Mitch and the ‘image thing’

Since Day One, Mitch Valdes always knew what she wanted. The president of the Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM) hates to be stereotyped. Yes, she has a sense of humor, but she doesn’t want to be boxed as a comedienne. Mitch sings, but she’d rather be known as a performer.

"I don’t like getting stuck in an image," she rues.

She could have explored (exploited?) her knack for making people laugh to the hilt by succumbing to the temptation of doing slapstick comedy in noontime shows. But she turned down the offer to gyrate to sexy music with two other comediennes in a variety show. She was indignant – and rightly so – at the prospect of "making a fool of myself" on national TV, and at her age, at that.

So she bided her time. She turned down lots of offers to do sitcoms that would cast her in an uh, unflattering light by doing all sorts of ridiculous things. Let others do it. It was simply not her cup of tea.

But she paid dearly for her convictions.

"There were no shows and I was in debt," she recalls. "All the offers gave me that been-there-done-that feeling." And she knew it won’t work because her heart was not in it. Still, she stuck to her guns, believing she was meant for something else. Not that she’s recommending others to choose offers the way she did. They may not be "happily single" like Mitch is. They may have mouths to feed and thus don’t have the luxury of turning down offers and waiting for better ones.

Mitch simply knows she’s in a position to make a difference. Besides, wasn’t she one of the few artists who stood up and let herself be counted at the height of the first EDSA revolution?

Mitch knew she didn’t mind being different. And she never regretted her decision.

Things started picking up in the mid-’90s. Corporate shows came, and word of her talent spread like the proverbial wildfire.

Soon, she was back in the groove. Producers gave her lounge shows, theater presentation where she can fully explore the breadth and depth of her performing skills.

And here, she found kindred souls who became her fast friends, like Celeste Legaspi, with whom Mitch is doing Musicat Music at the CCP tonight at 8. Mitch and Celeste will, among others, do excerpts from the Katy! Musical. The rest of the cast, like Regine Velasquez (Kenkoy Loves Rosing), Rachel Alejandro (Katy!), Ogie Alcasid (Sino Ka Ba Jose Rizal) will do their bit in the show to raise funds for Musicat productions next year.

Among those in the drawing board are the re-staging of Alikabok and Katy at CCP. "We’re feeling the pinch. Production costs have gone up and sponsors are harder to find," Celeste speaks for the group. So they grit their teeth and buck the tide by staging a show themselves – tapping friends who don’t mind waiving or scaling down talent fees. How else, for instance, can you afford a Ryan Cayabyab, who composed the music of three of the featured musicals – Katy!, Alikabok and Larawan?

Who else will help an artist but his fellow artists?

Musicat Music is a labor of love. And tonight, it will find full expression in an outpouring of song and numbers only actors bursting with passion for their craft can give.