Review: The ON YOUR FEET Tour is the Perfect Kind of Theatrical Cotton Candy

In just its first tour stop following its Miami opening earlier this month, the national tour of ON YOUR FEET, the Gloria and Emilio Estefan musical, is playing Orlando's Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts now through October 22nd. Whether you are familiar with the music of the Miami Sound Machine or not, ON YOUR FEET is like theatrical cotton candy; incredibly enjoyable fluff with little else behind it, but that's not a bad thing.

The musical, fresh off of a nearly two-year run on Broadway is full of the bright colors, comforting sweetness, and a high-energy sugar-rush that you would expect from the carnival favorite. However, like cotton candy, ON YOUR FEET doesn't bring much in terms of substance or weight, but as long as you know that going in, it hardly matters.

The show, which features the music of the Estefans and Miami Sound Machine, and a book by Alexander Dinelaris, will be familiar to anyone who has followed the Estefans over the decades, or who has seen nearly any of the recent rash of bio-musicals to hit Broadway and subsequently tour the country. The beats are practically all the same, music brings boy and girl together, they tease and butt heads until they give into their feelings, a record executive doubts their ability to be commercially viable, personal difficulty ensues, and in the end they find success and love with each other.

While there is nothing new or revelatory in the Estefan-specific story being told in ON YOUR FEET, you likely won't be bothered, because the music, dancing, performances, and general energy from the show are enough to entertain even the most jukebox musical-hardened theatre fans.

Directed by Tony-winner Jerry Mitchell, and featuring choreography by Sergio Trujillo, the show feels very much like a concert, complete with nearly all of Gloria's iconic looks and actual members of the Miami Sound Machine in the show's on-stage band. The energy from the insanely talented ensemble sets the stage early on for an exciting and entertaining evening, and the show's stars, Christie Prades as Gloria, and Mauricio Martinez as Emilio, pick up that mantle and run with it.

Both stars made their Broadway debuts in the show, and are putting the experience to good use on the road. Again, they are not working with the text to HAMLET, but the pair is dynamite together. Their chemistry is so instantaneous that it practically spoils what little "will-they-or-won't-they" tension that the show works to create.

That aside, they are tremendous, especially Prades in the obviously showier of the two roles. From a shy girl afraid of the spotlight to one of the most recognizable and powerful women in entertainment, Prades handles Gloria's evolution with grace and nuance, finding opportunities to highlight her humor, strength, and vulnerability into what is the closest thing to a fully formed character in the show. While it is difficult to not hear the real Gloria when all of her hits are sung, Prades' crystal-clear voice blends Estefan's pop flair with a more traditional Broadway tone.

Martinez supplies much of the show's humor, as the occasionally hot-headed, but always big-hearted force behind Gloria's success. Martinez, who is a recording artist in Mexico, doesn't have too many opportunities to shine vocally early in the show, but as the Estefans' story develops, he displays a wonderful voice, as well as a remarkable skill for using an accent just thick enough to be considered unintelligible for humor purposes, but clear enough for the audience to still understand it.

The rest of the cast features entertaining performances in thinly drawn characters, including a delightful Alma Cuervo as Gloria's abuela, the heartbreakingly stern Nancy Ticotin as Gloria's mother, and Jason Martinez as different incarnations of Gloria's loving father.

(Check out BroadwayWorld Orlando's interview with Ticotin here.)

The ensemble, including the spectacular children in the show, is truly fantastic. Trujillo's choreography, and Mitchell's briskly paced direction give the show a palpable kinetic energy that seems to always be fueling the action forward. There is nary a moment wasted in the musical, and even if that means that we aren't always given every opportunity to ruminate in the emotions presented, it does create an atmosphere of excitement that amps up the enjoyment of the show.

Of course, no Estefan show would be complete without hits like "1-2-3," "Anything for You," "Conga," "Dr. Beat," "Everlasting Love,." "Get on Your Feet," "Rhythm Is Gonna Get You," "Turn the Beat Around," "Coming Out of the Dark," and more than a dozen others. But, this is not a show that you want to sneak out of as the lights go down. Trust me, you will not forgive yourself if you do.

As I watched ON YOUR FEET, one thing kept gnawing in the back of my mind, and that is how intimately involved the Estefans have been with the show's development. Either because of that fact, or because there legitimately hasn't been that much tremendous drama in their lives, the show does feel like a fairly thin love letter. The relationship issues between Gloria and her mother seem underdeveloped, and Gloria's harrowing rehab after being nearly paralyzed in a bus accident, while dramatic, is glossed over, despite it being the show's climax.

That being said, I defy anyone to see ON YOUR FEET and not leave tapping their toes and singing along to some of the best music of the late 20th Century. This show is cotton candy; incredibly enjoyable if you give yourself over to the fun and frivolity of the experience. Don't go in expecting to leave with a belly full of sustenance, and you will leave all the happier.

To purchase tickets, visit the Dr. Phillips Center website or call 844-513-2014.

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Did you enjoy the fluffy ON YOUR FEET experience? Let me know on Twitter @BWWMatt. You can listen to me on BroadwayRadio or on BroadwayWorld's pop culture podcast Some Like it Pop.

Banner Image: Christie Prades and the company of ON YOUR FEET. Photo Credit: Matthew Murphy

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