Actress and producer Gina Torres, who is of Cuban descent, will return to the stage to play legendary singer Omara Portuondo in the hit Broadway musical Buena Vista Social Club from October 13 to November 29.
Torres, known for Suits, Firefly and 9-1-1: Lone Star, will replace actress Natalie Venetia Belcon during a previously scheduled absence, according to a statement from the production.
Torres said she was immensely happy to join the cast of Buena Vista Social Club, adding that she fell in love with the show and everyone involved in it the first time she saw it. She said that as a first-generation Cuban American, the show connected with her in many ways.
She recalled growing up listening to the songs of the famous group, saying they are the heartbeat of everything that means home to her and that ties her to her family and her culture. Torres said she trusted that her parents, who have since died, would accompany and support her when she steps onto that stage.
Stage and screen background
Torres trained as a classical vocalist and made her Broadway debut in 1994 in David Henry Hwang's Face Value. Her return to the stage follows a recent Off-Broadway run in Pen Pals alongside musical theater singer Carmen Cusack in early 2026.
Buena Vista Social Club is a Broadway musical inspired by the celebrated Cuban ensemble of the same name, which became internationally known through its 1997 album and the accompanying documentary. Omara Portuondo, whom Torres will portray, is one of Cuba's most acclaimed vocalists and a longtime member of that group.
Gina Torres's career
Torres broke barriers with her role as Jessica Pearson in the USA Network original series Suits, becoming in 2019 the first Afro-Latina woman to create, star in and produce a television series, one that followed its lead character into the world of Chicago politics. The role marked a turning point in her career and earned her several awards.
Her other television credits include the Russian-Cuban assassin Anna Espinosa in Alias, mercenary Zoe Washburne in Joss Whedon's Firefly, a role she reprised in the film Serenity, and Jasmine in Whedon's Angel.
Current projects
Torres, who has also worked in film, currently plays FBI agent Linda Grant in FOX's Memory of a Killer alongside Patrick Dempsey.
