Joaquin Valdes to make London debut in first musical to open since lockdown

Joaquin Pedro Valdes—JC INOCIAN

There are simply too many divisive issues distracting the Philippine government from prioritizing programs meant to halt the upward projection of COVID-19 cases here. As we write this, it’s just a matter of time before the Philippines, with 80,448 cases, overtakes China’s total number of “reported” cases, at 83,830.

With nothing much for Filipinos to crow about these days, you can imagine how happy we were to unexpectedly wake up at a little past 4 a.m. last Friday to find “a ray of sunshine” waiting for us on Facebook—and it’s great news coming from homegrown theater heartthrob and filmmaker Joaquin Pedro Valdes, whose prodigious performing skills and potent stage presence we were only too happy to showcase in some of the theater shows we have directed in the past.

For many years since he began acting as a child actor, Joaquin became one of Philippine theater’s top male leads. But he dared to jump out of his comfort zone to spread his wings and see where else his talent could take him.

It didn’t take long before Joaqs, as we fondly call him, found himself performing all over Europe as part of the UK/international cast of Claude-Michel Schonberg, Alain Boublil and Richard Maltby Jr.’s “Miss Saigon,” where he was a cover for the roles of the Engineer and Thuy, then of the UK and Asia cast of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “The King and I,” where he covered for Lun Tha.

Upon the singer-actor’s own admission, when his stint with “King and I” was unceremoniously halted by the lockdown early this year, he went through “a bout of highs and lows”—a period in his life which he described as “extremely uncertain, precarious and sometimes scary.”

Then came the LGBTQ-themed historical musical “Fanny and Stella,” with book and lyrics by Glenn Chandler and music by Charles Miller. The team behind it just announced Joaquin’s participation in the show, which is the first production, musical or straight play, to open in London since the lockdown began on March 23.

“Fanny and Stella” isn’t just a figment of a playwright’s overactive imagination. Set in 1871, the musical is inspired by the true story of entertainers Fanny and Stella, two drag queens who perform in theater shows in Victorian England.

But when they’re caught performing “extracurricular activities” in between shows, they are hauled off to court, then later acquitted for dressing up as women and for a “conspiracy to commit sodomy,” considered a felony at a time when sexual acts between men carried a sentence of two years.

After their unexpected victory in court, Fanny and Stella, along with their theater company, take their unique story on the road.

The show, which begins its scheduled 12-performance run from Aug. 3 to 25 at the Garden Theatre in Vauxhall, will be a “socially distant,” open-air production where audiences will be required to wear masks. Creative team includes director Steven Dexter, with musical staging by Nick Winston and musical direction by Aaron Clingham.

Joaquin, who marks another career milestone with his first London Fringe show, will be joining lead actors Jed Berry (“Kinky Boots”) and Kane Verrall (“The Sound of Musical”), who play Ernest Boulton (aka Stella) and Frederick William Park (aka Fanny), respectively.

Joaquin portrays the role of John Safford Fiske, an American consul in Scotland who was forced to leave his post after getting dragged into the “homosexual scandal.”

The company’s six-actor ensemble also includes Kurt Kansley (“Ragtime,” “Miss Saigon,” Evita”) as Lord Arthur Clinton, Alex Lodge (“The Book of Mormon,” “Bat Out of Hell” and “Tick, Tick … Boom!”) as Louis Charles Hurt, and Mark Pearce (“Les Miserables,” “The Wedding Singer” and a previous production of “Fanny and Stella”) as Mr. Grimes.

Before the lockdown, Joaquin was supposed to cover Che Guevara in the Barbican’s revival of “Evita”—a summer production that has since been canceled because of the pandemic.

To be honest, watching London’s Off-West End and Fringe shows is one of our favorite pastimes every time we visit the United Kingdom because of the raw intimacy and no-frills staging that characterize each production—so we can’t be any prouder and envious of him. Congratulations and thank you, Joaqs!

So, when we got hold of him during the witching hour by accident last Friday, we didn’t let him go until he answered some questions for you, dear readers.

Joaquin as Lun Tha in “The King and I”

Here’s our Q&A with Joaquin:

How did you get the role?

It was a whirlwind! I got a call from my agent saying the director (Steven Dexter) and the casting director (Anne Vosser) had invited me in for an urgent audition. The turnaround was going to be very fast—meaning, I’d know immediately if I booked the job or not—because the show was set to open in two weeks’ time and rehearsals would start immediately.

Since my schedule is pretty much empty, and we’re all still easing our way out of the lockdown, I had nothing to lose.

I met the director and read with him some sides. Since a lot of the restaurants were closed and it was a good day, we had the audition in a gorgeous park by a church.

He was very particular about the accent, the feel, the energy and the willingness to do something so out of the box. The show was going to be performed by just six actors and in a non-traditional performances space. Steven Dexter wanted to make sure that he assembled not only a talented cast, but also a very brave and adventurous one.

Were you told that the show was going to premiere this soon, and during the lockdown?

Yeah, as soon as my agent contacted me, the schedule was already laid out. I had also seen some press about it a few days prior. It was going to be the first-ever musical/show to perform straight out of lockdown.

The government had just announced the official green light for outdoor performances to resume. So, there’s lots of attention on it because it’s the first show that’s actually going to get produced following all the official social-distancing guidelines—and there are lots of them.

Could you talk about the show and what your role is in it?

“Fanny and Stella: The Shocking True Story” is a musical about the famous trial of Ernest Boulton and Fredrick Park aka known as Stella and Fanny. In 1870, they were charged with “the abominable crime of buggery.”

Sodomy was a criminal act in Victorian London and the pair of “He-She Ladies,” who were renowned entertainers were now indicted with buggery, described at the time as “an unnatural sexual act against the will of God and Man.”

I play John Fiske, an American consul and one of Stella’s lovers. It’s a really fun and riotous romp and we’re performing to an audience of 50 socially distant viewers spread around a refurbished beer garden.

We won’t be amplified by microphones and there’s no fancy special effects or lighting. It’s pure storytelling and just “performance at its finest.” There are intimate scenes, yes, but because of social-distancing guidelines, we can’t perform with partners less than 2 meters apart. So there are creative ways around it.

It’s going to be right across the Pleasure Garden in Vauxhall, where historically you would have traveling players and actors performing plays in a similar fashion—props out of a box and pure imagination. It’s nice to feel like we’re part of something historical and also something revolutionary.

How are rehearsals coming along. How are they done in the time of COVID-19 and social distancing?

We just finished our whole-day music call and are about to begin an intense two-week rehearsal process. The days will be long, and things will be discovered along the way.

Our director is so lovely, imaginative and also so nurturing in his process. While we were all pretty much caught like deer in headlights, he along with the producers made us feel like they’re holding our hands throughout this exciting new venture.

We don’t know what it means exactly to be mounting a production under the “new normal,” but it feels like we’re all in this stage of discovery together. It’s rather inspiring and hopeful.

What were your takeaways from “Miss Saigon” and “King and I”? What was the general mood when the lockdown began?

I went through a bout of highs and lows when “The King and I” got canceled so abruptly. I was scheduled to go straight into another production at The Barbican for the summer, but COVID-19 canceled that as well.

So, from a high of being employed and living out my dream as an actor, to complete nothingness was a lot to take in. I went off the grid from social media for a good while and just focused on being centered and calm.

I was meditating, baking bread (which was my savior, too), and started taking classes and doing things that inspired me and reminded me of why I fell in love with this craft in the first place. I needed to focus only on what I could control and understand, instead of getting drowned by all the toxic speculation, negativity and noise.

How did you spend your time during the very long lull? Didn’t you think of coming home?

My wife Agee (Romero-Valdes, a lawyer) and I agreed that the wisest thing to do was to try and stay in the UK. She is in the middle of finishing her dissertation and I wanted to be here for her, as well. So we both felt that we had tons of unfinished business here.

If there’s one show on your casting wish list when the rest of the UK theater scene reopens, what would be on top of it?

I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t dream of “Hamilton” or “Les Miserables” or (enter any big blockbuster-selling show here). While I still dream that one day I’ll be sharing the stage with the immense talent in those shows, I’m actually very grateful that I get to be on “any” stage, big or small.

I would never have imagined that I’d be part of a small off-West End Fringe show right out of lockdown, but the more I take it all in, the more I embrace the fact that it can’t get any better than this. I couldn’t have asked for a better post-COVID-19 gig.

This is why I love the stage and being an actor—that we’re able to tell a story like this in this specific moment in history. It’s crazy, exciting and extremely brave. And I get to be part of that history.