Later in the evening, we had the chance to listen to our very own Tony award-winning star, Lea Salonga, in a Valentine Dinner Concert at the Pacific Grand Ballroom of Waterfront Cebu City Hotel.
The ballroom doors opened at 6 PM. Each concert ticket came with a long stem rose which the gentleman or partner picked out from the "Gallery of Roses" when the couple entered the ballroom. The ladies, in turn, selected an item from the "Gifts for the Boys" section to hand to her partner.
Showtime was at 9 PM, after a front act of The Princess Bride from Marie Ernestine School students. Lea dazzled the crowd with a mixed repertoire from Broadway (Taylor, the latte boy), the 80's (Promise Me), and OPM (Bakit Labis Kitang Mahal). We learned at the end of the two-hour concert that Lea was soon on her way to Broadway once again, to star as Fantine in Les Miserables. Directed by Chari Arespacochaga with musical direction by Lea's brother Gerard Salonga, Lea was accompanied by a live band with a seven-piece string assembly.
This Valentine indulgence was courtesy of Manila-based Landco Pacific Corporation led by no less than Alfred Xerez-Burgos, President and CEO. Prior to the concert, special guests were treated to cocktails, as well as the chance to meet with Landco executives. This concert also marked Landco's 17th year in the real estate industry, as well as to mark their debut in Cebu through their partnership with Augusto and Margarita Villalon.
This is the second time Cebu has had the privilege of listening to Lea perform (the first one last December 2005 as a Christmas treat) - and as always, we are left breathless, mesmerized, stirred to our senses, to the beauty and magic that only Lea's majestic voice can evoke.