Review: ON YOUR FEET! at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre

ON YOUR FEET! at Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre, directed by Eliseo Roman, is a jukebox musical that tells the story of Gloria and Emilio Estefan and their struggles and triumphs as they rose to fame.

Alexis Semevolos-Velazquez plays Gloria, and she was excellent. She has a beautiful, powerful voice, and I really enjoyed her acting. Gloria Estefan is an iconic woman, and Semevolos-Velazquez more than did justice to her legendary talent in this role. I also really enjoyed the onstage chemistry she had with Emilio, played by Alex Rodriguez. I'm not sure if perhaps it was just an off night, but although I enjoyed his acting, his singing was personally not my favorite. I also really enjoyed watching Young Gloria and Young Emilio/Nayib (at my performance, played by Hannah Cruz and Gabe Cruz, respectively). The way they had the younger versions of the characters intertwined throughout the show was very heartwarming and emotional to watch, which I really appreciated.

Josephine Phoenix plays Gloria's mother, Gloria Fajardo, and Adela Romero plays her grandmother, Consuelo, and they were both great. Phoenix did a wonderful job showing the emotional struggles her character faced as she had to deal with her husband's illness as well as her daughter leaving to go on tour. Romero was a crowd favorite, as she brought a lot of humor to her character, and it was very entertaining to watch.

This show is filled with lots of catchy, familiar songs, including "Conga," "1-2-3," and, of course, "Get on Your Feet." There was a lot of dancing in the show, choreographed by Choreographer/Assistant Director Natalie Caruncho and Assistant Choreographer Hector Maisonet, and I thought the whole cast did a wonderful job keeping the energy high throughout the performance. I also loved the costumes in this production, which were designed by John P. White; they were perfect for this show, and so flashy and fun.

ON YOUR FEET! has something for audience members of all ages, and I would absolutely check it out while It's running at Broadway Palm. It is a beautiful story with not only fun music and lively dancing, but a lot of heartfelt emotion as well. It's inspiring to watch, and you will love every second of it.

ON YOUR FEET! is playing now through April 10. Broadway Palm still has COVID-19 safety measures in place, including temperature checks and requiring audience members to wear a mask during the show and when moving around throughout the theatre. To check out their full list of safety measures, read more about the show, and buy tickets, click here: https://broadwaypalm.com/shows/on-your-feet/