K-La's first 'staged' kiss

She was scolded by her aunt upon seeing her locking lips with theater actor Felix Rivera. The kiss was real and done in front of many people. It happened not just once, twice or thrice! It was a whole of three weeks!

It was K-La Rivera’s first kiss and yes, it was staged. Even if it was staged, K-La had to do some explaining to her scandalized aunt.

The controversial kiss happened in the musical In The Heights where K-La plays Nina, whose immigrant family has pinned their hopes in her. Is she going to ignore the ranting of her aunt?

“I tried to explain to them that the kiss was trabaho lang po,” she said in her halting Tagalog. “Ipinaliwanag ko po sa kanila.”

Shocked as they were of the kiss, K-La said that even she felt nervous doing it. “Nagdasal po ako.” She prayed for a good performance, after all it was her first theater outing.

She also had fears. Rehearsals happened every day and there was danger she might lose her voice come performance day. “I had to take care of myself. Kailangan hindi puyat. I ate proper food and took vitamins.”

Though K-La had experience performing before a huge crowd as contestant and eventually a finalist on ABS-CBN’s Star Power, the live theater was an entirely different experience. “Initially, I thought theater people were not welcoming. Hindi pala. They were very helpful and encouraging. Masaya.”

Yes, she has been briefed that theater doesn’t pay as much as movies or television but K-La is not at all bothered. “Iba ang training and experience you get with theater. Iba ang feeling when you’re acting on stage. I love theater even more kahit super pagod pagkatapos ng rehearsal. The money is not as big but money is not everything,” explained K-La.

Before a performance, K-La has this habit of going to the wash room to relieve anxiety. Yes, she recognizes that she is nervous. “You feel it. You acknowledge it and you pray that your anxiety does not control you. I also drink a lot of water and I pray. It’s the most important.”

On opening night, K-La had the jitters. “I was so nervous. I did not know what to expect from the audience. But it felt good after when all the hard work was appreciated by the audience.”

She has also connected to Jackie Lou Blanco who plays her mother in the musical. K-La is honored to be performing alongside Jackie Lou. 

K-La was nominated for an Aliw Award for Best Actress in a Musical. “I feel so overwhelmed that people enjoyed my performance plus I got nominated for an Aliw Award.”

And what valuable lessons did she learn from theater? “I learned that you have to be prepared, disciplined, and willing to work hard always. There are no shortcuts if you want to be good on stage. If you put your mind into being able to achieve something, that will be the key to success. At the same time, never forget to put your heart and soul into all that you do.”

In The Heights will have its Tony Award winning lyricist and composer Lin-Manuel Miranda for opening night.

(Atlantis’ In the Heights repeat performance is scheduled on March 16 to 25 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati. For details, call 892-7078 or 840-1187.)