The author (foreground) and Gerard Salonga (behind her) onstage
MELBOURNE—We are all coming off an incredible high after the previous weekend of sold-out concerts at the Sydney Opera House (to everyone who came, thank you all so very much!). The venue is as legendary as we anticipated it would be. That facade was breathtaking after seeing it in photos and tourism films. Before my trip, I bought the Lego set in a bid to get good vibes; I shall be putting it all together soon.
In mid-2015, my agent Josh Pultz, makeup artist Kusie Ho and myself took a private guided tour of the Opera House, given by Veronica Alonzo, herself a performer. She took us around the building, including the public spaces and performance venues. When we entered the concert hall, I said quietly, “One day, I am going to perform here.” Josh heard me, and said, “Let’s make it happen.” Thanks to him and producer Michael Cassel, it did!
Fast-forward to Feb. 3, our first performance. It took every ounce of energy to keep from dropping to our knees and crying. I know that my brother (and musical director) Gerard’s mind was just blown, being able to conduct that massive orchestra in the Sydney Opera House. I would watch him from backstage; he would have the biggest smile on his face. Everyone in the orchestra was very welcoming to both of us, just so inviting and hospitable, and the audiences even more so.
Our program consisted of many orchestral charts compiled, created and road-tested over many years. Much of the repertoire was composed of musical theater favorites from “West Side Story,” “Les Miserables,” “Miss Saigon,” “Hamilton,” “Company,” “Flower Drum Song,” and more. And of course, we would always include a little Disney for good measure. One of those songs was “A Whole New World.”
For our time at the Opera House, three young men volunteered, all of them of Filipino descent (one named Dave was from New Zealand, while Jared and Mark were from Australia).
Their unexpected Sydney Opera House debuts were met with thunderous applause (most notably for Jared because he’s only 12 years old). Gents, thank you very much for coming up on stage, and for continuing to perpetuate the stereotype that Filipinos the world over can sing.
And now, we are here in Melbourne, about to do the same.
We arrived on Sunday (by the time you read this, the shows—scheduled last Tuesday and Wednesday—will already be over) on a cloudy but balmy afternoon. But by evening, the skies opened and buckets of rain came pouring down. On Monday morning, I woke up to low clouds and a drizzle, and by afternoon, the chill in the air made it feel like the middle of autumn.
I did hear that Melbourne can get four seasons in a day, and on this midsummer’s day, it’s cool that I got to experience that.
But even cooler is that as we get older, the wonderment and awe of getting to travel to amazing cities and perform in some of these iconic performance venues don’t fade. And very soon, our preparations for “Songs from the Stage” (at the Philippine International Convention Center) will be in full swing—learning new songs and reviewing old ones.
My birthday month is turning out very, very nice indeed.