More than being independent, Mark Bautista’s five months’ stay in London have taught him to value his craft.
“I realized that we Filipinos could measure up to other world talents even if we don’t have formal training in theater,” Mark said in an exclusive interview with Funfare yesterday, barely 24 hours after he flew back from London where he performed the male lead as former Pres. Ferdinand Marcos in the David Byrne disco-musical Here Lies Love. “Most of the actors there have had extensive experience in theater. But still, Filipino actors have more than proven that they are at par with their well-trained foreigner colleagues.”
Home-grown actors who have shone in London are led by Lea Salonga whose performance as the first Kim (in 1989) in the Cameron Mackintosh megahit musical Miss Saigon on the West End won her a Best Actress grand slam. The role has been played by several other Filipinos, with Tanya Manalang and Eva Noblezada as the new Kims currently reaping raves, along with Rachelle Ann Go as the latest Gigi (the bar girl first played by Isay Alvarez).
Here Lies Love, which traces the rise of Madame Imelda Marcos from Tacloban to Malacañang to international society, played at the National Theatre south of London for more than four months (from end of September 2014 to Jan. 8 this year) to SRO audiences every night, winning a Best Musical award (from London’s Evening Standard) along the way, cementing Mark’s reputation as an international actor. He won applause for giving the former Philippine Strongman a sexy-seductive touch in a largely song-dance routine.
“Opening pa lang,” Mark recalled the musical’s last staging, “nagsisigawan na ang mga tao. Ang sarap ng feeling! It was a sad-happy ending; sad because it was the final performance and happy because we had made a lot of people happy. We had fun. Some of the cast injected things that were not in the script. At curtain call, nag-iyakan kami.”
The producers are planning to take the show on a tour, starting in Australia with a new cast that passed recent auditions.
“There’s also a plan to restage it in London,” said Mark, “and that is, if they find another venue, maybe on the West End. The original cast members were told to stand by. They were encouraged to do a repeat because all the shows were sold-out.”
Mark was mum on the report that he auditioned (egged on by Rachelle Ann) for Thuy (the soldier lover of Kim) in Miss Saigon.
“Several other actors have played Thuy,” said Mark, “while I originated the Marcos role in Here Lies Love, so sayang naman kung mabubura ‘yon if I play a role in another musical. Gusto ko ang magtatak sa isip ng tao ‘yung role ko sa Here Lies Love.” But then, if he qualifies for Thuy, hmmm, why not?
For Here Lies Love, Mark really gave all that he could.
“When I learned that it would be staged at the National Theatre,” confessed Mark, “at nalaman ko na ang mga kasama ko sa cast ay galing sa drama school, I felt so small.” (The cast included Fil-Aussie Natalie Mendoza who did a drop-dead performance as Imelda Marcos and Gia Macuja.) “I told myself, ‘Ano ba naman ako compared to them?’ So nag-self-study ako. I read books on acting and the Marcoses, and I made sure that I was physically fit because the role required a lot of dancing. In one scene, I appeared in tight-fitting trunks but with a mask. And also, I knew that those who watch plays at National Theatre are critical, they expect too much from the actors, most of them are lifetime members who are regularly given tickets. Sana sila sa National Theatre na kaka-iba ang mga shows; they are hard-core theater-goers. Mataas ang standard ng National Theatre.”
When our group (Gorgy Rula, Allan Diones, Noel Ferrer and I) watched Here Lies Love in November last year, the theater was full. In the audience was Rosamund Pike, star of the hit thriller Gone Girl, who danced along with the audience around the mobile stage. Other celebrities spotted by Mark in the audience on different days were Kylie Minogue and Billie Piper.
Was he disappointed that Madame Imelda wasn’t able to watch the show?
“She should have watched it,” rued Mark. “I’m sure she would have enjoyed it.”
In London, Mark learned how to value his craft and improve on it.
“I also lived the ‘London lifestyle’,” he added. “Natuto akong mag-budget ng pera. It was my first time to live alone abroad at natuto akong magluto, maglaba, maglinis ng bahay…lahat ng household chores. Kabisado ko na rin ang pagsakay-sakay ng tube. London has changed me radically.”
And, most important of all, said Mark, “I realized that Filipinos are really world-class talents, kayang ihanay kahit kanino.”
(For more on Mark Bautista, tune in to Startalk this afternoon starting at 4 o’clock. His first public appearance since he came back from London.)
Flying with Lolo Kiko
Here’s an interesting story about the flight attendant who was on the papal flight to Tacloban, from Funfare’s contributor Gerry Diaz:
My classmate Elsa Yrastorza Yuzon had a memorable papal experience. Elsa, who is mom to Sponge Cola’s Yael Yuzon and mom-in-law to Karylle was among the flight attendants on the Pope’s PAL flight to Tacloban and back to Manila. Elsa learned about this blessing of an experience on the first week of January when PAL announced the crew that would accompany the Pope on his various flights. (Captains Roland Narciso and George Alvarez were at the controls of the Airbus A320 to Tacloban. Aside from Elsa, the other crewmembers were flight purser Carol Uy and flight attendants Maria Elena Reyes, Ma. Ana Alvarez and Angelo Chingcuangco.)
After 44 years since our high school days, I finally met again with Elsa and she shared with me her experience with the Pope. She described the Pope as very nice and warm. When the Pope talked to them, he always looked them in the eye. They were very happy when the Holy Father obliged the crew with photo opportunities. And the Pope even moved to the adjacent seat so the crew could sit beside him and get a better photo with him.
When the Pope was asked if he had any preferences for his food, the Pope replied that he had no special request. He just wanted that whatever food would be served him would be the same one served for the other passengers on the flight.
And as if the close and personal encounter with Pope Francis was not enough, each one of the PAL crew was given a holy rosary and a papal commemorative medallion. And one last amusing story. The crew asked permission from the Pope if he could bless their rosaries and the Holy Father obliged. And when the Pope saw that each crew brought a bundle of rosaries, Pope Francis smiled widely with pleasant surprise and amusement.
(Your Funfarer learned that Pope Francis had Oishi products for in-flight snacks, smiling while eating even when the plane was hit by turbulence. Oishi snacks are made and distributed by Ben Chan’s family.)
(E-mail reactions at entphilstar@yahoo.com. You may also send your questions to askrickylo@gmail.com. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)