Basura

Music and Lyrics by Gloria Estefan and Emily Estefan

Book by Karen Zacarías

Directed by Michael Greif

 

BASURA is inspired by Favio Chávez and the Orquesta De Reciclados De Cateura. Loosely inspired by the award winning documentary “Landfill Harmonic,” this a story that celebrates the power of music, resilience and community. 

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Nine-time Grammy Award® winner Gloria Estefan — whose music has sold over 100 million records worldwide — has shaped generations through song. Now, she joins her daughter and acclaimed singersongwriter Emily Estefan, to co-write the music and lyrics for BASURA, a powerful and bold new musical inspired by the true story of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra, where young artists turn scrap material into instruments and music into possibilities. This world premiere musical continues Estefan’s global legacy — proving that music can rise from anywhere and change everything.

 

What do you do when the world gives you nothing? You build something beautiful. In a community against all odds, an inspired music teacher starts an orchestra for the students, but they have no instruments. Empty paint cans, a fork, and a bent license plate become a violin, an oil drum transforms into a colorful cello, and the newly formed orchestra hits every note to the beat of something bigger. When the students' instruments become symbols of possibility, the sound is heard around the world.

 

BASURA is directed by the Broadway stage visionary Michael Greif (Rent, Dear Evan Hansen), written by National Latino Playwriting Award-winner Karen Zacarías (Native Gardens, Destiny of Desire). Grammy Award® and Tony Award® winner Alex Lacamoire (Hamilton, In the Heights) is the musical supervisor, orchestrator, and arranger. Patricia Delgado (Buena Vista Social Club) will choreograph, and Ken Cerniglia (Hadestown, Newsies) rounds out the team as dramaturg.

 

Based on the award-winning documentary film “Landfill Harmonic,” the new musical carries the sound of Paraguay’s Recycled Orchestra farther than anyone could have ever imagined. BASURA is an unforgettable journey of rhythm, resilience, and extraordinary music — a radiant, heart-swelling reminder that even in the most unlikely places, you can build something beautiful.