Saturday, June 16, 2018

Day 287 -On Your Feet, Musical- Dance in Your Seat-Pittsburgh CLO -Benadum Theater


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.


"Tradicion" 
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!

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.

Young Gloria " Cuando Dali De Cuba" 
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.

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!

 (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/