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“Tapia is a powerhouse of talent in flashbacks of her career before leaving Cuba. The mature mother persona steps aside for a glimpse of a woman who had the same drive and passion to perform as her daughter, Gloria.”
“Francisca Tapia’s Gloria Fajardo captures the complicated relationship with her pop superstar daughter.”
“You will love the characters of Gloria’s family, portrayed masterfully by Francisca Tapia, Adriel Garcia, Adela Romero and Lauren Hogan. Their characterizations of the passionate and loving, if sometimes emotionally explosive advocates of Gloria and her career are presented with authenticity and finesse. Each actor embodies vocal prowess and physical ability to create the visual excitement in the latin movements. The supporting cast of this production is beautifully cast with dancers and vocalists of superb abilities.”
“Francisca Tapia´s (Gloria Fajardo) voice was phenomenal but her acting was so realistic she moved the audience from being slightly annoyed with her to being frustrated when Gloria refuses to speak to her daughter, and finally to empathizing with her as she worries about her daughter’s life. She did a magnificent job at being a stubborn, misunderstood, mother. When it is finally revealed that she had given up on her own dreams for the sake of her family the audience was so endeared by her acting they couldn’t help but have a change of heart.”
“Tapia is wonderful as Gloria’s strict mother, a talented singer in her own right who was prevented from realizing her own dreams of stardom.”
“It’s Broadway quality in a D.C. theater and with more in-your-seat interaction from a gem of a cast.”
“In a sequence of sequins and dynamic dance moves, Tapia shows us a versatility that can carry two versions of herself across time, space, and spirit. The effervescent young woman we meet is worthy of the bar-spitting “Rapuela” of real-life “Big Gloria” Fajardo. The parallel is all too real between this past life of Gloria’s mom, complete with dreams dashed too soon after tasting success, and the path of disillusionment she fears for her daughter.”
“Gloria’s mother, Gloria Fajardo (the dynamite Fran Tapia), brimming with biting remarks and disapproving of Gloria’s new music career and love interest (“I’m 48, and I know 48 things,” she claps back at Gloria in Spanish during a fight over her daughter’s future). Fajardo and Emilio’s back-and-forths only make for a ceasefire that’s all the sweeter after Gloria’s accident puts relationships into perspective. The same goes for the reconciliation after Fajardo’s longtime tensions with her daughter.”
“Tapia registers another musical highlight leading a Havana nightclub performance of Estefan’s anthem “Mi Tierra.” The dancing in that number, based on Sergio Trujillo’s Tony-nominated choreography for the original Broadway production, and in the “Turn the Beat Around” megamix is as vibrant and exciting as it gets.”
“Garnica and Fran Tapia, portraying Gloria’s mother, a former singer also named Gloria, deliver a lovely duet on “Si Jamás Te Había Confiado (If I Never Got to Tell You),” the one tune composed expressly for On Your Feet! by Gloria and daughter Emily Estefan.”
“The interactions of Gloria’s mother (a steely, perceptive performance by Fran Tapia) and Gloria’s Grandmother, Consuelo (Madelin Marchant) with Gloria are gems of familial love and contradictions. Ms. Marchant and Ms. Tapia portray the tough love that mothers pass on to foster courage in their children. The scene where Ms. Tapia implores her child to fight on (when she is struck by tragedy) is unforgettable in its emotional power.”
“Samuel Garnica, who inhabits Emilio with a balanced brew of overt charisma and underlying intensity, shares the show’s cathartic showstopper “If I Never Got to Tell You” with Fran Tapia, a standout as Gloria’s bitter mother.”
