FEATURE: Larger than life

It took a while for us to come up with a title,” says Bituin Escalante about her upcoming concert, which she headlines with former Kulay singer and The Voice Philippines alum Radha Cuadrado and Search For The Star In A Million winner Frenchie Dy.

Entitled The Big Big Show, the concert showcases all three powerhouse vocalists for the first time under one roof. A Full House Asia production, the show also brings together the musical direction of Mel Villena, the instrumental magic of the AMP Big Band, the choreography of Douglas Nierras, and the direction of Paolo Valenciano. With other special guests and lively, powerful music, The Big Big Show promises to be a rip roaring good time for the performers and audience alike. “I’ve wondered why hindi ‘to natuloy ng maraming beses,” says Cuadrado. “I feel individually as performers and singers, yung caliber nila unmatched kumpara sa iba. Hindi ko sinasabi na angat kayo sa the rest, it’s just that ako, sila yung gusto ko. Pag inisip ko kung ano yung show na gusto ko, sila agad iisipin ko.”

Settling on the matter of the title, however, was an entirely empowered decision where the three musicians were concerned. “For example, in a press con, if they see the three of us, it’s the first thing they’ll comment on. ‘Kaya kayo nagsama kasi malalaki kayo noh,’” Escalante says, and then straightens up, juts her chin out, and says proudly, “Kaya kami nagsama, dahil malalaki kami. It’s an ownership of it. Iba yung kapag sayo nanggaling.”

“There’s ownership in our size, and we know that that’s the first thing they’re going to ask. And true enough, they did,” adds Cuadrado. “Pero ang point namin is okay, so what’s next? What else can you say about us?” The three make jokes, saying that a number other artists, like Jaya, have come forward wanting to join their show, to which Dy says with a bit of hilarious side eye, “Mag unli-rice ka muna.”

Weighty discussion

Humor aside, it’s heartbreaking that a show where three headliners are armed with enough talent for 20 mind-blowing singers can hardly be discussed without referring to body image, mostly due to the size-conscious nature of show business, paired our cultural obsession with discussing each other’s weight. These women who, despite years in the industry and their ability to melt your very heart with even off-hand, playful singing (trust me, the day of the shoot was just full of swooning Supreme staff), also have to field unfair questions and endure certain treatment because they don’t wear size 0 jeans.

Dy discusses that during her stint on ABS-CBN’s Star In A Million, her participation was contentious because it was supposedly tough to package and sell a big girl. One of the judges even disclosed to Dy after her win that because they weren’t entirely sold on her marketability, the panel wasn’t going to give it to her, until industry legend Ryan Cayabyab said, “I’m sorry, but Frenchie is my winner.” Her talent overtook any misconceptions of her, and she’s been proving them wrong ever since.

When asked if body image has been a particularly cumbersome thing to grapple with, Dy and Escalante shrug it off, saying they’ve both been very comfortable in their own skins. For Cuadrado, however, it’s been a bit of an emotional uphill battle. She shares that after her time with Kulay, she gained 50 pounds in a brief period, and suddenly the reception to her performances changed. “I wanted to ask, may mali ba sa pagkanta ko? May mali ba sa sayaw ko?  It wasn’t my music that changed, it was how they heard it, kasi nagiba na rin yung pagtingin nila sakin na hindi nako payat.”

Cuadrado recounts telling Dy that she wanted to go on a diet and lose weight, and Dy said to her, “Huwag na. Konti na lang tayong malalaking magagaling.” Cuadrado says it was one of the most encouraging moments in her career, saying, “I realized that this is also part of what makes me me, and when people say that I have to lose weight to be launched again or to be famous, they’re also not accepting me for me.”

“One of the most celebrated opera singers, Montserrat Caballé, ang laki laking babae, in love sa kanya si Freddie Mercury. Pavarotti, Adele, Aretha Franklin. Ang lalaki nilang tao; what’s the issue? Don’t they know it’s a physical thing? Pag ganito ka, iba yung boses mo,” adds Escalante. “Considering we are the big acts, we are the big singers, and we don’t even have good careers, considering there are no truly big acts out there. And that’s a reality, even if you think, ‘This is a good show,’ it’s still a risk for Full House to take a risk on this production. Because we’re not about the fluff that you need, and the glitter that you need to be a Pinoy act, and it’s sad because we pride ourselves on producing the best singers abroad.”

Celebrating love and life

But the opinions of the ignorant won’t keep these beautiful, extremely sexy, and brilliant artists down, and it certainly won’t define them. Full House productions has illustrated the show as “a celebration of women, their triumphs and their defeats, their stories and journeys revealed through songs that echo their views and sentiments on love and life.” So what they’ve created here is a show that breaks through expectation and perception, and strips it down to the core of what makes these women as great and powerful as they are.

We touched on how Cuadrado retired from performing and had decided to write for other musicians, but later on decided to come back via The Voice, and all three women agreed that it is because music is their collective fate. However, they’ve tried to run or deny it, the music always comes back to haunt them, to tell them, “We have yet to finish.” So it is with their separate journeys, triumphs, and scars that they tell every story within each song, and it is with that truth that they engage every ear and heart that crosses their voices’ paths. But most importantly, these three choose not only to do what they do and do it well, but with what influence they possess, to empower those who, like them, may not perfectly fit into any particular mold either.

So it comes to pass that these three can call themselves big not because they were designed by the gods as voluptuous, but because their stories are thick with depth, their humor vast, their generosity of spirit incalculable, and their talent too immense to be contained.

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Interested audiences can catch The Big Big Show tonight, December 3, at 8 p.m. over at The Theater At Solaire. For more information, call 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph.

Photo by Joseph Pascual  Produced by David Milan

Makeup by Don de Jesus (Radha and Bituin) and Gery Penaso (Frenchie)  Hair by Mong Amado