Ana Villafañe
Ana Villafañe (vee-yuh-FAHN-yay) is a Cuban/Salvadoran-American actress and singer from Miami, Florida, best known for her portrayal of pop icon Gloria Estefan in the Broadway musical On Your Feet!
Villafañe's film and television credits include: the award-winning Magic City Memoirs (executive producer Andy Garcia), “Los Americans” created by Dennis Leoni (“Resurrection Boulevard”), Hiding (Anchor Bay), the Hulu Original Series “South Beach” set in her native Miami, and the female lead in the upcoming superhero feature film Max Steel (Mattel).
In the fall of 2014, Gloria Estefan and Emilio Estefan - alongside the producers and creative team of their biographical musical On Your Feet! - launched an international casting search,[1] dubbed "Reach Gloria" (#ReachGloria) which offered performers around the world a chance to audition for the cast of the musical. Thousands of Broadway hopefuls – from Los Angeles, to Australia, to Colombia, to Singapore – auditioned for roles by submitting videos online, or attending one of two open casting calls held in New York City and the Estefans’ home-city of Miami, Florida.[2] A lifelong fan of Gloria Estefan – who even attended the same Miami high school as the pop star – Villafañe learned of the Miami open casting call and, although she was unable to attend, sent the casting office a video audition. Within three days, she was called to audition for the show's director, Jerry Mitchell, and the Estefans. On April 13, 2015, Villafañe and Josh Segarra were announced on NBC's "Today Show" as the stars of the Broadway-bound musical.
“I feel a very big responsibility to portray her in a real way,” Villafañe said in an exclusive interview with InStyle Magazine.[3] “I don’t think you can actually replicate Gloria Estefan—you can only do your best to tell her story and be true to the music. I grew up performing her music at talent shows, ‘Reach’ was the first song I ever sang in public when I was 9 years old. That’s what we would jam to on our way to school.”
On meeting and working with Gloria Estefan, Villafañe told InStyle, “It was an out-of-body experience to be portraying her when she was in the room; it was just kind of surreal. On one side of my brain, I’d be working and taking notes about everything she tells me, and the other side of my brain I’m like, ‘Oh my god, you’re in a little room singing with Gloria Estefan right now. It’s those moments where you’re kind of like, ‘Is this real?’”
Villafañe made her professional stage debut in the pre-Broadway world premiere engagement of On Your Feet! at the Oriental Theater in Chicago, Illinois in June 2015. She made her Broadway debut at the Marquis Theatre on October 5, 2015, with an official opening night of November 5, 2015.
Villafañe is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.
References
- ↑ Lee, Ashley. "Gloria Estefan Musical 'On Your Feet!' to Hit Broadway in Fall 2015". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ↑ "Gloria Estefan on Casting Actress to Play Her in Broadway Show". Entertainment Tonight.
- ↑ Simon, Samantha. "What Ana Villafañe Really Thinks of Playing Gloria Estefan in New Broadway Musical On Your Feet". InStyle.