Gloria Estefan has announced that she is working on a new musical. According to her personal Instagram, the artist known in Broadway circles for “On Your Feet!” is teaming up with her daughter, Emily Estefan, to write music and lyrics for a show called “Five Notes.”
Playwright Karen Zacarías is penning the book and Ken Cerniglia is serving as dramaturg. Michael Greif is on board as director with Alex Lacamoire as music supervisor.
“Five Notes” is an adaptation of the documentary “Landfill Harmonic” about the Orquesta de Reciclados de Cateura, also known as the Cateura Recycled Instruments Orchestra, which is made up of young people who live near the Cateura landfill in Asunción, Paraguay. The group plays instruments made from household waste; environmental technician Favio Chávez supervises a workshop that has been making these instruments since 2006.
The documentary is executive produced by Alejandra Amarilla, Rodolfo Madero and Belle Murphy; it is co-directed by Juliana Penaranda-Loftus, Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley.
Regarding “Five Notes,” Estefan wrote in the caption of her announcement, “We are just at the beginning of our process.”
Estefan made her Broadway debut as a producer of the jukebox bio-musical “On Your Feet!,” based on her life. Both Emilio and Gloria Estefan provided the musical’s orchestrations.
