The New York Times - Somewhat Recommended
"...Then again, the energy sags and the invention flags when the musical reverts to the story of Gloria and Emilio's path to professional success. "You're Emilio Estefan. You play music with the Miami Latin Boys," Gloria's grandmother helpfully announces when Emilio comes looking for the young woman whose musical talent he has heard about. He invites her to audition informally for his "
NY Daily News - Recommended
"...A paint-by-numbers portrait can still be colorful - and a kick. Case in point: 'On Your Feet!,' a predictable but entertaining show about Gloria Estefan...The jukebox musical checks off all the usual-suspect plot points: humble roots, showbiz hurdles, tragedy, triumph, plus a gratuitous dance concert as a chaser...In spite of shortcomings, it makes good on a promise...Resistance is futile when it comes to these Latin-flavored hits...Cheesy and crowd-rousing."
Associated Press - Recommended
"...If you aren't humming a Gloria Estefan hit when you leave, it might be time to check your pulse. The infectious, earnest musical 'On Your Feet!' initially stutters out the gate and ends somewhat awkwardly, but has a fun, percussive middle, even as it skates perilously close to melodrama. It's saved by its genuine heart - and a list of great tunes, ones that nicely make the transition from radio to stage...'On Your Feet!' is a fine addition to the ranks of jukebox musicals."
Hollywood Reporter - Recommended
"...The book here by Alexander Dinelaris is hardly a model of robust dramatic construction...But the story is packed with heart, above all in its tender depiction of the couple's sustaining love....Musical-theater purists will sniff, but audiences looking for entertainment with emotional uplift will get what they came for. Even at its most shameless it's impossible to deny the production's generosity of spirit."
Vulture - Somewhat Recommended
"...I'm no fan of jukebox musicals. If they're the type that tell an invented tale, like Mamma Mia! or Rock of Ages, the book is generally rendered idiotic by the effort to accommodate the songs. If they're instead pop biographies, like Jersey Boys and Beautiful, the problem is even worse because the songs, too, are denatured, by the effort to accommodate a preexisting storyline. Furthermore, the structure of musicals in the second category can only lead to a bathetic climax: In the final scenes, the protagonists (Frankie Valli, Carole King) become exactly who we already knew them to be. That's more than ever the case with the new Gloria Estefan jukebox musical On Your Feet! because if you don't arrive at the Marquis Theatre knowing the billboard headlines of her story (Cuban immigrant becomes American pop star, gets hit by a truck, eventually returns in triumph), why are you there?"
NY1 - Recommended
"...Shows like 'On Your Feet!,' so joyfully exuberant, manage to find that sweet spot for audiences and it is pointless to even try to pick it apart. So even if it's a formulaic jukebox musical that would be right at home in Vegas, 'On Your Feet!' is doing exactly what it promises, and fans are up on their feet and cheering...Director Jerry Mitchell does it again, exploiting the show's feel-good vibe. There's just enough heartfelt emotion to draw us in."
Variety - Recommended
"...If the producers of "On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan" know what's good for them (odds are, they do), they're ad-bombing Spanish-language media outlets and pitching group sales 24/7. That's the way to go with a surefire audience pleaser like this jukebox musical built around the life and career of Cuban-American superstar Gloria Estefan. Newcomer Ana Villafane (who originated the role in the show's Chicago premiere) is a knockout in the leading role, the dazzling centerpiece of this flashy, splashy spectacle helmed by Jerry Mitchell."
USA Today - Somewhat Recommended
"...Sadly, the broad, obvious strokes used by librettist Alexander Dinelaris prove not so appealing...'On Your Feet' is saddled, for starters, with a less rich catalog...Certainly, no one would begrudge this likable, admirable pop veteran a happy ending. Still, 'On Your Feet' is recommended only to the most diehard of fans."
New York Post - Recommended
"...it's a pleasure to welcome "On Your Feet!," the rare show that earns its exclamation mark. Inspired by the life and music of Gloria and Emilio Estefan, it literally gets the audience off its seats and into a conga line."
Newsday - Somewhat Recommended
"...As jukebox musical biographies go, 'On Your Feet!' doesn't have the depth and charm of 'Beautiful: The Carole King Musical' or the passion and fun of 'Jersey Boys.' What Broadway's newest entry in our unofficial personal-history-of-pop-music series has are lots of much-loved Grammy-winning songs...The problem is the by-the-numbers story...The book by Alexander Dinelaris has virtually no crises or conflicts that last long enough to drive the tension beyond the next song."
amNY - Not Recommended
"...'On Your Feet!' has a whitewashed, corporate-approved texture, which makes Gloria and Emilio come off as utterly devoid of personality...It's so self-congratulatory that one gets the impression that they personally vetted every line. The production comes to life during upbeat production numbers, which have lively, salsa-flavored movement and a hot sound. But more often than not, it gets mired in flashbacks and other downbeat sequences in which the songs lack impact."
Wall Street Journal - Recommended
"...Alexander Dinelaris's book is heavy on the Hollywoodian cliches, but it has its charming moments, too, and every other aspect of the production, directed by Jerry Mitchell, is slick and satisfying, starting with the smoking-hot choreography of Sergio Trujillo and the tear-it-up onstage band...Yes, I know, it's just a jukebox musical, but I liked 'On Your Feet!' In fact, I liked it a lot-and I think you might, too."
NorthJersey - Recommended
"...The show will likely be much more captivating for big Gloria Estefan fans...Meaningful drama is in short supply...Despite its unenthralling dramatics, the show does have an underlying warmth, in showing the closeness and caring of a family across generations, and also a sympathetic, good-natured marital relationship. Its chief assets, though, are those musical routines...'On Your Feet!' is not going to revolutionize Broadway, but, alongside a bland story, it does offer some musical fireworks."
Chicago Tribune - Somewhat Recommended
"...An unwavering love story is not the ideal backdrop for this genre, which tends to thrive on heartache and redemption, rather than "I've grown to love you just a little bit more." But the shrewd book writer Alexander Dinelaris finds conflict instead in the Estefans' insistence to the skeptical men in suits that the Sound Machine's signature hybrid of guitar, synthesizer and Latin rhythms — "rice and beans with hamburger," one band member calls it in the show — actually is the new sound of an America with a changed face, and, simultaneously, an exportable pleasure that can be enjoyed with similar intensity by, say, the people of Scandinavia — which is about as far from Little Havana as you can get."
Time Out New York - Somewhat Recommended
"...With the bland diligence of an authorized mass-market biography, Alexander Dinelaris's script trudges through Estefan's journey from psychology student to Miami Sound Machine singer and beyond. Villafañe and Segarra are likable and credible, but the time line is muddled, and what pass for conflicts seem inflated: an obstinate mother (flinty Andréa Burns), a record label briefly resistant to the couple's plans. The audience perks up each time one of Estefan's Latin-flavored hits begins, then palpably wilts as the numbers go on. Rhythm can only get you so far."
The Wrap - Not Recommended
"...As self-promoting hagiographies go, 'On Your Feet!' makes 'Trump: The Art of the Deal' look downright modest... Sometime before the bus crash, Dinelaris inserts a flashback to Emilio's childhood where he and his family leave Cuba for Madrid, and his parents then send him off alone to America. It's possible that starting with his story, instead of Gloria's, would have given the show more of a dramatic arc."
Financial Times - Recommended
"...I found 'On Your Feet!' to be irresistible. With the recent closing of the Abba-fest, Broadway has needed a high-octane evening to send audiences shuffling happily into the street...Even by the standards of Broadway musicals, its characters are one-dimensional. The music, which salsas through the Estefans' catalogue of hits is too seldom shaped into the delirious climaxes the melodies seem to offer...The story...is not much more than serviceable."
The Guardian - Somewhat Recommended
"...A stripped down, concert-style approach might have served 'On Your Feet!' much better. Instead we get Dinelaris's formulaic book, David Rockwell's uncharacteristically flimsy sets and Darrel Maloney's surprisingly ugly projections...The director, Jerry Mitchell, doesn't have a sure hand for pace or tone here, instead employing a pile of cheaply effective tricks, like trotting out small children and the elderly like so many adorable pets."
Deadline - Recommended
"...'On Your Feet!' is every bit as propulsive as the music and the personalities it celebrates. It has the flaws of an authorized biography; it's worshipful of the central couple...A star is surely born with the Gloria of Ana Villafañe... As story-telling, 'On Your Feet!' can be as clunkily generic as the title. But there's a deep well of life in the music that comes across powerfully in the staging - especially in that central supernova performance by a young actress I hope we'll be seeing a lot"
CurtainUp - Somewhat Recommended
"...The show pulsates with the funky Latin beat that's made Gloria Estefan the music world's major crossover success. It's also got a schmaltzy and inspiring story...Flaws notwithstanding, this is one of those sincere, uplift stories people like to identify with. No matter, if it's too sanitized for your taste, since the ticket selling draw is the music and the high energy staging. Even if you don't own a single one of the zillion or more Estefan albums, the rhythm is indeed likely to get to you."
Talkin Broadway - Somewhat Recommended
"...As it stands, this well-meaning, well-performed, and otherwise well-executed evening is more admirable than electric. Dinelaris hasn't successfully tapped into whatever qualities outside their music might have made the Estefans worth dramatizing in the first place. In fact, despite outstanding performances from Ana Villafañe and Josh Segarra as the pair, they both come across as mighty dull."
Cititour.com - Somewhat Recommended
"...You'll truly want to stand and applaud newcomer Ana Villafane, who makes an astounding Broadway debut as Gloria...Given Villafane's star-making portrayal and the strength of the Estefan song catalogue, you can't help but wish she was in a somewhat sturdier vehicle than this one, which too often plays out like a so-so Latin version of 'Beautiful.'"
American Theater Web - Somewhat Recommended
"...Will the rhythm get you at the new bio-tuner 'On Your Feet,' which tracks Gloria Estefan's journey from an ordinary life in Miami to that of a global singing sensation? The answer is neither an emphatic 'yes' nor a heartfelt 'no.' Instead, the best response is 'sporadically'... Performances and the music itself rouse audiences at 'On Your Feet,' pulling them from the doldrums that come during the course of this latest Broadway bio-tuner."
TheaterMania - Recommended
"...As far as these things go, 'On Your Feet!' is better than most. It won't change the course of musical theater, but you will have a really good time seeing it...This two-hour-twenty-minute concert-with-plot pleasantly breezes by, held together by Alexander Dinelaris' smartly efficient book...'On Your Feet!' suffers from the same flaws inherent in any musical that attempts to employ a musician's catalogue to tell a somewhat whitewashed version of a his or her life."
Huffington Post - Recommended
"...Audiences will certainly get their money's worth at 'On Your Feet!' if they're enamored of the hot-hot music spread around the globe in tandem by Gloria and hubby Emilio. Director Jerry Mitchell helps deliver what's called for...Few, if any, Estefan idolizers will be disappointed at the inclusions...After a while, though, spectators may come to think the high-powered productions made of them in Esosa's flashy, flashier and flashiest costumes are beginning to weigh down the proceedings."
NY Theatre Guide - Highly Recommended
"...You will do as the title tells you and be 'On Your Feet' because this dazzling and delightful musical will lift you up like nobody's business...Here the authors have let the music do the talking and the story follow in its footsteps. The result is a perfect 10. Fun, tears, greats songs and dancing...The warp and woof of story and music blend to make an evening that does justice to Estefan's tale. This show does not pretend to be anything other than what it is."
Stage Buddy - Somewhat Recommended
"...The book lacks focus and precision, often reducing some of the most significant moments of her life to mere footnotes...If there's a storytelling cliche available, Dinelaris made sure to use it in the book...'On Your Feet!' has a structure that aimed for fractured cinematic-ness, but ends up merely just being confused...Fortunately the show has the music to fall onto, and with songs like 'Mi Tierra' and 'Reach' audience members should have a fine time regardless."
Theater Pizzazz - Recommended
"...This big dance jukebox musical extravaganza that not only has you dancing in your seat but in the aisles...The hot Latin/Pop rhythms, choreographed by Sergio Trujillo, are outstanding, albeit somewhat repetitious...With a book by Alexander Dinelaris and direction by Jerry Mitchell, the beat and story make for a real impact...All in all, this hi-energy production will get you on your feet because the rhythm is gonna get you!"
DC Theatre Scene - Somewhat Recommended
"...'On Your Feet' is as much by-the-numbers as any other Broadway bio or juke box musical, but when the numbers are "1-2-3" - the name of one of Estefan's many electrifying hits - the average theatergoer will surely find it easier to forgive the formulaic aspects of the show...Here's the problem: With just one horrendous exception, Gloria Estefan has led a charmed life...It's a testament to the acting that, for all the calculation evident in the book, a family feeling comes through."
WNBC - Somewhat Recommended
"...'On Your Feet!' is uneven and occasionally long-winded. It's also sometimes inspiring and uplifting...Dinelaris's book does some unnecessary pandering...The finale has the ensemble performing a glittery mash-up of 'Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,' "Turn the Beat Around" and others. In that spot, at least, "On Your Feet!" rivals top-notch jukebox musicals. 'On Your Feet!' isn't quite 'Jersey Boys,' but in places, the rhythm is gonna get you."
Broadway World - Somewhat Recommended
"...The dance-heavy first half ends on a high point, but 'On Your Feet' loses steam when the melodramatic plot takes over in a second act...'On Your Feet's' second act suffers from a common trap when jukebox musicals turn dramatic; there are no songs that specifically address the issues at hand...The musical's success is predominantly dependent on the wonderfully entertaining moments supplied by the dancers and music."