On Your Feet!

This is long overdue.

I saw On Your Feet! during press performances, so right before it officially opened. I went into the show not knowing much about Gloria Estefan -- really I just knew all the words to "Get On Your Feet" (for reasons only a few of you trusty readers will understand). I had a fantastic seat -- H 115 right smack dab in the center of the orchestra. Once seated I settled in for an entertaining evening.

The second the curtain speech ended and the music and lights started I was transfixed. I don't think there's anything on Broadway right now quite as amazing as the band playing onstage at On Your Feet! (I understand that people will argue Hamilton, but please people I haven't seen it... want to buy me a ticket?) The first few minutes of On Your Feet! are IMPOSSIBLE not to smile through. Honestly, the music was just perfect and set the scene so well. Not a song went by that I wasn't impressed by the musicians -- some of which are original members of Miami Sound Machine.

Jukebox musicals are hard to get right. On Your Feet! didn't get it perfect, but let's be honest there can only be one perfect jukebox musical... Jersey Boys. Gloria Estefan puts up a good fight though. Unfortunately the book of the musical just can't compete with the Rick Elice's genius playing a few blocks away. Alexander Dinelaris' book just skims the surface of emotion, provides a basic outline of Gloria and Emilio's love story, and then puts you through a hellaciously slow second act. I had no idea there was a bus accident that almost killed Gloria Estefan, and while it was well done the whole recovery process was a tad too long.

My biggest problem with On Your Feet! is the timeline of events. I never really knew what year it was, or how much time passed between one scene and another. I needed some reference aside from clothing styles and quick quips from sassy music producers. Who knew the bus accident happened in 1990? I thought it was like 2005 at that point. Perhaps I should've realized the timeline on my own, but a little help would've been appreciated.

Ana Villafane's performance as Gloria Estefan was just stunning. Truly she was amazing and hard to take your eyes off of. She was a triple threat up there and a joy to watch. I can only imagine how satisfied Gloria must be to know that her story is being portrayed by such a talent. Josh Segarra, portraying Emilio Estefan, was absolutely charming but I felt his thick accent got in the way of his singing voice. The supporting cast was great and I had a lot of fun watching them throughout the show. The one shock of the night was the father's voice -- Eliseo Roman. He has a couple of solo moments and his voice SHOCKED me it was so beautiful.

Long story short, I was thoroughly entertained and truly had a great time.