Bushnell, Playhouse shows shine

If one great dancing musical is wonderful, then two of them are spectacular. The Hartford’s Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts has one and West Hartford’s Playhouse on Park is showcasing the second. Catch the beat.

For a spicy, salsa kick with a Latin-American chaser, look no further than the triumphant musical tale of Gloria Estefan and her producer husband Emilio. Join the winding conga line all the way to the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford until Sunday, as “On Your Feet!” commands your attention.

This immigrant story features a 3-year-old Gloria, moving with her family from Havana, Cuba to Miami, Fla. Along the way, she had to deal with a father battling an incurable disease, a mother who voiced her disapproval of Gloria’s hopes and dreams and an accident that almost destroyed everything she and her husband had worked decades to achieve.

“On Your Feet!” is energized by a book by Alexander Dinelaris, choreography by Sergio Trujillo and direction by Jerry Mitchell.

Combining an exploding juke box theme, with tunes like “Conga,” “1-2-3,” “Get On Your Feet,” “Anything For You” and “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” with an inspiring autobiographical story, the audience is treated to highs of extreme joy contrasting with real obstacles to success. Their crossover music dreams are continually dismissed as impossible by record executives in the know as well as their refusal to release their hit singles in English.

For tickets ($22.50 and up), call the Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford at 860-987-5900 or online at www.bushnell.org. Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.

The Washington Heights section of New York City is being celebrated in all its ethnic diversity in the joyous musical “In the Heights” at Playhouse on Park in West Hartford until July 29. Long before his “Hamilton” fame, this production that embraces our differences and appreciates community was penned while Lin-Manuel Miranda was still a student at Wesleyan University in 1999. Some describe it as “Our Town” with a heaping side order of salsa.

The playwright builds on his heritage as a Puerto Rican-American and his skills as a lyricist, composer, actor and rapper to create an energetic ethnic neighborhood in the shadows of the George Washington Bridge. The book to the musical was written by Quiara Alegria Hudes.

Miranda wants audiences to be transported to the world he creates and walk away from the evening dancing. The action lasts for three days, but his goal is to make the inspiring impact of his people to last long afterward. He wrote the piece about his experiences growing up Latino, where he spoke English in school and Spanish at home, spending summers working at a slushy ice machine helping his aunt.

For tickets ($35-50), call the Playhouse on Park, 233 Park Road, West Hartford at 860-523-5900, ext 10, or online at www.PlayhouseOnPark.org. Performances are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., followed by a talk back with the cast. No show on the 4th of July.

Contributed photo Playhouse on Park is staging “In the Heights.”