Bernie Williams is heading to Broadway, and this time the former Yankees center fielder won’t be patrolling the outfield. He’s set for a six-week run with “Buena Vista Social Club,” joining the production’s Tony- and Grammy-winning band from Oct. 22 through Nov. 29 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre.
The move gives one of the most familiar names from the Yankees’ championship years a new stage in New York, but it fits neatly into the second career Williams has built for himself as a musician. Broadway.com reported the engagement Friday, and the role is more than a quick celebrity turn - Williams is scheduled to perform with the band in a show where the music is central to the storytelling.
“I am excited about the opportunity to join Buena Vista Social Club because the music was part of my childhood,” Williams said in a statement released with the announcement.
He said he remembered his mother playing the music on Sunday afternoons, a detail that gives the Broadway run a personal edge after years of professional performing.
That musical path has been part of Williams’ life for a long time. Born in Puerto Rico, he trained as a classical guitarist while still tied to the Yankees and kept building that side of his career even as his baseball profile grew. He released “The Journey Within” in 2003 and followed with “Moving Forward” in 2009, an album that brought a Latin Grammy nomination and featured collaborations with Bruce Springsteen, Jon Secada and Dave Koz.
“Buena Vista Social Club” draws from the music and story of the landmark Cuban ensemble and its 1997 album. The production opened on Broadway in 2025, landed 10 Tony Award nominations and won five, including awards tied to choreography, orchestrations and its musicians.
Williams’ arrival also adds a fresh baseball angle to the show. Former major league infielder Jose Iglesias, known musically as Candelita, is already in the cast as the Narrator and has extended his run through Nov.
- That means the former Yankees star and former Mets infielder will overlap on Broadway for more than three weeks.
Iglesias became the first Latino major leaguer to make his Broadway debut when he joined the production in August. His presence already tied the show to baseball, Cuban music and New York sports culture, and Williams adds another layer through Puerto Rico, jazz guitar and his Yankees legacy.
During Williams’ engagement, “Suits” star Gina Torres is also scheduled to appear as Omara while Tony winner Natalie Venetia Belcon takes a previously announced leave. The Schoenfeld stage will have plenty of star power in that stretch.
Williams’ baseball résumé still stands tall. He was a five-time All-Star, four-time Gold Glove winner and the 1998 American League batting champion. He also won 1996 AL Championship Series MVP honors and was part of four Yankees World Series championship teams during the club’s late-1990s and early-2000s run.
The Yankees retired his No. 51 in 2015.
Even with all of that behind him, Williams has never treated music like a side project. He has performed publicly for years, recorded professionally and built a serious identity as a guitarist that exists apart from his playing days in pinstripes.
So this Broadway run isn’t a novelty act. It’s a continuation of a career he’s been shaping for years, now placed inside a show built around memory, family and music that stays with you.
For Williams, the connection goes back to childhood. For New York fans, it’s another chance to see a familiar figure in a very different setting.
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