Debut of the Month: Da’von T. Moody & Wesley Wray Are Raising the Volume in BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB

BroadwayWorld interviewed Da’von T. Moody and Wesley Wray, who are currently making their Broadway debuts as Young Compay and Young Ibrahim respectively in Buena Vista Social Club!

Buena Vista Social Club features a book by Marco Ramirez, direction Saheem Ali, choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck, music supervision by Dean Sharenow, orchestrations, arrangements and music direction by Marco Paguia, and more. 

Moody and Wray shared their reactions to booking their first Broadway roles, the deep cultural impact of Afro-Latino representation in Buena Vista Social Club, the challenges and rewards of developing an original production, and more.

Read the full interview and check out photography by BroadwayWorld's own Jennifer Broski below!

This interview is sponsored by Atlantic Acting School. Atlantic, the award winning Off-Broadway theater company and NAST accredited acting school, is proud to have produced the acclaimed Off-Broadway premiere of Buena Vista Social Club! Founded in 1985 by a passionate group of students, Atlantic has grown into both a Tony Award-winning Off-Broadway theater and the renowned Atlantic Acting School, one of the best acting schools in New York City. 

As the only acting conservatory offering in-depth training in Practical Aesthetics—the Atlantic Technique, as outlined in A Practical Handbook for the Actor—we equip aspiring actors with unmatched creative, technical, and professional skills. Whether you’re seeking full-time Conservatory training, part-time, or evening acting classes, our programs, including our NYU Tisch studio and kids and teens offerings, deliver immersive, hands-on training that empowers actors to thrive on stage, film, and beyond.

Atlantic Acting School alumni include Elizabeth Olsen, Stephanie Hsu, Simon Helberg, Rose Byrne, Zach Woods, and more! Atlantic Actors Work! Are you next? Apply today! 

Can you describe the moment you found out you’d be making your Broadway debut in Buena Vista Social Club?

Da'Von: It’s the story that so many Broadway actors now know. You get the phone call and it’s just like heart rate up, immediately. You know exactly what it’s about, you know you just had this audition a couple of days ago, and so you’re like, ‘This has to be something.’ It’s just a lot of high blood pressure and anticipation. And my agents specifically, whenever we get something, they always go to intercom first, like, “Hey, how’s it going? Okay, hold on!” And so, my agent was like, “Hey, Da'Von, good morning! Okay, hold on!” And then next thing you know, “Congratulations! You’re going to Broadway!”

Wesley: For me, I’m not repped, I’m still in school, and I was blessed to get called in to do this. And they were sending me a lot of mixed signs. They got my number and were letting me know when to be there, and they were very supportive. But then they were like, “We’ll email you after to see you again,” and then they told me, “You know what, never mind, we don’t need to see you.” And I was like, ‘That could either be really good or really bad.'

So, I had a free day the next day after my audition, and I get a call from Xavier Rubiano (Partner and Co-Owner of The TRC Company). Xavier is like, “Hey, how’s your day going?” And I was like, “Uh, good, I guess I have a free day, I’m going to go see The Outsiders and chill, relax.” [laughs]. “And he was like, “Oh, okay, well I just wanted to quickly ask you, how would you feel about making your Broadway debut doing a principal role in an original Broadway production?” I was like, “Uh, yeah!” It was a beautiful day, it was a magical moment that I’ll never forget. I was in disbelief, I called my mom immediately after. 

How has it been immersing yourself in this story, and how has it felt to deepen your connection to this music and its cultural significance?

Da’Von: Honestly, it hasn’t felt like work. There’s something that’s just so incendiary about this music. There’s something that’s so activating about it. I had seen the documentary a long time ago, I was pretty familiar with the music, and I had done some of the workshops before, so getting to dive in again and reexamine everything, and have it on repeat all the time, it’s been incredible. 

Saheem is so generous, so collaborative, he’s so smart and welcoming, and caring, and really loves this music and the story, and has a deep connection to it. And being able to glean off of everyone else’s connection as well. Our lead guitarist learned how to play from Compay Segundo himself, so I was like, “Teach me, oh wise one, everything.” So, to have barely a degree of separation, it’s been amazing. And to have the validation too of people that actually knew these people. Like, “Yeah, that’s a very Compay thing.” It feels amazing.

Wesley: With the resources that we have at our hands to do this…we have people firsthand who have worked with members of Buena Vista Social Club. I’m not Cuban, but I’m Afro-Caribbean, so I'm taking my experience of growing up in an Afro-Caribbean household and applying it to being Young Ibrahim. Learning about different cultures and religions is a beautiful thing. Especially in this show, because the history is so deep. Each song has a meaning, deep history, it’s beautiful.

Da’Von: Getting to tell the story of those rhythms that traveled across the Middle Passage, through the Caribbean, there is nothing like that. This is the first of its kind, an Afro-Latino story with mostly Afro-Latino actors on stage. It’s history forging.

Wesley: I love how it shows the African diaspora in a different light, other than the monolithic Hip Hop… which it is a part of it, but there is so much more to the black and African diaspora, more than just Hip Hop and MLK, there are so many trailblazers throughout this and I love how it highlights and honors that.

What was the rehearsal process like, and working with the company to bring this to a Broadway stage?

Da’Von: It’s so warm. There is a different dynamic any time you do a majority black show in my experience specifically. So having something that resembles that in a different lens, where everyone is mostly Latino, there’s Spanish everywhere, everybody knows what it means to be in this space at this time, especially with everything going on in the world right now. It is the warmest embrace in the best way possible. Everyone is open, everyone is excited about each other’s work, everyone is dancing and we’re not even onstage, because you can’t help it, it just makes you happy. And being able to collaborate with Saheem, being able to collaborate with Patricia, and Justin, and Marco Paguia, I’m a little bit at a loss for words. 

Wesley: They are big on not calling us a family because family has its own dysfunctions, and they were like, “We are going to make this a beautiful space,” which they have. This is my debut, my first big professional show, so coming into this with this being my first one, they set the bar high. And specifically, with each and every member of the creative team, Patricia, Justin, Saheem, Marco, they made it a very safe space for me to… say I had an issue with the script, whatever it was, the smallest thing, they took it into note, and they worked around that, and they made it make sense. They have been so understanding and lenient, and still got the job done. It’s great.

Da’Von: We’re doing a brand-new show, and that always comes with its own speed bumps, its own obstacles, because we’re forging it, so there’s no path already. And there’s no show like this, it kind of sits in a lane of its own, so we are truly whacking at the brush, and finding truly beautiful things along the way.   

How did it feel to take your first bow on Broadway?

Da’Von: Singularity. Gravitational singularity. Time and space break down in that moment, it doesn’t exist.

Wesley: There was nothing like it, taking that first bow. I mean, my ears were ringing, it was so much showering of love, and Afro-Latin appreciation. It was all really just a blur.

Da’Von: We are making our Broadway debuts as principals, in an OBC. Like, what do you mean? That’s crazy!

Wesley: If you had asked me a year ago where I’d be, I would be like, “Oh, in school.” Which, I still am, but I would not have thought I would be making my Broadway debut in a principal role in an OBC, in something that breaks so many barriers. Insane! You can achieve anything you want, anything you put your mind to. This has shown me how much I can do, and where I can go from here.

What do you want to say to audience members who are planning to come and see the show?

Da’Von: Buy the ticket, and buy the next one, and tell everybody else because 1. You’re not going to want it to end, and 2. You’re going to want to come back immediately. So tell all your tias, and cousins, abuela, abuelos, la familia, bring everybody. And anybody who is worried about the Spanish, don’t worry about it! You don’t need to understand Spanish to feel the music. Music is one of those universal languages, you’re going to get the feeling of it, and it’s directed so beautifully, it’s choreographed so beautifully, that all of that is going to be conveyed. Most of communication is body language anyway, so don’t you worry about those words. All of the music is cradled so beautifully, and presented and plated so immaculately that you will be just fine.

Wesley: They feed the story to you on a platter. The two things that I’ve heard is, “Didn’t want it to end.” And, “Didn’t understand the music, but I felt it.” That’s all you need to know, you feel something. Hery Paz made a beautiful book about the history of each and every song in the album, and made beautiful illustrations. If you want to know more about the music, you have Hery Paz’s beautiful illustrated book.

Da’Von: Hery Paz is our resident Woodwindist, he plays the hell out of the flute, and the clarinet, and the saxophone. Not to be missed, amongst all of the other incredible performances of all of those musicians onstage. Because we are just ushers for the music. Yeah, we’re acting on stage, but we are just ushers for the music, and that was made very clear in the beginning, that everyone is in collusion to elevate, and put on a pedestal, this music. The story is about the music.

Wesley: It doesn’t feel like a show. It’s not a showing, it’s a sharing. We’re sharing this beautiful story.

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