John Joven Uy and Meliza Reyes: Parenting On Their Feet

The husband-and-wife performers share thoughts on raising three sons, growing alongside them, and why On Your Feet! is ultimately a family story

For couples who work in the same industry, people often assume there’s bound to be conflict—that bringing work home is inevitable.

For theater actors and performers John Joven Uy and Meliza Reyes, it’s never quite worked that way.

After three decades together, countless productions, rehearsals, and shared stages, they’ve learned that being artistic partners has only strengthened the partnership they’ve built at home.

“I don’t see any disadvantages,” Meliza says matter-of-factly.

John laughs as he explains why.

“Advantage sa’kin, nakikita ko siya, kasama ko na siya. Hindi ko na siya iisipin pa. Kasi partner ko siya. Pag kasama mo sa trabaho, mas maganda. And we’re both doing what we love to do.”

For them, the theater has never competed with family life. Instead, it’s become part of it.

John Joven Uy plays Jose Fajardo, Gloria Estefan’s father in On Your Feet

Where Work Ends and Home Begins

The conversations naturally begin with rehearsals and characters. Scenes that need polishing.

But somewhere between the drive home and walking through the front door, the topic shifts.

“When we’re driving home, family na ang pinag-uusapan namin,” John shares. “Pagdating sa bahay, bahay na.”

Working in the same profession has given them something they don’t take for granted: an unspoken understanding of each other’s process.

There are days when one is quiet because a role still lingers. Days when the other instinctively knows not to interrupt the silence.

“Nagkakaintindihan kami,” John says. “Kaya mas madali.”

That understanding didn’t happen overnight.

Like many couples navigating careers in entertainment, they experienced moments of jealousy and insecurity early in their relationship. But the years gradually replaced uncertainty with trust. Today, they know each other’s rhythms as well as they know each other’s words.

Raising Boys with Room to Choose

Talk inevitably turns to their three sons.

It’s a subject that immediately lights them up.

All three have found their way to the theater in one form or another. Their eldest even joined the cast of Miss Saigon—a full-circle moment for parents whose own lives have long been intertwined with the stage.

Still, neither John nor Meliza ever expected their children to follow in their footsteps.

“I just told them to really love what they do,” Meliza says. “If you get a role, there’s a purpose why you’re there. It’s not just about shining. It’s about touching people and telling the story.”

It’s advice that extends far beyond acting.

For Meliza, purpose matters more than applause.

John believes the same, though his approach begins with exposure rather than expectation.

“We exposed them to theater,” he says. “Kapag may spark, sila na mismo ang magkakaroon ng interest. It’s influencing without saying, ‘You have to do it.'”

Giving children opportunities, they believe, is different from deciding their future for them.

Learning Alongside Their Children

At home, parenting duties are evenly shared—although their personalities couldn’t be more different.

Meliza readily admits John is the disciplinarian.

“Beauty and the Beast,” John jokes. “May panakot.”

Laughter comes easily between them. So does honesty.

For Meliza, motherhood has been the greatest teacher.

“You want them to serve their purpose in this world,” she reflects. “It’s really a lot of discipline.”

She also learned early that no parenting handbook could fully prepare them.

“Even if they all belong to us, iba-iba sila ng personalities,” she says. “It’s a different approach for every child.”

Looking back, she admits there are things she wishes she had done differently.

Their careers kept them busy for years, and if there’s one lesson she now shares with younger parents, it’s to be fully present while their children are still young.

“Sana mas na-devote ko pa most of my time with them,” she says quietly. “Ngayon we’re trying to catch up. Kaya for young parents, values and discipline should really be instilled while they’re young.”

John has his own realization.

“You think you have all the time in the world,” he says.

Then one day, your children aren’t children anymore.

John Jove Uy and wife Meliza Reyes

Becoming the Parents Their Children Need

Fatherhood changed the way John looked at ambition. Before becoming a parent, career decisions affected only him.

Afterward, every opportunity came with responsibility. His work as a flight attendant and later in corporate management often required long hours away from home, sacrifices made with his family in mind.

“You become more serious,” he says.

The freedom to simply chase the next adventure slowly gave way to building stability for the people waiting for him at home.

It’s why his advice to aspiring fathers isn’t about romance. It’s about readiness.

“You have to know the job description before you apply for it.”

Being a father, he says, isn’t a role you clock in and out of.

There are no weekends. No vacation leave. No shortcuts.

“It’s never-ending work,” Meliza adds.

John smiles before finishing the thought.

“But if you love it, it doesn’t feel like work.”

Why On Your Feet! Feels So Personal

Audiences may come to On Your Feet! expecting Gloria Estefan’s biggest hits.

John and Meliza hope they leave remembering something else – family.

For John, one of the musical’s most moving relationships is the bond between Gloria and her father.

“Every time something happens, Gloria always goes back to her father,” he says. “He’s the one who keeps encouraging her.”

It’s a relationship many daughters—and fathers—will recognize. Not always loud. Not always obvious – but steady.

Meliza, meanwhile, finds herself drawn to the story’s mother-daughter dynamic.

“There are communication gaps because of the generation gap,” she says. “That’s very normal in any family.”

Misunderstandings happen.

Parents and children don’t always see eye to eye.

Yet love remains.

“There’s no such thing as a perfect relationship,” Meliza says. “But the love is there. That’s what matters.”

John believes the musical also reminds families of something equally important: supporting one another, even when the path isn’t the one you imagined.

“Sometimes we don’t support because we don’t believe that’s the path for them,” he says. “But we have to let them lead their own lives.”

Then there’s Abuela Consuelo—the family member who cheers the loudest.

The one who believes before everyone else does.

Meliza smiles as she talks about her. Every family, she says, deserves someone like that.

Someone who reminds you who you are when you’ve forgotten.

Someone who keeps believing until you’re finally able to believe in yourself.

Perhaps that’s why On Your Feet! resonates far beyond its music and choreography.

Beneath the standing ovations is a story many families already know by heart.

Parents doing their best.

Children discovering who they’re meant to become.

And love—not as perfection—but as the quiet, everyday choice to keep showing up, long after the curtain falls.

On Your Feet! The Story of Emilio and Gloria Estefan opens on July 10 at the Proscenium Theater. For tickets, check out ticketworld.com.ph

Photos by Loreta Arroyo

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