Hubby and I love music but, as you have probably noticed, we are not big on watching concerts. Well, we are not big on buying expensive concert tickets haha.
I read about The Legends and The Classics: Encore featuring Lea Salonga, Lisa Macuja and Cecile Licad from somewhere online a couple of days before the event. I wanted to watch with hubby but, as expected, he balked that the lowest ticket price was P2,000. I also learned that Lisa Macuja is going to retire by the end of the year. Since I haven't seen Lisa perform live, I coughed up the P2,000.00. I was actually willing to shell out more if only I learned about the event earlier.
Hubby dropped me off at the CCP lobby a few minutes before 5:00PM so I ran to the fourth floor even if I badly needed to go to the restroom. I was at the door when the national anthem ended and the usherette said I can no longer go out.
But it was worth it controlling my bladder and risking kidney stones haha. The trio performed a couple of OPM songs then it was time for individual performances.
I have always been a big Lea Salonga fan. When I was younger, I learned that she was in Manila Hotel so I wrote her a letter and addressed it to "Lea Salonga, Manila Hotel" because I didn't have Google back then haha. I asked my father to mail it but I dunno if he ever did so. She sang songs from Les Miserables, Cats and Wicked. Goosebumps. Too bad she didn't sing Sun and Moon and The Last Night of the World. Afterwards, I discovered that the Manila run of Miss Saigon was in 2000, I was already here then, but I prolly didn't have the money to watch it. Boo hoo. I hope to watch her in a play or musical soon.
Cecile Licad, Lisa Macuja, Lea Salonga and Ballet Manila from the nosebleed section :)
Lisa Macuja performed next. Hard to believe she is already 49. She twirled, she jumped, she moved. She performed the balcony scene from
Romeo and Juliet (which I correctly guessed as there was a balcony) and
Paquita and
Dying Swan (which I read from a review). She made me remember that I once wanted to be a ballerina (as most little girls are wont to do). I also hope to watch another performance of hers before she retires.
Cecile Licad, on the other hand, also made me remember that I once took up piano lessons but discontinued them as laziness took over. I am no classical music expert so I didn't recognize the songs she performed. But she radiated passion and her fingers simply flew all over the keys. I had one of those disposable opera glasses-like thingies that I got from the Smashing Pumpkins concert so I managed to see her up close even if I was in the nosebleed section. The guys beside me could not help but yell "Bravo!" when she finished.
This event made me realize how I love music but sadly, music doesn't really love me back - I dance okay but I'm no ballerina and I am tone-deaf. On an unrelated note, I do hope my future kids inherit hubby's musical genes. :)
