Yentl Beltran: A Twinkling Star!

“Kaanindot mong moawit. Ang imong tingog daw mabugnaw nga huyuhoy sa hangin,” the Mayordoma extols the beautiful singing of Mayang, in a scene in Minî, the classic Cebuano zarzuela by the late Buenaventura Rodriguez.

I utter the same admiration too, although silently, every time we come to her singing parts during rehearsals. Her voice has power and tenderness in the right mix. Our Mayang in this Arts Council of Cebu’s production of Minî is 20-year-old Yentl Beltran.

Yentl is a talent powerhouse in a small package. Her small physique belies her age and her range of talent. She could very easily pass for a 16-year-old or even younger. But when she sings, she’s a giant!

Music runs in her veins. Both her parents are musical masters. Her father is a former member of a musical band abroad. Her mother is a music teacher and choir trainer.

She grew up in a home where there was as much music as oxygen in the air. The oldest of three sisters, she had been singing since she could remember. Her raw singing talent always wowed everyone in the neighborhood, as well as her teachers and classmates at school.

When Yentl was in 4th year high school, her parents put her under the tutelage of a qualified voice coach. Then her star as a serious singer began to shine. She won in the local leg of the National Music Competition for Young Artists (NAMCYA), and represented the region in the national contest.

During the ASEAN Summit in Cebu, she sang before an international audience during the Ministers’ Spouses Night at the Malacañang sa Sugbo. She had also sung for the Cardinal at the Archbishop’s Palace, and has been performing during important functions at the provincial Capitol. This up-and-rising diva is definitely making her mark.

But in a musical play, like Minî, the demand on the performer goes beyond singing. The singer must be an actor, too. Not all singers can act, at least not quite effectively.

While singers may find the emotional stuff easy to come by with songs, it is not always as easy to do a dramatic scene with plain speaking lines. In Minî, the leading lady Mayang – the role that Yentl plays – is not singing all the way through. In fact, most of the time, she is just plainly speaking her lines.

As director, I had initial apprehension about this girl. Even if she was a very good singer, we had no idea about her actual acting capability. She had reportedly performed in two previous musical plays, but none of the people I inquired from actually saw those performances.

During the first few reading sessions, I found her speaking voice too light for live theater. Especially that she was to play the lead role. I asked to see other prospects. In the meantime, I held on to Yentl. And good thing that I did!

As we moved into the main rehearsals, where actors were to begin acting their parts physically, she slowly transformed. The voice that I thought was too light for the stage began to sound very much like the voice of Mayang that I heard in my head. It took on just the right sweetness and hinted of flexibility for embracing an intonation, which is one of the main challenges of the character.

She soon impressed me with her acting skill. I’d explain to her how Mayang was supposed to do it in a scene, and she’d often hit it right in one or two attempts. What’s more amazing, she’d do a scene in subsequent rehearsals in exactly the way I had already approved of. Very seldom would she forget her blocking or a given direction.

Another noteworthy thing about Yentl as an actress is her memory. She is the first of the cast to have fully mastered her dialog. Her lines are not as lengthy as the other lead characters’, but it certainly took conscientious study for her to get it all very early on.

Interestingly, this girl doesn’t even have enough time for substantially preparing herself for her acting and singing parts in Minî. She is a full-time student in B.S. Aircraft Technology at the Cebu Aeronautical and Technological School. Yet at the play rehearsals, her performance makes you think that practicing her parts is all she does every minute of her day.

As Mayang, Yentl has accordingly imbibed the character of a rural Cebu maiden of the 1930s: simple, sweet, naïve, transparent. Personally, she possesses a noticeable degree of humility. She confides that it is her great honor to be in the company of more experienced actors, who comprise the supporting cast of Minî.

On October 1 and 2, Mini will take audiences on a hilarious yet melancholic musical ride to the past, at SM City-Cebu Cinema 1. Yentl will take center stage in all three performances: on Friday at 8 p.m., and on Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.

This girl will endear herself to the theatergoers. Her acting is convincing, at times poignant. Her singing is beautiful. Yentl Beltran may not yet be a blazing star. But she’s twinkling, and quite brilliantly indeed.

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