As
an 80’s girl, I loved dancing to the beat of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. That
Cuban rhythm just makes you want to move! The musical, On Your Feet tells how this pair
overcame adversity to land “on their feet” in the music business. This
show will have you either on your feet or like me, dancing in your seat but it also wonderfully celebrates Cuban Americans.
Reflection
I expected to hear all of Gloria Estefan’s hits but On Your Feet was so much more. It was a love story, a story about overcoming discrimination, having strength in the face of adversity, and it celebrated family and Cuban heritage. Not to mention that it was a show filled with fantastic dancing and dancers who could swivel their hips at seemingly lighting speed!
Gloria's iconic hits with the Miami
Sound Machine ( 1,2,3, On Your Feet, and of course, Conga) of course energized the show but her ballads (Hear We Are, Live for Loving You and Don't Want to Lose You Now ) fit the
story line as if they were written for the musical.
The love story
between Gloria (Christie Prades) and Emilio (Mauricio Martinez) was a potent theme throughout the show. Their beautiful
duet, When I See Your Smile gave us the first hint of their personal passion and our first taste of Martinez fantastic vocals.
(On Your Feet runs from June 12-17, 2018 at Benedum Theater. For tickets go to.pittsburghclo.org, For the tour go onyourfeetmusical.com/tour/.)
Spiritual Source
Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10)
Other Sources
Pittsburgh CLO Pittsburghclo.org
On Your Feet Tour https://onyourfeetmusical.com/tour/
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| "Tradicion" |
I expected to hear all of Gloria Estefan’s hits but On Your Feet was so much more. It was a love story, a story about overcoming discrimination, having strength in the face of adversity, and it celebrated family and Cuban heritage. Not to mention that it was a show filled with fantastic dancing and dancers who could swivel their hips at seemingly lighting speed!
The show opened with
the pulse of the hit “The Rhythm is Going to Get You" and I just wanted to jump up and dance from the start. Homage to their
Cuban roots was woven throughout the story especially as a young Gloria sang "Cuando Sali De Cuba" (When Left From Cuba) in Miami’s Little Havana. This song
transitioned into Tradicion (Tradition) which exploded with classic energetic rhythmic Cuban drums and fantastic Latin
dancing.
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| Young Gloria " Cuando Dali De Cuba" |
Prades' impressive dancing matched her strong vocals. In fact, everyone in this show seemed to be on
their feet (pun intended) especially the little boy, Carlose Carreras
(Nayib, Young Emilio, Jeremy) who stole the show several times with his “fancy
feet”.
Gloria and Emilio ’s story had that “Rocky Theme” of the under dog winning the fight. They persevered and overcame
barriers to gain acceptance in the music industry, prejudices as Cuban American immigrants, and Gloria fought back to recover from a spinal injury after a bus accident.
She triumphantly sang Coming out of the Dark and just like in the movie Rocky we all celebrated the successes of these Cuban Americans, ending our celebration with a musical (Mega Mix) that had everyone out of their seat!
She triumphantly sang Coming out of the Dark and just like in the movie Rocky we all celebrated the successes of these Cuban Americans, ending our celebration with a musical (Mega Mix) that had everyone out of their seat!
Spiritual Source
Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength (Nehemiah 8:10)
Other Sources
Pittsburgh CLO Pittsburghclo.org
On Your Feet Tour https://onyourfeetmusical.com/tour/
