Lea wows ‘em at Solaire Theatre opening

MANILA, Philippines - There is a lot going for the venue called The Theatre, which was formally introduced to the public last Nov. 26 at the Solaire in Pasay City.

It is on the other far end of Mall of Asia almost approaching coastal road and is easy to see as it is part of the resort and casino complex.

Solaire president and COO Thomas Arasi and VP for brand and marketing Jasper Evangelista called it their newest crown jewel and indeed, its features are pretty impressive.

It has a capacity of 1,760, which makes it ideal for musical theater, opera, symphonic concerts and ballet, among others.

Its backstage amenities are even more revealing. It has 12 fully-furnished dressing rooms, an accommodating green room, a multi-purpose rehearsal studio, a black box performance space, laundry and wardrobe rooms, production spaces and an extensive TV monitor and communications system.

It is easy to bring in elaborate ballet and opera sets with its same-level loading dock, ample wing space, 62 fly lines, a trap door area and a versatile orchestra pit with hydraulic systems.

In the preview concert, the orchestra is right behind the soloists in another level.

The first good thing about the theater staff is that its entertainment director is actor-director Audie Gemora who knows theater requirements inside and out.

He made a mini-musical explaining how the theater came about, the people involved and what they contributed, and how they can serve the performing arts and its public.

For this concertgoer schooled in the natural acoustics of Philamlife Theater and the CCP, the state-of-the-art theater equipment of Solaire is total strange territory.

Technical director Shax Siasoco (he was the one who invited me to the opening) gave me an idea shortly before the program started. The Theatre has something for rock and pop concerts but it has something for the classical events as well.

All it needed was to push a button and voila — you have natural acoustics “without microphones” for the sound-conscious opera singers and instrumentalists.

Conductor Gerard Salonga made it all comprehensible by letting a trumpet player play with microphones and later, without them.

One liked what one heard.

To further demonstrate his point, the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra performed with soloists who must have been relieved of not worrying how they would sound in that new venue. The theater technology took care of all that.

Karla Gutierrez rendered a profoundly moving O mio babbino caro, soprano Myramae Meneses was a youthful Druid priestess in Casta diva (from Norma) and her solid notes are echoes of Edita Gruberova, another distinguished Norma of her generation.

Soprano Camille Lopez-Molina carved a well-defined Ritorna vincitor (from Aida) in flaming red gown, which was just right for the Carmen number. The ensemble singing in Libiamo (Traviata) still sounded natural.

All throughout the classical numbers, Gerard showed a keen affinity with the singers even as the orchestra was in an elevated area — not in the same floor level of the soloists.

Under him, the ABS-CBN Philharmonic showed it can do excellent work as accompanists and with all the nuances of the arias evenly projected from beginning to end. There was a magical way the orchestra would end a piece long after the singer had sung the last phrase.

Gerard was even more astounding accompanying Lisa Macuja-Elizalde in the Rose Adagio (from Sleeping Beauty) for five cavaliers with Ballet Manila danseurs. The tempo was just right, the turns of phrasing perfect for the dancer’s feet and that allowed Lisa to focus on her balance with nary a scary thought of notes going ahead or behind her toes.

Lisa also showed how it is dancing at age 50. In that demanding excerpt, she still looked luminous and confident. (On the other hand, that seamless Rose Adagio made other dance numbers in the program look utterly pedestrian.)

The rest of the program showed that The Theatre can mount concerts with varied persuasions from musicals to OPM with superb numbers from Isay Alvarez, Robert Seña, Christian Bautista, Sam Concepcion and Karylle, among others.

Lea Salonga closed the Broadway Suite with the ABS-CBN Philharmonic Orchestra and emerged a totally hypnotizing performer no matter how many times you have heard that medley.

The way she became the character she was singing and making every song deeply felt gave her an edge without meaning to.

The perfect rapport with her conductor-brother was a joy to watch and you can see how well they work hard to give justice to the music.

Seeing conductor Gerard do well both in pop and classical — and making a mark in both — is a good portent of how our young conductors are doing well and can now afford to remain guilt-free about “committing mortal sins” in the pop genre.

In the same manner that The Theatre is not just for classical events but also for other forms of entertainment from ballroom dancing to fashion shows and beauty pageants, among others.

For this old-school concertgoer, that Solaire opening was a fairly good schooling in theater acoustics, especially in the area of state-of-the-art.

In one’s time, one tested acoustics of possible venues by simply clapping one’s hands and waiting for the sound to bounce back or fade.

In The Theatre of Solaire, all you need is to push a button and there goes your desired sound. Only three theaters in Asia have this facility and one savored it with joy in the theater opening last night.

(For details, contact Joy Wassmer, director of Communications and Public Relations with tel. no. 883-8783 and mobile no. 999-8861698, or e-mail @ [email protected].)