ACCA Awards

Actors' Equity Association has presented Buena Vista Social Club with the 2025 ACCA Award for Outstanding Broadway Chorus. Presented by Equity’s Advisory Committee on Chorus Affairs (ACCA), the ACCA Award is the first industry accolade of its kind to honor the distinctive talents and contributions made by the original chorus members of a Broadway musical.

The 8 individual recipients of the 2025 ACCA Award – all of whom were part of the chorus of Buena Vista Social Club on the musical’s March 19, 2025 Broadway opening night – are Angelica Maria Beliard, Carlos E. Gonzalez, Hector Maisonet, Ilda Mason, Marielys Molina, Carlos Sanchez Falú, Anthony Santos and Tanairi Sade Vazquez. 

The award was presented on Monday, June 23, at the Actors' Equity Foundation Awards, and included the distribution of personalized trophies to each chorus member in attendance.

"The ACCA Award is unique in the industry because it is presented by peers – fellow members who perform chorus work and have a deep understanding of what it takes to contribute successfully to a production,” said Actors' Equity Association 2nd Vice President and ACCA chair Al Bundonis, "To the Buena Vista Social Club ensemble: You are a master class in authenticity and because of you, we discover the heart of Cuba, the soul of its people and the richness of its heritage. In your show, it is said, 'No matter what is happening in the world out there, there is nothing a song cannot fix.' Well, eight times a week, you show the world there is nothing a chorus cannot do."

"Buena Vista Social Club is more than a show for us," said Ilda Mason, one of the ACCA Award recipients, on behalf of the cast. “It is an opportunity for us to share our culture and heritage, and to hopefully spread joy to people from all over every week during a time in which there is so much fear and division in the world. We are so incredibly fortunate to be able to go to the theatre and hopefully touch people’s lives through dance. We do this as one of many parts that make our show as special as it is."

Voters for this award were Equity chorus councilors, members of the ACCA and previous recipients of Equity’s Legacy Robe, which is awarded to the member of the chorus in each show who has the most Broadway chorus credits. In reviewing each nominated chorus, voters considered the chorus requirements made by each production’s director, choreographer and musical director; the caliber of technical skill used to execute those requirements; and the unique contributions made by the entire chorus to the overall production.

Previous recipients of the ACCA Award are the original chorus members of Legally Blonde (2007), In the Heights (2008), West Side Story (2009), Fela! (2010), The Scottsboro Boys (2011), Newsies (2012), Pippin (2013), Beautiful – The Carole King Musical (2014), An American in Paris (2015), Shuffle Along, Or The Making Of The Musical Sensation Of 1921 And All That Followed (2016), Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812 (2017), Once on This Island (2018), Hadestown (2019), New York, New York (2023) and The Heart of Rock and Roll (2024). In 2022, the ACCA issued two special awards, one to all the Broadway choruses working on the 2019–2020 season disrupted by the pandemic, and one for the choruses of the 2021–2022 season that brought Broadway back.

Watch: https://www.youtube.com/live/B1ZkaI6GA8c?si=Q3MKjPyE5V2OzWGt&t=4718

From Left: Awards ceremony emcee BD Wong, recipients Ilda Mason, Hector Maisonet and Carlos Sanchez Falú, Actors' Equity Association 2nd Vice President and ACCA chair Al Bundonis and Equity Field Representative Jeffrey Bateman. Photo by Kathel Louis Griffin.