NEW YORK – Thanks to Lea Salonga who opened the Broadway door for fellow Pinoys since she was discovered as “Miss Saigon,” more and more Filipinos are taking center stage in the Great White Way, with four of them now in different shows.
Leading the pack is Camille Mana, who is not just starring with two of the biggest new actors of Hollywood – Oscar nominee for “The Social Network” and the play’s author Jessie Eisenberg, and “The Hangover” star Justin Bertha – but also gets to play the title role in “Asuncion”. Sneak previews started last October 12 at the Cherry Lane Theater and opening night will be on October 27.
Doing another lead role is Anna Maria Perez de Tagle in the revival of “Godspell” in the Circle in the Square Theater. While she’s best known by the youth stateside as the mean girl in the Disney Channel hit “Hannah Montana” and also the star of the two “Camp Rock” movies, to the old Pinoys abroad Anna is still referred to as the granddaughter of the great soprano and kundiman exponent Sylvia La Torre.
Mig Ayesa, meanwhile, just finished his stint playing Stacee Jaxx in the ‘80s rock tribute “Rock of Ages” at the Helen Hayes Theater and will soon reprise the role, not in Broadway but in the Manila production middle of next year. Mig is the Filipino-Australian rocker who came in third place in the first reality show in the US to feature a search for the new lead singer for the band INXS in “INXS: Rock Star”.
Finally, stealing the beginning of the second act of “Priscilla: Queen of the Desert,” playing in Palace Theater, is C Elaine Marcos playing Cynthia, the Filipina mail order bride who, just like in the original Australian movie, does something ‘different’ with pingpong balls. Her Tagalog tirade brings the house down, never mind if there are very few Filipinos in the audience every night.
And as Daniel Radcliffe is about to end his stint as J Pierrepont Finch in “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,” a half-Pinoy “Glee” boy replaces him–Darren Criss–for a limited one-month engagement before Joe Jonas (yes, of the Jonas Brothers) takes over the role permanently.
