Seeing one of them live is great enough. But seeing all three perform together in one show is epic. Philippine legends Lea Salonga, Cecile Licad, and Lisa Macuja all shared the stage in 'The Legends and the Classics'. Initially, this show was slated for only one night but they added another performance due to public demand.
Thankfully, my family watched on the Sunday night because the 2012 Pyromusical Olympics in MOA caused gnarly traffic on Saturday night that resulted in a lot of people being late. I've watched Lea perform live a few times before ('They're playing our song', 'Miss Saigon', and 'CATS') and she truly is a brilliant performer. But I have always wanted to see both Cecile Licad and Lisa Macuja perform live. As such, getting tickets for this show was a no-brainer.
Needless to say, we immensely enjoyed it. As did everyone else. And how could you not? Lea was brilliant as ever, and I especially loved her Broadway medley that included 'I dreamed a dream' and 'On my own' from Les Misérables, 'Memory' from CATS, 'As if we never said goodbye' from Sunset Boulevard, and 'For Good' and 'Defying Gravity' from Wicked. She also reminded everyone that it was in CCP that she auditioned for 'Miss Saigon', the musical that launched her international career, and she sang 'I'd give my life for you' which she had to learn during that audition.
Lisa Macuja defied her 48 years (seriously, she doesn't look anywhere near her age!) by showing mastery of her body in the balcony scene from 'Romeo and Juliet'. She also joined Ballet Manila and performed excerpts from the ballet 'Paquita'. However, it was her performance of ' The Dying Swan' from 'Swan Lake', accompanied by Cecile Licad on piano and Wilfredo Pasamba on cello, that brought the house down.
Cecile Licad has impressed audiences throughout the world with her incredible talent and skill, and I can now officially be counted among the multitudes who have witnessed firsthand her musical prowess. She performed pieces from composers such as Chopin and Gottschalk that demonstrated her range, control, and masterful technique. And speed! That she made it look so easy was a testament to her sheer genius. This video of Cecile playing Chopin's Etude Nos. 1-4 isn't from the show, but she did perform it that night:
uploaded in youtube by user tiklado07
Naturally, The Legends and the Classics also featured collaborations of all three artists. I already mentioned the 'Swan Lake' performance with Cecile and Lisa, but all partnerships were represented. Naturally, the opening ('Nais ko') and the grand finale ('Sana'y wala ng wakas') featured all three ladies on stage simultaneously. The 5-minute standing ovation they received was well-deserved, and it also carried with it an appreciation by Filipinos of the pride that these artists bring to the country. The tickets may have been quite pricey, but they were worth every centavo.
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