Gloria Estefan & Daughter Emily Estefan Write Music & Lyrics for New Musical ‘BASURA'
A new musical inspired in a Latin American true story is heading to Broadway, with music and lyrics by no other than Cuban-American superstar Gloria Estefan and her daughter, songwriter Emily Estefan. BASURA (Spanish for 'garbage') will narrate the journey of Paraguay's Recycled Orchestra, a group of young artists who turn scrap material into instruments and music into possibilities.
The Thursday (April 24) announcement coincides with the third edition of Billboard Latin Women in Music, just one year after Gloria Estefan received the Legend award.
More from Billboard
Nikki Glaser Had a Golden Globes Joke About Benny Blanco She Thought Might Be Too Mean - So She Asked Him
Beéle Leads 2025 Heat Latin Music Awards Nominations: Complete List
BigXthaPlug Makes Late-Night Debut, Gifts Jimmy Kimmel Texas Slab Chain
Based on the award-winning documentary Landfill Harmonic, BASURA brings the sound of Paraguay's Recycled Orchestra to the theater as a 'heart-swelling reminder that even in the most unlikely places, you can build something beautiful,' according to a press release.
The show will first run at the Coca-Cola Stage at Alliance Theater in Atlanta from May 30 to July 12, 2026, before heading to Broadway.
'This is a story that has been close to my heart for several years since I first encountered the determination and ingenuity of the young people of Paraguay's Recycled Orchestra,' Gloria Estefan said in a statement. 'Emily and I are thrilled for our music to be a part of telling their story in this original musical. We could not be more excited for BASURA to begin its theatrical life in a city as influential and diverse as Atlanta with a theater as consequential as the Alliance.'
BASURA is directed by Michael Greif (Rent, Dear Evan Hansen), with a book by Karen Zacarías (Native Gardens, Destiny of Desire). Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, In the Heights) is the musical supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger; Patricia Delgado (Buena Vista Social Club) the choreographer, and Ken Cerniglia (Hadestown, Newsies) the dramaturg.
The show was produced in partnership with Michael Shulman (Sand and Snow Entertainment) and Colin Callender and Daniel Unitas (Playground). Wendy Orshan and Jeffrey Wilson of 101 Productions, Ltd will serve as general managers.
BASURA was developed, in part, with support from The Orchard Project and Ari Edelson, artistic director.
Best of Billboard
Chart Rewind: In 1989, New Kids on the Block Were 'Hangin' Tough' at No. 1
Janet Jackson's Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits
H.E.R. & Chris Brown 'Come Through' to No. 1 on Adult R&B Airplay Chart
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Forbes
2 hours ago
- Forbes
Taylor Swift's ‘Reputation' Finally Reaches The Top 10
Consumption of Taylor Swift's albums exploded recently, after in late May, the singer-songwriter revealed that she had purchased the master rights to her first six albums. That deal officially ended a years-long feud with Scooter Braun and Ithaca Holdings, which had purchased them away from her years ago, prompting her to begin releasing Taylor's Versions of her projects. This latest move puts Swift back in control of the music that made her a household name. Following the exciting development, millions of fans rushed to buy and stream her catalog once again. Much of the focus was on Reputation, a set many had expected would be next in her re-recordings series. While an updated version of the 2017 project may never materialize, fans continue to celebrate the original — and this week, they've pushed it to new heights. This frame, Reputation lands at No. 10 on Billboard's Top Streaming Albums chart, breaking into the loftiest tier for the very first time. The full-length effort reaches the top 10 more than a year and a half after it first returned to the tally in October 2023, and 43 weeks into its current run. As Reputation climbs, Swift now claims five top 10 wins on the Top Streaming Albums chart. That's exactly half of the 10 sets she's pushed onto the list. The tally includes two No. 1s, The Tortured Poets Department and 1989 (Taylor's Version), both of which led for multiple frames. In addition to returning to the Top Streaming Albums chart, Reputation also reenters both the Top Album Sales and Vinyl Albums rankings. In both cases, it can now be found inside the top 10 once more. Purchases of the project grew by nearly 1,200% compared to the previous period, following Swift's greenlight for fans to once again buy Reputation. For years, many had avoided doing so, as sales would have financially benefited the former rights holders — a group Swift was not part of and did not support. On the Billboard 200 — the only chart where Reputation doesn't need to reappear — the album manages a huge leap from No. 78 to No. 5. This marks its three-hundred-and-fiftieth frame on the tally, and it lands higher than it's appeared in many years.
San Francisco Chronicle
3 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
New documentary reveals the triumphs and heartbreak of Sally Ride's legacy
The inspiring story of Sally Ride, the first American woman in outer space, is given its full, deserved due in a new National Geographic documentary. And it broke my heart. Not because of how 'Sally' depicts the incredibly capable, Stanford-educated physicist's efforts to break the highest of glass ceilings and be recognized for her abilities rather than her sex. Utilizing plentiful archival footage, contemporary commentary, recent interview observations from people who were there and some dramatized recreation, director Cristina Costantini gets some sly laughs, edged with appropriate anger, out of the sexist mindsets Ride deftly steered her career through in the 1970s and '80s. What makes 'Sally' so sad was the astronaut's decision to keep her sexuality secret — as her public image soared to heights few women had ever known — until her death from pancreatic cancer in 2012. This aspect of her life grows especially poignant in the film due to the participation of Tam O'Shaughnessy. A tennis buddy Ride met when they were tweens (both Southern California girls were mentored by Billie Jean King), O'Shaughnessy later became her life partner of 27 years. An erudite biology professor, O'Shaughnessy provides much of the film's insight into Ride's personal life during extensive interview stretches and, presumably, via additional input behind the scenes (she has an executive producer credit). Subjective as some of this may be, it's powerful emotional stuff that often reveals more about O'Shaughnessy's own feelings than about Ride herself, who remained enigmatic — even to the love of her life. Fellow astronaut Steven Hawley, who was married to Ride for five years, still seems baffled by what was really going on with her. But like her subject, Costantini maintains a certain rigor in the sentiment department. She doesn't come close to suggesting that Ride was riddled with personal anxieties or fears of being outed. On the other hand, the NASA legend is neither presented as emotionless, calculating nor furtive, but rather as a focused professional who could separate the joy in her achievements from the cacophony of everything else. One brief clip of her mother Carol reinforces the telling intel that Ride was not raised in a demonstrative home. 'If I knew how I felt about feelings, I would probably not tell you,' an immovable Carol says to the camera. Yet Ride's determination, boldness and courage come across palpable. This is brought home when, following her own groundbreaking missions, Ride became the only Space Shuttle astronaut on the committee investigating the Challenger disaster. As the movie frames it, she essentially sacrificed her own future at NASA to expose the cause of the post-launch explosion, and the systemic incompetence that led to it. Costantini ('Science Fair,' 'Mucho Mucho Amor') said she has been a Sally Ride fan since third grade, when she painted a mural of her hero on a school wall. With 'Sally,' she presents a portrait of a pure scientist cognizant of the example she was setting for girls and women of all generations to come. The film is indelibly triumphant in that way; its sadness is generated partly by Ride's apparent inability to fully master the science of love, and certainly by the restrictions a homophobic culture placed on her at the time. There's a clip near the end of Barack Obama presenting Ride's posthumous Presidential Medal of Freedom to O'Shaughnessy. It's a beautiful moment of acknowledgement too-long delayed — one that would never happen today. Perhaps the most heart-rending lesson 'Sally' imparts is that that final frontier keeps getting moved out of reach.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bonnaroo 2025 cancelled after just one night due to severe storms days after co-founder's death
The remainder of music festival Bonnaroo has been cancelled due to weather just days after the death of one of its co-founders. Set to run through Sunday at Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee, the music festival was cancelled Friday evening after hours of delays and even an evacuation notice. 'Today, the National Weather Service provided us with an updated forecast with significant and steady precipitation that will produce deteriorating camping and egress conditions in the coming days,' Bonnaroo shared via Instagram. 'We are beyond gutted, but we must make the safest decision and cancel the remainder of Bonnaroo.' The festival promised at least partial refunds for all ticket holders, many of whom paid hundreds of dollars to attend. Luke Combs was the only of the four headliners to deliver a performance. He took the stage Thursday night and performed alongside fellow country star Miranda Lambert onstage, as well as Marcus King and Jon Bellion. The other headliners, Tyler, the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo and Hozier, have all had their sets cancelled. Additional performers slated to take the stage included Vampire Weekend, GloRilla, Tyla, Avril Lavigne, Queens of the Stone Age, John Summit, Dom Dolla, and Glass Animals. 'We have put our hearts and souls into making this weekend the most special one of the year, and cannot express how crushed we are to have made this decision,' Bonnaroo's statement concluded. 'Thank you in advance for your patience, your positivity and your unfailing Bonnaroovian spirit.' Many fans were disappointed by the cancellation, with some noting it wasn't the first time in recent years attendees found themselves in this situation. 'Wondering what this means for the future of bonnaroo honestly. 3 cancellations in 5 years isn't looking good for us,' one fan wrote on Instagram. 'First and last bonnaroo. Absolute s*** show, not to mention not a speck of rain was seen after they cancelled,' another shared, while someone else agreed: 'Literally spent THOUSANDS of dollars flying from Hawaii……. first roo and most likely my last.' The fan-favorite festival's last minute cancellation came days after the death of one of its co-founders. Jonathan Mayers, who helped create a number of major American festivals, died earlier this week at 51. No cause of death has yet been announced. In a statement to Billboard, Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw said: 'This is incredibly tough news for so many of us. Jon was the creative force behind so much of what people experience at Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, and many other events over the years. We're all really going to miss him.' Mayers co-founded promotions company Superfly with partners Rick Farman, Richard Goodstone and Kerry Black in 1996. They hosted their first concert during Mardi Gras. The four worked together to launch Bonnaroo in 2002 after securing the festival site on farmland in Manchester, an hour outside of Nashville. They worked closely with Capshaw's Red Light Management and other industry figures to book headliners, including the Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh and Bob Weir. In 2008, Mayers partnered with Another Planet Entertainment to create the Outside Lands festival in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park. Mayers left Superfly acrimoniously in 2021, and the following year sued his former partners Farman, Goodstone and Black, accusing them of civil misrepresentation, breach of contract and fraud. Mayers alleged that they had misrepresented the value of his shares in the promotions company. The lawsuit was dismissed in 2023. Superfly said in a statement to Billboard: 'We are heartbroken with the passing of Jonathan. He was a cherished part of Superfly's story, woven into it's history and legacy. In addition to the role he's played in bringing joy to millions, we will miss his razor sharp wit, infectious smile and contagious laugh. No one could light up a room like Jon.'
