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Arsenal 6-0 Lens: Mikel Arteta on qualification for Champions League last 16 BBCOver the years, we've learned it's best not to judge a car's appearance based on the spy photos. Prototypes don't use all the production parts until closer to the end of the testing phase. That's the case with this Ferrari hypercar prototype as it has some provisional components, including quad taillights from the SF90.
The odd-looking camo and tape can't fully conceal the hypercar's wild aerodynamic package, including that giant rear wing. There are massive air intakes front and rear, not to mention generously sized side air vents to improve airflow. Although there are no visible badges on this prototype, the "Ferrari" script is easy to see on the brake calipers at both axles.
We know the rounded exhaust tips sticking out from the center of the bumper are fake, since the actual exhaust is tucked away behind the mesh. The rearview camera positioned above the third brake light probably won't make it to production either. But the massive rear diffuser does give the hypercar an intimidating look, as does the chunky front splitter.
Cutouts in the roof reveal the crown jewel from Maranello codenamed "F250" will have butterfly doors. We're wondering whether it'll still have a rear window seeing as there's camo over the entire rear section. Even if there is one, we reckon rearward visibility will be greatly hampered by that big wing.
By now, you're probably wondering what those stickers are for. One appears to indicate Bosch was testing certain hardware on this prototype while the yellow triangle with a black lightning logo suggests the LaFerrari replacement will be a hybrid. For the first time since the F40 era, the Ferrari flagship is widely believed to do away with the V12 engine.
Ferrari could even halve the cylinder count by using a V6 instead. That might seem drastic, but lest we forget, the 499P endurance race car also has six cylinders. The mid-mounted 3.0-liter unit with a pair of turbochargers traces its roots in the 296 GTB and its GT3 race car companion. It's unclear whether the powertrain will have plug-in capabilities, or it'll be a self-charging hybrid setup like the LaFerrari had.
Given Ferrari's modus operandi, we wouldn't be surprised if someone were to tell us today the entire production run has already been spoken for. The wraps are said to come off in 2024, with plans for 599 coupes and 199 convertibles, followed by a meaner XX variant limited to 30 units.
In 2008, indie rock veterans Eels released Meet The EELS: Essential EELS 1996-2006 Vol. 1. Fast-forward to earlier this month, and they announced its follow-up, EELS So Good: Essential EELS, Vol.2. Today, they’re sharing “Christmas, Why You Gotta Do Me Like This” from that compilation album.
“Christmas, Why You Gotta Do Me Like This” follows the band’s previous holiday songs: 2002’s “Everything’s Gonna Be Cool This Christmas” and 2000’s “Christmas Is Going To The Dogs.” The compilation album spans 15 years and consists of 20 tracks, including three previously unreleased songs. Hear the new Xmas ballad below.
TRACKLIST:
01 “Fresh Blood”
02 “That Look You Give That Guy”
03 “A Line In The Dirt”
04 “Little Bird”
05 “Spectacular Girl”
06 “I Like the Way This Is Going”
07 “Peach Blossom”
08 “Wonderful, Glorious”
09 “Where I’m From”
10 “Mistakes Of My Youth”
11 “The Deconstruction”
12 “Today Is The Day”
13 “You Are The Shining Light”
14 “Are We Alright Again”
15 “Earth To Dora”
16 “Royal Pain” [from the motion picture Shrek The Third (first time on vinyl)]
17 “Man Up” [from the motion picture Yes Man (first time on vinyl)]
18 “Man I Keep Trying” [from the motion picture Prisoner’s Daughter (previously unreleased)]
19 “Jazz Hands, Part I” (previously unreleased)
20 “Christmas, Why You Gotta Do Me Like This” (previously unreleased)
EELS So Good: Essential EELS, Vol.2 is out 12/15 on E Works/[PIAS].
In the past year Guardian Australia’s reporting exposed injustice and held the powerful to account, from Antarctica to the Top End.
Reader support doesn’t just make this reporting possible – it also keeps it open for everyone, regardless of their ability to pay. Below are some of the highlights of the high-impact journalism our readers funded in 2023.
We are so grateful for the supporters who invest in us to power this work. If you can, please make a year-end gift to fund our reporting in 2024 and beyond.
Through detailed, long-term analysis of financial accounts, Jonathan Barrett was the first to demonstrate how Australia’s dominant supermarkets have consistently expanded profit margins during the pandemic and inflationary period, pushing grocery prices beyond the levels needed to cover rising costs, and piling pressure on stretched households. The reporting has been repeatedly cited in parliamentary committees examining inflation and the rising cost of living.
Henry Belot’s series of exclusive reports, based on leaked documents and briefings from a dozen scientists, triggered a Senate inquiry and revealed the true extent of cuts to crucial climate change research in Antarctica. In doing so it cast doubt on whether Australia was truly fulfilling its stewardship claims and obligations.
Acting on a tipoff, and using sources developed over years of reporting on courts and the justice system, Christopher Knaus established how the Catholic church and other powerful institutions were seeking to permanently halt survivors’ cases in almost every instance when an alleged perpetrator had died. The stories led to the New South Wales and commonwealth attorneys general instructing their departments to monitor the church’s behaviour. In November the church lost a landmark high court case, which established that permanent stays should only be granted in “exceptional” cases.
Lisa Cox’s series of exclusives about the expansion of Northern Territory gas developments ignited a national debate about the extent and scale of fossil fuel expansion in the region and helped to trigger a parliamentary inquiry. The months-long investigation revealed the links between onshore and offshore gas projects and the $1.5bn taxpayer-funded Middle Arm hub project in Darwin, and highlighted the impact of fossil fuel expansion on First Nations communities. It presented hard evidence that the Albanese government knew its funding of the project would directly enable fossil fuel expansion, prompting a public backlash and calls from independent and crossbench MPs for the withdrawal of government subsidies.
Luke Henriques-Gomes’ and Christopher Knaus’s explosive reporting on the robodebt program was instrumental in making the case for a royal commission. When that royal commission began hearings in October 2022 Henriques-Gomes and the wider reporting team covered it rigorously, attending each of the 46 days of hearings and publishing more than 60 stories. Guardian Australia reporting was repeatedly referenced during the hearings, and the commissioner, Catherine Holmes, would go on to praise the Guardian’s coverage. In her July report Holmes characterised robodebt as a “crude and cruel” scheme and a massive failure of public administration. The government’s central public service agency has since said it will investigate 16 referrals relating to former and current bureaucrats named in the report.
Lorena Allam’s and Sarah Collard’s year-long investigation explored possible clandestine burials and unmarked graves at stolen generations-era institutions. It revealed that a ground-penetrating radar survey of Kinchela boys’ home in northern NSW had identified at least nine “anomalies” that may be consistent with “historical clandestine burials”. It also revealed that as many as 400 Aboriginal children and babies are likely to have been buried in unmarked graves at three Western Australian missions. Responding to public pressure in the aftermath of the revelations, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, vowed to take action if potential burial sites at other institutions were uncovered.
Ben Doherty spent more than 110 days in court, over two years, covering every element of the defamation case brought by Ben Roberts-Smith against the publishers he accused of defamation over allegations of war crimes. In total Doherty filed more than 180 stories on the trial and on broader allegations levelled against Australian special forces soldiers in Afghanistan. He also hosted a seven-part narrative podcast series, Ben Roberts-Smith v the media, which took listeners inside the trial. When the highly anticipated judgment was handed down in June, Doherty’s knowledge of the trial’s intricacies enabled him to incisively report the most significant findings and to analyse with clarity the decision and its ramifications.
Led by our Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, Guardian Australia devoted significant time and resources to covering the voice referendum campaign. Josh Butler led coverage of the political debate, writing several exclusive reports on campaign groups and their tactics, including revelations about the complex web of conservative groups and interests contributing to the no campaign.Allam and Sarah Collard helped elevate the often-unheard grassroots views and voices of Aboriginal people, from remote Arnhem Land to suburban Sydney. A series of factchecks, including thorough breakdowns of the yes and no pamphlets, helped cut through spin and misinformation, while the Full Story podcast hosted a special series answering listeners’ frequently asked questions via a panel comprising elders, academics and constitutional experts.
Fleur Connick’s coverage of the impact of dust pollution from the Cadia goldmine in NSW has kept pressure on environmental regulators and the mining giant Newcrest, and empowered locals who felt stifled by a “cone of silence”. Working out of Deniliquin in the NSW Riverina region as part of the Guardian’s Rural Network initiative, Connick built relationships with locals and scrutinised Newcrest’s dust production and dispersal methods, exclusively revealing how lead from the mine had been linked to lead found in residents’ rainwater tanks.
Long a leader in coverage of women’s sport, the Guardian’s approach to the 2023 Women’s World Cup was comprehensive – from an interactive guide to all 736 players to features, analysis, news reporting, expert blogs and match-day packages. The Matildas’ success on the pitch captured the nation’s imagination, culminating in a semi-final against England in Sydney. The Guardian sent six reporters and one editor to Stadium Australia – the biggest contingent of any of the major news outlets.
Nino Bucci’s investigation into the safety of Aboriginal pedestrians in the Northern Territory prompted the federal government to push ahead with a strategy to address the issue. After the death of Kumanjayi Dixon, Bucci exclusively obtained four decades of statistics from the territory’s transport department. Over six months he worked with families and lawyers to gather information on road deaths that had never been reported publicly. The resulting investigation highlighted in stark detail the extent of the problem and the lives impacted: the enormous overrepresentation of Aboriginal people in road deaths, the low level of prosecution and the lack of any plan to improve safety.
Ben Smee’s award-winning investigative series provided a new, rarely heard perspective on the complex issue of youth justice in Queensland. Prompted by reports of extensive solitary confinement in the Cleveland youth detention centre, Smee worked with whistleblowers to unravel systemic problems in youth justice, including widespread detention lockdowns, a lack of schooling and rehabilitation, and overbearing, intimidatory policing. The reporting was recognised with the Clarion award for social issues reporting.
“I have noticed the demise of independent, non-politically-motivated journalism in Australia and its effect on our society. I realise now that it’s up to me to support proper journalism in this country, or nothing will change.”
– Aaron
“I support you every year, in my small way, but the banner about the absence of a gambling ads was enough to make me want to acknowledge and applaud your stance. Thanks for saying no to gambling.”
– Diana
“I read and rely on the Guardian’s updates to keep me informed of news and development in the world, and about local Australian politics. I am on a pension in social housing, but I feel guilty receiving such quality, thorough journalism without at least acknowledging it. Thank you.”
– Gary
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“I think the Guardian holds governments, and other ‘protected’ institutions to account, better than any other journalism … I can afford it, and I’m a little embarrassed that it has taken me so long to get on board.”
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– Eddie
Over the years, we've learned it's best not to judge a car's appearance based on the spy photos. Prototypes don't use all the production parts until closer to the end of the testing phase. That's the case with this Ferrari hypercar prototype as it has some provisional components, including quad taillights from the SF90.
The odd-looking camo and tape can't fully conceal the hypercar's wild aerodynamic package, including that giant rear wing. There are massive air intakes front and rear, not to mention generously sized side air vents to improve airflow. Although there are no visible badges on this prototype, the "Ferrari" script is easy to see on the brake calipers at both axles.
We know the rounded exhaust tips sticking out from the center of the bumper are fake, since the actual exhaust is tucked away behind the mesh. The rearview camera positioned above the third brake light probably won't make it to production either. But the massive rear diffuser does give the hypercar an intimidating look, as does the chunky front splitter.
Cutouts in the roof reveal the crown jewel from Maranello codenamed "F250" will have butterfly doors. We're wondering whether it'll still have a rear window seeing as there's camo over the entire rear section. Even if there is one, we reckon rearward visibility will be greatly hampered by that big wing.
By now, you're probably wondering what those stickers are for. One appears to indicate Bosch was testing certain hardware on this prototype while the yellow triangle with a black lightning logo suggests the LaFerrari replacement will be a hybrid. For the first time since the F40 era, the Ferrari flagship is widely believed to do away with the V12 engine.
Ferrari could even halve the cylinder count by using a V6 instead. That might seem drastic, but lest we forget, the 499P endurance race car also has six cylinders. The mid-mounted 3.0-liter unit with a pair of turbochargers traces its roots in the 296 GTB and its GT3 race car companion. It's unclear whether the powertrain will have plug-in capabilities, or it'll be a self-charging hybrid setup like the LaFerrari had.
Given Ferrari's modus operandi, we wouldn't be surprised if someone were to tell us today the entire production run has already been spoken for. The wraps are said to come off in 2024, with plans for 599 coupes and 199 convertibles, followed by a meaner XX variant limited to 30 units.
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HC Sean Payton on the Broncos' win: 'We felt like this was going to be a pretty physical game' DenverBroncos.com
New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has a bit of a reputation for being one of the more challenging coaches to play for in the NFL. However, one Patriots legend does not see it that way.
Former Patriots cornerback Ty Law believes Belichick is a very personable coach, unless you’re dealing with him during contract time.
“That’s the only time me and Bill didn’t get along—contract time,” Law said, when appearing on “The Greg Hill Show.” “I’ll say it every time. Bill is the coolest and dopest coach. Personable, you can always go talk to him. The only time that he’s an ass—and I will call him an ass. So when he comes on here, Bill knows, I will call him an ass during contract time. That’s the only time. Other than that, man, Bill is solid as a rock.”
"The only time he was an ass was during contract time"
Ty Law discusses the only times he had an issue with Bill Belichick! pic.twitter.com/3LxQfL7TEP— The Greg Hill Show (@TheGregHillShow) November 21, 2023
Law would know a thing or two about playing under Belichick. After all, he was one of the greatest corners in Patriots history.
Law would end up winning three Super Bowls with the team, and he is now a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His comments are something to keep in mind with the offseason approaching.
Belichick will have to make some difficult free agent decisions, particularly with key players like safety Kyle Dugger and guard Mike Onwenu. One has to wonder how those negotiations will play out.
Everyone has that one song that, as soon as they hear it, memories of their youth come flooding back. But while most people look back at their dance moves with regret, professional dancer Lauren Jones left the audience speechless with her take on the classic hit "Macarena".
At a dance competition in Munich, Germany, Jones, 31, and her dance partner Wee Tze Yi weren't sure what song they would be performing to, but in the end, it couldn't have been any better for Jones. As soon as she heard the opening notes to the 1993 pop favorite, "Macarena", she was filled with nostalgia and let the beat carry her away.
The audience was left stunned by the duo's completely improvised routine. Jones told Newsweek: "This song was all over my childhood, so the nostalgia hit, and I got really excited." Jones, who is originally from the U.K. but resides in Vienna, Austria, has known Yi (nicknamed Zee) for several years, and she said it's "a privilege to dance with him" whenever she gets the opportunity.
Jones added: "This was completely improvised, and we had no idea we would get this song. The competition was called All-Star/Champion Strictly at an event called Bavarian Open. The finalists were told we would get the top TikTok songs to dance to, but we didn't know which one.
"When I heard the song start playing, I knew I was going to have the best time dancing with someone I love and respect, and just see what happens," Jones added. "I was just happy to share the floor with Zee."
There is no doubt that dancing is great for the body, but it's also great for the mind too, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The CDC experts say that dancing can lead to better brain health by improving memory, attention, and focus. Plus, the CDC adds that it is not as daunting as the prospect of a grueling gym session, so it is often easier to sustain.
Jones and Yi's performance to "Macarena" was very different to the renowned dance routine that we all know. It wasn't just the audience who was amazed by their creativity. Footage of the pair dancing together was shared on TikTok (@laurenjones.wcs) and it has already been viewed more than 82,000 times and received more than 5,600 likes.
Explaining why their partnership works so well, Jones said that they use the lead-and-follow framework, wherein Yi leads, and she reacts. As they are so familiar with each other, they have total trust in one another to "add musicality" to their partnership.
Jones and Yi (@ziggyfeet) love sharing videos of their routines on TikTok to show people that competitive dancing can be incredibly fun. But the unexpected reaction that this video has generated has been breathtaking, as many social-media users have reached out to Jones to learn more about how they can get into dancing.
Jones said: "I'm ecstatic that we get to share our happy place with the world. Honestly, it has restored my faith in social media and how many beautiful people there are out there.
"The best part has been people messaging asking how they can get involved in this dance, and I get to send them to our awesome teachers in the WCS world. I think it has really helped the community grow," Jones added.
The improvised dance has certainly inspired many social-media users, and Jones has received plenty of positive comments on her post since sharing the video.
One TikTok user wrote: "Wow, dance is a beautiful art, and you two are so good at it. Keep it up!"
Another person posted: "Love this, could watch them all day."
"This is the most beautiful Macarena dance you will ever see," reads another comment.
Do you have any amazing videos you want to share? We want to see the best ones! Send them in to life@newsweek.com and they could appear on our site.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Boone Jenner scored a pair of goals, Zach Werenski set a franchise record, and the Blue Jackets snapped their nine-game losing streak in a 7-3 win over the Blackhawks on Wednesday at Nationwide Arena.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | F | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BLUE JACKETS | 3 | 4 | 0 | 7 |
| CHI BLACKHAWKS | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
Jenner opened the scoring at 2:57 after he stuffed the puck past Petr Mrazek from below the goal line.
#CBJ Jenner (9) goal pic.twitter.com/fZZWr6Ac0A
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
Erik Gudbranson doubled the Jackets' lead at 6:46 with a slap shot from the top of the right circle after receiving Kirill Marchenko's cross-ice feed.
#CBJ Gudbranson (2) goal pic.twitter.com/u4XltqaFmR
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
Jenner scored again, this time on the power play, with a backhand shot from the right doorstep at 13:55 to put Columbus ahead 3-0.
#CBJ Jenner (10) goal pic.twitter.com/MHK7NiC1dM
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
Connor Bedard answered for the Blackhawks with a filthy wrist shot from the left circle at 15:41 to cut Columbus' lead to 3-1.
#Blackhawks Bedard goal pic.twitter.com/RCHOPGWhxU
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
The Blue Jackets took a 3-1 lead into the first intermission with both teams posting nine shots on goal.
Cole Sillinger scored his first goal of the season when he deflected Zach Werenski's wrist shot from the top of the right circle at 7:32.
#CBJ Sillinger (1) goal pic.twitter.com/zKozANH4z6
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
Dmitri Voronkov made it a 5-1 game when he found the back of an empty net thanks to Werenski's cross-ice feed that pulled Mrazek out of position at 12:16.
#CBJ Voronkov (3) goal pic.twitter.com/HEDhVdoMtv
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
With that assist, Werenski became the first Blue Jacket to record four assists in a single game. After the goal Petr Mrazek was replaced by Arvid Soderblom.
Marchenko made it 6-1 at 16:28 when he deflected a great feed from Adam Boqvist at the left doorstep.
#CBJ Voronkov (3) goal pic.twitter.com/HEDhVdoMtv
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
Patrik Laine joined in on the scoring to put the Jackets up 7-1 at 18:40 with a backhand shot from the left doorstep thanks to a beautiful spinning backhand feed from Adam Fantilli.
#CBJ Laine (3) goal pic.twitter.com/z0djbXiLXQ
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
Columbus took a 7-1 lead into the third period along with a 21-20 advantage in shots on goal.
Jason Dickinson intercepted Mathieu Olivier's pass in the Blue Jackets defensive-zone, fired a shot on Elvis Merzlikins, and then scored on the rebound at 6:06 to cut the lead to 7-2.
#Blackhawks Dickinson goal pic.twitter.com/KaSHk3TK1S
— Coby Maeir (@CobyMaeir) November 23, 2023
Ryan Donato scored at 18:41 from the left doorstep to make it 7-3.
With the win, the Blue Jackets improved to 5-11-4.
Alexandre Texier did not play tonight because of an illness. Damon Severson will miss approximately six weeks with an oblique injury. Jack Roslovic has been on IR since Nov. 13 with a fractured ankle that will sideline him for four to six weeks.
The Blue Jackets are back in action on Friday in New Jersey to face the Devils at 3 p.m. ET on Bally Sports Ohio.
The club will head south to Raleigh to take on the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday at 5 p.m. ET.
I have been with my partner for more than three years. We have a wonderful relationship and go out of our way to make each other feel held, loved, listened to. We moved in together last year and have a great partnership in the home. We also have regular date nights and the sex remains good. But, I don’t like his smell. He doesn’t smell bad, it’s just that his natural odour is not a smell I enjoy. It isn’t his body odour from when he has been running or lifting weights. It’s not conscious, I just have a bodily response that says “that’s not my thing”. Sometimes, I wonder if this is telling of something deeper. Do you need to be drawn to the odour of the person you love?
People have different priorities in terms of what draws them close to a partner. Many are very visually oriented and need attractive presentations. Some are kinaesthetics and so they react best to the feel of a person when they touch. You seem to have a sensibility that is more olfactory, so smell is extremely important to you. In addition, a person’s natural scent carries chemicals such as pheromones that are important elements in the biology of attraction. I wouldn’t be surprised if you have some regrets about setting up home with someone to whom you do not feel physically bonded, but I wonder why you chose to do that? Perhaps it would be advisable to ask yourself some questions, such as: do you like the idea of being with someone like your partner more than you actually like being intimate with him? Have you ever felt a strong attraction to anyone … and liked their smell? Did your partner’s smell appeal to you earlier on in the relationship? If yes, when did it change? Are there fragrances, such as aftershave, that he could use that you would enjoy more? There is also the possibility that your partner’s smell may be linked to a medical condition that requires treatment. Investigate.
Pamela Stephenson Connolly is a US-based psychotherapist who specialises in treating sexual disorders.
If you would like advice from Pamela on sexual matters, send us a brief description of your concerns to private.lives@theguardian.com (please don’t send attachments). Each week, Pamela chooses one problem to answer, which will be published online. She regrets that she cannot enter into personal correspondence. Submissions are subject to our terms and conditions.
Cuba is roughly 1,300 miles away, but in a rehearsal space in downtown Manhattan, it doesn’t feel all that far. Cradling their percussion instruments, horns, and guitars, a ten-piece band of musicians, some from Latin America, preparing to play a sinuous piece of son Cubano, as a theater crew — director, writer, actors and choreographers — hover around.
“Nothing like this has been attempted before,” says music supervisor Dean Sharenow. “It’s important that this is the real thing, not a Broadway musical production.”
Welcome to the next iteration of the enduring saga of the Buena Vista Social Club.
Released the same year as Radiohead’s OK Computer, Janet Jackson’s The Velvet Rope and Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind, Buena Vista Social Club became the least likely music phenom of 1997 — and just about any other year. A tribute to the classic son style of the Forties and Fifties, the album brought together veteran Cuban singers and musicians who’d had success in their home country but sometimes struggled after the 1959 revolution in their country. In 1996, when they were all in their sixties, seventies and eighties, they were recruited for a new album honoring that genre, under the tutelage of Ry Cooder and British producer Nick Gold of World Circuit Records. Sung entirely in Spanish, Buena Vista Social Club became the must-own album in Latino and non-Latino households alike, selling millions of copies worldwide, and winning the Best Tropical Latin Performance Grammy. In his novel Fury, Salman Rushdie referred to “that Buena Vista summer” of 1998. “When you listened to that record, it could be 20 degrees out, but it’s a sound that warmed up everything,” says playwright Marco Ramirez (The Royale, about Black boxers in Jim Crow America in the early 1900s). “It’s like aroma therapy.”
Buena Vista Social Club also spawned an unexpected cottage industry, leading to U.S. tours, offshoot albums by some of its members, and two documentaries (including Wim Wenders’ Oscar-nominated Buena Vista Social Club). “Something about that album struck a chord,” says Orin Wolf, the theatrical producer known for The Band’s Visit. “For whatever reason, you put it on and whether you speak Spanish or not, it moved people. I can’t point to one reason why this thing became what it became. But it’s astonishing how much of a brand it’s become.”
Since those heady days, many of the original members of the ensemble — bolero singer Ibrahim Ferrer, guitarist and singer Compay Segundo, pianist Rubén González and bassist Orlando López — have passed way. But is there a future for the Buena Vista Social Club franchise, and can it appeal to a generation that was barely born when the album made its splash a quarter century ago? That question may be answered with its next variation: a musical.
Opening in mid-December for a limited month-long run in New York, Buena Vista Social Club will not only tell the story of the Nineties recording session that begat the album (a happy accident in and of itself) but also the backstory of many of its principal players — including the regal singer Omara Portuondo, already a star in her home country before she became part of the Nineties ensemble. Juan de Marcos Gonzalez, the younger Cuban musician who brought all the musicians and singers together for the album, is also a central character. Says Ramirez, who wrote the musical’s book, “This is about Juan knocking on doors and saying, ‘We have seven days to make a record and come with me on this adventure.'”
Arriving at a finished product based on a 26-year-old album, though, was challenging even by the standards of mounting a costly musical. Wolf, who had the idea in 2017, says he was “always fascinated by Cuba as a place and culture and its relationship with the United States and the West.” He reached out to Gold and World Circuit, the U.K.-based label that recorded the album, which has owned the trademark since 1999. According to Wolf, Gold had already rebuffed attempts to turn the story into a feature film or two. “He was very cautious,” says Wolf. “Nick has always been protective, so at first he was resistant.” (Neither Gold nor Cooder were available for comment.) After Gold had traveled to New York and seen The Band’s Visit, according to Wolf, he changed his mind, and the theatrical reboot would proceed. (If there’s any doubt what a brand it has become, the title of the musical includes a trademark symbol.)
Somewhat mirroring Wenders’ film, the stage Buena Vista Social Club alternates between depictions of the album sessions with flashbacks to the musicians in the Fifties. Different actors play young and older versions of the crew, sometimes crossing each other on stage. “I knew the Nineties had to be the focus,” says Ramirez. “But what are the old grudges and heartbreaks in the musicians?” Ramirez says the show also takes a degree of creative license with the characters, making some of the musicians feel less recognized in their later years than they were. “We’re making them less well known in Cuba so when it all happens, it’s a big deal,” says Ramirez. “We want to dramatize the underdog story.”
The musical’s team then made the decision to make the show as authentic as possible, which was easier said than cast. The dialogue would be in English, but the songs (taken from the original album but some taken from the solo projects) would remain in Spanish. “It would have felt wrong to translate the songs into English,” says creative consultant David Yazbek. “To hear these people singing these beautiful songs written to be sung in Spanish, but then translated, would be so corny.” Some of those lyrics are pained love songs, but others, even Yazbek admits, are sillier. “When people look up the lyrics of ‘Chan Chan,'” he laughs of the album’s most popular tune, “they’re like, ‘Huh?’ There’s a lot of innuendo and some directions!”
Jared Machado, who plays the youthful Segundo, has Cuban roots (his father was born there), but was himself raised in the States. For him and others, singing those sings in Spanish proved demanding. “I had to make sure that my pronunciation on certain words I wasn’t very familiar with was locked in,” he says. “We worked with a dialogue coach to make sure that anyone speaking Spanish or English was pronouncing words correctly.”
In 2019, some of the creators traveled to Cuba, both to absorb the country’s vibe and track down the Havana “social club” building where music and dancing had taken place (and which gave the new project its name). There, they learned that the structure, which had been closed by the government in the Sixties, was now a gym. That wasn’t the only research obstacle. Given the dearth of film footage of the gatherings, choreographers Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, overseeing six dancers in the show, decided to fuse modern dance with styles common in Cuba during the Fifties, albeit not the expected ones. “When you do the research, the mambo and all those dance styles that are codified now in New York happened between the Fifties and the Nineties,” says Delgado. “There’s no footage of the Social Club, so we did a lot of imagining of how people would have moved together in the room. We had the liberty to go off and not feel like we had to stay in that mambo lane.”
Director Saheem Ali also made the decision to place the musicians onstage, not in a pit: “The band is onstage and the character also play musical instruments. Some musicians have lines in some of the scenes. We wanted to blur the lines between who’s the singer and who’s the musician.” To ensure that music was as true to Afro-Cuban styles as possible, everyone realized they would have to reach out to more than just New York-area musicians who regularly play in stage productions. “Musical theater as a form tends to dilute whatever forms you bring into it,” says Sharenow. “If you have a musical with jazz musicians, it becomes musical-theater jazz.”
In a process that would up taking two years — extraordinarily long for that part of the process —Sharenow wound up scouring the Internet for qualified cast members, contacting musicians and actors as far away as Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Venezuela. “I had many nights of waking up at three in the morning and going on YouTube and doing Google searches and coming across someone’s website,” he says. “Imagine hearing from someone in New York about a musical about your culture. It probably felt like a scam. They would ask, ‘What is this again? I’ve never acted before.’”
One of those searches led to Kenya Browne, a Mexican college student who had never performed professionally but sent in an audition tape, not fully knowing what show it was. “They translated everything in Spanish and it said they were looking for people for a new musical project in the U.S,, and that was it,” she says. Since Browne didn’t have a visa, she ended up auditioning by Zoom before the producers flew to see her in Mexico.
Like some of her cast members, Browne wasn’t born when Buena Vista Social Club was released and only of it by way of parents or family members who had the record or knew the songs. Yet stories like hers speak to the legacy of the original album. Growing up in Kenya, Ali recalls hearing his father’s cassette of the album. Although his father was born in Cuba, Machado remembers watching the Wenders film when he was in Spanish class in high school in California.
For others in the cast, bonding with this decades-old story and material took other forms. Olly Sholotan, the L.A.-based actor and musician who plays the dapper Ferrer, wasn’t as familiar with the music as other cast members, having grown up in Nigeria before moving to the States. But as a result of depicting the younger Ferrer, who was shining shoes and selling lottery tickets by the time of the album sessions, Sholotan connected with what he calls the “issues of class” with his character. “Ibrahim dealt with the effect of colorism in real time,” Sholotan says. “In the Fifties, being too dark to be considered marketable, to be the ‘wrong kind of Black’ — we see some of those issues today. We’ve come so far but we still see the effects of colorism. That was really fascinating to me about him.”
In some regards, the timing for the show couldn’t be better: Latin music, although shut out of the major Grammy categories, has never been more prevalent or uncompromising in mainstream American culture and its current stars sing in their own language. Whether that translates to an eventual Broadway production is too soon to predict. (Relations between the U.S. and Cuba remain tricky and complicated, too.) At the moment, the creators are simply hoping its universal story transcends music.
“It’s a story about second chances,” says Ramirez, himself a a pre-teen when the record first arrived. “And the older I get, the more I think about that and about making things right. If I could do it all over again, what would I do differently?”
