Pinoy West End Star Comes Home to Do Us Proud

As Fantine in Les Miserables

 Originally published in Pinoycentric in April 2008

She is to the West End what Lea Salonga is to Broadway. Theater actor and singer Joanna Ampil was 17 when she was whisked off to do Kim in the London production of Miss Saigon.  Over the years, she’s made a name for herself, playing Mimi in Rent, Eponine and Fantine in Les Miserables. She was even handpicked by British composer Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber to do Mary Magdalene in Jesus Christ Superstar.

But for two months, Pinoy audiences who have only heard her her sing in the 1995 recording of Miss Saigon will finally get to see her perform live as Maria in the Stages-produced West Side Story, opposite Christian Bautista as Tony. It’s the first time that she’s performing for a Pinoy audience, and yes, she admits to still getting the jitters on opening night.

In this interview, Joanna talks about her experiences in London, what she misses the most about the Philippines, how she looks forward to experiencing Pinoy-style Christmas, and what she had to give up to give back to her kababayan back home.

It’s your first time to do a musical in the Philippines. What made you decide to do it?
It’s always been my passion to be in West Side Story. It’s my favorite musical, and I saw it in London a few years ago and the part really appealed to me.

What did you have to give up in London to come home to the Philippines to do this show?
I have an agent in London, and I asked him not to put me up for anything in the next six months because I really want to concentrate on this, and I think it’s really important to do this for my fellow Filipinos. I feel complete to be able to do something for them. It’s important that I’m here and not distracted with anything.

What are the differences between West End and Philippine theater?
We have longer hours over there. Here its approximately 4 to 5 hours. I know we’re not as rich as West End or Broadway, so we have to use whatever resources are available to us here, and I think it’s a good thing because it makes us more creative and imaginative.

What are the good things you’ve seen in West End theater that you’d like to be replicated in Philippine productions?
I guess it’s the professionalism–being on time all the time. The Filipino way is being late a lot, so I try to come early to show people they have to be early. So far everyone’s been good. I couldn’t complain. Of course, there have been instances when people were late and you don’t know who’s gonna turn up or what time.  Hopefully people learn to communicate, especially because there’s a lot of texting going on in the country.

You’re a veteran of several opening nights. Do you still get the jitters when you open a show? 
Absolutely. I do a lot of breathing and I pray. And I do certain exercises and meditate.

Since you’re doing many shows, how do you take care of your voice?
It’s a skill you have to develop because in the West End we do eight shows a week. Here, for West Side Story, we do only weekends, and less pa for me because there’s Karylle who’ll also be doing the show. I make sure I don’t go out very late. I drink a lot of water. Everything that a singer does. You just have to be very  disciplined if singing is your passion.

What is your advice to Pinoys who want to make it in musical theater?
Persevere and stick to your passion and your dreams. And never ever take anything personally.

Many Filipinos who have performed abroad say the Filipino audience is very hard to please. What can you say about this?
That actually makes us perfectionists and I think am that way too. I am pretty hard to please, and I totally understand why.

How do you keep yourself busy in between shows?
I try to keep myself busy by training and exercising. It’s important that you keep your stamina when you’re doing shows. I did kickboxing in London for a few months before coming over. I know it’s not very ladlylike, but it’s what I wanted to do. Also some dancing.

What music do you dig?
Pop and R&B. My favorite performers are musical theater performers, but before I left the Philippines, I was very much influenced by the likes of Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

What music player do you own and what are your top 10 favorite songs?
I have an 80G iPod. My top 10 . . . I love Puff Daddy’s “Come with Me” because the beat is a bit fast and I can exercise to it. I also have a lot of Mariah  Carey and Whitney Houston songs in it. I also like Chaka Khan. There’s a lot of ’80s songs in there.

You’ve been away for 16 years. What do you miss the most about the Philippines?
The food and the hospitality of Pinoys. And people wanting to pamper you all the time. I love that.

Conquering the World, One Design at a Time

Originally published in Pinoycentric on April 16, 2007

Kenneth Cobonpue needs no introduction to people who know furniture and design. The Cebu-born furniture designer went to Pratt Institute in New York and apprenticed in Florence, Italy, and Munich, Germany, for woodworking, upholstery, and cabinet making. Aside from winning the 2005 Design for Asia Award for his Lolah collection, Kenneth's craftsmanship has been acknowledged in the International Contemporary Furniture Fair, the Singapore International Furniture Design Competition, IIDA/Hospitality Design Product Competition, and the High Point Show. He is also a member of Movement 8, a select group of Filipino designers.

Kenneth is also known for his A-list clientele, including Hollywood actor Brad Pitt, who bought one of his Voyage beds, and Warner Brothers, which commissioned him to furnish a casino set for the movie Ocean's Thirteen.

In this Innerview, Kenneth talks about the design process, growing up with a mother who is also a furniture designer, and his aversion to feng shu.

Pinoycentric: You once said, in an interview with Generation Rice, that you grew up with the smell of lacquer, wood, and varnish, so we can probably say you were “destined" to be a furniture designer because your mother was also into furniture design. But had you had not chosen this path, what would you be doing now? Was there a conscious effort to pursue other inclinations?
 Kenneth Cobonpue: I think every kid harbors a secret desire to blaze a trail completely different from his parents and still make them proud in the end. As a teenager, I was very fascinated with plays and musicals. It’s amazing how you can transport people in a couple of hours to another world under stage lights. I found out that the world of design is like that no matter what field you are. With my furniture, I see people react and connect to them in ways I never imagined possible. And that’s what makes my work worthwhile.

How does the design process go for you? Do you have "a-ha!" moments that you can share with us? How long does it take to come up with a design (from design to prototype)?

The design process can take a month to a year to come into fruition. And even then, it never stops. I still find myself tweaking my original designs 10 years down the line. We usually start with the material and play with it like children. We approach everything three-dimensionally and we build models from the early stages of the design process. That’s why my designs have a very sculptural feel about them. My team and I go through “a-ha” moments, only to be doused with water along the way when we start thinking about cost, manufacturability, and stability. But we always pull through in the end.

A furniture consultant once said that a furniture designer can never get too attached to his designs. Do you agree with this?

On the contrary, every design of mine is like a special child that enters into the world complete with its share of birth pains. After I baptize them with names, I never agree to have them renamed or redesigned by other people. I tell people who want to change my designs to go and make babies on their own.

Do you have one particular design that you loathe selling? Can you tell us the story behind it?
I have these chairs that look like your generic Ikea design wrapped in leather. They sell so well, but I don’t want to even have anything to do with it.

With Brad Pitt's having bought one of your designs, the entire Philippines suddenly took notice of you. How did you feel about this?
Brad Pitt has five of my designs in his collection, which he bought over three years. The press caught on to it only last year. It’s kind of ironic that you need a celebrity to validate your work in most parts of the world. But that’s just the way it is.

How has your increasingly popularity and the fact that you're from Cebu City helped the local furniture industry to establish a global niche?
With increasing competition from China and our other Asian neighbors, I like to think that I showed fellow Filipinos an alternative way to win in the global market by not thinking about quantity but quality. Design is the last competitive advantage that the Philippines has when it comes to manufacturing objects.

Most of your designs can be afforded by only the rich, which may have some people thinking of you as too elitist. Is there a conscious effort to break away from this mold? Are you coming up with less-expensive and affordable designs too? Do you also envision every Filipino family having a Cobonpue design at home?
Every designer dreams of creating something that everyone can afford, including me. It’s just not possible right now because my factory cannot produce goods of superior quality in high volumes. Designing things for every Filipino home is high up on my list of things to do before I expire.

Do you also also take feng shui into account when you're designing? Do you apply it in your home? How do you balance design theory and feng shui?
I think feng shui as we know it today should be a natural and subconscious extension of one’s way of life. Either you live your life in a peaceful and contented way or you don’t. No amount of furniture switching and mirrors can change your life. I loathe at the thought of hiring a feng shui expert to re-arrange your life according to invisible forces in the universe that you know nothing of.

Can you give us three "fast tips" on designing a home? What should one remember when arranging furniture? What colors should one stay away from? What colors should one gravitate toward?
Design is a lot like life. You have to get your values and priorities in place. When designing a home, you need to know what the dominant or focal point of the whole scheme is. It’s the plot in a story, the refrain in a song, the long neck of a giraffe. Every other element in the home should visually support that dominant piece. That’s why museums are painted in appropriate colors to highlight the pieces on display, places of worship are quiet so you can listen to your Creator speak, and drum rolls precede smashing cymbals.

You have made the world take notice of the Filipino designer with your creations. What do you think aspiring designers should do to achieve world-class standards like you have?
In order to be noticed by the world, you have to offer something unique. The world has enough of everything. You can start by taking inspiration from others or by even borrowing. But you have to look inside you and transform it into something personal and unique until you can call it your own. In my case, it was the combination of natural materials, organic modern design, and innovative craftsmanship.

The PinoyCentric tagline goes: "All things brown and beautiful," pertaining, of course, to the Pinoy and the Philippines. What makes Kenneth Cobonpue distinctly "brown" (not literally, of course) and "beautiful"?
My designs are usually brown because of the materials I use. (Laughter) Seriously, everything about me is Filipino from the materials I use, the craftsmen who make them, and the inspirations my designs come from. I think the most beautiful thing about my adventure is that Filipino design culture has finally become global.

Finding Healing in Her Mother’s Land

Originally published in Pinoycentric on April 28, 2009
 
Filipino-American musical theater actor Stephanie Reese’s journey to find her roots in the Philippines occurred three years ago, at a “time of great despair.”

“I gave up my singing and acting career because the man that I had fallen in love with died in a car accident. It turned my life upside down,” relates the Seattle-born soprano.

From being an ambitious and successful actor and singer—she played Kim in the European production of Miss Saigon, and Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame and Tuptim in The King and I, both in West End—Stephanie became withdrawn and was ready to give up on life.

And then she met Gawad Kalinga founder Tony Meloto, who invited her to come to the Philippines. It was the first time Stephanie would ever set foot on her mother’s homeland.

She would find the healing she was looking for in the Philippines. Through Gawad Kalinga, a movement that raises money to help build homes for poor Filipino families, Stephanie met people who had also gone through difficult times in their lives. The immersion opened her eyes and inspired her to go back to her music and revive her theater career.

“Tito Tony [made me realize that] we always need a higher purpose in everything that we do. I felt that here in the Philippines, and I am forever indebted to this country,” Stephanie says.

Finding her roots
Stephanie’s homecoming was also a chance to know more about her Filipino roots.

Raised in the US by an American-Japanese father and a Filipino-Chinese mother from Camalig, Albay, Stephanie says, “I didn’t know how it was to be Filipino until I came to the country. I am of mixed blood and heritage, but after coming here, I feel I am a hundred percent Filipino.”

She has since taken great pride in representing the Philippines in her performances. “I’d like to break stereotypes of what people think and believe of Filipinos. There’s more to Philippine culture than just karaoke singing. I’m so proud to be able to represent our culture,” she says.

This Pinoy’s got talent
Now back on her feet, Stephanie is making a name for herself in the US through her unique singing style. Dubbed “The Standing Ovation Queen,” she’s wowed fans and industry insiders with her diverse repertoire of Broadway, opera, ballads, pop, kundiman, and even hip-hop. What’s more impressive is that she can switch from one genre to another without missing a beat!

Her recent concert in Beverly Hill’s Crustacean Restaurant, where she sang with Patti La Belle and Natalie Cole, has “put [her] on the Hollywood map.” Her rendition of the aria “Nessun Dorma” had the audience on its feet and impressed La Belle, who called this five-foot-one-inch singer “the little girl with the big voice.”

After conquering European musical theater and Hollywood, Stephanie is coming home to share her gift with her countrymen in a first solo concert, “I Am Stephanie Reese,” at the Teatrino in Greenhills on May 4.

“I really want to create a name for myself [here in the Philippines," she admits. "I want to share my music from the north to the south, to give back to the people, [because] when I come here I always feel a sense of healing. My grandparents and my mother are from here, and so I would really like to honor my grandparents and my heritage by embracing this culture.”

We got to talk to Stephanie Reese during her meeting with the Philippine press last week, and this Q&A is recreated from a one-on-one interview and her answers during the press conference.

PinoyCentric: How was it like growing up?
My mom raised me to be [very Filipino]. Everyone asks me, “Are you sure you were born here?” because they say I’m more Filipino than American, and I take that as a big compliment. I’m very conservative.


Did your mother ever make an effort to introduce you to the Pinoy culture?
She tried her best, but we were living with my dad’s family who were American, and it was hard for her until my grandparents came. So that was her effort: in bringing them to live with us.

My [lola] was my inspiration for my love of music. From the time she lived with us, she’d sing songs to me every day. She really planted that seed of the love of music in me. My first stage, I’d like to think, was my own living room.

Do you have a favorite Pinoy dish?
I love Bicol express and laing!

What do you consider the landmark of your career?
Originally I would have said Miss Saigon, but as I began as a solo artist, I’d like to say it’s my one-woman show, The Journey. [Editor: Stephanie writes, produces, and directs this autobiographical show.]

What’s "The Journey" all about?
It’s about my life–my life story told through music. It’s similar to what I’ll be doing in Teatrino, but because I’ve lived my life since I wrote it, I had to rewrite it to include my journey in the Philippines, so it’s gone now from this autobiographical story to [the Teatrino concert] “I am Stephanie Reese.”

There aren’t a lot of singers who write their own songs. What inspires your songwriting?
Life–people that I meet and whatever I experience in life is what I make comments on. When I get a little [idea] in my head, I just follow that inspiration.


How did you find your way to Miss Saigon in Germany? Did you have to know German?
I auditioned in New York. No [laughter], I didn’t know German. They just cast me and taught me phonetically.

How long did it take you to learn German?
They don’t give you much time—I had eight hours a day of phonetics. I had about a few weeks before I could go onstage.

What advice can you give to those who are starting out?
I would tell them to keep singing and to know that it is the biggest gift you can share with others. Know that when you’re given a gift from God, you have to take care of it. Your goal shouldn’t be to be famous or to make money but to share.

Sing anywhere and everywhere you can. Don’t wait for other people to give you opportunities. Create your own opportunities.