“The View”'s Ana Navarro Makes Surprise Cameo in “Buena Vista Social Club” on Broadway: 'The Most Surreal Experience' (Exclusive)

"I can't believe a little refugee girl from Nicaragua was just on Broadway," Navarro tells PEOPLE

NEED TO KNOW

• Ana Navarro made her Broadway debut with a surprise cameo in Buena Vista Social Club in New York City
  The View co-host opens up to PEOPLE about the emotional significance of performing in the show
• Whoopi Goldberg and Navarro’s The View colleagues supported her, with Goldberg offering advice and sending flowers

Ana Navarro can now officially add Broadway performer to her résumé.

The View co-host made a surprise cameo during the Friday, March 6 performance of Buena Vista Social Club at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in New York City, stepping into the Tony Award–winning musical for two walk-on moments during the show.

PEOPLE has exclusive photos documenting the day, from Navarro's put-in rehearsal to the post-performance celebrations.

“That certainly was not on my bingo card,” Navarro, 54, jokes to PEOPLE the morning after her Broadway debut. "I was reflecting on it last night and I just thought, ‘My God, I can't believe a little refugee girl from Nicaragua was just on Broadway.’ ”

Navarro, a longtime political commentator known for passionately debating hot-button issues on live television, admits the experience left her far more nervous than her usual day job.

“I've been nervous since they told me this was going to happen and been trying not to think about it. For the first time in my life, I didn't eat all day because my stomach was in such knots!” she says. “And now I'm so sad it's over because it was so exciting and exhilarating and just filled my heart with joy.”

“To see all those people in the audience was very, very special. And there were a few people there who took Nicaraguan flags and waited for me at the end,” she recalls. “Then, when I came out of the stage door, there was what — 100 people waiting for me to sign Playbills? That was the most surreal experience of my life."

"I mean, I've done some pretty crazy, extraordinary things, but this is right up there," she says.

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The Buena Vista Social Club audience saw Navarro twice during the performance — first as the bartender at the famed Havana club during the musical number “La Negra Tomasa,” when Young Omara, Young Ibrahim and Young Compay are performing onstage. Later in the show, she returned as an affluent citizen of 1950s Havana strolling along the Malecón, the city’s iconic seaside promenade.

At the end of the evening, Navarro joined the company onstage for curtain call, taking her bown alongside Tony winner Natalie Venetia Belcon.

The musical, inspired by the making of the landmark 1997 album and the legendary musicians behind it, features songs from the beloved record and a story by Marco Ramirez. The show was developed and directed by Saheem Ali, and features electric choreography by Patricia Delgado and Justin Peck.

Long before stepping onstage for her cameo, Navarro had already been a devoted fan of the show, seeing it four times.

“I love the show," she says. "It's a wonderful story, but it's also like a Cuban music concert at the same time. You get both. You get two for one with Buena Vista Social Club. And whenever I have a friend coming into town, I make them go see it because I just know they're going to have the best time."

Being invited to briefly join the production made the night even more meaningful because of the music’s personal connection to her family.

“These are songs that I grew up with and that my parents grew up with, and that I know so well,” Navarro says. “Plus, it’s an era, 1950s Cuba, that has always been so alluring to me. That glamour, that style, the romance of Havana at that time — it's always fascinated me."

For a brief moment, she says, the elaborate costume helped transport her into the world of the show.

“Oh my God — getting into costume and into the period piece was so fun," she recalls. "Nylons with seams in the back, the shoes with little buttons on the sides, the fascinator hat with feathers. And the hairstyle! The French chignon with the waves in the front. It was crazy. It was like I was back in time!”

The opportunity came as a shock to the co-host earlier this year. During a Jan. 9 segment on The View celebrating Navarro’s December birthday, cast members from Buena Vista Social Club — Renesito Avich and David Oquendo — appeared on the show to serenade her.

But the performance wasn’t the only surprise. Navarro soon learned that the production had another gift in store: an invitation to make her Broadway debut in a one-night-only cameo.

"Wait, is this a thing?" she asked in the episode? "I thought this was a practical joke!"

It wasn't, which Navarro learned the hard way as she made her debut.

Despite her nerves, The View co-host tells PEOPLE the cast and creative team made her feel instantly welcome backstage. "Everybody was so welcoming in the cast and the production team there," she says. "They really helped calm me down."

She especially boasts about sharing the stage with actor Héctor Juan Maisonet, who played her character’s boyfriend during her Malecón walk-on. "Let me just tell you, he is a feast for the eyes and could not have been kinder,” Navarro jokes.

Navarro also had the support of her colleagues from The View in the audience, including Executive Producer and Behind the Table podcast host Brian Teta.

All posed together for photos on the stage after the performance.

Whoopi Goldberg was there, too, and visited with the company backstage afterwards. "It meant the world to me, and to the cast, to have her there" Navarro says.

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Goldberg, 70, even sent flowers ahead of the performance, and offered Navarro some simple advice.

"She told me to enjoy it, to enjoy the moment, to be myself and to have fun,” Navarro says.

All in all, Navarro says she was "blown away" by the whole experience. "I won't forget this for a long time," she says.

It also gave her a newfound appreciation for the intense work that goes into putting on a Broadway show.

“I don't think I realized what it took to put on a Broadway play!” Navarro says. “It's a small village of people working in the most cramped spaces with deadly staircases. And they do this eight shows a week. It’s pretty amazing to me.”

And even though Navarro's time onstage lasted only minutes, she says the physical demands of performing was enough for her.

"Just going up and down the staircases 10 times yesterday had me ready for a massage,” she jokes.

“I was on for 11 minutes,” Navarro adds with a laugh. “And I think I'm going to have to go lay down for 11 hours now.”

Tickets to Buena Vista Social Club are now on sale.

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