Rivera succeeds Josh Segarra, who played his final performance July 10. The cast is headed by Ana Villafañe, who plays Grammy winner Gloria Estefan.
A musical theatre star in Puerto Rico, Rivera has appeared in productions of Rent, Hairspray, Godspell, Piaf, High School Musical, The Outsiders and The Mousetrap (San Juan Performing Arts Center and Tapia Theater). Stateside, he has appeared in Broadway and Beyond and Q’Viva! The Chosen, in which he was cast from the reality television show of the same name, produced by Jennifer Lopez, Marc Anthony and Simon Fuller.
The cast also stars Drama Desk Award winner Andréa Burns (In The Heights) as Gloria’s mother, Gloria Fajardo; Alma Cuervo (Beauty and the Beast) as Gloria’s grandmother, Consuelo; Alexandria Suarez and Fabi Aguirre as Little Gloria; and Eduardo Hernandez and Kevin Tellez as Nayib/Young Emilio. Rounding out the ensemble are Karmine Alers, Yassmin Alers, David Baida, Angelica Beliard, Natalie Caruncho, Henry Gainza, Linedy Genao, Carlos E. Gonzalez, Nina Lafarga, Genny Lis Padilla, Omar Lopez-Cepero, Hector Maisonet, Marielys Molina, Doreen Montalvo, Eliseo Roman, Luis Salgado, Marcos Santana, Martín Solá, Brett Sturgis, Eric Ulloa, Tanairi Vasquez and Lee Zarrett.
The new Broadway musical is based on the lives and music of Gloria and Emilio Estefan.
(Updated July 12, 2016)
