Triple Threat, Triple Treat

MANILA, Philippines - In theater-speak, a triple threat is someone who can sing, act, and dance – three skills that every stage actor aspires to perfect. Veterans of the Philippine stage Nonie Buencamino, Audie Gemora and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo surely live up to the title, and are fittingly the chosen artists featured in Triple Threats: Leading Men and Women of Philippine Musical Theater, a series of solo concerts at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Each concert is an intimate night of music, with songs selected personally by the singers themselves. The series opens on June 13 with Much Ado about Nonie. Some of the songs slated to be performed are I Wanna Live til I Die, What I Did for Love and Natutulog Ba ang Diyos.

“They are mostly pop songs that I like, Broadway musicals, and some from my favorite Filipino musicals,” says Buencamino on his repertoire. “They are important to me because some of the content resemble or reflect my thoughts and aspirations, and I consider the other songs to belong to milestones in my career as an actor and musical theater performer.”

Buencamino has appeared in both straight plays and musicals, including Tanghalang Pilipino’s Stageshow, Atlantis Productions’ A Little Night Music, and METTA’s Twelfth Night. He appears regularly on local television and in films. His latest role was as the King in Resorts World’s The King and I.

An accomplished performer, Buencamino has received the Asian Television Award for Best Performance in a Drama for his role in the TV series Magpakailanman, and the Aliw Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his performance in Palacio ni Valentin, among other citations.

“I am most honored, but surprised, a little overwhelmed, but grateful,” says Buencamino on being chosen as one of the featured performers in the Triple Threats series. “I am very excited, stressed, nervous but eager to take this chance to express myself mostly as Nonie and not hide behind a character,” he adds.

With special guests including daughter Delphine and wife Shamaine, as well as Mitch Valdes, Much Ado about Nonie will share Buencamino’s personal journey from theater to mainstream show business and everything in between.

Another musical journey is Audie Gemora’s I was Here on July 5.

“I decided to make my concert biographical so my repertoire consists of songs I’d done over my 35 years in the theater.

“I’m working with Rony Fortich who is a brilliant musical director and he’s come up with real creative arrangements,” relates this theater veteran.

Gemora has gone even beyond being a triple threat as a multi-awarded stage, television, and film actor, singer, dancer, host, director, choreographer, teacher, and producer. He was most recently seen onstage in Resort World’s The Sound of Music opposite West End star Joanna Ampil.

Gemora is also well known for co-founding one of today’s leading theater companies, Trumpets, and establishing the summer workshop Playshop, which has nurtured a love for theater in many young generations of aspiring singers and actors.

Gemora was awarded at the 2010 Gawad Philstage for Best Performance as a Male in a Musical for his performance in Repertory Philippines’ Sweeney Todd, which he played opposite Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.

Yulo stars in Leading Lady, capping the Triple Threats series on August 15. For Yulo, the concert not only celebrates her career on stage, but it is a milestone in itself: “In my 36-plus years in the theater I have never embarked on a solo concert,” she says, adding that she is honored to have been chosen as a featured artist in the series. “This is very exciting… and scary at the same time,” she shares.

Yulo is an Aliw and Philstage award winner. She has performed lead roles in Repertory Philippines’ West Side Story, The Fantastiks, A Chorus Line, Les Miserables, Camelot, The Sound of Music, and more. Yulo has also gone into directing, making her debut with the 2007 production of West Side Story.

“I will be singing a variety of theater songs. Songs from roles I’ve done to songs of roles I would like to do. Some will have extra meaning because they were milestones in my career,” she shares on her planned repertoire for Leading Lady. “I am a theater actress so I am most at home singing songs from musicals… I love how they can tell a story and give so much meaning to an emotion, theme, or situation.”

Yulo’s most recent play was Resorts World’s The King and I, in which she played Anna opposite Buencamino’s King.

“I think they are amazing,” Yulo says of Buencamino and Gemora, both of whom she has worked with. “Both can sing, act, and dance – triple threats talaga!”

She adds, “I am very lucky to have shared the stage with such amazing talent. They are one of a kind.”

Yulo and Gemora’s paths have crossed many times. “Menchu and I are contemporaries,” says Gemora. “We first acted opposite each other as Rolf and Liesl in Repertory Philippines’ 1980 production of The Sound of Music. Things came full circle when we played the Captain and Maria in Rep’s 2006 revival seven years ago. I have nothing but deep respect for Menchu, a great musical theater actress.”

On Buencamino, Gemora says: “Nonie and I first worked together in Evita where he began as this unassuming young man in the chorus. Over the years he grew to become one of the country’s best actors. It is good that despite his extensive work in film and television he has never left the theater. He and Menchu are marvelous in King and I.”

Buencamino praises his colleagues, “They are wonderful, beautiful, dedicated people who have very high standards in the performing arts,” he says. “I wish I could be in a project performing with them both. I have been performing with Menchu since January in King and I and it’s been nothing less than a ‘high’ to perform scenes with her.”

All three stalwarts of the stage have also become mentors to many younger generations of triple threat hopefuls.

To those who want to hone their acting skills, Buencamino gives this advice: “Take dance, martial arts, ballet, voice, acting classes. Master your bodies and sharpen your senses.” He adds, “Don’t settle for good enough. Always strive to be excellent. Maintain a spiritual life and accept that your talent is given to you. It’s your job to develop it. Do your best in everything you do and offer it up to God.”

Gemora agrees that they should “find their gifting and hone their craft. Pursue their passion, but back it up with studies.”

Yulo tells young actors, “Be ready for a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of discipline, passion, and dedication to be in the theater. Sometimes there is a lot of frustration, but you have to keep striving for excellence. You must improve yourself with every role you take on. It should always be about the craft and never about becoming a star.”

It is this lifelong goal of achieving excellence, fueled by a passion for their craft, that makes Buencamino, Gemora, and Yulo true triple threats – and triple treats!

Triple Threats: Leading Men and Women in Philippine Musical Theater is on June 13, July 5, and August 15, 7:30 pm at the CCP Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino. For ticket information, call the CCP Marketing Dept. at 832-1125 loc. 1800 or 832-3681.