Aiza goes against type

One of the things that performers find most irresistible about acting — whether onstage or onscreen — is that you get the chance to be someone you’re not.

This is what Aiza Seguerra looks forward to the most whenever she takes on a theater role. The singer, actress and TV personality has appeared in several musicals and is back onstage in Rock of Ages, the five-time Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical. Mounted in Manila by Atlantis Productions, Rock of Ages features international rock sensation MiG Ayesa as rock star Stacee Jaxx, the same role he played on Broadway. 

Rock of Ages tells the love story of Drew, a young busboy dreaming of becoming a rock star while working at The Bourbon Room, the most famous bar on Los Angeles’ Sunset Strip, and Sherrie, a small-town girl who is there to pursue her dreams of being an actress.

Aiza, last seen on the Atlantis stage in Avenue Q, plays bohemian activist Regina who leads a protest against developers that threaten to close down the Bourbon Room and turn the Strip into a “model of clean and efficient living.”

But Aiza’s character is not your typical activist. In fact, when Atlantis Productions approached her with an offer to play the role as early as August 2011, Aiza was advised “to keep an open mind” by director Chari Arespacochaga before making a decision. “She told me, ‘I’m casting against stereotypes.’”

This only served to whet Aiza’s appetite — and when she traveled to New York to do a show with the ASAP Sessionistas, she took advantage of the opportunity to watch the Broadway production starring MiG.

Aiza also looked up information about the play online, and was stunned and excited to find out that Regina, aside from being an activist, had an alter-ego as a stripper.

A stripper? Yes, laughs Aiza. She’s playing a character who has two sides to her, two sides that are diametrically opposed to each other — but that’s precisely what attracted her to it. After seeing the play on Broadway, Aiza made up her mind to do it, and was prepared to go the extra mile to make her portrayal more convincing.

That included undergoing a liposuction to get her body into shape for the stripper outfit she’ll be wearing. Performed by cosmetic surgeon Vicki Belo and her team, it was the first time that Aiza had a cosmetic procedure done in her life. Others would probably consider it a radical move, but Aiza was game about doing it, all in the name of the role. That’s how concerned she was about getting into the character. If she was going to play a stripper, she had to look like one, or at least get as close to the character as possible physically, tattoos on her arms and all.

“Prepared ako (for the role) emotionally, but I also had to prepare for it physically, kaya ako nagpa-lipo,” says Aiza. “Kasi siyempre hindi naman matatanggal ng gan’on kadali ito,” she adds, pointing to her midsection and places where she feels she needed to lose weight. “Dapat i-gy-gym ko ito, pero sabi ko nga, mas mabilis ang lipo.”

Aiza has played a lot of roles before, but this one is very new to her. And yet, finding out what it would involve made her want to do it. “Na-challenge ako, and I was willing to do it,” she says. “That’s really what I like about the stage — you can play a totally different character, someone who’s very different from who you are, and really get into it.”

As a singer, Aiza was also attracted by the music of Rock of Ages. The musical features songs from the glam rock era of the ’80s, when performers were into spandex outfits, girly make-up and big hair. In Rock of Ages, audiences will hear songs by bands like Styx, Poison and Bon Jovi.

Although Aiza was born and grew up during this era and is probably too young to remember most of the songs, she is familiar with some of them. “I’m familiar with a few,” she says. “We hear them all the time on the radio.”

Aiza is celebrating her 25th anniversary this year, and appearing in Rock of Ages — where she shares the stage with a talented cast led by MiG, Jett Pangan, Nyoy Volante, Vina Morales and Jinky Llamanzares — she considers one of the highlights. “Masaya ito,” says the former child star. “Anything about the theater excites me, because in the theater, you get the chance to be someone other than yourself, to play a different role. It’s nice to be able to stretch your own boundaries and test your abilities.”

(Rock of Ages runs until July 8 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza in Makati.)