Anyone lucky enough to have watched Celia Cruz perform live can attest to her magical, infectious force. There was no way to take your eyes off a woman with an energy that was almost supernatural and a voice that thundered with Afro-Cuban soul.

And then there was the way she moved. Hips swaying, shoulders shaking, arms pumping. There was nothing sex-kittenish about the Queen of Salsa. Unlike most other female Latin singers, she didn't trade on suggestive super-femininity. Like the men who otherwise ruled the genre, Celia unapologetically packed a wallop.

There have been few women out there with the muscle to do a Celia hit justice. But now comes Anissa Gathers, who plays one of the Latin world's biggest stars in Celia: The Life and Music of Celia Cruz, running at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts through July 6.

Though short on professional experience, Gathers, whose mother is Dominican and father African-American and Puerto Rican, has been blowing away audiences with her spot-on portrayal of the singer who was silenced by brain cancer in 2003. She was the understudy when the musical opened Off Broadway in the fall of 2007. The better known Xiomara Laugart, who made a splash with the edgy Cuban-funk band Yerba Buena, played Celia until bowing out in March.

Her departure gave Gathers, who had performed in several Afro-Latin dance groups in New York and occasionally sung with salsa bands, her first big break.

''They weren't willing to trust this big role to somebody who didn't have the theater background,'' she says in Spanish while munching a salad at the Hilton on Biscayne Boulevard just a quick stroll from the Arsht Center. ``I was more of a dancer than a singer. I worked with several folkloric groups. But when I sang, it was three or four songs, and that's it. Never a whole show.''

Gathers says Celia's producers ``were worried that I just didn't have the experience to do eight shows a week. And it was hard at first. It took a while to develop the stamina to do a show where I have to sing 26 songs. When I took over in New York, by the end of the week, I was just exhausted. But now it's getting easier.''

POWERFUL VOICE

By most accounts, Laugart delivered a moving performance. But Gathers, physically thick like Celia and gifted with a similarly deep, powerful voice, nails the interpretation.

''I saw the show when it opened the other day, and there were moments when I thought I was watching Celia,'' says Omer Pardillo who was Cruz's manager. ``When she sings La Negra Tiene Tumbao, and the part where she copies Celia's performance in Africa with the Fania All-Stars, that's when she comes the closest. Her mannerisms, the way she walks on and off the stage -- it's obvious how much respect Anissa has for Celia. She really studied her. Celia's spiritual force filled the stage. And Anissa has that kind of presence, too.''

Gathers may not look exactly like Celia, but once she hits the stage in a copy of one of Cruz's extravagant gowns, sporting a tall wig and high heels (the show had a designer make a pair of Celia's signature cantilevered shoes) the magic is on.

There's that booming voice so close to la reina's that some folks are convinced Gathers is lip-synching in hits like Quimbara, Cúcala, Caramelo and Bemba Colorá. And there's the way Gathers strides across the stage, mike in fist. The way she punctuates lyrics with those exuberantly Cuban hand gestures. The way she pulls the audience into her party.

The memories of a peerless and beloved star come flooding back.

''I study Celia all day, every day,'' says Gathers, who never saw her live but who, even as a band singer, was often asked to perform her songs. ''Breakfast, lunch and dinner, her music is always playing. I have videos of different shows that I watch over and over. When I wake up in the morning, even here in the hotel, that's the first thing I do, watch the videos. The one of her performance in Zaire [during a music festival to celebrate the famed 1974 Ali-Foreman ``Rumble in the Jungle'' boxing match] I have watched 20,000 times. It never gets old.''

But Gathers won't allow herself more credit than that. Beyond the imitation there is magic.

''The minute that I walk onto the stage, something happens,'' Gathers says. 'It's like I'm not Anissa anymore. It's like the spirit of Celia takes over me. I can't explain what I mean. But I'll move on stage in a way that's really her and that I didn't really plan. And now, even when the show is over, I'm still walking around backstage like Celia. You know, the way she walked with her head a little down and with that tumbao. The other performers will say, `OK, stop. You're freaking me out.' But I don't really know I'm doing it. Celia is just in me now.''

Gathers carries a black-and-white photo of Celia everywhere. Before every performance, she pulls it out, says a little prayer and offers a 'This is for you, mi reina.' ''

''I'm a very spiritual person. I think she knows, and I think it makes her happy,'' says Gathers, who, like Celia, is a natural talent who had had no formal training before the show hired a vocal coach.

''The coach has helped me a lot with breathing,'' says Gathers, who lives in Queens with two sons, 10 and 17, and her mom. ``That's just something that I really didn't know how to do.''

Gathers, who grew up in Puerto Rico, never intended to be a professional singer although she discovered her talent when she was about 5.

``My grandfather played the tres, and he always had me singing boleros. When I was a little older, I would go to all the churches in the neighborhood to sing. May God forgive me, but my family was Episcopalian, where there is not a lot of singing. So I would go to evangelical and Pentecostal churches with my friends just to sing.''

After lunch, Gathers orders coffee and reluctantly tells the waitress not to bring milk.

``I never worried about all that stuff. But now I don't have ice, and I don't have dairy. It's true that it's bad for a singer's voice, unfortunately. And now I have to take care of myself like a real singer.''

After Miami, the show goes to Spain and Latin America. And then Gathers will return to New York to record an independent CD. She and her producer know they'll have a major challenge finding the right style for her and making sure she gets noticed in a world in which youth and sex appeal sell best.

''My producer says I have to hurry up because of my age,'' says Gathers, who doesn't want the number out there but is older than she looks. ``But I say that age wasn't an issue for Celia. I guess times are different now. But I think if something is meant to be, it will be, regardless of your age or whether you're overweight or whatever. Celia overcame all of that because she was just that good. And if this is as far as I go, I'll be OK with that. I can say the dream came true.''

WANTS TO RECORD

Gathers wants to record a salsa album, though producers tell her the genre doesn't sell as well as it used to.

``I love to dance. I can't be on a stage without dancing. So I can't sing songs that are not danceable. I need to do tropical. But I have to find my own style now. I have to be Anissa. One way I'm different from Celia is the way way we move. I think I'm a little more sensual when I dance. When I do her, I always have to be careful not to overdance, not to overmove. She was a great dancer, but she was never trying to be seductive.''

If only Gathers could learn to how to deal with Celia's shoes, which hurt to dance in, and Celia's nails. She had to get long, silver acrylics for the stage.

''I can't do anything with these nails!'' she says as she tries to jot down her phone number. ``I just can't get used to them. In my regular life, I cook and wash dishes. I can't have nails like this. But you know, anything for Celia.''

Even though she'll be careful not to imitate Celia, Gathers says she'll take plenty from the Queen of Salsa as she searches for her voice and develops her recording career.

'What I really loved about Celia was how humble she was. She never forgot where she came from, and I think that's really important. She was such an example as a strong Afro-Latin woman. She opened so many doors for other women. Obviously, she opened doors for me. That strength of hers has made me stronger. Nothing scares me anymore. I used to be a little insecure, but now I stand on a stage and I think, `I can do this.' I have Celia to thank for that.''

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