I’ve been back in the United States for about three weeks now. The days have been quite busy. There was the Disney Legend Awards, and then a trip to San Francisco for an AIDS benefit concert called “Help is On the Way,” alongside artists like Shirley Jones and Patrick Cassidy. I was thrilled to hold Shirley’s hand at curtain call.
At the benefit to offer his cooking services was Olympic figure skater Brian Boitano. I saw him at rehearsals, but was too tongue-tied to say anything. He is all kinds of awesome. I was able to meet him at the post-performance reception, though. What a handsome and charming man!
After the performance, I took my husband Rob and daughter Nicole to Walnut Creek to enjoy a few days off and visit with family. Rob’s cousin Renee had just given birth to a beautiful baby girl, so we wanted to spend some down time with them. However, this vacation wasn’t all about relaxation; for much of the time, we were on the go.
One night, we headed to Sacramento to see a production of “Miss Saigon.” I had a slew of friends and former colleagues in the production. The principal line-up was composed of actors who had done the show before: Kevin Gray (Engineer) and Ma-Anne Dionisio (Kim) opened the original Toronto production; Eric Kunze (Chris) was in the 1st National Tour and played Marius opposite my Eponine in “Les Miz” on Broadway; and Michael K. Lee (Thuy) originated the 2nd National Tour production, as well as closed the Broadway production with me. Michael and I also worked together in Manila many years ago on SRT’s “They’re Playing Our Song.”
I also knew a couple of people in the ensemble, either in readings or thanks to mutual friends. The singing was topnotch. It was so nice to watch “Miss Saigon” when I didn’t need to worry about how it would sound.
What a thrill!
After another couple of rest days, it was time to go back on the road. Next stop was Edmonton, Alberta, where I had a concert scheduled at The Venue, River Cree Casino.
It was on to Vancouver the next day for the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition). A few audience members had settled in front of the stage, so I thought to do something fun: Cee-lo Green’s “Forget You.” I performed the song in the actual show as my second encore.
The show was a thrill. Let me preface this by saying that we had over 8,000 in the audience, mostly Filipinos. One of the songs on my set list was “Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal,” and when I asked the audience to sing it, they responded with a loud chorus. It gave me goosebumps.
On August 30, I said goodbye to my husband and daughter as they left Vancouver for Manila, and I went off to another tour stop: Provo, Utah (I call it Osmond country). I gave a musical theater master class on Thursday, September 1, at Brigham Young University, and performed in concert at BYU’s De Jong Performing Arts Center. What an amazing crowd there was!
Then it was on to Chandler, Arizona, for a performance at the Wild Horse Pass. I met up with a cousin, Cash Imutan, his wife Jojie and their daughter Jackie. They came to the concert along with a few friends; we hung out for dinner at Shula’s Steakhouse after the show. I think we were up till past the restaurant’s normal closing time – there was a lot to catch up on. I gave my mother a call from the restaurant, so she and Cash could chat for a bit.
Now, I am back in Provo (after just over a day in LA to do my laundry and check my mail). I had another performance at De Jong last night, and now I have some work to do for BYU TV.
By the time you read this, I’ll have landed in Santa Ana and begun my drive to San Manuel for still another show.
Yes, my days are so busy, that sometimes I don’t know what day it is. It can be overwhelming, stressful and crazy, but I’d probably go crazier without all of it. That said, once I get home, I’ll be ripe and ready for a glass of wine and a very deep massage.