Tryouts a boon for her

FRENCHESKA Farr

One thing Frencheska Farr has learned from theater: Auditions are SOP for entertainers.

The GMA 7 singer-actress went to the “Miss Saigon” auditions in Manila early this year.

She reportedly made the final round, but there was still no official word at press time.

“Whether I get a role or not, that was a big [boon] for me,” Farr told the Inquirer. “Not everyone gets to sing for that panel. (She sang “Movie in My Mind.”) Any role in that play would just be a bonus.”

Necessary

Actors should regard tryouts as a necessary first step to success, Farr said. It’s certainly nothing new for her, having tried out for (and winning) the lead role in Chito Roño’s film “Emir” in 2010. She was 17 and had just topped the Kapuso talent search “Are You the Next Big Star?”

Every experience, good or bad, opened new doors, she said.

“When I tried out for ‘Miss Saigon,’ I met the team behind 9 Works Theatrical,” Farr recalled. And when 9 Works Theatrical announced the tryouts for “Grease” the musical, she went once again.

She won the lead role of Sandy, played by Olivia Newton-John in the 1977 film and Lea Salonga in the 1995 staging in Manila.

(“Grease” goes onstage at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, in Makati City from Nov. 9 to Dec. 1.)