On Your Feet
Music, Dance, Food and Love: the gifts we receive from our mothers. Even before birth delivers us into their arms, we are fed by what our mothers eat, we smell it as it cooks and develop a taste for our favorite dishes. We hear the music they play, sing and dance to. Their dance gives us our first lessons in rhythm and rocks us to sleep when it’s time for a siesta. Because these things are true, I thank God that my mother is Cuban. Smelling the sofrito at the start of the congrí or any of the many other dishes from our kitchen growing up. From nursery songs to boo boo fixers like sana sana colito de rana to hearing Celia Cruz, Benny Moré, Perez Prado and so many singers, musicians and band leaders from my mother’s childhood. The background smells and sounds that shape them before they then pass onto us.
As a child growing up in the 80’s I was lucky to have grown up with Miami Sound Machine as part of the soundtrack of my adolescence. This was the perfect mix of my culture’s roots and my modern youth. Then and now, English and Spanish all in one band. I remember dancing wild to Dr. Beat in my bedroom and adding Words get in the Way to the love song cassette tape mix (the one you make and then listen to as you flip through the pages of your yearbook as you lie in bed). Two years ago I reached out to the royalties director at Estefan Enterprises Inc so that I could get permission to use the song, Mi Tierra in a slideshow I made for my mother and her family’s 50th anniversary of leaving Cuba for the United States. I was hoping for approval for use of song to play on Facebook and I received a prompt and very sweet response. I was pretty excited, I still have the email. I can go down the list of Miami Sound Machine, Gloria Estefan and the Miami Sound Machine, and Gloria Estefan songs and tell stories of how they sync up to some page in a chapter of my life but I’ll leave some more for another day. For now, I’ll tell you about how tonight my Mami and I went to see On Your Feet! The Emilio & Gloria Estefan Broadway Musical and it was all there! The abuela, mother, daughter relationships. Three generations of strong, beautiful Cuban women. The heartbreak of leaving Cuba and the pride of pursuing and achieving the American Dream. Daddy’s little girl, Vietnam War, vivid colors, work ethic, passion, persistence, and so much more but of course above all else there is music, dance and love and even empanadas. Gloria is played by Christie Prades, who happens to be the first cousin of my fake cousins so that makes me sort of related to the lead right? Haha! No, but she was so fabulous! I can’t believe how she actually sounds like Gloria in her speech and singing. She has such endurance, that is made clear because the role is very physical and she plays it perfectly while making it look effortless somehow. She is beautiful and is perfect in her portrayal of Gloria. Emilio was played by Ektor Rivera tonight and he was charming, funny and also dramatic when needed. One of those dramatic scenes was with Gloria Fajardo (Gloria’s mom), played by Nancy Ticotin, after the bus accident. Another tear jerker moment was during a flashback of a performance of Gloria Fajardo before she had to leave Cuba. Hers is a complex character and I would pay an admission price to see the prequel for a more in depth look into that story. Consuelo is Gloria’s abuela and she is un amor! Funny, feisty, loving and proud just like any abuela should be. My mom got Debra Cardona’s autograph on a playbill for my daughter Maya. She told her that she is an abuela and one of her granddaughters does musical theatre and would she please sign the playbill for her. Funny, a gift from two abuelas.
I don’t know anyone who is physically moved by music as much as my mom. Play some salsa and she will be up and on the dance floor with or without a partner. Cooking and chores were always dance performances at our house and with a Cuban mop as your cleaning tool, it’s sure to be a good show. If she’s unable to dance because she’s driving or something she will absolutely be singing. She has such a beautiful voice and knows the words to every song on the spanish radio stations. She even got up and danced with the ensemble as they performed their concert number just before intermission. We had seats in the third row so it was easy access to the interactive dance number. That was quite a special moment to end the first act and made all the sweeter with audience members around us loving it and giving her compliments on her moves. The show was just incredible and I suggest you go see it! On your way down stop for some delicious Cuban food at any one of my favorite places: Havana 1920, Andrés Restaurant or Azucar. To read about our dinner at Havana 1920 see below. You won’t regret a night full of music, dance, food and love!
For the food part of the night, we finally got to try Havana 1920 in the Gaslamp Quarter. I am a terribly tough critic when it comes to Cuban restaurants because....my Mami. This place was not only delicious but the atmosphere was wonderful. I’ve long fantasized about opening a Cuban restaurant (I even have the name chosen) and this is what I was envisioning when it comes to decor and ambience. The staff was friendly and attentive but not annoying. Fried dough strips with seasoning like savory buñuelos with salsa were set at table as we read over the menu. We both ordered a daiquiri and I also had a mojito. The daiquiris were good but the mojito was better. My mom especially liked how they didn’t over muddle the mint. The leaves were muddled enough to release the flavor but there weren’t tiny pieces of mint clogging the straw or getting stuck in between our teeth. For food we ordered the papa rellena, empanada de carne, camarones al ajillo (shrimp in garlic sauce), yuca frita (yuca fries). We split a slice of abuela’s flan and I had a cafecito. Everything was ¡delicioso! Can’t wait to go back and try the rest.
