Ana Teresa Villafañe ( ; born June 5, 1989) is an American actress and singer from

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, best known for her portrayal of pop icon Gloria Estefan in the Broadway musical ''

On Your Feet! ''On Your Feet!'' is a jukebox musical that played on Broadway at the Marquis Theatre. Based on the lives and music of 26-time Grammy Award-winning husband-and-wife team Gloria and Emilio Estefan, the musical has a book written by Alexander Dine ...

''.

Life and career

She was born on June 5, 1989, in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,7 ...

. She graduated from

Loyola Marymount University Loyola Marymount University (LMU) is a private Jesuit and Marymount research university in Los Angeles, California. It is located on the west side of the city near Playa Vista. LMU is the parent school to Loyola Law School, which is located ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. She is of Cuban and Salvadoran descent. Villafañe's film and television credits include: the award-winning ''

Magic City Memoirs ''Magic City Memoirs'' is a 2011 American coming of age drama film directed by Aaron J. Salgado, and stars Natalie Martinez, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Nestor Serrano, Julio Oscar Mechoso, J.R. Villarreal and Michael Cardelle. The film is based on t ...

'' (executive producer

Andy Garcia Andy may refer to: People *Andy (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Horace Andy (born 1951), Jamaican roots reggae songwriter and singer born Horace Hinds *Katja Andy (1907–2013), German-American pianist and piano ...

) "Los Americans" created by Dennis Leoni ("

Resurrection Boulevard ''Resurrection Blvd.'' is an American dramatic series which aired on Showtime for three seasons from 2000 to 2002. Plot In East Los Angeles, California, the Santiago family has had three generations of boxers within the family. They continue the ...

") Hiding (Anchor Bay) the Hulu Original Series ''South Beach'' set in her native Miami, and the female lead in the superhero feature film ''

Max Steel Max Steel is a line of action figures produced and owned by the toy company Mattel since 1999. The original figures based on the first TV series were similar to the original 12-inch G.I. Joe toys, consisting almost entirely of different versi ...

'' (Mattel). In the fall of 2014, Gloria Estefan and

Emilio Estefan Emilio Estefan Gómez (born March 4, 1953) is a Cuban-born American musician and producer. Estefan has won 19 Grammy Awards. He first came to prominence as a member of the Miami Sound Machine. He is the husband of singer Gloria Estefan, father ...

—alongside the producers and creative team of their biographical musical ''

''—launched an international casting search, 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 Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

, to Australia, to Colombia, to

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

—auditioned for roles by submitting videos online, or attending one of tw
open casting calls
held in New York City and the Estefans’ home-city of Miami, Florida. 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 Jerry Mitchell is an American theatre director and choreographer. Early life and education Born in Paw Paw, Michigan, Mitchell later moved to St. Louis where he pursued his acting, dancing and directing career in theatre. Although he did not ...

, and the Estefans. On April 13, 2015, Villafañe and

Josh Segarra Josh Segarra (born June 3, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his roles on the television series ''The Electric Company'', '' Sirens'', and ''Arrow'' as well as for originating the role of Emilio Estefan in the musical ''On Your Feet!''. ...

were announced on NBC's "

Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It w ...

" as the stars of the Broadway-bound musical. "I feel a very big responsibility to portray her in a real way", Villafañe said in a
exclusive interview
with

InStyle ''InStyle'' was an American monthly women's fashion magazine founded in 1994. It was published in the United States by Dotdash Meredith. In February 2022, it was announced that InStyle would cease print publications and move to a digital-only f ...

Magazine. "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". Villafañe made her Broadway debut in the role on October 5, 2015, ahead of the show's official opening night at the Marquis Theatre on November 5, 2015. Both she and the show received rave reviews, and Villafañe was named one of ''The Hollywood Reporter''’s top "Broadway Breakout Stars of the Year" She won a

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945–1946 theatre se ...

and was nominated for the Outer Critics Circle Award,

Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1922, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing. Each May, the awards ...

and Astaire Awards. Villafañe joined multiple Latin artists on

Lin-Manuel Miranda Lin-Manuel Miranda (; born January 16, 1980) is an American songwriter, actor, playwright and filmmaker. He is known for creating the Broadway musicals ''Hamilton'' (2015) and '' In the Heights'' (2005), and the soundtracks for the Disney animat ...

's "

Almost Like Praying "Almost Like Praying" is a song written by Lin-Manuel Miranda and recorded by him and numerous other artists under the collective name Artists for Puerto Rico. The song was released on October 6, 2017 by Atlantic Records to support relief effort ...

" in 2017. All proceeds from the song went to help Puerto Rico after being devastated by

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Category 5 hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the worst natural disaster in recorded history to affect ...

. In June 2021, Villafañe was cast as a lead in the NBC series ''

Night Court ''Night Court'' is an American television sitcom that aired on NBC from January 4, 1984 to May 31, 1992. The setting was the night shift of a Manhattan municipal court presided over by a young, unorthodox judge, Harold "Harry" T. Stone (portray ...

'', the sequel to the classic sitcom, but she was replaced by

India de Beaufort India de Beaufort (born India Beaufort Lloyd; 27 June 1987) is a British actress and singer. Early life de Beaufort is of British and Indian background. Her maternal grandfather was born in Calcutta, where his family lived for around 350 years ...

when the pilot was given a series order. From September 2021 until January 2022, she starred as Roxie Hart in the reopening of

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

on Broadway.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Villafane, Ana 1988 births Living people American stage actresses American television actresses American musical theatre actresses American people of Salvadoran descent Actresses from Miami American people of Cuban descent Loyola Marymount University alumni Theatre World Award winners 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Singers from Florida Musicians from Miami