In New York, where almost 30% of the population identifies as Hispanic, two Broadway musicals have opened this spring which feature Latino stories, writers and casts: “Buena Vista Social Club” and “Real Women Have Curves.”
The shows’ producers see an opportunity to expand their audiences.
When the album “Buena Vista Social Club” came out in 1996, it was an international hit. Featuring older Cuban musicians playing songs of their youth, the CD captured the imagination of Orin Wolf.
“My desire to produce this as a musical just came from my love of the album,” he explained. “You know, I’m just like, a Jewish kid from Cleveland.”
He got the rights from the album’s original producers and the families of the musicians and put together a team to create a stage show. Capitalized for $16 million, it was produced off-Broadway at the Atlantic Theater Company last season as a tryout.
“I never wanted our idea of marketing to a Latin audience or to a Spanish-speaking audience to feel ancillary,” Wolf said.
He brought in a company, iVoice, which pitched marketing towards Latino audiences very early, and the results, both off-Broadway and on Broadway, have been dramatic.
“We had extended three times at the Atlantic,” said the producer. “Sixty percent of the people that saw the show there had never been to the Atlantic before, which is a massive number for them. And I think now 32% of our purchasers on Broadway now identify as Hispanic.”
Another $16 million musical, “Real Women Have Curves” is reaching out to Hispanic audiences as well, said marketer Blanca Lasalle: “We are doing advertising in the Spanish networks. And we have done a lot of interviews.”
The show, which is based on the indie film about undocumented Mexican and Central American women working in a garment factory in Los Angeles in the 1980s, has been inviting artists like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Gloria Estefan to the show and to share their impressions on social media. And it’s been attracting a diverse audience.
“You see the high school student who’s never been to Broadway before,” said executive producer Alecia Parker. “You see the Broadway goer who sees everything. You see the Latinx community. You see every age in a much wider demographic, age-wise, than you see in Broadway statistics.”
Producers of both shows say there may be a chance for marketing collaborations in the future.
