West End star joins Lea in Baby

Laurence Olivier Award nominee David Shannon will join Lea Salonga in the Broadway musical Baby, which runs in Manila from Aug. 18 to Sept. 5 at the Meralco Theater.

A certified West End star who has played roles in Miss Saigon (he was the last to portray the role of Chris before the show closed in London), Les Miserables, Martin Guerre, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Beautiful Game (for which he was nominated for an Olivier Award), Tommy, Cats, Notre Dame de Paris and Whistle Down the Wind, among others, David moved to the Philippines last January after marrying pop singer and Miss Saigon alumna Ima Castro.

Baby will be his first major theatrical production in the Philippines, where he plans to build an equally flourishing career. Performing in Baby with Lea Salonga will certainly bring him a well-deserved break in the local theater scene. He reprises the role of Danny, a college student and an aspiring musician.

Garnering seven Tony Award nominations (including Best Musical, Book and Score) as well as a Grammy nomination, this heartwarming tale of three couples in their early 20s to mid 40s reveals the agonizingly funny and ultimately life-changing consequences of the universal experience of parenthood.

The New York Times called it "Exuberant, smart and funny" and Time Magazine raved "Alive and Kicking – Baby succeeds in making you feel good!"

Baby the musical is directed by Bobby Garcia. Musical direction by Gerard Salonga, choreography by Andy Alviz, production design by Mio Infante, lighting design by Gerry Fernandez and sound design by Bobbit Jacinto.

The Latest From Stacey

The highly-anticipated sixth album from Stacey Kent titled The Boy Next Door, has finally been released by Candid Records Philippines.

The Boy Next Door is a fitting tribute to Stacey’s diverse musical inspirations, ranging from mainstream jazz instrumentalists David Brubeck and Dizzy Gillespie, crossover and traditional pop artists Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett and light rock gurus James Taylor and Paul Simon.

"The idea of this album struck me when an interviewer expressed surprise at the number of men on the list of my favorite singers and the broad range of styles they covered. Suffice it to say that the musicians represented in the album have all enriched, enlivened and fuelled my musical life and continue to do so," shares Stacey.

The multi-awarded vocalist, known for her impeccable fresh interpretations of The Great American Songbook, has become a definitive voice in the music world. Dubbed as "the Gold Standard by which every contemporary jazz singer delivering classic materials must be judged" by the Yorkshire Post, Stacey breaks away for the first time from her conventional songbook number and ventures beyond the "classic" American songsmiths to feature equally great writers from the ’60s era such as Carole King and Paul Simon.

She picked 16 breezy, easy listening songs associated with her favorite male singers for her album, opening with Tony Bennett’s The Best Is Yet To Come, followed by David Brubeck’s hopeful ode to love at first sight The Trolley Song. Other songs in the album are Bobby Shorts’ You’re The Top, Dizzy Gillespie’s Ohh Shoobee Doobee, Ray Charles’ perky take on the hazards of a hasty marriage in Makin’ Whoopee, Sammy Davis’ flirtatious and sensuously charged Too Darn Hot, Nat King Cole’s Tis Autumn, Chet Baker’s I Get Along Without You Very Well, Dean Martin’s All I Do Is Dream Of You, Paul Simon’s Bookends, Duke Ellington and Armstrong’s People Will Say We’re In Love, Perry Como’s Say It Isn’t So, Burt Bacharach’s What the World Needs Now and James Taylor’s You’ve Got A Friend.

Known for her intuitive, intimate vocal style, Stacey captures the essence of love and despair through a different feel of materials, making each song sound as if it’s written just for her.

Accompanying Stacey in the album are Colin Oxley on guitars, David Newton on keyboards and her devoted husband, one of the finest English saxophonists, Jim Tomlinson on sax.

The Boy Next Door advance copies are available at Astroplus and Astrovision shops nationwide.