Monique: The Philippines can be the Broadway of Asia

"Sometimes I ask myself why I’m doing this," Monique Wilson wonders aloud. She is referring to her long-running job of putting up shows year in and year out for her New Voice Company (NVC).

The returns in Manila are break even, she reports, even if they’ve had a full house for the night. Government support is nil. And it’s such a hassle looking for sponsors especially in these hard times.

But she forges on, knowing in her heart that somehow, somewhere, someone out there shares her passion for acting. Monique has found kindred, generous souls in Singapore, where NVC will bring the all-Filipino cast of Aspects of Love on April 28 to May 6.



This time, the venue, the Drama Centre, Singapore, is a lot bigger than Republic of Malate, the play’s home in Manila late last year. The demands are therefore bigger. Everybody, from Monique down to the stage hands, needs more stamina in walking, running, pacing back and forth across the stage and going up and down stairs, enlarging their movements for a bigger audience, etc.

This is why Monique, seasoned actress that she is, got respected acting coach Dee Cannon as co-director. It is Dee’s job, among others, to remind the cast that this is no longer an intimate venue where minimal movement among them is enough. This time, they have to think big and project more.

They also have to get used to things they never had in Manila. Monique’s eyes almost popped when she saw the big dressing room reserved just for her as Rose Vibert, the young actress around whom the romantic musical revolves.

So big is the dressing room Monique swears it can fit the male and female cast members together. For someone used to making do with limited resources in Manila, this is Luxury with a capital L.

Our Singaporean neighbors, so Monique discovered, can very well afford to have a dressing room that could fit her and the rest of the cast as well.

"In Manila, the guys and the girls are used to sharing dressing rooms," reports Monique.

Openness to the arts in Merlion City also helped assuage Monique’s initial fears of bringing the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical to Singapore.

"Mounting Aspects in Singapore costs us $75,000 to $80,000. But after doing some computations, and judging from the success of Vagina Monologues which we also brought to Singapore, we found out it’s feasible after all," reports Monique.

Now, she and her group of thespians (Leo Rialp, Jake Macapagal, Rito Asilo, etc.) are looking forward to "exporting" Pinoy talent to Singapore, and after that, to the whole of Asia.

New Voice has already received inquiries about Aspects from Vietnam and Malaysia. Hopefully, she crosses her fingers, New Voice can bring more productions to various points of Asia every year.

If Monique and company are to be believed, all the good signs are there. Who knows, Monique says, eyes sparkling, the Philippines will be known as the Broadway of Asia one day.

"If we can prove that our actors can make it in Asia," muses Monique, "we can also show how important our work as actors is in moving the country forward."

When that happens, she and her friends will show the government a thing or two about how to give Filipino artists a hand.

Will someone have the last laugh?