Sunday, February 25, 2007 Lea loves Taylor, the latte boy By Jinggoy Salvador
YES, the title reads like an item in a gossip magazine. No, I have not gotten in the showbiz gossip genre, yet. Who knows when the circle of showbiz friends I know will grow (it's an inch in diameter now), then I just might dive into the world of tittle-tattle and scandal. Is it worth it?
Just after the Valentine's Day, on the eve of the Year of the Pig, during her concert and in the presence of his brother Gerard, Lea Salonga professed her love via a song for another man, a blue-collar boy working in a coffee shop. His name is Taylor aka the Latte Boy, christened by Lea herself due to her preference for that coffee type. Well, as it goes, the affection seemed to be mutual. She got extra foam or the double shot was tripled and to top it all, it was Taylor's treat. Lucky girl.
The song was part of her well-chosen songs in her repertoire that tells a story about love (it's a post valentine show, what do you expect). The stories of love, meeting someone when and where you least expect it, secret admiration towards your best friend, unrequited love, broken hearts, mending it, falling in love again, the ups and downs and the triumphs of the heart. Plus a few bonus numbers from her guest performers belting out the Impossible Dream, where that fits in the entire story line beats me. But Jed Madela's voice was fantastic and so was his other guest, Patrick Joven, another great Filipino talent in the Miss Saigon cast.
It is no wonder that the tickets were selling like hotcakes. In fact, it was a sold-out concert a week before the show date. With an award-winning talent like this, you are guaranteed to be spending your money's worth. How often does a world-class genius like Lea grace the concert halls of this city? And by this, I mean "current" and "young" talent. No pun intended to the "retro" talents we have as well. All these are great diversions from Davao's entertainment selections, everything seems to be droning after the holidays.
Lea's voice was crystal clear, every word pronounced well, credit goes to her years in theater. This is why from all the song Lea sang, "Taylor, The Latte Boy" is my favorite. This was where she was in her elements, the quick shifts from dialogue to song and vice versa with facial expressions to match was superb, very theater-trained. The uppity love song was just great and makes you wish that such circumstances will involve you sometime, somewhere and soon.
If you took your date out to this show, it's a guarantee that you will get the reply you have been longing for. This night of love songs was truly romantic. Your heart and maybe just the rest of you will be exploding along with the firecrackers at midnight in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Oh, I forget pyrotechnics are not allowed in this city, go have a "blast" anyway.
