Ima back for a new challenge

MANILA, Philippines - Miss Saigon star and recording artist Ima Castro is set to return to Manila after a 10-year absence to star in two musicals produced by Atlantis Productions. She will first take on the title role in the Elton John/Tim Rice pop-rock musical Aida. She will then play Vanessa in the smash hit Tony Award-winning musical In the Heights.

Called his Miracle from Manila by Miss Saigon composer Claude-Michel Schonberg, Ima left Manila in 2001 to star in the UK Tour of Miss Saigon after succeeding Lea Salonga in the role in the Manila engagement of the hit musical. Ima’s first break in the music industry came when she won the grand prize in the 1991 Panasonic nationwide’s Quest for the Best singing competition. She went on to win several local and international awards including Best Singer Award in Osaka, Japan and Best Interpreter in the First Asia Song Festival in Bali, Indonesia.

Her album, Mamahalin Kita-Ima, became a gold record thanks to her popular duet with Lloyd Umali titled Nanliligaw, Naliligaw. Soon after that, Polygram Records decided to make her second album, a self-titled one which was released in 1997. It includes Shine, her winning song in the 1996 Metropop Song Festival. She has guested in the albums of other well-known male performers including Martin Nievera, Nonoy Zuñiga and international artists David Pomeranz and Mike Francis. She also recorded a duet with popular Latin singer, Enrique Iglesias titled You’re My Number One.

Aside from being a recording artist, Ima also appeared in the pop-zarzuela, Paglayang Minamahal where she played the lead role opposite Albert Martinez. The successful play which was staged at the CCP Little Theater was her very first theater work before she auditioned for the Manila Production of Miss Saigon and got in. She was offered to play the lead role Kim after Lea Salonga finished her contract. She was offered again, this time by IMG Australia for the Asian Tour in Hong Kong and Singapore. Impressed with her talent and professionalism, Sir Cameron Mackintosh asked her to join the UK Tour of the show for two years where she got the chance to travel and live in beautiful places like Manchester, Dublin, Edinburgh, Bristol, Birmingham and Southampton. In 2005 and 2006 tour of Miss Saigon she had the chance to perform in Lisbon, Belfast, Cardiff and other cities in the UK. She also did concerts in Manila and Tokyo with Russell Watson: The Voice in May 2005. ( She did a workshop for a new musical called Desperate! which is based on the ’80s film of Madonna Desperately Seeking Susan. She recently recorded demo tracks for the upcoming West End musical Sacrifice.

In the Tony Award-winning musical Aida, Ima plays the title role, a Nubian princess captured and enslaved by the Egyptian empire, who falls in love with a captain in the Egyptian army. As forbidden love blossoms between them, the young lovers are forced to face death or part forever. Together, they set a shining example of true devotion that ultimately transcends the vast cultural differences between their warring nations, heralding a time of unprecedented peace and prosperity. Featuring an exciting pop-rock score by Elton John and Tim Rice, Aida runs from June 24 to July 10 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati. It is directed by Chari Arespacochaga.

Ima plays Vanessa in In the Heights, the salon worker with big dreams of moving downtown. She is reunited with director Bobby Garcia, who was her first director in the Manila run of Miss Saigon and was pivotal in selecting her to succeed Lea Salonga.

In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood — a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind. In the Heights is the winner of four 2008 Tony Awards including Best Musical. The New York Times calls it, “A musical about chasing your dreams and finding your true home, with enough energy to light up the George Washington Bridge. A singular new sensation!“ In the Heights runs from Sept. 2 to 18, at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City.

Ima says of her return to Manila, “I‘m very excited to come home after 10 years of being away. Aida and In the Heights are two very different shows that will put me in a great challenge but I know I am in very good hands. Direk Bobby was my very first director in Miss Saigon in Manila who groomed me to be the Kim that Sir Cameron Macintosh wanted in his production of the show in the UK, Dublin and Lisbon and I am so looking forward to work with Chari for the first time. I‘m grateful to Atlantis Productions for asking me to be in these shows as they are both brilliant pieces of musical theater. What a great reason to come home. I am blessed!”

A limited number of shows are also now available for show buying and fundraising opportunities with excellent returns on your investment. Aida and In the Heights are the perfect shows to raise money for your organization, foundation or charity. Don’t miss out on this chance to be a part of two of the most exciting musicals of the decade.

For details, call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078 or 840-1187.