World-class Pinay shows talent

Monday, February 16, 2009


Joanna Ampil, Filipina singer and international theater star, saved thousands of dollars in plane fare and still experienced a world-class performance.

During her Valentine show, “Joanna Ampil ... I Love,” at the Music Museum Last Feb. 13, 2009 before the valentines day. Ampil enchanted the audience with music from her early years in “Miss Saigon” to her most current portrayal in “Avenue Q”.

She combined powerful vocals, a projection honed in professional theater, flawless diction and raw emotion to give listeners infallible proof that Filipino artists truly have what it takes.

Ampil enthralled a sparse yet attentive crowd with Broadway music sans expensive costumes and sets. “I have no character to hide in [tonight],” she said. “I’m naked in front of you.”

She appeared nervous in the early part of the show—a bit tentative as she rendered “Something’s Coming” and “Tonight” from “West Side Story,” the musical that she headlined recently, and “Seasons of Love” from “Rent.” But she upped the ante in her “Miss Saigon,” soaring in “Music in My Mind,” “Sun and Moon,” and “I Still Believe”. The audience was awestruck.

Years of obvious hard work yielded equally impressive takes on “On My Own” from “Phantom of the Opera” and “I Don’t Know How To Love Him” from “Jesus Christ Superstar”.

Ampil’s shift to OPM was seamless. She took on “Yakap Sa Dilim” and “Mamang Sorbetero” with authority and just the right amount of playfulness. She was naughty, almost giddy, in her duets with Franco Laurel, another theater pro, who was also a revelation that evening.

Highlight of the evening was Ampil’s medley of hits from “Sunset Blvd”, “Wicked” and “Dreamgirls”. Some spectators were convinced they were hearing versions better than the originals.

Should this world-class Pinay talent decide to stay as of now she is based in London.

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer


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