The Yankees center fielder turned jazz guitarist takes a seat in the onstage band at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre from October 22 through November 29, while José “Candelita” Iglesias stays on as Narrator six weeks longer than planned.
Bernie Williams will join the onstage band of Buena Vista Social Club at Broadway’s Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre for six weeks, from Thursday, October 22 through Sunday, November 29. He is engaged as a guitarist rather than cast in a role, which is a distinction the show itself makes: the Afro-Cuban band that plays this score is a company in its own right, and it was given a Special Tony Award in 2025 for exactly that reason.
That puts two former major leaguers at the same address. José “Candelita” Iglesias, who joined the production on August 27 as the Narrator for what was announced as a six-week limited run, has been held over a further six weeks and will now play through Sunday, November 15. The production bills him as the first Latino major league player to make a Broadway debut.
Iglesias played in the majors from 2011 for eight clubs, among them the New York Mets, and records as Candelita. Reviewing the debut for the New York Post, Matt Levy wrote that Iglesias “slides into the ensemble with ease, like a great pinch hitter.”
Williams spent his whole 16-year playing career with the New York Yankees, from 1991 to 2006, and left it with four World Series rings, four Gold Gloves, five All-Star selections and the 1998 American League batting title; the club retired his number 51 in 2015. The music has run almost as long. He studied classical guitar as a teenager in San Juan, took a degree in jazz performance at the Manhattan School of Music in 2016, and has released two albums, The Journey Within in 2003 and Moving Forward in 2009, the second of which brought a Latin Grammy nomination.
“I am excited about the opportunity to join Buena Vista Social Club because the music was part of my childhood growing up,” Williams said. “I remember my mother listening to this music on Sunday afternoons and it reminds me of wonderful times with my family when I was a kid. The opportunity to play that same music on Broadway in this show is truly a dream come true.”
Two other changes fall inside the same weeks. Gina Torres plays Omara Portuondo from Tuesday, October 13 through Sunday, November 29, covering a planned leave of absence by Natalie Venetia Belcon, who won a Tony Award for the role. Tanairi Sade Vazquez, a swing with the company since opening night, takes over as Young Haydee from October 27 to November 15 during Ashley De La Rosa’s planned leave.
Buena Vista Social Club reached Broadway in February 2025 after a run at the Atlantic Theater Company in 2023. It has a book by Marco Ramirez, direction by Saheem Ali and choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, with orchestrations and music direction by Marco Paguia. It won five Tony Awards, among them Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Belcon and the Special Tony for its musicians, and the cast recording took the 2026 Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.
Buena Vista Social Club runs at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on West 45th Street, with tickets sold through Telecharge and group bookings through Broadway Inbound. All four engagements are limited ones: Williams and Torres finish on November 29, Iglesias and Vazquez on November 15.
