North Shore Music Theater

NSMT’s ‘On Your Feet!’ Is A Nostalgic, if Clichéd, Look Back at Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s Remarkable Marriage and Career

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By Shelley A. Sackett

On Your Feet!, in production at North Shore Music Theater through June 14, is a feel-good jukebox musical that played on Broadway for two years before hitting the road for an international tour that continues some nine years later. Based on the lives and musical careers of the 26-time Grammy Award-winning team, Gloria and Emilio Estefan, the musical features a score built around the Cuban-fusion pop music that brought the couple fame, fortune, and a life together, noteworthy for its lack of rancor as much as for its longevity.

It also features choreography by the talented Marcos Santana, music direction by award-winning Jose Delgado, and an engaging set by Jack Mehler.

Like most jukebox musicals, On Your Feet! uses pre-existing, well-known popular songs (26 to be precise) for its score, rather than original music composed for the show. These tunes are woven together to create a brand-new narrative.

Isabel Leoni as Gloria Estefan in “On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan” at North Shore Music Theatre thru June 14, 2026. Photos © Paul Lyden

Those familiar with the group’s repertoire will delight in this menu of hits; to the unfamiliar, they start to blend into a single high-energy song, repetitive but nonetheless enjoyable.

As is the case in every NSMT performance, the theater-in-the-round’s production values are high and among the show’s highlights. The many screens above the stage flash snapshots of the Estefans and their families. Director Santana starts off with a bang as the taut, terrific nine-piece band rises from center stage to the beat and blaring horns of the duo’s signature, “Rhythm Is Gonna Get You,” a promise the show keeps throughout its entire 2-plus hours (one intermission). The entire audience chair-danced right along with the excellent dancers.

Would, however, that the script (and, for the most part, acting) were as engaging and peppy as the score. Although there are some good points made about immigrants and the uphill battle of breaking into the mainstream American music scene, character and plot development take a back seat to the fast-paced and complex salsa, cumbia, bachata and other Cuban-based dance numbers. It starts to feel like we’re on a fabulous island vacation, which is one of the musical’s strengths.

The other is the vocal prowess of many of the actors, especially Karmine Alers as Gloria’s mother, Isabel Leoni as the adult Gloria, and Kendall Rivera as Young Gloria. Henry Gainza, as Gloria’s father, has his moment in the spotlight with a magnificent solo. The ensemble dances and sings their hearts out and, clad in Emilio Sosa’s sassy, sequined costumes, is worth the price of admission.

The storyline follows the couple’s journey: Cuban boy meets Cuban girl, boy woos girl, boy gets girl, boy and girl marry and make their way to America, where the couple takes the world by storm with their blend of music and chemistry. In this case, Emilio and Gloria’s path has a few detours that provide context, pathos and joy. Gloria’s overbearing mother (Alers is very good) resents that Gloria is getting to live the dream she had to give up when she became pregnant with Gloria. Her abuela (grandmother), a showstopping Sydia Cedeño-Genat, keeps the peace between the two while encouraging Gloria to go for it when Emilio notices her and asks her to sing with his previously all-male band.

Isabel Leoni (Gloria Estefan), Marcello Audino (Emilio Estefan), cast

Other touching, more emotive scenes are when Gloria sings to her father, bedridden with MS, and when she and her mother reconcile after two years of no communication. In both scenes, tender ballads set the tone and add variety to the otherwise dance-driven soundtrack.

The 1990 bus accident that left Gloria with two fractured vertebrae is meant to be an important turning point, but misdirection and unnuanced acting strip it of poignancy and impact. Gloria goes from a wheelchair to the stage for the American Music Awards with hardly a beat skipped.

Nonetheless, for all its shortcomings, there is no denying the raw energy, beautiful music (especially the harmonies) and lively dancing that are On Your Feet!’s strengths. For some, that alone can be enough.

NSMT’s ‘On Your Feet!’ Is A Nostalgic, if Clichéd, Look Back at Gloria and Emilio Estefan’s Remarkable Marriage and Career‘On Your Feet!’. Book by Alexander Dinelaris. Featuring Music Produced and Recorded by Emilio & Gloria Estefan & Miami Sound Machine. Directed and Choreographed by Marcos Santana. Set and Lighting Design by Jack Mehler; Costume Design by Emilio Sosa; Sound Design by Alex Berg; Wig and Hair Design by Charles G. LaPointe; Projection Design by Pamela Hersch. Presented by North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Rd., Beverly, through June 14.

For more information, visit http://nsmt.org/

ELVIS Is Another NSMT Crowd Pleaser

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Dan Berry in “Elvis” at the North Shore Music Theatre. Photo © David Costa Photograph

By Shelley A. Sackett

Who can resist the charm, energy and smoldering heat of that hip-swinging, pelvis-grinding consummate crooner and actor known as Elvis? At Bill Hanney’s award-winning North Shore Music Theatre, fans and fans-to-be of the “King of Rock and Roll” can spend a toe-tapping two and one-half hours (one intermission) as over 40 of Elvis’ most famous songs are belted out by talented Dan Berry while a cast of 29 sings and dances their hearts out to a live orchestra of nine.

Throw in the theater-in-the-round setting with its intimacy and excitement, and you’ve got all the ingredients for an evening of sheer entertainment.

The bio-musical picks and chooses pivotal moments of the cultural icon’s life to explore through song, dance, and drama. (For those thinking of taking their children, be forewarned that Elvis and others have a bit of a potty mouth, and the f**k word is frequently bandied about). We learn about Elvis by eavesdropping on those who knew him best, like the kind and maternal record store owner Betty (a standout Altamiece Carolyn Cooper), who teaches 13-year-old Elvis (Asher Stern) about more than Black gospel music. Through her, he gets a hands-on lesson in what a color-blind world might look like and a taste of what it feels like to be taken seriously by an adult.

The loosely woven plot follows Elvis’ ascension from an impoverished but loving childhood in Tupelo, Mississippi to being discovered by recording studio owner Sam Phillips to his having his contract sold to the conniving, heartless Colonel Tom Parker, who treats Elvis like a prized cow to be milked dry and then sold to slaughter. (David Coffee is spot-on perfect as Parker, shedding an even more shameful light on the dreadful miscasting of Tom Hanks in the role in the 2002 movie biopic. Coffee’s Parker is a John Huston-like character, all imposing charm and smarm until he sinks his teeth into your jugular).

Although the song and dance numbers take up a lot of the evening, there is still enough time to weave a Cliff Notes version of the King’s life. We are a fly on the wall when Elvis is drafted and when he first meets Priscilla. We witness the rapid ups and downs of their courtship and marriage and his devastation at the death of his beloved mother. We watch as Elvis’ many appetites spiral out of control and are heartbroken as his career circles the drain with B- films like “Change of Habit.”

Writers Abbinati and Cercone may have sacrificed a smoothly scripted biographical timeline in favor of including a challenging number of musical and dance numbers, but they nonetheless managed to put enough dramatic meat on its bones to flesh out Elvis as a nuanced and complicated individual. That is no small feat.

Kudos to director and choreographer Kevin P. Hill for keeping the ball rolling with a lively pace and varied dance routines. This reviewer’s particular favorite was “You’re the Boss,” the red hot, sizzling Elvis/Ann-Margaret number pas de deux (Alaina Mills is riveting).

Although long and a bit repetitive, “Elvis” fits the bill if you’re looking for an evening of the kind of rocking entertainment NSMT is known for.  

Elvis: A Musical Revolution’ at North Shore Music Theatre. Book by Sean Cercone and David Abbinanti. Based on a concept by Floyd Mutrux. Direction and Choreography by Kevin P. Hill. Co-Music Direction by Milton Granger and Robert L. Ruckinski. Scenic Design by Kyle Dixon. Costume Design by Travis M. Grant. Lighting Design by Jack Mehler. Sound Design by Alex Berg. Wig and Hair Design by Rachel Padula-Shufelt. At the North Shore Music Theatre through November 12.

For tickets and more info, visit: https://www.nsmt.org/

The Girls Are Dreamin’ in Beverly

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Eric LaJuan Summers steals the show as James “Thunder” Early in NSMT’s production of “Dreamgirls.”
PhotoPaul Lyden

Attending the season opener at the North Shore Music Theatre brings back memories of stepping off the bus on the first day of summer camp. Like the joy of reconnecting with old friends and places, the NSMT’s round stage with its magic trapdoor center pit, its live orchestra and its signature disco-esque spinning light signal that, finally, summer is here.

And with its exuberant production of “Dreamgirls”,the winner of six Tony and two Grammy Awards, NSMT throws quite the summer party. There’s even dancin’ in the streets.

Inspired by the career of Diana Ross and The Supremes, the musical follows the onstage and backstage drama of the 1960s up-and-coming female trio, “The Dreams.” From their career-launching talent contest at New York City’s famed Apollo Theatre to their farewell concert over a decade later, there are the usual love triangles, artistic squabbles and managerial double-crossings.

There are also a soulful score, slick choreography and the performances of Bryonha Marie Parham as Effie and Eric LaJuan Summers as James “Thunder” Early that make “Dreamgirls” anything but the usual summer musical fare.

Parham and Summers are hands down the standouts in the strong 22-member cast. In Effie, Parham has a vehicle to unleash her powerful voice, and what a set of pipes she has. Her “And I’m Telling You I’m Not Going” deservedly brought down the house. Summers likewise packs a wallop as the showboat Early, playing him with a blend of James Brown athleticism, Stevie Wonder crooning and Little Richard flamboyance. Not since J. Cameron Barnett tore up the stage last summer as Sebastian the crab in “The Little Mermaid” has the NSMT hosted such an electrifying performer.

Like most NSMT productions, “Dreamgirls” is a little long at two-and-a-half hours (which includes a 20-minute intermission), but in this age of shrinking values and increasing costs, that seems a pretty silly thing to complain about.

“Dreamgirls” plays through June 14. For tickets and more information, visit nsmt.org or call 978-232-7200.