Monday, November 7 was a red-letter day for many Filipino-Americans on Broadway.
At the Alice Tully Hall in Lincoln Center, almost 60 Broadway performers of Filipino descent gathered together for a historic one-night only gala to raise funds for the Philippine Development Foundation (PhilDev).
More than ten blocks south, at the Circle in the Square Theater, a couple of rising Fil-Am stars were writing their own history and making their Broadway debut via the revival of Stephen Schwartz’s Godspell, a hip musical retelling of the New Testament’s Gospel of Matthew.
Anna Maria Perez de Tagle
For Anna Maria Perez de Tagle, her path to the Broadway stage led her from Disney’s Hannah Montana to Camp Rock to opening up for Jonas Brothers.
“It has always been my dream (to be on Broadway), and this is a dream come true. I’m living in New York now,” Anna Maria told the Asian Journal weeks ago during an open rehearsal. “I always had high regard and respect for people on the big stage because you always have to try your utmost best the first time, there are no second takes unlike film and TV. I am excited, happy and nervous for this musical adventure.”
They have been rehearsing every day for eight hours, and it shows.
The cast of ten thespians have bonded quite well that it seemed as if they’ve been performing together for quite sometime now.
It is an experience that Anna Maria, the youngest in the cast as 20 years old, relishes with pride and glee.
“I couldn’t ask for a better experience. We have a very rigorous rehearsal process and it is so worth it. I am loving every minute of it. I am so thankful. I am so blessed,” she said, still almost unbelieving of her luck to be onstage, on Broadway no less.
It was not just sheer luck that brought her here. In fact, credit her numerous talents—she’s a rare triple threat—as the reasons why she is where she is right now.
During the first day of rehearsals, Anna Maria literally felt like the new kid on the block. “I was very nervous,” she admitted.
In fact, she likened it to being on the first day of school.
Her anxiety dissipated into thin air when she met her fellow cast members.
“On the day of the first rehearsal, everybody became a family. We bonded instantly. Everybody in this cast is amazing,” she remarked.
Anna Maria was flying into New York for a promotional event from her home in Los Angeles when her manager suggested she go to the Godspell audition.
She had dabbled on stage in regional productions of Cinderella, ‘The Wiz and The King and I and lately had appeared on the Disney Channel’s series Hannah Montana, and in such films as Fame and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam. Last year, she toured with the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato.
“I like the message of the show which I all about love and community. The message is very strong, timely and worthwhile. Godspell delivers the key message of love. The world today is full of devastation and violence, what better to see a show like this. I’m excited for everyone to leave the theater inspired to do good,” Anna Maria said.
Anna Maria gets to sing Day by Day, the most famous and recognizable song of the musical. “There’s a lot of pressure but I hope to do the song justice,” she quipped.
Performing eight shows a week seems like a daunting task for Broadway newbies. Not for Anna Maria.
Her stint with Disney and the tour that she did with the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato in South America and North America prepared her for the rigorous schedule of Broadway.
“I am ready for it and I cant wait to be in the theater every night for two and a half hours and having a great time,” she said.
Her co-stars are in awe of the Filipina-American triple threat.
“I love her. We just met recently but I actually saw her perform in Camp Rock on tour. One of my best friends is a guitarist for that tour. It was exciting to see her then, and now we’re friends. She’s amazing and lovely. She’s beautiful and her voice is awesome. She is a pro,” said lead actor Hunter Parrish, who starred on Weeds and Spring Awakening”
For Telly Leung (Wes [one of the Warblers] on Glee), working with Anna Maria and George has been quite an experience.
“They are amazing. I’m so excited to be working with them on their Broadway debut. There are three Asians on this cast and I’m very proud of that and I know that our director is very proud of that as well,” he said.
“I’m Chinese but I am an honorary Filipino because I have a lot of Filipino friends who I have worked with in the past like Lea Salonga for Flower Drum Song and Paolo Montalban for Flower Drum Song,” Telly added.
George Salazar
Filipino-Ecuadorian-American George Leongson Salazar is also making his Broadway debut. And like Anna Maria, he also went through a roller coaster of emotions preparing for the rehearsals.
Born to an Ecuadorian dad and a Filipina mom (from Taytay, Rizal), the 25-year-old George is beyond excited to be making his Broadway debut.
“I feel so incredibly blessed and grateful. The cast is amazing. Anna Maria is incredible. Just to be a part of this ensemble is pretty insane,” a visibly high-strung and excited George told us during an interview.
George has visited the Philippines twice (“I love it there,” he remarked.). He was born in Staten Island and grew up in Orlando, Florida where his parents are still based. He moved to New York three years ago to pursue a career on Broadway.
He finished the Spring Awakening national tour last May and his manager got him his first audition for Godspell.
“It was a three-month process and I got called back about five times. I joke that it was like a bad relationship. It was a very long process but totally worth it. I have the best job in the world,” he shared.
George’s mom is a nurse back in Orlando. When he found out that he was officially a part of the cast, he called his mom—who was then with a patient—to deliver the news.
“I’ve never heard her scream that loud. If it’s possible, she’s more excited than I am,” he said.
Asked how Godspell has changed his life so far, George said that somehow, the show has made him more grateful for the smaller things.
“I appreciate the journey that I had to go through to get here—waiting tables, asking my parents for rent money. I am now a thousand times more grateful and I’m now living my dream. I feel very lucky to be doing that,” he said.
Beyond that, it is working with a great ensemble and theater legends, like creator Stephen Schwartz, the same man behind Pippin and Wicked.
“I had a great freak-out moment during our first meet-and-greet, meeting Stephen Schwartz. I’ve auditioned for him several times but here I was, shaking his hand, hugging him, becoming part of his family. It has been unbelievable,” George added.
George’s own Broadway path brought him from being a biology major (“I was going to be a doctor but theater came into my life and swept me off my feet,” he said) to waiting tables and serving drinks and dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. in Times Square.
That was why when he received that all-too-important phone call announcing that he got the part, he lost it.
“I was just overcome with emotions. I cried. I’m such a crier. I was a sweaty, crying mess,” he said, laughing at the thought of how insanely emotional he was that day.
The efforts and sacrifices both stars have made plus their training on musical theater, television and film have all led to this: the realization of their dreams on Broadway.
Anna Maria Perez de Tagle and George Salazar need not worry, they have an entire community of Filipino-Americans in theater ready to welcome them with open arms.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(NYJ Nov 11-17, 2011 LifeEASTyle pg.2)
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