The Broadway League is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month with a trio of cabaret-style concerts hosted by Broadway star Ana Villafañe.
The concert series, dubbed “El Conjunto,” will kick off at the W Living Room Times Square on Sunday, Sept. 15, with performances by “Pose” actor Dyllόn Burnside, “Hadestown” actress Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, “West Side Story” actress Ana Isabelle and “The Prom” actress Isabelle McCalla, according to a release.
The second and third concerts in the series will take place at the same venue on Sunday, Sept. 29 and Sunday, Oct. 13; a complete list of performers will be released soon.
Villafañe — who played Cuban-American pop icon Gloria Estefan in the Broadway musical “On Your Feet!” — expressed her excitement about the series on Twitter.
“Zero chill about this and I’ll take requests for what you want me to sing,” she wrote. “Our band is epic. Our lineups are a dream. Three nights, three completely different shows.”
This year’s concert series is presented by Viva Broadway, the Broadway League’s development partnership with the Hispanic community. The partnership aims to “bridge the world of Broadway with Latino audiences around the country,” a release notes.
The Broadway League and Viva Broadway have been marking Hispanic Heritage Month for several years, with events ranging from panels to concerts — including one with Estefan back in 2015, the league’s director of communications Martine Sainvil told amNewYork.
“It varies from year to year, but there’s always some sort of celebration around it,” she said. “It’s a great time to celebrate Latinos who are working on Broadway.”
This year, concertgoers can expect to hear some classic Broadway songs, but they could also get a chance to hear original music, Sainvil said. The concerts will also feature “unannounced surprise guests,” she noted.
Tickets are $10 for standing room and $20 for the seated area, with a two-drink minimum for seated tickets.
“We wanted it to be accessible,” Sainvil said of the ticket prices. The concert series, she noted, is “really a celebration of Broadway.”
“It’s really important to encourage people to know that Broadway is for everyone, and also to encourage people to get involved with theater,” she said. “It’s such a big part of the cultural heritage of New York, and such a big part of the city.”
Doors for each show will open at 6 p.m., and performances will start at 7 p.m. Tickets are available on the TodayTix website. Performers are subject to change, Viva Broadway’s release notes.
