Sam joins Anna Maria, Corbin Bleu in NYC show

If Sam Milby keeps the three-month deadline he has given himself to try his luck as an actor in the US, maybe he won’t come home totally empty-handed. Did he bag a role from any of the auditions that he was reported to have taken? Uhm, not really. So far, the only project he has clinched is as a special guest in Anna Maria Perez de Tagle’s first major concert on May 7 onboard the Hornblower Hybrid, a cutting-edge boat by the world-famous Hornblower Cruises & Events, together with High School Musical star Corbin Bleu.

Sam said before he left that he would be away for three months which is much too short for any talent dreaming Hollywood to gain considerable ground. You see, competition out there is a hundred times stiffer (and far more cutthroat) than that in the local entertainment industry where more premium is put on looks than in talent. You have to compete not just with dozens but thousands of aspirants from around the world. And you must have the right connections.

So far, Sam’s only connection is Anna Maria who has become his friend and text-mate since their first meeting two years ago during a Star Magic event in California.

“That friendship was renewed recently when they met again in New York City where Sam is temporarily based while auditioning for prospective Hollywood projects,” said Funfare’s Big Apple correspondent Edmund Silvestre in an exclusive dispatch.

Corbin is Anna Maria’s long-time friend and fellow ex-Disney baby who is taking the role of Jesus beginning April 17 in the Broadway revival of Godspell where Anna Maria currently appears. The original Jesus, Hunter Parrish, did his final performance on April 15 before heading back to the West Coast to start shooting for the new season of his hit series Weeds on Showtime opposite Mary Louise Parker.

Corbin, who made his Broadway debut in In The Heights, is best known for playing Chad Danforth in the High School Musical series that also starred Zac Efron and Disney’s other Fil-Am star, Vanessa Hudgens.

The May 7 concert, which will benefit Anna Maria’s favorite charity, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, will also feature Anna Maria’s co-stars in Godspell — Wallace Smith, Nick Blaemire, Eric Michael Krop and the amazing George Salazar, Godspell’s unofficial funny man, who is half-Filipino and half-Ecuadorian. Topnotch musician Sonny Paladino of High School Musical and Broadway’s Billy Elliot, Grease, and Mama Mia, is the concert’s musical director.

“Fans should expect a mix of pop and musical theater,” Paladino told Broadwayworld.com’s Oliver Oliveros. “Anna’s diverse style is allowing us to perform both traditional musical theater pieces alongside some real — in your face — pop tunes.  Expect everything from Boublil and Schonberg, to Kander and Ebb, to Lady Gaga, and maybe even a little Cee Lo Green! Tell me that’s not diverse!” 

In the same interview, Paladino gushed that he couldn’t wait to direct Anna Maria from the time he heard her sing while preparing for her audition piece for Godspell.

“I was immediately blown away by her voice and her presence, and I thought, I can’t wait to really work on something with this talented woman,” he told Oliveros. “When she asked me to music direct this concert, I was totally pumped. This is our first time really getting to work together.

“The greatest thing about Anna is that she lives in more than one musical world. Anna is obviously a great pop singer, as her work in television and film shows. But now after starring on Broadway this year, she has really become a fantastic musical theater singer as well.”

Meanwhile, Edmund said that guests will get a chance to try the new hybrid vessel of Hornblower Cruises that is said to utilize just about every green energy technology — hydrogen, batteries, solar and wind — and enjoy the benefits of reduced emissions and lower fuel consumption. “It is also the latest boat for the Statue Cruise line, which takes tourists to the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island and trips around New York Harbor,” added Edmund.

Hornblower Hybrid is a state-of-the-art and much bigger vessel than the one Anna Maria used in December last year during her 21st birthday soiree.

Tickets to the concert are only $50 that include “food and non-alcoholic beverages, views of New York sunset and skyline, dancing, red carpet and an unforgettable experience for a great cause.” (Cash bar is available onboard.)

All guests will embark at 7 p.m. (sharp) at Pier 40, at 353 West St. near West Houston St. in Manhattan.

(For tickets, call 818.823.1628 or e-mail [email protected])

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