This new outdoor dinner show in Miami celebrates Cuban music, food and culture

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit Miami’s cultural community hard. But a new outdoor show is giving fans of Cuban culture a reason to celebrate.

“Cuba Under the Stars,” a dinner theater show produced by Peter Regalado and Miguel Ferro, blends Cuban music, dancing, comedy — and it’s coming next month to Miami.

The show, about a young woman whose date introduces her to the joys of what it means to be Cuban, will feature an orchestra of 18 musicians directed by Marlene Urbay, founder and music director of the Florida Chamber Orchestra and former Music Director of the National Ballet of Cuba.

Also part of the show are 24 professional Broadway dancers and local Cuban singers, including Albita Rodriguez, Amaury Gutierrez, Luis Bofill and Grethel Ortiz.

Meanwhile, as the show goes on, the audience dines on a menu of Cuban favorites created by Chef Ana Quincoces.

“The dialogue is composed of a fun language, where proclamations, Cuban regionalisms and Spanish prevail, displaying the essence and nostalgia that is part of our idiosyncrasy,” explains Regalado, executive producer and creator, in a press release. The show, he continues, “is a respite and escape from the reality that we are living globally.”

Like all events in 2020, the dinner theater is instituting social distancing rules, with tables six feet apart, hand sanitizers and ongoing COVID-19 testing for the cast. Dancers and actors will wear masks except when they’re on stage, and the work team will be masked all times.

The venue, which is wheelchair accessible, is performed in Spanish and for adults only.

“Cuba Under the Stars”

What: A musical dinner theater show

Where: Fair Expo Center, 10901 SW 24th St., Miami

When: 7 p.m. Thursday-Sunday Dec. 10-March 28

Tickets: $80-$125 per guest, including dinner; www.cubaunderthestars.com

This story was originally published November 11, 2020 at 1:39 PM.