On Your Feet - Gloria Estefan musical

It was about 2hrs 25 minutes when I went 2 weeks ago.

Saw the matinee today, was row E dress circle (which unfortunately was only about half full today).
It was “good”... it didn’t have the oomph of some other jukebox musicals and it is completely the wrong venue - evident in them only using a part of the size of the stage.
I don’t think Gloria is as much of an icon as some other like Tina or Cher and I really did only know a few of the “hits”.
They should have taken a more intimate venue because the story is fairly intimate and personal. Lots of quieter moments with her mother and family which even from the dress circle I felt disconnected from.

Saw this last week with whom I discovered later was the alternate "Gloria" which explained a lot to me. She was fine but absolutely no charisma whatsoever. Loved the very hard working ensemble and the band was excellent. Of course it's in totally the wrong venue and much of the enjoyment lost as a result.

From the London Coliseum website:

The role of Gloria Estefan is played by Christie Prades at performances on Tuesday 7:30pm, Wednesday 7:30pm, Thursday 7:30pm, Saturday 2:30pm, Saturday 7:30pm and Sunday 3:00pm. Philippa Stefani plays the role of Gloria Estefan at performances on Thursday 2:30pm and Friday 7:30pm.

I believe that Philippa Stefani takes over the role full time for the UK tour.

Christie was out sick last week, so Philippa went on for her scheduled performances and all weekend as far as I know. Christie returned last night x

Great fun show. Very much at home in such a big room.

Decided to see this before it closed. I was busy when rush tickets went on sale yesterday, but was still able to grab one an hour later, just a few rows back in the side Stalls. Excellent view, decent rake and no one at either side (at least for the first half, someone moved forward at one side for the second half). There were plenty of empty Stalls seats, including premiums, but I didn't move across as I had a clear view.

With the way the theatre is constructed, even if you're in the front row, there's a very wide space for the orchestra and so you're a long way from the stage. Being a few rows back is no real difference in quality of view here.

Mostly a good audience, with the odd phone going off and people lighting up the room with watches and checking messages, as well as a couple of people in front randomly standing to dance. There's a funny message played at the start reminding people to turn off their phones, which lots of people near me seemed to think was just background noise and ignore.

I found I remembered a lot more songs than I expected. They were the ones that were being constantly played on the radio in the 1980s, but the kind I haven't listened to for years.

The lead, Christie Prades, was very good. I love Philippa Stefani though, so I would have liked to have seen her (but I didn't love the musical enough to try and catch it on tour).

I do think the book for this one is weak, but a lot of that comes from trying to introduce jeopardy into a life where most things went right. Even where there was tension, I just got the feeling that was being overplayed for dramatic effect. Now, I must say that I don't remember the main incident from towards the end of act two at all, so maybe there was some foreshadowing that I missed that would have got me emotionally attached, but I was young when it happened and not a particular follower of Gloria Estefan. The musical has made me interested enough to find out a bit more about the full story.

Overall then, this is performed with energy. I don't think it connected with the audience that well and the cast really struggled to get people to join in with the Conga (two girls at my side, one of whom was the person who kept getting up to dance, although her friend was less keen). I think it will do better in smaller venues, but I can't see this having anywhere near the success in the UK of a Jersey Boys or Beautiful. A pleasant enough show to see once.

Top price tickets reduced to £29.50 by using the promo code GLORIA29 on the London Coliseum website for all performances

Enjoy! It's fun, not the best show you'll ever see but entertaining enough and the choreography is excellent.

Saw the show yesterday for the 2nd time thanks to the GLORIA29 offer and sat centre block in the 4th row of the stalls. I can see why these are premium seats as the view was great, decent legroom and well raked so clear view over the heads in front. From what I could see all 4 levels open, stalls pretty much full, less so the higher you went and only the front couple of rows of the balcony. I was surprised that they didn't close the top 2 levels and move people but they must have had their reasons.
Christie was on as Gloria so I have now seen them both.
Thoroughly enjoyed it again as did the audience. Everyone was "On their feet" at the end and dancing away as best we can do at our age. Most of the audience was of a similar age to me. We are all of an age who remember Gloria Estafan when we were of the "disco" age.
A very hot day yesterday in London but the air con at the theatre was top notch. Amazing how good it was for such a huge venue.

So you can't have a bio musical written about yourself unless you've had a harder time than Tina Turner?

That sounds fair x