ELLY GRIMM
• Leader & Times
The American Theatre Guild wants audiences to get on their feet with its next production.
“On Your Feet! The Story Of Emilio & Gloria Estefan” will take the Century II Concert Hall stage March 15 through 17, with performances taking place at 8 p.m. Friday, March 15, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, March 16, and the final show at 1 p.m. Sunday, March 17. The show is a jukebox musical based on the lives and music of 26- time Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan and features several of the Estefans' songs including 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,' 'Conga' and 'Get On Your Feet,' among others. As cast member Kristen Tarragó tells it, there is a lot of excitement surrounding taking the show to Wichita.
“I've been a part of this particular tour since last year, and I don't think the show got to go through Wichita the first time around, so it's really special to me getting to meet people who are really into theatre and the Estefans' music but don't have the chance to travel to New York or somewhere like that,” Tarragó said. “I think it's really cool to bring a show like this to a different town, and that area will also be a new experience for me since I'm not originally from there.”
Tarragó also talked about how she became involved with the show.
“I've been blessed to be part of this company since the beginning. We started rehearsals in October 2022 in New York, and I've been with the tour since then, and there have been quite a few shows in that time. I'm originally from Miami, and I grew up listening to Gloria Estefan's music, and I absolutely love it,” Tarragó said. “Also, being a theater lover and an actress and seeing the character come to life onstage who was similar to me who pursued her
dreams, I always thought that was really cool. When I was in New York, I saw there was a casting call for the national tour of the show, and I immediately sent in my résumé and other materials, and the casting people invited me to an in-person audition in New York. That went well enough to get me another callback, and that's where they offered me my role right then and there, which was really, really huge.”
However, Tarragó said, she had been interested in being part of the show for some time before officially landing her role.
“I'd wanted to be part of the show since it had come out in 2016, I always thought it would be just amazing to be part of it. When I saw the casting call and saw the name Luis Salgado (who's our director and choreographer), I knew I wanted to be part of it,” Tarragó said. “I'd always wanted to work with him, he was one of the choreographers for the original Broadway production of 'In The Heights' and was in the original Broadway cast of 'On Your Feet,' so I knew it would be a great opportunity to work with him.”
Tarragó also talked about her role in the show.
“I play Gloria Fajardo, Gloria Estefan's mother, and she is someone I like to say the audience loves to hate – in the beginning, she comes off really tough, but I like to think I win people over by the end of the show. And that's very accurate to Gloria Estefan's story because her mother was very strict and overprotective and initially didn't want her going into a music career – she wanted her to focus on her psychology degree (which she did ultimately complete),” Tarragó said. “But what I love about Gloria Fajardo is how much love she has for her family and how she was willing to sacrifice for everyone despite all the arguments and disagreements and everything else that went on. The Estefans have always been very hands-on with this show, and Gloria had written some really
lovely details about the characters and who they were to her in her life, and that was amazing. I got the chance to watch some inter- views with Emilio where he talks about his relationship with his mother-in-law, and since there are multiple points in the show where we happen to interact, it was really neat hearing those anecdotes from him and how their relationship was.”
During her time with the show, Tarragó said there have been many friendships formed.
“When you come to the show, you can see our relationship onstage and see how much fun we have and how much we love each other. The greatest experience, aside from opening people's minds and perspectives to this story they might not have heard before, is sharing our camaraderie and love,” Tarragó said. “It's truly like a big party we want everyone to be part of, and everyone's invited. I also love that feeling of inclusion and bringing people in to join us even if you're different or were unaware of this story before. Like I said earlier, I love opening people's minds and sharing that perspective, and I feel like everyone can find something in this show to relate to because
we all have dreams we want to achieve, and everyone goes through some obstacles in obtaining those dreams, and it's just beautiful watching it all unfold onstage.”
Overall, Tarragó said, she and the rest of the cast are ready to bring the audience on their feet in Wichita.
“I've taken a look at some photos of Century II online, and it looks like it's a wonderful venue. I do that with everywhere we perform because we travel so much and get to see so many different spaces, and Century II looks like a beautiful place to perform. I'm also excited to meet the people in Wichita because there will be some of them who will be part of our crew while we're there, which is always amazing,” Tarragó said. “I would love everyone to know it's absolutely family-friendly show. It's a great show to bring a date or your parents or your children or even a group of friends – it truly is a show that's great for all audiences. Don't be intimidated at all coming into this show if you're unfamiliar with the Estefans' story and/or music, because the story overall is just wonderful and you're guaranteed to have a good time.”
