Spellbound by Cocoy Laurel

The Inner Wheel Club of Manila has been in existence since 1949 when the Philippines was just rising from the ashes of World War ll. It was headed by Trining Legarda and 34 Rotary Anns as the original members. With charity and civic works as the end goal, this club has been supporting the less fortunate by providing high school scholarship programs, livelihood projects, day care and feeding centers as well as visits and assistance to the patients of the National Mental Hospital.

This year’s incoming officers and directors headed by its president, Marissa Fenton, decided to put up a fundraising musical evening that featured multi-talented Cocoy Laurel performing the best of Broadway hits with a slew of equally accomplished Laurels: the mother-daughter tandem of Iwi Laurel and her beautiful daughter Nicole Asensio, together with budding ballerina Alessandra Laurel Lopez. They were joined by the captivating Carla Guevarra of Miss Saigon fame. We were so spellbound that my seatmate remarked, “You will notice that this audience is mesmerized by the show. None of them is conversing or texting. They are watching the performance intently.”

Congratulations are in order to the ball’s indefatigable chair Yoly Ayson, who sold 500 tickets in a mere one and a half months. She made sure that the show would not only be top caliber but that we would also be further entertained by the homegrown Rotarian dancers and singers who brought the house down with their enthusiastic performance.

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