Saturday, March 8, 2008

Lea Salonga on Maui (Part 1)

Excellent! Outstanding! Those two words sums up my review on Lea Salonga's performance at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center, Castle Theater, last night, March 7, 2008.

But I am not stopping at those review. Please allow me to share with you this wonderful experience with Lea Salonga... (warning, this will be a long post).

* Before The Concert

The show starts at 7:30 PM. I arrived at the MACC parking lot at 6:30 PM and it's already full. I drove around a couple of times hoping I'd find a spot. I did. There was this person who parked his/her Toyota Explorer rudely that made the next parking stall so small and hard to squeeze in. Most cars won't make it in the tiny space, so it was left open. I have a small Hyundai and so I summoned every little bit of driving ability I have to squeeze in without damaging the rude Toyota car on the left and the nice red car on the right. I barely made it but I did!

There was an aura of great excitement and warmth in the audience as I entered the Castle Theatre. The usher led me to my seat. The guy who assisted me in purchasing the ticket (I purchased over the phone) wasn't kidding when he told me he's giving me one of the best seats in the house. He did! I was seating front row on the left wing. It was actually third row of the theatre because there are two rows in the middle that's ahead but it was the first row on the side. I was so excited. I would be seeing Lea up close!

7:19 PM - Theater is almost full. We're all happily waiting for the show to start.

7:30 PM - show started - right on the money! However... it was an intro - a Filipino Stand Up Comedian, Ogi T, opened up the show to introduce Lea. At first I was worried. His stand up jokes caters to the Filipinos and I was concerned that the non-Filipinos in the audience are getting offended. But my worry dissipated when he started talking about his "bide" experience . I am not sure if I am spelling the bide right - it's that toilet that actually washes your okele (behind). Ogi T was hilarious! After a few minutes of laughter, he got a little bit serious and introduced the beautiful Lea Salonga.

*Act 1 of the Concert - Simply Amazing

Enter Lea on a casual elegant attire. A nice glittery blouse with elaborate sleeves and a simple black pants. She sang a beautiful song which I can't remember what because I was so mesmerized with her. I was staring at her beautiful face the whole time...

After the first song, she did her fa fa - welcomed us, told us how glad she's able to come to Maui again (she was here 4 years ago), and she introduced her marvelous band. Then she sang the next song....

I Dreamed A Dream from Les Miserables. I found a video on YouTube for you too see and hear how Lea sings this song. This is not the video from the night's concert but just a sample of Lea singing I Dreamed A Dream. I'll close this post with that video and later I'd be back for more..






** Update: I will be posting Part 2 on Monday. Please come back and visit. Peek preview, the line up of songs she sung are:

I Dreamed A Dream (from Les Miserables)
I've Never Been In Love Before (from Guys & Dolls)
Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal
Reflections (from Mulan)
You Must Love Me (From Evita)
I'd Give My Life For You (from Miss Saigon)
A Whole New World (from Aladdin)
Taylor, the Latte Boy
Someone to Watch Over Me
On My Own (from Les Miserables)
They're Playing Our Song
Hahanapin Ko
Don't Be Afraid
Tomorrow (from Annie)

***

PART 2 can be found HERE
Part 3 can be found HERE

3 comments:

iFred said...

cant wait for the full review...

Anonymous said...

Wala po yatang model ang Toyota na Explorer. Ang alam ko po ay Ford. lmao.

Liza on Maui said...

Miss or Mr Anonymous - you made me smile when I read your comments. Tama ka nga - walang model na Explorer ang Toyota. Whatever their SUV model is - yun and naka-park. Ano ba ang pangalan ng Toyota na SUV?