On Your Feet will truly have you wanting to get up on you feet. Each number was fun, upbeat and had an energy that got the audience swaying along with the music. The performances were on point and each scene flowed smoothly as the musical went on.
Gloria Estefan smashed her way to the top with her musical skill and this musical put her struggles, her achievements and suffering out there for the audience to see. Christie Prades, who played Gloria Estefan herself, hit each note flawlessly and danced her heart out on stage. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said she herself could have been Gloria. Each time she showed herself on stage, she stood out just as she should have.
As soon as “Congo” started playing, the energy in the theater tripled to the point where people were mouthing along to the lyrics. This song was Estefan’s big break in America. Directors used “Congo” as the transitional piece between scenes to show just how long it took them to persuade a record company to give her a shot. With this song being the last one before the first intermission, the cast jumped out into the audience and got people up and dancing. A few people from the audience even outshining a few of the backup dancers with their moves.
If you know anything about Gloria Estefan, then you know she, and her family, were in a horrific car accident that nearly left her paralyzed. If you know this going in, then your left to wonder how are they going to show it? Is it going to be off stage? No, it’s done on stage where the audience is left with a feeling of dread as they watch the lights of the truck get brighter and brighter before feeling the “hit” as it that impacted the actors on stage.
Something that needed to be mentioned, is the American Sign Language interpreters. The three people the Academy of Music employed did a wonderful job not only signing for those in attendance but also their facial expressions. Watching them was almost as good as watching the musical itself.
With all this, there were a few moments that could have been improved on. As mentioned before, Prades and the rest of the cast did a fantastic job, yet there were a few moments that could have been better. During a few scenes, it felt as though the audience needed to strain to hear what they were saying. Most of the time, the cast members enunciated perfectly, but a few moments, like when Prades and Mauricio Martinez (who played Emilio Estefan) had one of their first scenes together.
These moments are meant to show the audience their relationship without having the musical focus solely on that. Through these few scenes in the first half, these actors are asking the audience members to believe they are in a passionate love affair, and for the most part, you do. Prades and Martinez had a fantastic dynamic on stage and because of that, it made up for those few mumbled scenes.
Overall, On Your Feet is the perfect musical to attend. Leaving the theater will have you just as hyped up and excited as though you were the ones on stage.
Unfortunately, the musical is no longer in Philadelphia, but if you ever get the chance to attend: do it.