Making beautiful music together all over again

My good friend, director Bobby Garcia and musical director Gerard Salonga again join forces in Baby The Musical, the production that brings Lea Salonga back to the Philippine Musical Theater Stage.

Bobby and Gerard have worked in numerous shows together (including The Broadway Concert, Songs From Home and Dreamgirls). And they are both thrilled to be working on another musical together.

Baby The Musical, a Tony and Grammy award-nominated musical by Richard Maltby, Jr. and David Shire, was written in the ’80s. Gerard describes its music as "1983, maybe even earlier. There are some songs that resemble the early ’80s OPM pop sound so I think the audience will be quite familiar with the style and feel of the music. Jonathan Tunick’s Broadway orchestration (which is being used for the Manila production) is brilliant, and I know the people watching will have as much fun listening as we will have playing."

Bobby, who recently directed the hit concert Night of the Champions at the Araneta Coliseum, thinks that Baby The Musical easily appeals to a local audience. "It’s a very sweet and heartwarming musical about relationships – but it still pushes boundaries because it deals with genuine issues couples go through – and may not necessarily want to discuss. It’s very universal in that sense."

Once again, as with all Atlantis Productions musicals, there will be a live orchestra. It is something Bobby has insisted on for every musical he has done. "I do understand budgetary constraints when you’re producing a show, but I think live music in a musical is something you can’t compromise on. Of course it means higher production costs, but that’s the nature of a musical. You need to give audiences a complete live experience."

Gerard, who leads the impressive 20-piece orchestra of Baby, couldn’t agree more.

"As a musician, naturally I’m against it, but there are other factors at play. I know for a fact that if given the chance, people involved in the production of musicals prefer to have live music. It’s just that budgets for a production with live music can sometimes be quite prohibitive for a show in which the returns are expected to be small. It’s all dictated by the market. As the audience for musical theater grows, so will the budget, and so will the number of live musicians used."

Bobby can’t wait to hear what the orchestra will sound like. He has nothing but praises for his musical director. "Gerard is one of the most brilliant and passionate musical directors this country has. It’s always a thrill to work with him," he says.

Rounding up the powerhouse dream team of Baby are choreographer Andy Alviz, set designer Mio Infante, costume supervisor Rajo Laurel, lighting designer Gerry Fernandez and sound designer Bobbit Jacinto.

(Baby The Musical will run at the Meralco Theater from Aug. 18 to Sept. 5. For tickets, you may call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078, 840-1187 or Ticketworld at 891-9999.)

Avril’s Under Your Skin

Unapologetically original. Unabashedly in your face.

Avril Lavigne’s debut Let Go gave young women a defiant voice and a music they could rock to. Fourteen million albums and eight Grammy nominations later, the Canadian chanteuse returns to the recording scene with a brand new album, Under My Skin.

Under My Skin takes off with Don’t Tell Me, a bold new single about female empowerment that picks up where Complicated left off. Don’t Tell Me, a radio-friendly song which easily entered the charts of Manila’s hip radio stations and music video channels, contains an emphatic "no means no" message about sex and deals with often turbulent teenage relationships.

And that is just the start. The 12-track album displays a lot of Avril’s growing maturity as a songwriter. Despite her young age and overwhelming success, Avril is an authentic, original artist who creates and writes music with a guitar and a notepad. She has delivered an album full of quality songwriting and smash hit singles that will prove that the phenomenon of Let Go was no fluke. She’s a girl with a bell-clear voice and she has the ability to bottle youthful anguish and enthusiasm into tidy, infectious songs.

Grab your copies of Under My Skin now available in CDs and cassettes at your favorite record stores nationwide. It is distributed by BMG Records (Pilipinas).