Rehearsals for the upcoming musicale CABARET are rigorous; this version is said to be darker, more disturbing. But the challenge suits Monique just fine; stretching the boundaries of Philippine theater is something she’s thrilled to be doing.
Her career took a definite turn when she headed for London’s fabled West End in 1989 and the Macintosh musicale Miss Saigon. That launched many a career and cast a different, brighter light on Philippine theater.
For Monique, beyond the thrill of performing in London–alternating in the lead at that–that experience showed her a world of theater very different from what she had known here at home: "Theater (in London) is a serious industry," she says. "(Acting) is a serious profession. If you don’t study your craft, there are a thousand others who can take your place. The competition is very intense. You cannot just wing it." It is also a world of constant workshops and classes–even for the senior actors–and of agents and unions and auditions. "You have to audition to see how good you are, how you measure up against the rest and the best," she says.
Monique graduated–with distinction–from London’s Central School of Speech and Drama (alma mater of Dame Judi Dench) last November with a Master’s Degree in Applied Theater, Theater Education and Directing. She has been offered a teaching position at the school, which she will take up in January. "I also hope to audition for straight theater (as opposed to musical theater) there," she says, encouraged by the fact that the London theater scene is not only vibrant but also diverse, "race blind–you can have a Chinese Juliet and a black Romeo."
The New Voice Company she founded a decade ago is doing nicely–without her. "In the beginning, of course, I was doing everything–acting, producing, directing, looking for sponsors," she says. The equally passioned souls who joined New Voice gradually took on responsibility for running the company, and three years ago Monique felt it could stand on its own. Since then she has effectively been resident in London, coming home to Manila primarily to visit her mother Terry, her staunchest partner and supporter during the early years of New Voice who, unfortunately, suffered a massive stroke a few years ago.
She’s done movies (remember Bad Boy 2 with Robin Padilla?), even won awards for them; she’s recorded an album; she’s acted, produced and directed a wide range of plays (she still wants to do Royal Shakespeare though); she’s studied and will be teaching; she founded one of the most respected theater companies around; what else is Monique to do?
She’s looking to establish New Voice-London, for one thing, to stage original Filipino plays in English in the midst of the thriving London theater scene. "It’s a very sophisticated theater audience there," she says, and there is a very solid base of Filipino theater talent based in London as well, the likes of Junix Inocian, Joanna Ampil, Maya Barredo, Gia Macuja, Lourdes Faberes and Lara Fabregas.
Looks like Monique’s found her stage–and her home–once again.