Exclusive: BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB and The New York Liberty Team Up For A Haltime Spectacular

With drama, music, lighting, a crowd bonded by the excitement of live performance, and even regular musical numbers, it turns out that Broadway and basketball have more in common than fans of either might have ever expected. Those worlds met center court on September 21 when the Tony Award-winning musical Buena Vista Social Club teamed up with the New York Liberty for the team’s annual Noche Latina game at Barclays Center.

In a special halftime performance, Torch Patrol, the Liberty’s dance and hype team, worked with the Broadway production’s choreography supervisor, Yani Marin, to bring the show’s Tony Award-winning ‘Candela’ choreography to the court. The game also featured a rendition of the American national anthem, performed by Buena Vista Social Club cast member Isa Antonetti.

Now in its 30th season, the Liberty builds regular theme nights celebrating the cultures and communities represented in the stands and beyond, giving fans opportunities to see themselves reflected in the organization and deepening the bonds of Liberty Loyals through community and shared understanding. That passionate, well-cultivated fan base will now follow the Liberty to the WNBA semifinals after the team’s history-making victory over the Minnesota Lynx made it the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in WNBA history.

BroadwayWorld spoke with Criscia Long, Senior Director of Entertainment for the New York Liberty, Brooklyn Nets, and Long Island Nets, about adapting the Tony Award-winning musical for an arena, bringing cultural celebrations to life, and the shared sense of spectacle and community connecting Broadway and basketball.

Check out photos, video, and our exclusive interview below!

What is the Liberty’s history with Broadway and the Broadway community, and how did the collaboration with Buena Vista Social Club come about?

Criscia Long: Well, actually, we were already connected with the show through the [national anthem]. So there was already that connection there, but then we were able to elevate it by speaking to their cast and seeing how we could bring it to life during halftime. To me, when shows are taken out of the theater, it’s such a sacred thing because obviously the theater and the space really create the whole feeling of it. But when thinking it through, we were able to take that one anthem moment and turn it into something that really represented our Noche Latina.

The choreography from Buena Vista Social Club is famously Tony Award-winning and is a somewhat different style for the Torch Patrol. Was this a challenge for the team?

Well, I always say this about the cast of dancers that we have: their versatility is just beyond. I think that we’re used to seeing them do a certain style, but they all have a great foundation, which really allows them to take on other styles. Not even to the point where perfection is at the forefront, but more so the performance and the meaning of it are always at the forefront. So they’re able to really adapt. Even when I saw the movement, I was like, “Oh, this is gonna be a good one for them. Wow.”

A lot of them are classically trained. For example, one of the dancers, Gil, he’s actually a krumper. But because he has that soulful understanding of how to control his body, and he’s also Dominican, he naturally had an understanding of what was supposed to be emotive from the movement. So yeah, definitely a challenge, but I knew that they were up for it.

When it comes to taking that choreography out of the rehearsal space and bringing it into an arena, what was important to you in terms of building the production around this number to really illuminate the beauty of the dance and showcase the dancers?

In the show, there are many different sections of full-cast dancing, but a lot of it isn’t in unison. Everyone has certain tracks in the show. You can see that. So when Yani came in, she was like, “I’m gonna do a mix of all the scenes together so that you get an overall feeling, even though we’re only dancing to this one song.”

I think that notion of creating an all-encompassing number that gives a feel made me understand how to turn the court into this one scene. Costuming obviously is very, very important. So we utilized the overall feeling of the costuming of the show to bring that alive. Also, set pieces make a huge difference, setting up the scene where it’s no longer a court, but you feel like you’re actually in a club. I think it depended a lot on the dancers to take simple pieces and make them look like something. We had about six chairs and a couple of tables to give that club feel. The camera angles and their interactions with each other, I think, really brought it to life in setting the scene.

I’m also told that this was a very quick process. 

Two rehearsals that they had to turn this around. That first rehearsal, you’re really just learning the technique and the feeling. But also, Yani was an excellent teacher, not just teaching them the movement, but teaching them the meaning and the understanding and why each movement is done. Even to see them use the terminology correctly while they’re rehearsing, that is an experience for them as well that they can add to their bucket of dance skills.

Was there anything about this performance specifically, in terms of the crowd response, that stood out to you when you finally put it in front of them?

I think, for me, it was that unknown that our Torch Patrol can do movement like this. I felt almost like the crowd was holding their breath at first when they started. Then the music picks up, and stylistically, it’s just a feel-good number. But what I really loved is, at the end, we had Torch Patrol line up, and the host goes, “Give it up for Torch Patrol.” The way the audience roared for them at that moment, and then they continued to dance a little bit more, and the audience kept the applause going.

I think that’s something really powerful, that our Torch Patrol was able to portray this. It’s something that’s a little different for a Latin night at a basketball game. Typically, you’re hearing something that’s upbeat and represents the culture in that way, but this number had more of a meaning to it. I really think the crowd connected to it, and I felt it in that applause at the end.

For someone who hasn’t been to a Liberty game, what kind of experience do you strive to create beyond the basketball game itself?

I think beyond the basketball game, we’re creating a full-on entertainment experience that you want to come back to and enjoy again, and you want to talk about and tell other people about. I think that’s the goal, what you’re feeling and wanting to come back. It’s not like you just went to see the so-and-so play the so-and-so. No, you have to come to a Liberty game because of all of the things that you’re gonna experience.

Having the players be the star of the show is so great also because people like you, who know that it’s gonna be a full-on experience, now are getting to know them as athletes and are able to support them too. Even to say, “I see the way they play differently, even from the camaraderie that they have with each other.” It’s just a different environment. It’s not intimidating. It’s not about showing off. It’s really about inviting in. I think that’s what I would want the fans to experience from it.

My hope, as a Broadway and basketball fan, is to see more Broadway with the Liberty. Do you have any goals for collaborating with Broadway in the future? Is there a future to this Liberty-Broadway relationship?

Absolutely. Actually, 100%. That is my dream because, for me as a New Yorker, all different facets of entertainment, I’ve always been so invested in too. I understand the importance of the Broadway space to New York culture, and I feel like we have a space in that New York culture too. So collaborating with it is awesome.

We were able to work with Hell’s Kitchen a few years ago, and Alicia Keys and the cast, who awere absolutely amazing. We were able to recreate that, and [New York Liberty mascot] Ellie was actually in that performance. It was a similar process to this one…having Ellie be a backup cast member, not the main character, but still making the story make sense. I think with that, you see the importance of it. I think the organization sees how it is not only good for the business, but good for the culture.

On the Nets side, we were able to do an amazing collaboration with The Wiz for Black History Month a few years ago. We had almost the whole original cast come and watch, and we were able to do factoids about The Wiz. But to be able to recreate such a meaningful show to culture, to me, that was one of the most powerful moments that I’ve ever probably witnessed in this space.

Check out more photos and video from the show here!