It has - courtesy of Sergio Trujillo and Natalie Caruncho - possibly the snappiest choreography currently in the West End, some glorious costumes, some spunky juvenile leads and best of all a fabulous live band on stage, pumping out the catchy and unmistakably Latin-flavoured music that anyone who enjoyed Cuban American singer Gloria Estefan and her husband Emilio's band Miami Sound Machine - which topped both Latin and pop charts in the US and Europe in the 80s and 90s - will find almost irresistible. The UK production of the Estefan life story so far - a rollercoaster tale of family devotion, terminal illness and brunette ambition to succeed in the face of unsupportive music industry 'talent managers' - who were at best ignorant and unimaginative and at worst plain racist - has, on paper all the ingredients for a compelling night out. The cast - both the adult leads Christie Paredes and George Ioannides - and the energetic ensemble who dance their costumes off (to be so rapidly replaced at times that I caught my breath wondering how do they manage those costume changes in so little time ? - are all to be commended, but something - perhaps an extra drop of salsa? - is missing from the recipe here.
Estefan's parents are played deftly by Madalena Alberto and Elia Lo Taura who both bring much needed anguish (she is a frustrated singer who could have been as famous as Omara Portuondo but who gave up her burgeoning career to bring up her daughters and act as carer for her husband who struggles with multiple sclerosis which may have been triggered by exposure to chemicals during his wartime service for the Americans in Vietnam) to a production that was so keen to cover everything from the Cuban revolution to the road accident that almost saw Gloria killed at the height of her fame that there was little room for genuine light and shade.
Christie Prades who transfers from playing the role of Gloria in the recast US production can really belt them out - on press night the mix was slightly tipped against the singers in favour of the band.
She is winning and - after some assured early appearances by the smaller actresses playing Young Gloria - comes across as determined and driven as her maternal grandmother Consuelo, played with real verve by the excellent Karen Mann who is clearly the far seeing and cheeky abuela every aspiring global pop diva needs.
But the music needs to be backed up with a strong narrative to do the story justice and the weak book just can't keep up with the fact that Gloria's life story is more interesting than anything that the writers have cobbled together. The plot - whether in a jukebox musical or a Revenger's tragedy - needs to be watertight and this one is thinner than the skinny palm trees that appear during a romantic dinner scene that ended up being almost as funny as Karen Mann's lines.
There were some brave moments that we need to see more of in the theatre - the torture of multiple sclerosis for both patient and carers was bravely dealt with (when is the last time we saw a wheelchair on stage?) and it isn't often though that grandmothers get the laughs and the goodwill of the audience - so I felt a bit cheated when Consuelo was bumped off without a bit more of a song and dance - it would have been the perfect opportunity for a ballad from Mi Tierra, Estefan's Grammy award-winning first Spanish language album. Mi Tierra does get a lot of play - along with all the original hits including 'Conga', 'Dr Beat' and 'Rhythm is Gonna Get You' and die hard 'Este fans' will enjoy hearing some lesser known tunes played with gusto by the musicians - special mention to Louis Dowdeswell and Tom Dunnet on horns - under the baton of Clay Ostwald. The story may not have got me on my feet but the rhythms are gonna get you.
