Rachelle Ann winner for Miss Saigon role

After reaping praises from critics and the public, Rachelle Ann Go capped her eight-month stint as bar girl Gigi in the Miss Saigon revival in London’s West End by winning Best Supporting Actress in the just-concluded WhatsonStage Awards.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed,” Rachelle casually told Funfare in September last year when told that she could win for her standout portrayal of the role played by Isay Alvarez in the first staging of the Cameron Mackintosh megahit musical in 1989 at the Theatre Royale Drury Lane, with Lea Salonga as Kim for which she won a Best Actress grand slam. “Pero hindi naman ako talagang umaasa.”

Rachelle Ann was only one of the nine winners (out of 12 nominations) for Miss Saigon which was named Best Musical Revival and Best West End Show. The others were Jon Jon Briones (as The Engineer), Best Actor in a Musical, and Eva Noblezada (as Kim), Best Actress in a Musical. Jon Jon is pure Filipino and Eva is a Fil-Am residing in Charlotte, North Carolina. Their co-star, Korean Kwang-Ho Hong (as Thuy), won Best Supporting Actor.

“I’ve always known that the public knows best,” Mackintosh was quoted by BBC News Entertainment & The Arts. The awards, focusing predominantly on London theater, are voted by the public. “I am thrilled by the extraordinary achievement of our four leading Asian performers winning the top acting awards.”

Another Filipina in the cast of Miss Saigon which re-opened at the Prince Edward Theater in May last year is Tanya Manalang as the other Kim.

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Chiz: It’s wonderful!

Sen. Chiz Escudero beams as he watches his bride, Heart Evangelista, walk alone to the altar in a stunning gown by Dubai-based Ezra Santos. The couple in a group hug with Chiz’s twin children Ma. Cecilia and Joaquin who look up to Heart as their new mom.

Still heady from his and Heart Evangelista’s “modern-kind-of-fairy-tale wedding” at the exclusive Balesin Resort off Quezon Province last Sunday, Feb. 15, Sen. Chiz Escudero woke up Monday with that “morning-after” euphoria.

Asked how was it, Chiz, 45, texted Funfare, “Tired…but with a wide smile on my face.” Asked further if the wedding night was, ehem, successful, Chiz texted back, “It was wonderful!”

Heart, who turned 30 a day before the wedding, didn’t text back because she was fast asleep, making up for lack of it during the wedding preparation that started middle of last year after Chiz proposed to her on his knees during what was supposed to be a quiet family dinner in Sorsogon, his home province where the newlyweds are hosting a third reception after the one in Manila tomorrow night for friends who were not at the wedding.

The newlyweds seal it with a kiss. Right: The Bridesmaids, Maid of Honor and Women of Honor (at random)…Lissa Maria Quirino, Alessandra de Rossi, Lovi Poe, Jennylyn Mercado, Solenn Heussaff, Carla Abellana, Camille Ongpauco and Michelle Ongpauco

The presence of Heart’s sister, other relatives and friends more than compensated for the absence of her parents, Cecilia and Reynaldo Ongpauco, leaving a teary-eyed Heart to walk alone during the wedding march.

Still and all, Heart is hoping (against hope?) that her mom will relent and reconcile with her. “I still love them just the same,” Heart told Funfare a week before the wedding. “They will soon realize how happy I am to have married the right man. I am safe and secure with Chiz.”

Heart has become like a real mom to Chiz’s twin children Ma. Cecilia and Joaquin from a failed marriage.

Heart and Chiz with their principal sponsors, among them Mel Tiangco, Bibeth Orteza, Lilybeth Rasonable, Jackie Lou Blanco, Ramon Ang, Eddie Garcia, Hans Sy, Fernando Zobel de Ayala, Vic del Rosario Jr. and Lance Gokongwei.

“I easily won their hearts because I’m good with kids,” said Heart who wants to have her and Chiz’s own child a year after the wedding.

Meanwhile, the newlyweds are back at work. They have decided to maintain the status quo for the meantime, with Heart staying at her own house in Quezon City just a few minutes drive from Chiz’s townhouse. Eventually, they might live together at a house Heart is building. “My home is their home,” assured Heart. “They are my new family.”

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual as far as Heart’s  career is concerned.

“I’m thankful that Chiz is not the ‘dictating’ type,” added Heart. “But still, I guess I have to choose the projects that I have to do.”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)