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On Your Feet!, the story of the Queen of Latin pop music Gloria Estefan. We follow her story starting from a young age singing on the streets of Little Havana in Miami all the way through the progression of her career up till her tragic accident. It is a coming of age story in a sense, scattered with her award winning hits that bring every audience to “do as the title tells you and be On Your Feet! because this dazzling and delightful musical will lift you up like nobody’s business” (McCall, New York Theatre Guide). 

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The story begins with one of her biggest hits, “Rhythm is Gonna Get You”, giving the audience a backstage look at her 1990 world tour Cut Both Ways. Like a good opening number, we immediately get the audience hooked with a stadium-like concert with a full band onstage and flashing lights. We are taken back to see a young Gloria singing in her town square setting us up to meet the rest of her family and watching her grow up in a Tarzan “Son of a Man” -esque way, taking us straight to her grandmother introducing her to Emilio Estefan therefore starting her singing career at 19 with the Miami Sound Machine. We quickly dive into this love-at-first-sight story of Gloria and Emilio with the duet “I See Your Smile”. Gloria goes against her mother's wishes and continues to pursue her dream. Reaching the end of the act, we have another big hit, “Conga”, being sung in different random small venues as Emilio tries to get a record producer to come hear them play, trying to prove that Latin music with English lyrics can work in the US. "We’re directed to cheer on Emilio as he takes on the snow-white music industry for exposure in mainstream markets, fighting for the elusive crossover hit that will propel their Latin music into pop heaven” (Stasio, Vanity). By the end of the act, Emilio has succeeded impressing said producer and getting the audience hyped up for another act.

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In act II we jump forward to Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine’s On Your Feet world tour with a medley of hits mixed with short scenes of Emilio fighting to get Gloria the attention and money she deserves to become a star, meanwhile Gloria is brought down by the pressure of touring. The show takes a dark turn, “which darkens the second act and brings some gravity to this mostly flashy, salsa-splashed show” (Isherwood, NYT), on the number “Famous” as Gloria sings about this new found fame moments before the tragic accident that leaves her hospitalized and near death. As she heads into her spinal surgery we take a trip into Gloria’s head seeing a beautiful dance with her father and grandmother who have recently passed (“Wrapped”). She survives the surgery but with very little chance of being her normal self again being able to walk. To close the show, we see Gloria’s triumphant and emotional return to the stage, after the help of her endlessly supporting fans, at the American Music Awards with “Coming Out of the Dark”. Then of course, like a good jukebox musical, we end with an upbeat “Mega Mix” with all of Gloria Estefan’s biggest hits through her entire successful career accompanied by the full cast and showcasing the incredibly talented band. Even the dullest of audiences can’t help but “get on [their] feet” to this eruptious mashup. 

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Though Gloria’s story is one to be admired, the structure of it is weak when comparing it to what we consider the typical musical theater structure. It falls into the pit that most jukebox musicals try to avoid but end up in which is not having the music advance the plot. The whole ploy of musical theater is that the characters begin to sing because what they are feeling is so grand that it can only be expressed through song. So when you have a lifetime of a star and award winning songs to squeeze into a 2 and half hour block, getting every single song to advance the story can  get tricky. I think they did it very well in “Tradición” and especially well in “Wrapped”. Not only were they beautifully choreographed to tell a story, but the way they were placed in the story  advances emotionally into the next scene.