It sounds pretty ironic to have three veteran concert artists perform for a show dubbed And The Story Begins.
That is exactly the point of celebrating their decades in showbiz. They will all look back on their careers from the very beginning.
National Artist for Music Ryan Cayabyab, quintessential Filipino balladeer Basil Valdez, and Asia’s Nightingale Lani Misalucha will combine forces on stage for a two-night weekend spectacle.
The OPM icons will perform for two evenings, February 28 (Friday) and February 29 (Saturday), both at 8 pm, at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila.
It’s the first time the three will be together in one show.
REDISCOVERING MAESTRO
Fondly called Mr. C by the industry he has captivated as music maestro, Cayabyab said it aptly upon agreeing that while the team-up should signal the start of something new, it really matters to pay homage to their yesteryears.
“Yes, it’s a start of something new. But it also begins from this point and then pabalik. It’s us looking back how we started.”
The esteemed music-maker meant having to deal with Basil’s catalogue and choosing the most significant ones. Same as with that of Lani’s wherein he anticipates the opportunity to perform with her a song that he holds in high regard: “Bukas Na Lang Kita Mamahalin.”
Mr. C recalled, “Like many of us, I started hard and naghahanap ako ng trabaho para sa pamilya namin. Fifty years ago naghahanap ako ng opportunity para ma-discover.”
GOLDEN BALLADEER
As if 1970 was a year on cue for great beginnings, Basil likewise jumpstarted his own run the same year.
“I began that year as a folk singer. By 1977, I met Ryan and he helped me produce my first album. The rest is history.”
The powerhouse concert will feature the services of the Manila Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble.
Lani’s active years in showbiz would begin only two decades later, in 1990. But the passage of time and her accomplishments here and abroad make for her own colorful track record capped by age milestone. She is currently 50, prompting Basil to crack, “We were starting in the music industry while you were getting off your mother’ womb!”
SOUND OF SIREN
“The show will be about kung paano kami nagsimula at nagka-sama sama,” explained Lani, who signed up with Star Music in 2014 upon returning to the Philippines.
Lani has worked with Mr. C in various shows in the past while she recalled sharing the stage with Basil some 20 years ago in the U.S.
“I’m really excited and looking forward to this,” she added.
When Asia's Nightingale arrived in Las Vegas in 2002, she captured the elite crowd and became known as “New Siren of the Strip.”
She has the distinction of being the first Asian to headline in a Las Vegas main showroom. In 2008 she was voted Best Singer in the place’s Annual Best while the following year city mayor Oscar Goodman proclaimed December 4 as “Lani Misalucha Day.”
ASPIRING BEAUTY QUEEN?
During the press conference at El Calle Food and Music Hall, she sang for the media the song “I Can’t Give Anymore,” with a funny spiel, “Sobrang lungkot nito sa totoo lang. Sa mga wala nang panghulog. I can’t give anymore!”
While she did deliver a touching performance on the strength of her vocal prowess, Lani’s entertaining skill also depends a lot on her natural Pinoy-style humor.
When the press con host asked the same question of how she started her career, she wittily said, “It was accidental kasi akala ko magiging beauty queen ako! Then I started when I was already a mother of two.”
On a serious note, she expressed wanting to again work with both Mr. C and Basil after And The Story Begins.
She reiterated, “I am looking forward to be working with them again. Perhaps record a song curated by Mr. C.”
Directed by Marvin Caldito, love month’s last weekend of OPM showcase is set to combine the featured acts’ original pop hits to “revisit the anthologies that help define local entertainment as it is today.”