Drum Dream Girl is based on the childhood of Millo Castro Zaldarriaga in the 1920s and 1930s. She is from Havana, Cuba, and one of Matias Castro’s 13 children. He worked as a greengrocer, and struggled to make ends meet. Millo’s oldest sister, Cuchito, decided to start an all-girl dance band: Anacaona. They formed in 1932, performing in aires libres—the open-air cafés of Havana. In 1938, Anacaona became an international success. They performed with Dizzy Gillespie and Duke Ellington, as well as for US President Roosevelt. After the original members retired, the group continued under the direction of Georgina Aguirre González into the 21st century.

During Millo’s childhood (the early 1930s), Cuba was in the midst of making large social reforms. For instance, women won the right to vote, a minimum wage for canecutters was established, as well as an eight-hour workday. This environment was ripe for the new all-girl band—a previously unheard-of institution, formed by the Castro sisters. Havana was a popular destination for writers and artists before the United States embargo in the 1950s, which aided in the success of Anacaona. One of the band’s later albums, “The Buena Vista Sisters Club,” references the Buenavista Social Club, a popular music club whose name would become a metonym for a larger movement of interest in Cuban music in the 21st century.