Displaying items by tag: Gloria Estefan

Drury Lane’s On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan opens with a confident, inviting energy that immediately sets the tone for the evening. The production draws the audience into its momentum with ease, creating a lively atmosphere without ever feeling over the top. It’s an engaging, high‑spirited musical experience, delivered with polish and warmth, and even the ushers seem subtly swept up in the show’s rhythm.

The band is cooking, the lights are vibrating with tropical confidence, and the whole room feels like it’s been lightly spritzed with Miami humidity and pure optimism. By the time the first big number lands, you’re not watching a show - you’re being drafted into a celebration.

On Your Feet! charts the rise of Gloria and Emilio Estefan with the kind of momentum that feels less like a biography and more like a rocket launch wrapped in a drumbeat. The story begins in Miami’s vibrant Cuban‑American community, where a shy, songwriting Gloria is coaxed into performing, and a young, fiercely ambitious Emilio is determined to build a sound that reflects both their heritage and their future – that sound eventually becomes Miami Sound Machine. As Miami Sound Machine starts climbing the charts, the musical follows their battles with an industry that keeps trying to box them in, their insistence on bringing Latin rhythms to mainstream pop, and the personal sacrifices required to chase a dream that refuses to stay small.

The show doesn’t shy away from the fractures beneath the glitter - family tensions, cultural expectations, and the emotional cost of pushing against every barrier in their path. And when the near‑fatal bus accident threatens to end everything they’ve built, the story shifts into something deeper: a portrait of recovery, resilience, and the stubborn, beating‑heart belief that music can pull you back into the world.

At its core, On Your Feet! is a celebration of love, grit, and the unstoppable force of a rhythm that refuses to be quiet. It’s about two people who changed the sound of American pop by insisting that their own sound mattered. And it’s about how music - loud, joyful, defiant - can move people in every sense of the word.

Gaby Albo as Gloria and Samuel Garnica as Emilio ignite this production. Their vocals, their chemistry, their sheer “we were absolutely put on this earth to do this” presence turns On Your Feet! into a two‑person supernova at the center of an already electric show.

Albo’s Gloria is a revelation. She glides from the sweetness of “Anything for You” to the soaring emotional punch of “Reach” with a voice that feels both effortless and fiercely intentional. When she launches into “Conga” or “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” the room practically levitates. She doesn’t just sing these songs - she detonates them.

Garnica’s Emilio is all drive, charm, and quiet fire. His rendition of “Don’t Wanna Lose You” lands with a sincerity that hushes the room, and when he steps into the rhythmic swagger of “1-2-3,” you see exactly why Emilio Estefan became a force in the music world. He plays the role with a grounded confidence that makes every scene feel lived‑in and every choice feel earned.

Together, they’re magnetic. Their scenes crackle with the kind of natural rapport that makes you believe they’ve been finishing each other’s sentences for years. Every high note lands, every emotional beat resonates, and every dance break feels like a tiny cardio miracle powered by pure joy. Their performances anchor the show - they lift it, spin it, and send it sailing straight into the audience’s heart.

The supporting cast in Drury Lane’s On Your Feet! enrich, sharpens and gives heart to the world around Gloria and Emilio.

Claudia Quesada brings a fierce, layered presence to Gloria Fajardo - Gloria’s mother, capturing both the steel and the sorrow of a woman who sacrificed her own dreams so her daughter could chase hers. She commands every scene she enters, grounding the story with emotional weight and a voice that cuts cleanly through the chaos.

As Consuelo, the grandmother who sees Gloria’s spark long before anyone else does, Ana Maria Alvarez is pure warmth. She radiates humor, tenderness, and that unmistakable abuela magic - the kind that can lift a room with a single line or a knowing smile.

Angel Hikari Salgado is a delight as Nayib and Young Emilio, slipping between characters with ease and charisma. Whether delivering a punchline or dancing with fearless enthusiasm, Salgado adds a spark that keeps the show’s energy humming.

Together, this assembly of co‑stars forms the emotional architecture of the production - funny, heartfelt, and deeply human. And the ensemble? A joyful hurricane. They flip, spin, and salsa with the kind of precision that makes you wonder if they’ve all been sharing one giant, collective heartbeat backstage.

The stripped‑down set and props open the entire stage for those big, high‑energy dance breaks. Shifts in place and time come from a series of well‑placed visual screens along the back wall, each one snapping into a new image or texture to give the scene exactly the atmosphere it needs.

Drury Lane’s production of On Your Feet! is masterfully directed and choreographed by Luis Salgado, a longtime member of the show’s creative legacy and part of the original 2015 pre‑Broadway Chicago engagement. The show’s biographical curve is handled with warmth and momentum. It never drags, never panders, and never forgets that the Estefan’s story is as much about grit as it is about glitter. Salgado leans into that balance beautifully - one minute you’re laughing, the next you’re clutching your chest, and then suddenly you’re dancing in your seat like rhythm is, in fact, going to get you.

After the opening night performance, I told Luis Salgado how much I appreciated the way he showed Gloria and Emilio’s relationship developing from genuine mutual affection, even as Gloria’s mother worried that his strong business instincts might overshadow her daughter’s already established talent. The way the production threads their now‑iconic love songs through that arc reminded me how authentic and organic their partnership and marriage truly were.

Salgado said he was glad I picked up on that, noting that Gloria and Emilio are still going strong as a couple today. He added that he’s exploring a similar dynamic in his current project about another well‑known creative partnership, and he proudly showed me a congratulatory text from Hamilton’s Lin‑Manuel Miranda - smiling at him from a snowy mountainside - that had arrived just before the show!

I appreciated how he handled the tense moment between Gloria and Emilio after the devastating tour‑bus crash. While she’s still recovering, Emilio pushes her to return to performing, and she snaps back that she had asked for just one day to rest and see her family - a request he denied - and that the crash happened on that very day.

Salgado made room for that imbalance in their marriage as well. Emilio’s drive may have helped propel Gloria to international success, but the scene also makes clear that he could be a demanding partner - and that Gloria ultimately learned to trust her own instincts about balancing ambition with a sustainable, healthy life.

This production delivers on every level - from personal struggles to relationship dynamics to the creation of a sound that became a global phenomenon.

On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan is the rare jukebox musical that feels like a celebration rather than a playlist. Drury Lane’s production is vibrant, heartfelt, and irresistibly fun. You walk out lighter than you walked in, humming a tune you didn’t realize you remembered, and wondering if it’s socially acceptable to start wearing sequins to work.

If you want a night that’s equal parts concert, dance party, and theatrical hug, On Your Feet! delivers it with style.

Highly recommended!

For tickets and/or more show information, visit https://drurylanetheatre.com/on-your-feet/.

On Your Feet! is the compelling rags to riches tale of Emilio Estefan and Gloria Fajardo Estefan’s odyssey - from dreaming Cuban immigrants, to stars who brought a fresh Latin flavor to the American song book.

It’s also a love story, and a musical journey. It wasn’t painless, either. And the story line – they flee the island as the Communists rise to power, they fight against great resistance by recording studios to allow them to cross over to general audiences - provides sufficient grist for a dramatic mill that makes this much more than a juke box musical.

The Estefans’ music, popularized through their band, the Miami Sound Machine, in the 1980’s, may be less a fixture of our contemporary music scene – Shakira, from Columbia, is now better known as a Latin music star and alone has sold more albums than Gloria. But without question the Estefans’ songs are embedded in our collective culture.

At first, producers refused to release their music outside the traditional Latin markets, thinking it couldn't sell to "ordinary" Americans. In the show, Emilio goes nose to nose with the record label executive, telling him, “This is the face of an American!”, a line that won healthy applause from the Cadillac Theatre audience.

The Estafans resorted to guerrilla marketing, bringing records directly to dance clubs and pop stations, and performing for free at bar mitzvas and a Shriners convention. The strategy worked, launching the 1985 hit, “Conga,” to the top of the charts While nowadays YouTube, Vimeo and Facebook would do the trick.

To tell their story, the two developed On Your Feet! With its creative team and the rich vein of Gloria Estefan’s music, On Your Feet! made for a likely slam dunk, and indeed it is. The road show is directed by Jerry Mitchell – he won a Tony for Kinky Boots - with choreography by Sergio Trujillo (you saw his work in Jersey Boys). And the book is Alexander Dinelaris, who received an Academy Award for the movie Birdman (about a Broadway play, by the way).

Excitement comes from the moment the curtain rises on the big orchestra, which plays from back stage. The scene soon moves to Miami’s Little Havana, where the dutiful young Gloria Estefan is doing laundry, and singing traditional songs. In fact, the varieties of music - from renditions of street songs, to a fully orchestrated and choreographed night club act from pre-revolution Havana (starring Gloria’s mother, played with panache by Nancy Triotin - shades of Chita Rivera!) - enrich this show musically.

The quality and precision of the choreography is also worth noting. These highly expressive yet disciplined dancers are among the best I have seen in any musical, anywhere.

In addition to featuring the best-of songs (“Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “Conga,” “Get On Your Feet,” “Don’t Want To Lose You Now,” “1-2-3” and “Coming Out of the Dark”) the Estefan’s added some new transitional pieces for the show. Some familiar greats, such as “Words Get In the Way,” aren’t included in the show.

The drama crescendos when a severe bus accident nearly paralyzes Gloria, and her struggle to recover. In a fresh approach, Emilio (Mauricio Martinez) solos on, “I Don’t Want to Lose You Now,” one of Gloria’s most beautiful singles. It is a real showcase for Martinez, Mexico’s telenovela heart throb, who commands the stage and dominates his scenes. It also turns out he can dance really well.

While Gloria Estefan’s lovely contralto can’t be matched, she is said to have hand selected Christie Prades to play her character for this road show. Prades delivers a great performance both in song and dance, and she is a good actress to boot.

On Your Feet! originated here in Chicago in 2015 before making its celebrated Broadway run, and then returning to a road tour across the country and around the world. (It opened again in Chicago at the Cadillac Palace Theatre on March 23 and runs through April 8.)

Aptly named, “On Your Feet!” is on its way to Broadway and officially launched their World Premier right here in Chicago at the Oriental Theater. The show tells the story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan through music and dance, laughter and tears. There were so many things that I enjoyed about this show it is hard to figure out where to start!

Written by Alexander Dinelaris (most recent credits include the screenplay for the Oscar winning “Birdman”), the story moves fast, initiated as a flashback from the tragic tour bus accident that landed Gloria in the hospital with a spinal cord injury. We are introduced to a young Gloria, played by the Alexandria Suarez, on laundry day in Miami. In a flurry of dancing, singing and swirling pastel sheets, Glorita grows from a young girl to a teenage Gloria, played by Ana Villafane, who wows us with a powerhouse voice that will blow you away.

My favorite character of the show is Consuelo, Gloria’s spunky grandmother played by Alma Cuervo. She is the catalyst that brings Emilio and Gloria together, supports her shy granddaughter to follow her dreams, and delights the audience with her quirky one-liners - my favorite being “terrible shorts, great culo!” after our first introduction to a young, short-short wearing Emilio, played by the handsome Josh Seggara.

Hit after musical hit carries us through the first act as we watch Gloria break out of her shell and take the spotlight while her and Emilio quietly fall in love. As their lives move forward, we learn more about her father’s time in the Cuban police force and then the American military and her mother’s lost dream of singing.  The entire story is supported by energetic dancing, effortlessly changing set design and costumes that transport you from Cuba to Vietnam to Miami.

While first act ends on a high note as Gloria successfully crosses over into the English speaking market with a performance of “Conga” that gets everyone in the theater dancing, the second act deals with more serious challenges as the relationship between Gloria and her mother is broken and rebuilt, and the family deals with the aftermath of the horrific bus accident.  In scenes that will bring tears to your eyes, we learn more about Emilio’s escape from Cuba and say goodbye to family members who have passed and witness Gloria’s triumphant rise back to stardom.

Villafane and Seggara are fantastic as Gloria and Emilio. Villafane’s incredible singing and dancing makes you believe it was actually Gloria Estefan you are watching. Seggara is spot on in his acting and his lovable Cuban accent, which makes up for his singing that is not his strongest asset.  The use of projected images and sets that slide on and off the stage with ease, created a wonderful backdrop for spot on dancing by a core ensemble. The choreography, by Sergio Trujillo, was rooted in Latin dance, with impressive moves that were performed completed in sync with style and flair.

Overall, I can whole-heartedly recommend this show to anyone looking for an exciting, fast paced show that will have you dancing in your seat and on your feet! The show is running at the Oriental Theater through July 5^th so grab your tickets soon – you will not want to miss this!