From Nairobi to New York: Director Saheem Ali Navigates Buena Vista Social Club to the Tony Awards

From Nairobi to New York: Director Saheem Ali Navigates Buena Vista Social Club to the Tony Awards

When director Saheem Ali first heard the songs of Buena Vista Social Club as a teen in his native Kenya, he couldn’t understand the Spanish lyrics—but he didn’t need to. “I was so obsessed with it,” says Ali, whose father, an airline pilot, had brought the album home to Nairobi. “I was listening to it on repeat, memorizing the lyrics and singing along without knowing what I was singing about.” For him—and the millions who shared in his obsession…