GLORIA ESTEFAN GETS THE BROADWAY TREATMENT.
CHRISTIE PRADES AS GLORIA ESTEFAN AND MAURICIO MARTINEZ AS EMILIO ESTEFAN IN ‘ ON YOUR FEET!’
Latin music is having another moment en el sol. (That’s “in the sun,” in case you’re wondering.)
Luis Fonsi’s “Despacito” and J Balvin’s “Mi Gente” are two of the year’s biggest tunes in any language. More than half of YouTube’s top 10 most popular songs are from Latin acts. In Houston (and beyond), Spanish-first superstars regularly fill up Toyota Center and Smart Financial Centre at Sugar Land.
And much of it is thanks to Gloria and Emilio Estefan.
The Cuban couple, alongside Miami Sound Machine, was really the first Latin act to enjoy consistent crossover success in the U.S. The 1985 album “Primitive Love” made them pop darlings on the strength of singles “Conga,” “Bad Boy” and “Words Get in the Way.” And that was just the beginning.
That journey to crossover fame is chronicled in the musical “On Your Feet!” playing Tuesday-Sunday at the Hobby Center. The touring Broadway production includes all of Gloria’s biggest hits —“Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “1-2-3,” “Coming Out of the Dark” — and details her struggle after a 1990 bus accident left her unable to walk.
Christie Prades, who plays Estefan onstage, says she hopes the audience gets to understand Gloria on a human level.
“I grew up listening to her and hearing about her story from my parents. It’s definitely a huge responsibility,” says Prades, who was born and raised in Miami to Cuban immigrant parents. “She really was one of the first female artists to crossover from the Latin market. To see her break those boundaries is thrilling.”
Gloria went on to become a bonafide superstar who experimented in multiple genres, from traditional Cuban music to Studio 54-era disco to pop standards. Her career has become a blueprint for future artists looking to straddle languages and styles.
Gloria and Emilio also were integral in the ’90s crossover era that ushered in the likes of Ricky Martin, Jennifer Lopez and Shakira. Emilio co-produced Englishlanguage debuts for all three acts. Gloria co-wrote Shakira’s English-language debut single “Whenever, Wherever” and “Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud.”
“We’re proud every time a Hispanic or somebody with our sound crosses worldwide,” Gloria told the Houston Chronicle in 2008. “The door opens that much further.”
Gloria’s own songs, aside from being supremely catchy pop hits, often were personal anthems that detailed her successes and struggles. That’s evident in the show, which doesn’t function as a traditional jukebox musical with songs in chronological order. Instead, the songs are placed where they make the most sense and used to propel the story.
“These songs meant a lot to us. We wrote them with intention, for them to be meaningful to the listener,” says Clay Ostwald, music director for “On Your Feet!” and a member of Miami Sound Machine for more than 30 years.
He also recognizes that the show’s themes take on added relevance in the
current cultural climate.
“It’s not an easy part of our society, for cultures to really understand and empathize and move forward with people that are very different than us. But it’s inevitable. It’s part of what makes us who we are and what makes us humans. If you fight against it, you’re gonna lose,” he says.
“That’s part of what this story’s about. They (Gloria and Emilio) had to stand up for their culture and carry it forward to the younger generation and to other cultures in a way that was artistically creative. The arts help us do that if we let them.”