On Your Feet! Previews — Page 3

I'm just getting back from the first preview I wasn't nearly as enamored with On Your Feet as Jordan and others were. I found it to be very similar to other bio-jukebox musicals like Beautiful and especially Motown. Everything is played very safely. Nothing innovative with the jukebox form is attempted, unlike Fela! which played around with chronology and organized Kuti's life and music by theme rather than timeline.

The book is full of cliche and groan worthy lines- someone actually says to Gloria: Laundry washes clothes. Music washes your soul. On Your Feet is the equivalent of a CBS multi-cam sitcom. It's familiar, doesn't require you to think too hard (or at all) and is generally pleasing, but a little goes a long way. Still, there's a reason why these sitcoms are so successful and I have a feeling On Your Feet will follow in the footsteps of Jersey Boys and Beautiful rather than Hot Feet and Ring Of Fire.

The set, lighting and costumes are all very colorful and nice to look at. The acting is energetic and Ana Villafane does a good job sounding like Estefan, but I thought Mueller was more inspired in her jukebox role than Villafane was here.

The best part by far for me was the mega mix at the end. I wish the whole show would have been as fun.

Thanks to WhizzerMarvin for this report, and for always being a trusted voice on this board. It's a gift to have such an astute individual among us, who is always in line with the critical consensus.

I just came from the first preview. As someone who is unfamiliar with the music of Gloria Estefan, it was a fun treat! I loved almost all of it. The music is incredible, especially "Conga". Ana Villafane was incredible, and her voice was just amazing. Josh Seggara's acting was great, but his singing voice was very weak. I'm praying that it was due to sound problems, because he brought down a couple of the duets. Alma Cuervo as Gloria's grandmother was my favorite part of the show, with a few bits that had the entire audience laughing for a while.

I was very happy with the show, but not as much with the audience. I appreciated the love that a lot of the audience had for the Estefan's but a lot of the audience was very rude throughout the show. I saw way too many phones taking pictures and video in the middle of the show (I was second row left mezzanine), and the audience wanted to clap all the time. They would often interrupt slow parts of songs, and even scenes. In response to an actor's line saying whether or not Gloria was a fighter, a certain audience member SHOUTED "YES!" while the theatre was dead silent, causing some awkward laughter in the middle of an intense moment. These are just small complaints, and the show itself greatly made it all okay.

A nice treat was seeing Gloria in the lobby. She also got a huge applause from the audience at the end of intermission when she went to go back to her seat. I will highly recommend this show to anyone, it was very fun and uplifting!

Question for those who saw the show tonight. Based on this production, are seats in the front of the orchestra good or will we miss things and shoot for something a bit further back? Appreciate the advice!

Dusoleil, I was in the mezz and think you might get better stage pictures, especially during the dance sequences, from up there rather than being too close. The show is big and fills the stage. (Love your screen name, btw!)

RippedMan, There's really nothing innovative going on here. The draw is her music, not interesting and fresh storytelling. On Your Feet is right off the jukebox musical assembly line, albeit the finest model. All the familiar beats are there and you can check off each hurdle on the list. For example, the conflict-free first act has basically one villain and that's the record company. Bio-jukebox 101: the record label is ALWAYS the villain. They are shortsighted, behind the times, don't recognize true talent...the list goes on and on and this one is the same. There's a scene lifted directly from Baby, It's You where Gloria and Emilio are trying to get their new album recorded in English. The mustache-twirling record exec tells them there's no such thing as a "crossover" artist. You'll never make it! Stick with your target demographic. I have expected Beth Leavel to storm on the stage as Flo Greenberg!

It all amounts to a lot of pandering to the audience, because of course we already know the ending and we're supposed to laugh at the myopic exec, which diminishes the effect of the real struggle the Estefans most likely truly faced to get their English tracks released as singles.

WhizzerMarvin, thanks as always for your incisive comments. Whether in the long run, after I've seen the show myself, I agree with you or not, I am so grateful for your measured response. When someone says it is the best show that they've ever seen in their lives, I really have to wonder about their critical capacities. As someone who has been seeing pretty much every show for the past 50+ years, I would never make that kind of statement without having been transformed and transfixed by the material and the performances. When you've seen everything from the original GYPSY to HAMILTON, and performances from Ethel Merman, Alfred Drake and Mary Martin, to Hugh Jackman, Kristen Chenoweth and Kelli O'Hara, you don't make those statements lightly. I am not a fan of jukebox musicals; they almost never work for me (JERSEY BOYS is the exception, MAMMA MIA and MEMPHIS follow the rule). Without a strong book, most shows just don't work. I may see ON YOUR FEET! but I'd rather see a great revival of ON YOUR TOES...

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xoffender45, Yes I must have been right behind you, as I saw the same people (the woman and the older man). I could tell the woman especially was just a huge Estefan fan who hasn't been to the theatre much... The usher had to flash the light on her for a while while she was FILMING the performance. I'mm sure they will now include some sort of message about photos and filming, although who knows how much of a difference that will make...

Jordan got me excited for this! Gloria has always been one of the few latin artists who were really popular over here in Brazil... I grew up very familiar with here music!

Just one question, I used Audience Rewards points to get tickets to the show and they assigned me front row-center seats. Are those good seats? Is the stage too high?

Note to man sitting next to us in the front row mezz at the invited dress rehearsal yesterday. Using cell phone headset and talking quietly to the person that called you on your phone..is not ok. Neither is leaving your phone on with the light shining on your lap during much of the show ok either. It may not be bothering the actors but it sure bothered the people sitting near you.

Maybe because it was a rehearsal and people didn't pay for the tickets you felt it was acceptable. It wasn't.

In my abyss of an apartment, I have lost the flyer with the discount code and want to buy my roommate tickets for his birthday on Thursday (well, for me too). If anyone has it, can you PM it or post it? Am SO excited to see this!!!!!!

Nope. This thread is full of reviews from people who haven't seen it.

No qualms with the high energy and people dancing and such! I wanted to get up and dance myself. My bigger concern is cell phone videos/photos--definitely saw more of that than normal in Chicago. We all take it for granted that everyone knows that but people who've been to concerts but haven't been to live theater don't. I do think some people genuinely don't realize they're being rude when they're taking videos or pictures. (Some people. There will still just be those people who are rude and don't care as in any show.)

But this is definitely a show where I think it's totally ok to get up and dance. I think theater if this nature could use more of that. (When I was in the front row of hedwig I felt like I was at a concert and wanted to get up and dance but no one else was!) If it's a concert style performance it only enhances the experience to me!

Glad to hear you enjoyed it Jordan, not my cup of tea. But let's hope it stays around longer than some of the others shows that have opened at this time of year.