Love & RHYTHM
The story behind Broadway hit ‘On Your Feet!’
The hit show is also an inspirational story of love and determination to stay true to one’s roots
Gloria and Emilio Estefan have been successful in so many different areas of their lives, having won multiple Grammys, crafted numerous hit records, opened several restaurants and created quite a business empire out of their Miami home. Yet their most impressive success story is also a love story: The couple just celebrated 40 years of marriage this month. And the time has just breezed by for these lovebirds, who would share their secret to long-lasting love — if they had one.
“You know what? There’s no secret. I wish I could tell you a secret,” Gloria Estefan says during a recent phone interview. “But, basically, I think the most important thing is that we have the same priorities and same values.
“Regardless of what may be going on, we each focus on each other. He has always tried to make life wonderful for me and I try to do the same for him.”
The couple’s uplifting story, which stretches from their individual flights from their native Cuba to their meeting in Miami to eventual global superstardom, is told in the hit Broadway musical “On Your Feet!” running Tuesday through Oct. 7 at the SHN Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco and Oct. 9-14 at San Jose’s Center for the Performing Arts.
It’s part of the first national tour for “On Your Feet!” following a nearly two-year stay for the musical on Broadway.
“We are so happy to be able to reach all over the United States,” Emilio Estefan says during
a separate phone interview. “We’ve been sold out everywhere and the response from the crowd has been so positive.”
The Estefans, of course, are one of the most successful couples in popular music history.
Since getting her start in the business in the late 1970s, first as a member of Miami Sound Machine, Gloria Estefan has scored nearly 40 No. 1 hits on the Billboard charts. Her best-known works include “Conga,” “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “1-2-3,” “Here We Are,” “Don’t Wanna Lose You” and, the musical’s namesake, “Get On Your Feet,” all of which are performed in the musical, along with many other songs — more than 20 in all.
Gloria Estefan’s many honors include the Presidential Medal of Freedom, The Kennedy Center Honors, the Ellis Island Congressional Medal of Honor, the Hispanic Heritage Award and a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Emilio Estefan is one of the world’s most successful music producers, who has worked with wife Gloria as well as such superstars as Jennifer Lopez, Shakira and Madonna. (“I have been a very understanding wife when he’s been in the studio with the likes of Madonna and Shakira and Jennifer Lopez,” Gloria Estefan notes wryly.)
The Estefans have combined to win an astounding 26 Grammy Awards (seven for Gloria and 19 for Emilio).
Yet the musical traces back well before the glory days. It addresses their early years in Miami, having both immigrated from Cuba at a young age — Gloria was just 2 years old, while Emilio was 15. They met when Gloria was 17, about to graduate from an all-girls Catholic high school, and soon began working together.
That led directly to the creation of Miami Sound Machine, a pioneering group in the Latin-pop-crossover realm. Its success helped change the status quo in the industry, opening doors for countless Latin-pop acts to follow.
“At the time that we started doing our music, most of the labels almost forced you to change your last names and to change the sound,” Emilio Estefan says. “One of things
we feel proud of, me and Gloria, is that we didn’t change our last name and we didn’t change our sound. And we became successful not only here — we are successful all over the world. Gloria has sold over 100 million
albums.
“So, it’s a great feeling. When you believe in something, you have to stick with what you believe. This play definitely represents that.”
And don’t be surprised if you see the Estefans sitting in the back of the audience during a performance of “On Your Feet!” in San Jose and/or San Francisco. They’ve been known to sneak into shows unannounced to watch the crowd react to the play, which not only covers the couple’s rise to the top of the charts but also the 1990 tour bus collision in Pennsylvania that left Gloria Estefan seriously injured and in danger of never walking again.
“You see all the families hugging and crying. Then I start crying, too. It’s a feeling that you cannot control, when you see an old person or somebody — a family hugging each other,” Emilio Estefan says. “I’m so happy we agreed to do this (play). We are sending a great message for the American Dream.”
And he’s not the only one tearing up.
“It’s been very emotional, I can’t lie,” says Gloria Estefan, adding that she has seen “some people even sobbing” at the performances. “We take (the audience) on a ride. If you want to be entertained — it’s good; you’re going to get that too. But we wanted them to feel something and take something of the play (with them) when they leave. And that’s been happening, so we couldn’t ask for anything more.”