We're Still Hot: A Look Back

Not a lot of people will probably admit to this nor could they relate to what I am about to say. People are multi-faceted. Each face we use for certain situations we encounter. The characters of "We're Still Hot: The Musical" someho w showcased four of the many sides of my personality. In many ways, there is a lot of me in each of the characters portrayed in the play.

Marnie Summers represents that part of me that is still very angry for being abused in my childhood.

Zsu Zsu Herendy is that performer in me. The one that is desperately trying to get noticed. And all the time hoping that people are mature enough to look past my age and perhaps realize that people over 30 still has the capacity to wow an audience.

Cynthia Sawyer is that side of me that is afraid to grow old. That part of me that feels as if my window of opportunity is on the verge of closing--wishing and praying that something will happen to change the seemingly inevitable fate of aging without accomplishing anything substantial.

But I suppose the character I seem to relate to most is Kate Philips. An individual so full of promise but as the lyrics of the first song states...

"I was heading for something great but life and I got in the way..." I mean, doesn't it feel like that sometimes? It's like one derailment after another. You tell yourself that it's just life or fate. Most often than not, you convince yourself that you have no control over most of what we experience. However, there are some instances in life that are not set about by mere circumstance. There are things in life that are set in motion or even put to stop by human intervention.

I am, of course, referring to unscrupulous people who have infiltrated casting offices for stage, TV, and radio. Where else can you find an industry bent on keeping the big names big and the new talents grasping at strings. And we are left "...hanging on the coat tails of somebody else's life..."

It happened on my audition for Lion King Australia where you're supposed to pre-register but celebrities are allowed to simply walk-in and sing. It was there that I saw, as I handed-in my credentials, that there were separate piles of applicants. One for ordinary people like myself and another for celebrities. On top of the pile was Michael de Mesa.

This incident was repeated during the auditions for "Rama at Sita"--the second proposed show. During pre-registration, I was told flatly by the man handling the talent search that he would register me under the category of "walk-in". This was not a guarantee that I was going to be allowed to sing or even audition for any part. No, that honor was reserved for what he called--"mga bigatin" or "heavy weights of the industry". I had often wondered if that meant the sons and daughters of actors, socialites and political figures. He told me that I will only be allowed to sing if there was enough time after their preferred talents had tried out.

And even in the voice-over industry, these bastards had set-up their political dynasty. The already established voice talents have created guilds that push and promote only the members of their already worn-out group. No wonder the voices all sound the same. They never let new talent seep through.

It may sound like I'm sour-graping but think about it...isn't it a crime to push aspiring talents into the mud? Shame on you! How dare you all keep us in the dark while you and your high and mighty group monopolize TV, Radio and Stage. Who are you to tell me that we are not worthy of the limelight?

But this I promise you all. We, the extraordinary talents with bloodlines stemming from the common man--we shall endure. We will flourish and someday leave you so far behind that you will be asking us for work. And when that happens, you will finally experience what it feels to be humbled--to fall-in-line like everyone else. And to be screened for your talents (if any) and not your lineage.

Comments

[Betchay]

i hear you, conrad and i see what you mean... hmmm

cynthia sawyer character hahah, doesn't she remind you of the story of a female friend of yours who's been out of the performing arts, not her choice, for more than two decades now... but is now clamoring to get back on the saddle to pursue her innermost passion? hmmm... hahaha! gets mo, 'di ba? ^-^