Unboxing Charice and our traditional archetypes (a 3-part post)

[PART I of III]

IN JULY 2009, THERE WAS MUCH ADO in the entertainment scene that stemmed from a statement on TV by OPM legend Freddie Aguilar about Charice, Arnel Pineda and other Filipino talents making a name abroad (although specifically addressing a question about Charice), on being famous by imitating—like monkeys...because we don't hold our own,¹  said he—Western singers and their styles.

The issue lasted for about a month and has since died a natural death. At its peak, however, the issue dragged other Filipino singers into the scene. Needless to say, it drew all sorts of reactions especially online, and created a real-world gap between followers of the performers mentioned and those who agreed with Aguilar.

It also added a degree of stigma already attached to talents like Charice and Arnel and their respective fan bases and pouring fire into existing heated rivalry specifically between Charice’s fans and of other female singers older than she and whom she'd often been compared with.

To some extent, the issue above was aggravated by online activities participated in by fans across sectors as a consequence of technologies we currently have.

Our preoccupation with fast information and viral issues, and of the marketing and appreciation of talents we see and hear about, has in fact taken a much different approach to the traditional, even if the so-called “traditional” modes still exist, for example, through sleek local talent-search TV productions instantly available with just a click on the remote and a lot of free viewing time, but with minimal focus on the search for real talents.

These technologies, along with the current "traditional" ones like TV and radio, have also changed the way we interact with or react to issues whether they be real or perceived, and have become the defining influences in our choices.

A trichotomy | Like in most developing countries, our reality is living in a world of wide and rigid differences in terms of preferences and prorities.

For instance, we have, on one hand, premium-rate entertainment services and its selective, privileged market, and, on the other, shows on free TV that, like in murky public markets, dispense what its producers think the masses deserve. There simply isn't room for options.

Between both is the broad middle class sector, many of whom help expand the trichotomy having advanced from near-destitution to affording things on demand (thanks to remittances by relatives abroad) and have become consistent spenders on middle-class pleasures.

Charice, who comes from the masses, has made dream-like success look easy and fluid because of YouTube and her undeniable talent to sing cover songs — the big, difficult ones at that, from as early as 7 years old if we take into account her publicized starting age at joining contests.

It is interesting that, having come from a family of modest means herself, many of her detractors whom she actually represents and whose ideals she lives up to are themselves the first to put her down.

This circumstance may have to do with not just the perpetual rich-vs-poor rationale against a third world background but also with complex factors that have to do with the entertainment industry in general in which marketing and sales rule, packaging matters.

On the other hand, if popular belief is to be pursued, events related to Charice may have to fall back to status conflict because it seemed to have happened to her when she, having been a clear choice in the last singing contest she joined on television five years ago, was edged out through what many believed were unfair systems not once but twice, probably even more, of what may have been her only ticket out of poverty in her early teens.

An example is the recent admission of singer-songwriter Jim Paredes on his blog about his judging a special segment of the contest Charice was in and to whom he and his fellow judges apparently gave high scores. He disclosed that they were asked by the contest staff to reconsider their tallies which appeared to have given Charice the score advantage over all the other contestants.

I, in fact, came across a YouTube video of a segment some years ago in which a wide-grinned and visibly amused head-bobbing Jim Paredes was clapping behind the judges’ table to Charice's song-and-dance performance of I Wanna Dance With Somebody. He may have been referring to that particular special segment in which Charice won.

And then there is the legendary grand finals of the same contest in which Charice, having been called back as a "wildcard" contestant, lost.

p.2 Unboxing Charice and our traditional archetypes (a 3-part post)

PART 1, p2 | [ Previous p1 ] [ Next p3 ]

The Oprah effect | Perhaps the one significant moment that Charice suddenly became more present in the consciousness of the local cable TV market, i.e. the middle and upper-middle classes — and the general public — was her “Oprah moment” (May 2008) despite her being flown to the US to debut on American television by Ellen DeGeneres for her self-titled show the year before.

Charice, then an awed, over-zealous, US TV greenhorn, appeared fumbling for the right words in English in replying to Ellen in her interview. Her performance, however, merited a standing ovation from the audience and Ellen was still taken over by Charice the next day that she couldn’t help but mention and replay a portion of Charice’s previous-day performance. "It's something to be sitting next to that and you could just smell the star on her," she said back in 2007. "You could just smell it."

For the locals, the Ellen Show appearance came and went despite it being one of the most-watched day-time shows not only in America, in part because it was televised months delayed in the Philippines on cable channels, and partly because Oprah is the more motherly, more affectionate host Filipinos are more aware of and had closely identified with; even local talk show celebrities Sharon Cuneta and Kris Aquino were fans of hers and patterned their earlier show formats after hers.

In between the two American shows was another little-known invitation to perform in London at the Paul O’Grady show. Charice’s passport was stolen just before leaving for London, and poor girl made an appeal on TV about it. She was lucky to have been given a replacement and performed on Paul O’Grady flawlessly albeit nervous and seemingly uneasy conversing in English in interviews with him. His audience let the interview pass but noticed her performances enough to give her another standing ovation.

In her Oprah debut, Charice was more candid. Having just arrived in Chicago straight from the Philippines hours into her number, she sang with the same confidence as in Ellen’s, Paul O’Grady’s, StarKing in Korea in 2007 and all other singing contests she had joined in the Philippines. Her audience gave her an ovation midway through her song and Oprah was stunned. "That was fantastic! Who are you!?," she asked and said, "Thank you so much for flying, all day all night, fifteen hours, and come here in such perfect form...".

Charice would later guest four more times on the show.

Do you see what I see? | Surely there was something in Charice that the seasoned entertainment celebrities in the West saw, their audiences felt the first time they laid their eyes on her but which we, the locals, seem to have missed.

p.3 Unboxing Charice and our traditional archetypes (a 3-part post)

PART 1, p3 | [ p1 ] [ Previous p2 ]

“Glee” | Since confirming speculations about her being cast in the Emmy-awarded Glee series in June this year, and up until the recent airing of its second season premiere in which she appeared, Charice was once again attacked from all fronts by Filipinos even as young as 13 on the Internet.

By this time, Facebook and Twitter had taken over the lives of billions and it was easy to use the cloak of anonymity to vent out ire on someone they did not know personally, had not experienced or seen perform live and hadn't done them direct harm.

For the teens, it may be a case of envy because someone like Charice whom they thought they had the right to verbally bully online looked like one of them. They disliked her because they thought she was cocky, which, really, sometimes Charice may unconsciously, unintentionally come across on stage as being.

Maybe she even looks like their arch-nemesis in school for Charice could put on all expressions on her face when singing and this looked weirdly funny it piqued them. Her movements annoyed them, her songs were old-fashioned. Worse, she sang their parents' cheesy, monumental songs like a grown-up.

At 18, Charice hadn’t grown any taller and developed into a svelte enough young lady since she lost in that singing contest to even come physically close to their preferred local or foreign idols.

A local male DJ and gossip show host known for his sweet but curt jabs at people, in a rare, polite moment on TV just a few days ago, voiced out preference for another Filipina (female) singer to be on Glee in Charice’s stead but did not state why. It sounded like a reflection of an industry that sat out through most of Charice's accomplishments in silent envy, a victim of its self-imposed sanctimony.

Perhaps the DJ's preference might have impressed him as more deserving because she had sex appeal that excited him besides her having certified box-office hits to her name. It didn’t matter how his choice sang, or, to many, how Charice could outsing most every one else with ease. In fact, it didn’t occur to many of Charice’s detractors what Glee’s co-creator was looking out for in the first place.

Their role was to get into the kind of prejudice they knew of that has existed in the consciousness of Filipinos for generations. Meanwhile, most everyone else with little or no access to news about Charice, save for mentions on local gossip shows and magazines, rendered quick judgment on her and they judged superficially they failed to even see the unique nuances of her versions of songs of others.

A well-managed lung power | Thank god for authoritative Hollywood godmothers and godfathers, Charice was taken seriously as a singer.

Cats in Manila

I AM MORE OF A MUSIC ENTHUSIAST and do not consider myself much of a film collector as much as I am of audio titles and books. I do own a few film titles, the ratio probably being 1 film/video for every 25 audio discs, a few of these musical and film soundtracks.

Embarrassing as it may sound, one of the first original videos I ever bought was when the short-lived Blockbuster video store on Matalino Street near our old dojo made the double-disc, 2-hour Cats, The Musical VCD available, something I considered quite pricey at the time, but well worth the purchase. (The video, directed by David Mallet, was shot "over 18 days" at the Adelphi Theatre in London's West End; the play, accompanied by a 70-piece orchestra.)

By its very genre, Cats, being a musical, fulfilled me both aurally and visually and fit right into my other collection of soundtracks and videos.

VCD, book and Mouser captured on Moleskine

When Cats, The Musical opened in Broadway in the early 80s, the buzz surrounding it reached Manila and developed somewhat of a cult following among some of my peers in college who were in theater. When the production was given due recognition after winning both the Laurence Olivier (1981) and Tony (1983) Awards for Best Musical, we had spent many a downtime chats about mounting our own version of it at some point (something, I am sure, we shared with several other campus theater groups at the time and with many other theater companies since Cats, The Musical came into being). We had no idea what the costs were like and we didn't care. Just thinking of who was cast and who were perfect for certain roles from among friends and familiar theater names stirred our imagination no end.

Owing to reviews of the musical I had read at some point back in college and listening to a friend's original cast recording of the Broadway soundtrack on CD (Grammy-Best Musical Show Album/1984), and the video I purchased much later, I did dream of being able to actually watch it live either in Broadway or West End. It was one of those "must do" activities I would have done as a visitor had I the chance to go to either of those places.

Original Cats West End window card (Dewynters/1981)

And the poster, yes! The first time I saw a reproduction of its poster in a magazine, I was completely gripped by the minimalist layout, and, in particular, the cat's eyes with dancers' silhouettes as pupils. Designed in 1981 by Dewynters, now First Artist Corporation PLC which also did Les Miserable, Phantom of the Opera and many other West End production advertising, the poster imagery was so strong that it remains fresh and timeless even to this day and is, no doubt, one of the most iconic visual images of the 20th century.

T.S. Eliot and cats

In my book-hunting escapades in the early 90s, I came across a copy of T.S. Eliot's Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats [Illustrated Edition-Harvest/HBJ Books, 1982], the book on which the musical was based. Profusely illustrated by the great Edward Gorey [1], it was a real treat to have the sole copy priced at P2.50.

I love T.S. Eliot's play of words and imagination, something which, if one were unfamiliar, may seem wild but are actually accurate, sometimes dark, but over-all humane and humanistic representations of feline characteristics; also, of the funny descriptions of perceived cat inter-actions. The book was an even better read with the pen-and-ink drawings of the very imaginative Edward Gorey.

Needless to say, T.S. Eliot, since being introduced through a book from the high school library, is a favorite, one of the few poets I actually read. Like many excellent works of literature, my appreciation of his works deepened over time and was made even more special when a very good friend wrote The Hollow Men on a poster she gave me as a gift years ago. The Hollow Men still stands as one of my favorite pieces.

Chinx

It also happens that we have lived with generations of feline companions almost all our lives. Each of our cats had a back story (the ones we have still do), a name they respond to, and a distinct identity—we have a mental family tree of all our cats, by the way—that my sister and I have learned   "cat psychology" (we coined that for fun) to explain certain cat behaviors and identities to friends and acquaintances who were constantly curious about them.

We did have our Rum Tum Tigers, Our Grizabellas (Derby, JaJa, Mysteriously Mystifying Ms. T, and her kit, Ms. M), our Bustopher Joneses and our Deuteronomys, Black Cat and George. Yes, our cats were all well represented in T.S. Eliot's feline world.

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But above and beyond there's still one name left over,
And that is the name that you never will guess;
The name that no human research can discover—

But THE CAT HIMSELF KNOWS, and will never confess.
When you notice a cat in profound meditation,
The reason, I tell you, is always the same:
His mind is engaged in a rapt contemplation
Of the thought, of the thought, of the thought of his name:
His ineffable effable
Effanineffable
Deep and inscrutable singular Name

~ The Naming of Cats, T.S. Eliot

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Near Impossible

Cats, The Musical sadly ended its run at the turn of this century—it closed in Broadway in 2000 after 18 years; London in 2002 after 21—dashing my hope of ever seeing it live in either of those venues and as they were originally staged.

Because of the cost of mounting a production like Cats, The Musical, a major, professional staging in the Philippines as Webber and Mackintosh had intended it was near impossible at that time, or since. It's been quoted that Andrew Lloyd Weber's Really Useful Group spent $5M to mount the Broadway production in 1982.

(If I recall correctly, the costliest Philippine musical production ever staged locally was S.K. Productions' Rama at Sita in 1999 at the UP Diliman Theater. It was said S.K. Productions' generosity resulted in spending for necessary upgrades of many of the venue's facilities for the first time since its construction, i.e. the orchestra pit, hydraulic lift and dressing rooms, among others.)

Anyhow, of all the re-staged hit plays and musicals in Broadway or West End that were ever mounted in full in the Philippines, it was Cats that was missing big time.

Cats in Manila: at last

Fast forward to 2010 and Manila will finally be able to experience Cats (Now and Forever)-The Musical with no less than Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awardee Lea Salonga as Grizabella (done originally by the great Elaine Paige/London and Betty Buckley/Broadway).
[Watch Elaine Paige's rendition of the song "Memory" here and about the character here (starting at 1:17).]

Lea Salonga sings Memory at the Cats (Now and Forever) launch, Nov09
[courtesy of Cats in Manila]

First announced in November 2009, Cats (Now and Forever)-The Musical, Manila will start its limited run on 24 July 2010 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). And since Cats (Now and Forever) is basically an ensemble production, Lea will be supported by an international cast, notably theater actors from the UK and Australia, as well as select Filipino thespians. I didn't catch what orchestra will be accompanying the production, though, or who the other cast members will be.

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TICKET PRICES
(inclusive of 3% service charge)

Matinees

SAT (3:00 pm) / SUN (2:30 pm)

PhP 7,210/ 5,150/ 3,605/ 2,060/ 1,030

-

Evenings

TUE (8:00 pm) / WED (8:00 pm)

THU (8:00PM) / SUN (7:30PM)

PhP 6,180/ 4,635/ 3,090/ 1,545/ 772.50

-

Evenings

FRI (8:00 pm) / SAT (8:00 pm)

PhP 7,210/ 5,150/ 3,605/ 2,060/ 1,030

-

NO CHILDREN UNDER 3 YEARS OF AGE WILL BE ADMITTED

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The last time I saw Lea on stage was in Miss Saigon also at the CCP in 2000—yes, that long ago yet. Before that, I caught Grease at the UP Theater (1994) in which she played "Sandy". I remember her playing that role perfectly despite the venue being ill-equipped acoustically that, on the night I saw it, the rain outside almost upstaged the audio in the theater several times.

In recent years, I'd caught her briefly and occasionally on TV in noontime variety shows or televised specials.

It is, therefore, interesting to watch Lea on stage again, definitely more mature this time, and in the footsteps of legends. Quite a contrast to when she played "Kim" as a teenager, the role which won for her the Tony and other awards and set the standard by which all other "Kim"s are expected to uphold in the succeeding runs of Miss Saigon.

And to see the costumes, the junkyard set, the lighting, music and choreography—I am looking forward to seeing all those. Finally, in Manila. At last.

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• Cats (Now and Forever) the Musical will run at the CCP Main Theater until 15 August, 2010.
• Presented by Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Ltd. and David Atkins Enterprises
• Produced by Citi in association with The Really Useful Group.
• More details can be read at its Facebook page and at its official Tumblr blog.
• Tickets at Ticketworld, and from its outlets: NBS Shangri-La Plaza, Market Market Extension, North Edsa, Harrison Plaza, Glorietta 5 / Robinsons Department Stores / Ayala Malls Greenbelt 1, Glorietta 5, TriNoma 4th Floor /  CCP Box Office / Music Museum, Teatrino Promenade (Greenhills) / GRAND SQUARE STADIUM, Sta. Rosa, Laguna / TicketWorld Head, Suite 701, V. Madrigal Bldg. 6793 Ayala Ave., 1226 Makati City Telephone: 891-9999 TicketWorld Website  
• Online purchase using your VISA, JCB or Master Card credit cards.