An answered prayer!  Fate!  A miracle!  Those are the words that come to my mind when I think of how my participation in SRT's "They're Playing Our Song" in Singapore was made possible.  Like a script unfolding, everything went on cue.. fell into place.  I was just coming out of my mini-sabbatical from musical theatre and except for assisting in a chidren's musical theatre worshop over the summer, a couple of concerts and singing for weddings with my quartet, I have not yet had the inclination to audition again for any local musical production. In fact, I was seriously thinking of a temporary career shift for a while.. a career where I could still indulge my love of music but earn a little bit more.. an ongoing dilemma for me for the past 2 years or so.. but..

...one evening, a most important phone call came from Mr. C!  SRT was looking for a girl for the ensemble of "They're Playing Our Song".. Lea was tasked with finding the girl and Mr. C said, if I was interested and if my schedule was free from end of Sept to mid-November, he was going to recommend me for the slot!!  Of course I was interested!!!   I felt an adrenaline rush..  but I was also anxious.. I had no idea how many other "candidates" were being considered and what the choosing process will be like... There were no promises.. just a CHANCE that I might be considered..  And so,  I waited and prayed for weeks.. anxiously, excitedly, ... almost resignedly for whatever the final decision would be just as long as the endless waiting would end so that I can just move on...   I felt like Timoune in "Once on this Island".. "waiting for life to begin"... hahahahha..   To make a long story short, I did get it!!!!!!  Alleluia!

When I got the news from Lea, for a while there, I couldn't believe it was true.. I was numbed, then.. soooo excited, I was grinning a silly grin, there were butterflies in my stomach... but I didn't tell my family outright about it.. I just wanted to keep it to myself for a while..   didn't want to "tempt the fates".. hehehe.. so, I just hinted that I MIGHT be going abroad in a few weeks.. It was only when I got to talk to the GM and was already coordinating with SRT did everything start to feel real... but still, I wasn't relaxing one bit until my contracts arrived and the plane tickets were purchased.  As Gaurav (the GM) said later, when he found out about this little story, "You aren't paranoid, are you?" .. hahahaha.. Well, I was exactly THAT!  It's been 4 years since my last trip abroad and I was just itching to fly again.  :-)

It has been a very fun, enriching and memorable experience for me in many, many ways -- a blessing.   It was my first non-Filipino produced musical production.  In all my trips abroad in the past, I've always been a part of a tour group.  With the UPCC, we were a university choir bringing our repertoire for concerts and competitions.. In theatre, it was original Filipino musicals.. we came lock, stock and barrel.. the whole production!  This time, I got to go as myself, to work with an international theatre company and I got to work again with  Lea Salonga.. a very enjoyable experience!!  Our Choral Director was also a Filipina -- Babes Conde -- who used to be with the New Minstrels!  Tony Petito calls us "the Filipino Mafia"! hahaha..  The egos were a happy bunch.  We all stayed in one dressing room.. it was a bit crowded but we were able to  manage beautifully.  We were able to amuse ourselves creatively while waiting for our cues.. like reminiscing Sesame Street scenes, one-man shows by Sebastian, Asian songs medleys, joke swapping, the making of "The Adventures of  Fatso and Dumdum with Subtitle Man", girl talks, the lovelife of.. , tap lessons, JENGA (Mrs. Salonga was very good in this game!!), all sorts of puzzles, cross-stitching, diary-writing, serious discussions on certain issues, Hokkien version of "When You're In My Arms", putting on more and more make up and shimmer.. hahaha.. etc., etc., etc.   We had a fabulous group and a fabulous production!  It was a fun musicale to do.. from rehearsals to performances!  Everyone was just wonderful!

I met new friends, I was able to be on my own.. had a chance to be really independent, I learned new things about people, places, relationships and things around me.. but more importantly,  I learned new things about myself, too.   As always when I'm outside the country, I  kept a journal to jot down whatever it was that happened to me in a day..  what I felt, where I went,  whatever it was that grabbed my attention..  no matter how trivial it was, as long as I remembered it..

There was one sad thing that happened while I was there in Singapore --- the passing away of one of my dear mentors.. Dean Rey T. Paguio, our UPCC conductor .. a day before our opening night.   It was depressing that I wasn't able to say goodbye, pay my last respects.. the only thing I could do was to do my best and make him proud of me with my performances.  It was in the UPCC that I learned of "performing" and "love of music" as a way of life.. and that with it comes the importance of discipline and a sense of responsibility to always give the best... that the show must go on.. "kahit dumudugo pa ang lalamunan mo!"   And with travelling as a group that brought Philippine culture and musicality to other lands came the national pride of being a "Philippine cultural ambassador of goodwill" in our own little way.  In all my trips abroad, that has always been something I kept in mind.

I didn't get to do much of the touristy things while I was in Singapore, like going to the Jurong Birdpark or Sentosa or the Night Safari.. although at another time, I might have enjoyed doing so.. there was not much opportunity really  and I was alone most times, anyway -- it wouldn't be as fun and it can be expensive... and so, I usually hit the areas that were easy to go to and that weren't too far from the hotel and the theatre... I rode on the MRT, but I'd usually end up walking long distances with my face glued to a map...  I just considered it as part of my fitness regimen.. hahahaa!

Then of course, there were the "domestic" things that I religiously attend to.. my GROCERY shopping and my LAUNDRY!!!  On my day offs,  I preferred to get as much rest as I could especially after a performing night.. to get ready for the next  performance.  Oh yeah, I tend to stay up late.. but it was usually because after a show, my energy would still be way up there and I would putter around the room, get things done, read a book, etc.. in order to slowly relax and finally go to sleep.  I didn't want to get sick.. I didn't want to risk losing my voice.  That's the worst nightmare of a performer!  So whenever I slept late, I usually slept in the next day so that I could have at least my minimum no. of sleep hours.  My priority has always been the work that had to be done.. the reason why I was there in the first place.  Not too many people get the opportunity to do what they love to do, get to travel to another country and get paid for it, you know.   And so, I just wanted to give my best.

All too soon, the run was ending.. we were clearing our cluttered dressing room ...  I was thinking of things that I needed to buy as take-home gifts to my family.. and it was almost time to go back to home.

Thank you, Mr. C!  Thank you, Lea!  Thank you, SRT! ....  Thank you, Sir Paguio!

In this website, though, I'm posting just a rough outline of  the schedule that I kept (some entries are in "Tagalog", and some in "Taglish")... some details here and there..  hehehe... but some things, I'd really just like to keep for myself.. ;-)