…I will go bankrupt because I will be watching all the musicals and plays that I could fit into my schedule. I would go off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway to watch other interesting things.

That said, I will be skipping Miss Saigon in Manila this time around. My good friend, G, told me that the actress playing Kim was bad. Not really horrible but she sounds like she’s running out of breath when the singing required of Kim is very demanding and she couldn’t embody the role. Just because she has Filipino blood (she’s Filipino-Aussie) doesn’t mean she is already deserving to be Kim. From Lea Salonga (the original Kim) down to the last Kim before this one, the role in major Mis Saigon runs (West End, Broadway, global tour) most of the time has been won by a Filipino. We are known to be a vocal powerhouse but sadly this current Kim ain’t it.

The only redeeming factor of this Miss Saigon run is the Engineer–who has a very gay take on the role. My friend, G, said that the current Engineer is “very fresh”–a role that has been originated by Jonathan Pryce in the original production. But then, the Engineer role has been played by a female before—by another Filipino.

As Isay Alvarez (the original Gigi Van Tranh) said, Cameron Mackintosh was looking for the perfect Kim all over the world and found her in the Philippines. He went to Manila to find Kim but ended up leaving Manila with 12 Filipinos to bring to West End.

Anyway, I may change my mind when I come back from Singapore or maybe I would just skip it all together and just dive in Anilao.

Just looking at my schedule in Singapore next week makes me exhausted. Starting Monday morning I will have back-to-back-to-back meetings until evening for drinks. Until Thursday. Ugh.

I’m still composing emails and coordinating the coverage for our conferences and I will be having calls with my panelists because I will be moderating one session.

It’s sooooo freaking hot these days. 🫠