This Month in BM History: March 2012
Lisa Macuja Elizalde performs Dying Swan to the music by Camille Saint-Saens rendered by Cecile Licad on the piano and Wilfredo Pasamba on the cello. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Three Filipinina artists. Two nights. One show.
That’s the best way to sum up The Legends & The Classics which gathered three of the Philippines’ most iconic performing artists – piano virtuoso Cecile Licad, prima ballerina Lisa Macuja and Broadway star Lea Salonga – on the same stage on March 17 and 18, 2012 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines Main Theater.
The Legends & the Classics was a unique gathering of three of the Philippines’ most iconic performing artists – Cecile Licad, Lisa Macuja and Lea Salonga. Souvenir program from the Ballet Manila Archives collection
The show also featured Ballet Manila, musical director Gerard Salonga leading the FILharmoniKA Orchestra, and cellist Wilfredo Pasamba as guest artists.
As she explained in her producer’s notes, Ballet Manila artistic director Lisa Macuja Elizalde thought that a show bringing her together with Licad and Salonga was a great concept – one she attributes to lawyer Katrina Legarda who had approached her with the idea three years before for a fundraiser. When that special event didn’t materialize, the ballerina, with Legarda’s blessings, made it her own personal mission to make it happen.
The show’s opening salvo was Nais Ko, with music by would-be National Artist Ryan Cayabyab and choreography by Gerardo Francisco Jr, and featuring the night’s three headliners along with Ballet Manila. This was followed by the world premiere of Augustus Damian III’s Romeo and Juliet as interpreted by Lisa Macuja and Rudy De Dios.
Lea Salonga’s musical treat came in the form of solos from Sunset Boulevard and Miss Saigon, a Broadway medley, a Disney themes medley, and her rendition of the OPM hit, Hahanapin Ko.
In Paquita Grande Diverstissement, Lisa Macuja Elizade and Nazer Salgado lead Ballet Manila in presenting the classic choreography of Marius Petipa, as restaged by Osias Barroso Jr. and Eileen Lopez. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
Cecile’s piano solos were comprised of works by Louis Moreau Gottschalk, and one by Chopin where she was accompanied by FILharmoniKa. She was then joined by cellist Wilfredo Pasamba and together, they provided the moving music to Dying Swan as Lisa Macuja recreated the hauntingly beautiful movements of a swan in the throes of death.
Ballet Manila was also in the spotlight in Paquita Grande Divertissement, led by the prima ballerina and partner Nazer Salgado in an exhibition of the company’s strength and grace in classical ballet.
The show was so successful that it not only won the Aliw Award for Best Concert Collaboration later that year, it also resulted in a clamor for a repeat performance. That happened in October 2013 with another two nights dubbed as The Legends & The Classics: Encore, again at the CCP.
In the show’s finale, Lea Salonga (right) sings Sana’y Wala Nang Wakas as Lisa Macuja and Ballet Manila dance to an original choreography by Tony Fabella, with additional choreography by Gerardo Francisco Jr. Photo by Ocs Alvarez
