its 2025 Broadway bow, while Broadway.com reports it was nominated for 11 Tony Awards that year, including Best Musical, and won four. The cast recording went on to win Best Musical Theater Album at the 68th Grammy Awards in February 2026, the Sun-Sentinel notes. Broadway.com also points out that the show features an all-Spanish score, something it identifies as unique among Broadway musicals.
A Tour Already Breaking Records
Dallas marks a stop on the production's first North American tour, which launched Sept. 12, 2026, at Shea's Buffalo Theatre in Buffalo, New York, per Broadway.com. The tour has been drawing crowds well beyond typical expectations in recent weeks. At Miami's Adrienne Arsht Center, the eight-performance week ending Oct. 4, 2026, grossed $1,822,889 and sold 18,745 tickets — a one-week box-office and paid-attendance record for the venue, BroadwayWorld reports.
The show then moved to Fort Lauderdale's Broward Center, where it played Oct. 13-18 according to the Sun-Sentinel's review, and the Sun-Sentinel's report on the tour's numbers shows the eight-performance week there, ending Oct. 18, 2026, grossed $2,035,016 and sold 20,428 tickets — another venue record. Marco Ramirez wrote the musical's book, and Patricia Delgado created the choreography, per the Sun-Sentinel's review.
What to Expect at the Music Hall
The Dallas run carries some practical notes for ticket holders. Broadway Dallas lists a runtime of two hours and 10 minutes with one intermission, and recommends the show for audiences ages 8 and up, with children under 6 not permitted. The production also includes smoke, haze, bright lights and loud sounds, according to the venue's listing.
