I Was Here… with Audie Gemora

Audie Gemora

People may find it hard to believe but I only really got to know Audie Gemora when he directed Tanghalang Pilipino’s Noli MeTangere, the Musical back in 2011. Although I am aware of who he is and his vast theater experience, I wasn’t that much into the theater scene only until recently, so I missed a lot of his performances throughout the years. Thankfully, his concept concert entitled I Was Here… with Audie Gemora allowed me to catch up with him and his impressive 35 years as one of the big guns in the theater industry.

With the weather cooperating, there was no problem heading over to the Cultural Center of the Philippines and the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) was packed with mostly people from the tight knit theater community. And it’s this familiarity that made the concert, directed by Jaime del Mundo, such an intimate affair thanks to Audie’s superb rapport with his audience. Accompanying him was a jazz piano trio led by the concert’s music director Rony Fortich. Double bassist Vincent dela Cruz and drummer Karmi Santiago made up the rest of the trio.

One thing that really impressed me about this concert was that it showed what a great storyteller Audie Gemora is. Each of the songs and the entire concert as a whole, told Audie’s story and it didn’t matter if one had been following him since the beginning or just like me, arrived late in the game. His first song, Corner of the Sky from the musical Pippin recalled his beginnings in theater and his last song, Bluebird of Happiness from the upcoming Bluebird: A Magical Musical, gave a glimpse to the future. And everything in between revealed facets of his career that was a joy to discover.

Highlights of the concert for me include the Roles Along the Way Medley that recounted his early days in theater. I am not a huge fan of concerts that are full of medleys but Audie and his team made this work by having it tell a story through the songs included in it. I was also impressed with Sheila Francisco’s heartfelt performance of He Opens a Window which told how Audie welcomed God in his life. Audie also had a chance to poke fun of himself while looking back at his pop music phase via the song Loving You. I find it odd that I can’t remember this song which was released when cassette tapes were still in circulation. He even showed the audience a cassette copy of his album which was still sealed in plastic meaning that it wasn’t sold. Another guest artist in his concert is Sam Concepcion who has grown into a young man. Audie and Sam went back around a decade as they performed Deep Within from the musical The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which was when Sam had his musical debut. Possibly, the most anticipated part of the concert was his duet with Regine Velasquez-Alcasid for the song Matimyas Mabuhay sa Sariling Bayan from Noli Me Tangere. This number gave me goose bumps and evoked fond memories of the most recent staging of this musical which as I’ve said before was how I got to know Audie personally in the first place. I also echoed Regine’s desire to have a concert staging of this musical accompanied by an orchestra with a possible reunion of all cast members from various runs. The most touching moment for me in the entire concert was when Audie dedicated the song Fight the Dragons to his son Richard. He said that among all the roles he has played throughout the years, his most favorite is that of his real life role of being a father.

The concert was indeed very entertaining and one that didn’t have to resort to any unnecessary gimmicks and hysterics unlike what I normally see on television. Seeing I Was Here… with Audie Gemora made me feel bad again for missing Nonie Buencamino’s concert weeks before. But I’ll make sure that I won’t miss the last concert of the Triple Threats: Leading Men and Women of Philippine Music Theater series featuring Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo happening this August 15, 2013, 7:30 PM.

Text by RAd

Photo by Karla Gutierrez