Entertainment
Get On Your Feet for Gloria & Emilio Estefan at TPAC on January 15-20
NASHVILLE PRIDE — On your feet! is the inspiring true story about heart, heritage and two people who believed in their talent
“On Your Feet!,” based on the life story of seven-time Grammy winning international superstar Gloria Estefan and her husband, 19-time Grammy winning producer-musician-entrepreneur Emilio Estefan, makes its Music City debut at Tennessee Performing Arts Center’s Jackson Hall Jan. 15-20, 2019. On your feet! is the inspiring true story about heart, heritage and two people who believed in their talent—and each other—to become an international sensation: Gloria and Emilio Estefan.
Now their story has arrived on stage in an exhilarating original production that’s already won the hearts of critics and audiences alike, with the Chicago Tribune declaring “It’s A Hit!” and The New York Times cheering, “The very air in the room seems to vibrate in this undeniably crowd-pleasing musical!” “If you aren’t humming a Gloria Estefan hit when you leave the theater, it might be time to check your pulse!” raves the Associated Press.
Gloria Estefan has sold over 100 million records and sold out stadiums around the world. Emilio and Gloria Estefan together have won 26 Grammy Awards – but their music is only half the story.
“Music was the biggest thing that got us through our life, and hopefully our music can also inspire other people as well,” says Gloria Estefan. On Your Feet! is “a love story to this country, our love story, a love story to music.
From the heart of Havana to the streets of Miami came a cultural phenomenon unlike anything the music industry had ever seen.
“It’s going to be a lot of things that people don’t expect, but it’s our life,” says Emilio Estefan.
“On Your Feet!” follows the Estefans’ journey to superstardom, set to their chart-topping, smash hits, including “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” “Conga,” “1-2-3,” “Get On Your Feet,” “Mi Tierra,” Don’t Want To Lose You Now” and “Reach,” in addition to an original song written by Gloria and her daughter Emily Estefan.
“On Your Feet!” is directed by two-time Tony Award winner Jerry Mitchell (“Kinky Boots,” “Hairspray”) and choreographed by Tony Award nominee and Olivier Award winner Sergio Trujillo (“Jersey Boys,” “Memphis”), with an original book by Academy Award winner Alexander Dinelaris (“Birdman,” “The Bodyguard Musical”).
Completing the creative team are four-time Tony-nominated scenic designer David Rockwell (“Kinky Boots,” “Legally Blonde”), Tony-nominated costume designer Emilio Sosa (“Porgy & Bess”), Tony Award-winning lighting designer Kenneth Posner (“Wicked,” “Hairspray”), Tony Award-winning sound designer Steve Kennedy, SCK Sound Design (“Lady Day,” “Guys and Dolls”), projections by Darrel Maloney and hair & wig designer Charles G. LaPointe (“Beautiful,” “Newsies”). With music direction by Clay Ostwald (Miami Sound Machine), “On Your Feet!” features orchestrations by Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan, arrangements by Lon Hoyt (“Hairspray”) and dance arrangements and dance orchestrations by Oscar Hernandez (“The Capeman”).
Principal cast members are Christie Prades as Gloria, Mauricio Martínez as Emilio, Nancy Ticotin as Gloria Fajardo, Alma Cuervo as Consuelo, Eddie Noel as José Fajardo, u/s Emilio, Jeanpaul Medina Solano as Nayib/Young Emilio/Jeremy, Ana-Sofia Rodriguez as Little Gloria, Carmen Sanchez as Little Gloria, Jordan Vergara as Nayib/Young Emilio/Jeremy. Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan provide music, lyrics, and orchestration.
This article originally appeared in the Nashville Pride.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024
To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
Activism
Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024
The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 17 – 23, 2024
To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.
Entertainment
O.J. Simpson, 76, Dies of Prostate Cancer
Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, who rose to fame as a college football player who went on to the NFL and parlayed his talents in acting and sportscasting, succumbed to prostate cancer on April 10, his family announced.
By Post Staff
Orenthal James (O.J.) Simpson, who rose to fame as a college football player who went on to the NFL and parlayed his talents in acting and sportscasting, succumbed to prostate cancer on April 10, his family announced.
Born and raised in San Francisco, the Galileo High School graduate was recruited by the University of Southern California after he was on a winning Junior College All-American team.
At USC, he gained wide acclaim as a running back leading to him becoming the No. 1 pick in the AFL-NFL draft in 1969 and joining the Buffalo Bills, where he had demanded – and received — the largest contract in professional sports history: $650,000 over five years. In 1978, the Bills traded Simpson to his hometown team, the San Francisco 49ers, retiring from the game in 1979.
Simpson’s acting career had begun before his pro football career with small parts in 1960s TV (“Dragnet”) before “Roots” and film (“The Klansman,” “The Towering Inferno,” Capricorn One”).
He was also a commentator for “Monday Night Football,” and “The NFL on NBC,” and in the mid-1970s Simpson’s good looks and amiability made him, according to People magazine, “the first b\Black athlete to become a bona fide lovable media superstar.”
The Hertz rent-a-car commercials raised his recognition factor while raising Hertz’s profit by than 50%, making him critical to the company’s bottom line.
It could be said that even more than his success as a football star, the commercials of his running through airports endeared him to the Black community at a time when it was still unusual for a Black person to represent a national, mainstream company.
He remained on Hertz team into the 1990s while also getting income endorsing Pioneer Chicken, Honey Baked Ham and Calistoga water company products and running O.J. Simpson Enterprises, which owned hotels and restaurants.
He married childhood sweetheart Marguerite Whitley when he was 19 and became the father of three children. Before he divorced in 1979, he met waitress and beauty queen Nicole Brown, who he would marry in 1985. A stormy relationship before, during and after their marriage ended, it would lead to a highway car chase as police sought to arrest Simpson for the murder by stabbing of Brown and her friend Ron Goldman in 1994.
The pursuit, arrest, and trial of Simpson were among the most widely publicized events in American history, Wikipedia reported.
Characterized as the “Trial of the Century,” he was acquitted by a jury in 1995 but found liable in the amount of $33 million in a civil action filed by the victims’ families three years later.
Simpson would be ensnared in the criminal justice system 12 years later when he was arrested after forcing his way into a Las Vegas hotel room to recover sports memorabilia he believed belonged to him.
In 2008, he received a sentence of 33 years and was paroled nine years later in 2017.
When his death was announced, Simpson’s accomplishments and downfalls were acknowledged.
Sports analyst Christine Brennan said: “… Even if you didn’t love football, you knew O.J. because of his ability to transcend sports and of course become the businessman and the pitchman that he was.
“And then the trial, and the civil trial, the civil case he lost, and the fall from grace that was extraordinary and well-deserved, absolutely self-induced, and a man that would never be seen the same again,” she added.
“OJ Simpson played an important role in exposing the racial divisions in America,” attorney Alan Dershowitz, an adviser on Simpson’s legal “dream team” told the Associated Press by telephone. “His trial also exposed police corruption among some officials in the Los Angeles Police Department. He will leave a mixed legacy. Great athlete. Many people think he was guilty. Some think he was innocent.”
“Cookie and I are praying for O.J. Simpson’s children … and his grandchildren following his passing. I know this is a difficult time,” Magic Johnson said on X.
“I feel that the system failed Nicole Brown Simpson and failed battered women everywhere,” attorney Gloria Allred, who once represented Nicole’s family, told ABC News. “I don’t mourn for O.J. Simpson. I do mourn for Nicole Brown Simpson and her family, and they should be remembered.”
Simpson was diagnosed with prostate cancer about a year ago and was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, according to Pro Football Hall of Fame President Jim Porter. He died in his Las Vegas, Nevada, home with his family at his side.
He is survived by four children: Arnelle and Jason from his first marriage and Sydney and Justin from his second marriage. He was predeceased son, Aaren, who drowned in a family swimming pool in 1979.
Sources for this report include Wikipedia, ABC News, Associated Press, and X.
-
Activism4 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of March 27 – April 2, 2024
-
#NNPA BlackPress4 weeks ago
Beloved Actor and Activist Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. Dies at 87
-
Community1 week ago
Financial Assistance Bill for Descendants of Enslaved Persons to Help Them Purchase, Own, or Maintain a Home
-
Activism3 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of April 3 – 6, 2024
-
Business2 weeks ago
V.P. Kamala Harris: Americans With Criminal Records Will Soon Be Eligible for SBA Loans
-
Activism2 weeks ago
Oakland Post: Week of April 10 – 16, 2024
-
Community2 weeks ago
AG Bonta Says Oakland School Leaders Should Comply with State Laws to Avoid ‘Disparate Harm’ When Closing or Merging Schools
-
Community7 days ago
Oakland WNBA Player to be Inducted Into Hall of Fame