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Tag: Gloria Estefan

  • Kristin Chenoweth, Matthew Morrison To Host TLC Holiday Special From White House

    Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison will be bringing some holiday cheer from the White House.

    Joining First Lady Michelle Obama, the Glee stars will host Broadway at the White House, a Thanksgiving TV special on the TLC network designed to encourage teens seeking a career in theatre, Variety reported.

    The special, which will air on TLC Nov. 26 at 8 p.m. ET, will also feature appearances by Broadway writers and performers Gloria Estefan, Christian Borle, Cicely Tyson, Whoopi Goldberg and others.

    Obama has invited a group of 40 talented high school students to an all-day symposium at the White House covering careers in theatre. The day will be filmed by Zero Visibility/the Weinstein Co. for the TLC special.

    The symposium will include master classes in acting, directing, hair/make-up/costume design, music composition and musical theatre, according to Variety.

    There will also be a Q&A for the student with the Broadway stars and, in the evening, performances featuring material from musicals Finding Neverland, Fun Home, An American in Paris, On Your Feet!, School of Rock and Something Rotten!

    Be sure to catch Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Morrison when the special airs on Nov. 26.

  • Gloria Estefan Is Getting Honored with the Presidential Medal of Freedom

    On November 24th, Gloria Estefan, alongside her husband Emilio, will receive the nation’s highest civilian honor.

    Estefan was just revealed to be a recipient of this year’s round of Presidential Medals of Freedom.

    The award is “presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.”

    “I look forward to presenting these 17 distinguished Americans with our nation’s highest civilian honor. From public servants who helped us meet defining challenges of our time to artists who expanded our imaginations, from leaders who have made our union more perfect to athletes who have inspired millions of fans, these men and women have enriched our lives and helped define our shared experience as Americans,” President Obama said in a statement.

    Others receiving the award with Estefan include Yogi Berra (posthumous), Bonnie Carroll, Shirley Chisholm (posthumous), Billy Frank, Jr. (posthumous), Lee Hamilton, Katherine G. Johnson, Willie Mays, Barbara Mikulski, Itzhak Perlman, William Rickelshaus, Stephen Sondheim, Steven Spielberg, Barbara Streisand, James Taylor, and Minoru Yasui (posthumous).

  • Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical “On Your Feet!” Worthy of Exclamation Mark

    Gloria Estefan is celebrated in the broadway musical On Your Feet!, and the early reviews indicate the show is worthy of its title’s exclamation mark.

    The New York Post reports the musical “literally gets the audience off its seats and into a conga line.”

    Following Gloria Estefan through her days as a young Cuban-American in Florida, to her days performing in Miami Sound Machine, there are huge parts of On Your Feet! that are beyond cliche. The fast-paced script and the Latin beat make up for all that, however.

    Further adding to the Gloria Estefan musical is the presence of some of Miami Sound Machine’s original musicians in the brass section of the orchestra that gets the audience as pumped up as the performers.

    Josh Segarra and Ana Villafañe play Emilio and Gloria Estefan in On Your Feet! Gloria Estefan’s hit songs are peppered throughout the show, and include “Conga” and “Rhythm is Gonna Get You.”

    The show is based on the book of the same name, written by Birdman author Alexander Dinelaris.

    Fans can join in the celebration of Gloria Estefan’s music and life at the Marquis Theatre at 1535 Broadway.

    On Your Feet! opens November 6th.

  • Andrea Bocelli, Juanes to Join Philadelphia Orchestra in Performance for Pope Francis

    Andrea Bocelli and Juanes will join the Philadelphia Orchestra in performing for Pope Francis during his visit to Philadelphia in September. The pope is traveling to the U.S. to attend the World Meeting of Families there on September 26th. This will mark the first time Pope Francis has visited the U.S. during his papacy.

    The World Meeting of Families is an event held every three years. Its aim is to strengthen family bonds globally. In choosing who would perform at the Festival, the notion was to “bring together performers that represented the world,” executive director Donna Crilley Farrell said.

    Andrea Bocelli, an Italian tenor, and Juanes, a Colombian pop singer, are no doubt both thrilled and honored to have been asked to sing.

    “Our most important mission in this voyage of life is learning how to love, and what better way to do it than through family,” Juanes said. “I’m deeply honored to sing for Pope Francis.”

    Juanes and Andrea Bocelli join a very small list of singers who have performed for popes in recent history. Gloria Stefan sang for Pope John Paul II in 1995, Argentina’s Diego Torres performed for the same pope in 2003, and Mexico’s Lucero also sang for Pope John II in 1997.

    Argentinian soap opera star Martina Sotessel sang for Pope Francis in Rome just last year.

    It is uncertain how Andrea Bocelli and Juanes were chosen, but it is definitely a huge honor to be asked to sing for a pope.

    Surely their performances for Pope Francis will be televised and/or recorded for all to see and hear.

  • Gloria Estefan’s On Your Feet To Premiere In Chicago

    It took quite a while but Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s On Your Feet is finally dancing its way to a world premiere in Chicago.

    On Your Feet showcases the life of the one and only Queen of Latin Pop and her relationship with her husband Emilio, 19-times Grammy winner and record producer extraordinaire.

    The musical will show audiences how their dedication to each other, their heritage and their pursuit of the American dream led to their remarkable success. It will cover Gloria’s early years with the Miami Sound Machine and her miraculous recovery from a broken back in 1990.

    Bringing On Your Feet to the stage is a feat in itself. It’s rare that a bilingual, Latino-centered musical is showcased and biographies are especially tricky.

    However, the couple is confident that they can pull it off and Emilio is certain that “Chicago’s gonna bring us a lot of good luck.”

    It’s a sentiment that Gloria believes in as well.

    “The audience is a wonderful nurturing audience but also they’re savvy in the way of theater so it’s a great place to try your stuff out,” the 57-year-old hitmaker said.

    As expected, Gloria’s hits will also play an essential part. Audiences will be treated to well-loved songs like “Conga,” “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “Don’t Want to Lose You Now” and the titular “Get On Your Feet.”

    While her hits will take center stage, Gloria won’t be.

    Instead, she’s leaving it to the very capable hands of Ana Villafane, who was discovered after a worldwide search for the lead.

    But who knows, Gloria said she might just “sneak in there and be my mom.”

    On Your Feet will open at Chicago’s Oriental Theater on June 2 and will run for five weeks. The musical will then be previewed on Broadway at the Marquis Theater on October 15 before beginning its official run on November 5.

  • Gloria Estefan Musical About Her Life Opening Soon

    Gloria Estefan was on top of the world in 1990. After a string of hits that catapulted her “Miami sound” to the top of the charts over and over again, she had become a household word.

    Then on March 20, 1990, a truck crashed into Gloria Estefan’s tour bus and it was rumored that she may never see the stage again.

    “They said I would never walk again – that the damage had been severe,” Gloria Estefan recalls now.

    Flash forward less than a year. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house when Gloria Estefan walked onstage at the American Music Awards in January of 1991, after an introduction by Jon Bon Jovi.

    Now that inspiring story has been made into a musical that opens in Chicago at the Oriental Theatre in two weeks.

    It is called “On Your Feet” after one of Gloria Estefan’s most enduring hits.

    The show was cast after an open casting call in Miami. Ana Villafane plays Gloria Estefan on stage in the musical. Josh Segarra plays Gloria’s husband, manager, and partner Emilio Estefan.

    “In essence, it’s kind of the description of our lives,” Gloria Estefan says of the musical. “We’ve had to continuously get on our feet. From leaving our country – he went to Spain then he came here, I came at the age of 2.”

    Telling her story in the form of a musical is somewhat of a risk for Gloria Estefan. When the now-popular TV show Duck Dynasty tried its hand in musical theatre recently, the show closed in under a month.

    “The audience is a wonderful nurturing audience but also they’re savvy in the way of theater so it’s a great place to try your stuff out,” Gloria Estefan said of opening at the Oriental Theatre.

    “I think Chicago’s gonna bring us a lot of good luck,” Emilio Estefan said.

    Gloria Estefan says the show has a positive message.

    “If there’s one thing people take from this play when they leave, it’s that they realize you can have the best life in the world. You’re still going to get thrown hurdles and curve balls and it’s all about how you deal with them and what you do.

    “And you get back on your feet every single time. Because that’s what life’s about.”

  • Kathy Griffin Gives Gloria Estefan an Eyeful

    Kathy Griffin is always one for a good laugh, and her most recent comedic banter is just that. Last Wednesday, Griffin stopped by “The Tonight Show” to pay Jay Leno a visit. As with any interview, the two held a light-hearted discussion, covering a number of topics from life to business.

    However, Leno had another topic he wanted to discuss. He wanted to know the details about her over-the-top behavior at Gloria Estefan’s event in September.

    Last month, Griffin attended Gloria Estefan’s release party for her new album, “The Standards.” As a favor to her friend, Griffin also hosted the party. However, that’s not all she did. Griffin made the executive decision to put on a show that no one would forget, sharing everything under her dress. Of course, Griffin had no qualms about doing so and there was definitely no regrets – just laughs.

    Griffin took the liberty of filling Leno in on the details. “I was actually doing a one-nighter in Miami and my good friend Gloria Estefan introduced me. I thought, I’d like to keep these celebrities on their game so… I just for no reason lifted my dress and the look on her face I think says it all… [but] I don’t know what I was thinking wearing the granny panties.”

    The seven-time Grammy award-winning singer also took a moment to weigh in on the hilarious moment with Renee Bargh when she visited Extra TV. Estefan said that the sight was ‘very disturbing’ and that Griffin’s underwear were huge, and almost “10 sizes too big.” “My face says it all in that picture,” remarked Estefan.

    Of course Griffin took the liberty of sharing the picture on Twitter.
    https://twitter.com/kathygriffin/statuses/382949681761751040

    Estefan also offered a warm response.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons