ON YOUR FEET! the exciting Broadway musical based on the life story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan has made its way to Los Angeles, California. Behind the scenes, making the show a success is Director and Choreographer Luis Salgado. We sat down with the talented artist to discuss the production, his pioneering work, and the essential advice performing artists need to elevate their career.
‘ON YOUR FEET! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan’ is now playing at La Mirada Theater until October 29th, 2023.

Salgado is an award-winning international director, choreographer and educator from Puerto Rico, now based in New York City. He was Assistant Latin Choreographer of IN THE HEIGHTS on Broadway, which won four Tony Awards. More recently Salgado was the director and choreographer of “Viva Broadway, ” as part of the Curtain Up event in Times Square produced by Playbill and the Broadway League.

His past work includes working as the associate director/choreographer of Cirque du Soleil’s Paramour in Hamburg Germany. Other productions he has directed/choreographed in the United States and abroad are the fantasy musical “Ella Es Colombia” in Bogota, Colombia, the Holland Production of “On Your Feet,” “AIDA, The Musical,” “FAME,” “Matilda,” and “Candela Fuerza y Pasión” in Lima Peru.
He has appeared on Broadway in “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown,” “ROCKY,” “In The Heights,” On Your Feet,” as well as many other Off-Broadway shows, Broadway tryouts, and films including “American Gangster”; “Dirty Dancing 2, Havana Nights”, the television remake of “Dirty Dancing,” and “Step Up 2, The Streets,” for which he also was assistant choreographer.
He is the founder/director of R.Evolución Latina, an affiliate of the non-profit organization Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS.

HOMBRE: How do you come to work on this new production of  “ON YOUR FEET! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan”?
Luis Salgado: It’s a beautiful and long story. If I have to go all the way back, I have to go to the living room of our home and being a little kid dancing to ‘Come and shake your body to that conga.’ It’s one of the fondest memories for me.
Then in 2015 I was in Chicago and there’s Gloria and Emilio holding my son on tryouts for this musical waiting to come to Broadway. It was going to be a great production that celebrated our community and I spent a year and change working on the show.
Then I left to go choreograph ‘In the heights,’ the Spanish production. That leap of faith made someone like Jerry Mitchell say ‘I think Luis can be my Associate Director (for “ON YOUR FEET”)’ and he sent me to Europe to work on the show in Amsterdam.
That was incredible, and opened a lot of doors.
This gets me now to run the second national tour with my vision as director and choreographer and also producer.
It’s been a long journey and I’m thrilled to have so many Latinos employed. Now the show moves to California for about five weeks.

H: How has it been to work with Gloria and Emilio Estefan?
LS: At first just that fascination of being that 5 year old kid, ‘Oh my God, I’m with these people.’ Then you start taking the tone of responsibility.
By the time we were doing the premiere in Washington and I was now the director and choreographer I felt like I wanted them to come to the theater and feel proud and honored.
I wanted to elevate their story and have the reviewers say this is more than a Broadway Musical, this is a story worth telling. Not only because the music is great but because of the compelling story these humans took. And we accomplished those kinds of lines on the reviews. It’s been a beautiful journey.

H: You grew up with this story, and now it comes full circle to have you so involved with the project.
LS: Not only that, but now my son gets to sing this music and dance in the living room. A show like this helps keep the music alive. I can see the next generation enjoying it twenty, thirty years from now.

H: What can people expect when they come see the show?
LS: I have to start with the obvious. You have a score that’s amazing, you have this music that resonates and penetrates into your joyful DNA and that’s fantastic.
But also the surprise of a real human story. A lot of people don’t remember or never knew that Gloria went through this journey. She had this bus accident and her life was in jeopardy, and her career was in jeopardy. It really is a hero’s journey. It’s the perfect musical theater piece to go forward, and feel empowered and moved to take action in your life. People will be inspired, entertained, and they will definitely dance the Conga.

H: You also recently worked on “Viva Broadway” in New York City, what can you tell us about that project?
LS: For more than a decade I’ve been part of the Board and supporting the efforts of Broadway institutions, trying to celebrate and empower our presence both on the Broadway stage, as well as the Latine audience that comes to see any Broadway show. Trying to bring those two together in pride. The last three years I’ve been lucky to direct and choreograph for the “Viva Broadway” movement and this year I got to conceive the show “Viva Broadway: Aquí y Alla.” We were lucky to present it as a kick-off to Hispanic Heritage Month in the middle of Times Square, we had 50 Latine artists diciendo presente.

H: What advice can you give to young upcoming performing artists?
LS: Find your truth and your voice. We often try to change who we are to fit into a certain envelope. We think that what’s out there is cooler than what we are. When we try to figure out day by day who am I today? How do I exist? What do I contribute? That is when the doors truly open. By neglecting our truth we are postponing our success. By accepting our truth and dealing with it from the heroic conflict that it can be, to the exciting adventure that it is, that’s when we are closer to the door of success.

H: What are your future plans beyond this project?
LS: In a kind of a joke way what I visualize now is running out of this interview to go pick up my son from school cause I have to get him at 3:30pm (laughs). As a father these days the balance of real everyday life and what we do is a thing. But as an artist I am developing a couple of new pieces. I’m in the middle of a lot of projects that are in development and waiting the scope of two or three years of having them in the Broadway theater.

H: What is the significance of doing “ON YOUR FEET! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan” now, during Hispanic Heritage Month?
LS: La Mirada Theater, California, Latinos are present. Come and see the show because the cast is a plethora of realities you know; Peru, Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and more, all in one stage. I don’t see a better way to celebrate Hispanic Heritage than by having all these people on stage, and give the audience an opportunity to experience the Latino culture through this show.

“ON YOUR FEET! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan”
The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan
Featuring Music Produced & Recorded by EMILIO & GLORIA ESTEFAN & MIAMI SOUND MACHINE
OCTOBER 6  – OCTOBER 29, 2023

ON YOUR FEET! is the inspiring true story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan – two people who believed in their talent, their music, and each other – and became an international sensation. Now their triumph is an all-new exhilarating original musical winning the hearts of critics and audiences alike. Exploding with some of the most popular songs you’ve loved for years – “Rhythm is Gonna Get You,” “ Conga,” “Don’t Want to Lose You Now,” “1-2-3,” and “Coming Out of the Dark” – prepare to be on your feet from start to finish.

Performances: October 6 – 29, 2023
Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays at 8pm, Saturdays at 2pm & 8pm, Sundays at 1:30pm & 6:30pm.
Post-Show Discussions with the cast will be Thursdays, Oct. 12 and Oct. 26, 2023
Running Time: 2.5 hours with Intermission

For tickets and more information visit “ON YOUR FEET! The Story of Emilio & Gloria Estefan”