Lani ready for concert debut at NYC’s Town Hall on Nov. 22

This just in: Lani Misalucha will make her concert debut at The Town Hall in New York City on Nov. 22, with promising young tenor Jared Martin as special guest.

This good news was relayed to Funfare by this section’s NYC correspondent Oliver Oliveros.

Founded in 1921, the Town Hall is a non-profit national historic site in the heart of NYC’s theater district, with a lineup that features events ranging from world music, jazz, gospel, blues, folk, show tunes, political humor, theater dance, and more. Sarah Mclachlan, Jerry Lee Lewis, Lea Salonga, Elaine Paige and Chita Rivera have performed at the Town Hall.

Said Oliver, “Lani is known for her star-turning main showroom concerts on the Las Vegas Strip, which earned her the moniker ‘Siren of the Strip.’ She was named Best Singer (Staff Pick) by the Las Vegas Review Journal’s 27th Annual Best of Las Vegas poll.”

Of course, everybody knows that Lani is a seasoned recording artist who is able to scale five octaves and could sing anything in any vocal style. She is that phenomenal, which even prompted two US city mayors to declare not just one but two days (Lani Misalucha Days on Aug. 17 and Dec. 4) named after her.

“Her voice is in the realm of Celine Dion…(and) her rendition of Puccini’s Nessun Dorma was a daily showstopper,” noted Las Vegas Review Journal.

Added Oliver, “BroadwayWorld.com Music, on the other hand, notes that ‘Lani can easily convey unbridled depth and lustrous contour with just a singular word or a placating, even plaintive, conversational humming of a simple chord progression,’ referring to Lani’s latest studio album, The Nightingale Returns, which she co-produced and recently turned gold.” It’s the same album that Lani promoted when she came home early this year.

Lani Misalucha Live in Concert will be presented by JB Entertainment Productions, in cooperation with TFC. The concert covers a wide range of music from Billboard hits to Whitney Houston to opera arias. Oliver said that Lani will be accompanied by a five-piece band and four soulful female backup vocalists, under the musical direction of Lorrie Ilustre. The full-length concert promises to showcase a mix of high and low octaves, intricate tempo variations, a few dance moves and a little comedy.

“This is the first time I am going to perform in a major concert in New York City, whose fast-paced energy is so inviting,” said Lani. “It is going to be a rollercoaster type of a show. You don’t really want to go to a concert to listen to depressing songs, do you? You want to dance, you want to laugh and you want to cry at the same time. We want the audience to enjoy; we will keep them entertained.”

Part of the proceeds from the concert will benefit ABS-CBN’s Bantay Bata Foundation, which supports child abuse victims in the Philippines, and the Filipino-American Community Development Center of Ocean County, Inc. (FCDC), a nonprofit that helps preserve Philippine culture and heritage.

(Note to Filipino residents in New York and neighboring cities: To buy tickets [$48-$138], call 732-929-3909, 201-388-1927, 646-644-1412, 845-520-1908, or 914-309-9564; visit ticketmaster.com; or visit the Town Hall box-office at 123 W. 43rd St., New York, N.Y.)

Lito Legaspi back then: With Susan Roces in Lab na Lab Kita, his first-starring picture and (right) also with Susan in the 1962 comedy Susan, Susay, Susie with Jose Mari (left) and Eddie Gutierrez (center). — Photos from the collection of CELSO DE GUZMAN CAPARAS

Throwback Saturday: The ’60s glamour boy turns 74

I can ‘t believe that Lito Legaspi has just turned 74 last Thursday, Sept. 10. He doesn’t look his age and can pass for a much older brother of his sons Brando, Zoren and Kier.

A few days earlier, I saw Lito and Zoren playing father and son (what typecasting, ‘no!) in the new hit Kapuso soap Marimar. They looked good together. You could see where Zoren got his looks.

Lito admitted that at Sampaguita Pictures, he didn’t become as big a star as Romero Vasquez, Jose Mari and Eddie Gutierrez. But, after he was introduced in Lover Boy (with Jose Mari in the title role), Lito did bag glamour-boy roles in a few movies (Pitong Kalbaryo ng Isang Ina, etc.) until he was promoted to stardom in Lab Na Lab Kita with no less than Susan Roces as leading lady.

“That was after I did Pitong Pagsisisi,” recalled Lito who was later paired with Liberty Ilagan as a love team. “Liberty has remained a good friend up to this day.”

When he turned freelancer in the early ‘70s, Lito became the reluctant “king” of sex flicks after he starred (with Merle Fernandez and Tito Galla) in the classic Uhaw (followed by Hayok, with Jose Feliciano’s Once There Was a Love as the haunting theme song).

“I did those movies because I needed the money to feed my family,” Lito now said. “I wanted to be recognized as a serious actor but I didn’t really get the chance to prove myself,” adding, “my only regret is that I wasn’t able to work with Manong Gerry (de Leon, Liberty’s father) although I met him several times. He advised me to study the Stanislavsky’s ‘method acting’ and to read the book Actor Prepare.”

Up to now, Lito is applying what he learned from that book.

“I go to the set prepared mentally, emotionally and physically,” shared Lito, “with my dialogue verbatim in my mind.”

(E-mail reactions at [email protected]. You may also send your questions to [email protected]. For more updates, photos and videos visit www.philstar.com/funfare or follow me on www.twitter/therealrickylo.)