Nyoy Volante & Nina: The Sweetest Thing

It’s not often that one develops a toothache and has visons of an appointment with a dentist during one’s concert; but if one performance is going to lay its claim for achieving that, I’d seriously consider the El Nyoy and La Nina a serious contender. Mind you, I may joke about this sort of thing; but with Filipinos being such suckers for this kind of sweetness and Hallmark-inspired sentiments, it was no surprise to find the opening night audience at the Music Museum lapping up all the cloying elements put on display. Played out like some abbreviated soap opera, the concert’s concept had the audience giggling, ooh-ing and aah-ing at every nuance of courtship, breaking up, and getting back together that formed the backdrop for the songs Nina and Nyoy Volante would belt.

The series runs every Friday and Saturday of August; and while the concept does restrain to an extent the kind of performance Nyoy regularly gives at bars and music halls with his band Mannos,the trademark kulots, scatting and improvising are still on full display. And while being free of his blue guitar allows him to show off his theater background that many are not aware of, it’s the terpsichorean facet of his skills that had the crowd howling in delight. Yes, it’s Nyoy Volante, the dancer! And his nimble attack of dance routines had people beaming in surprise. Now, if only Nyoy would take the name of that ‘blast from the past’ showband - Music and Magic - and create a show that would showcase his singing and sleight of hand tricks. I kid you not, whenever my boys are with me and Nyoy performs at Dish, they bug me to bring them backstage before he starts, to do his card tricks for them. Can David Blaine sing and play the guitar?

I’ve seen Nina evolve from a great singer with a limited, somewhat stiff stage presence to one with a more comfortable, confident stage demeanor. With this concept, and specific stage directions to follow, one can see just how much Nina has grown over the years in the limelight. Her voice has always been impeccable and it’s great to see her matched on the stage with Nyoy’s more zany personality. There always has to be a ‘straight man’ to produce some chemistry, and whereas Sonny played the straight guy to Cher’s more outlandish personality (similarly, Dean Martin was straight to Jerry Lewis, as Rey was to Carding); here, it’s Nina’s fate to be the more placid between the two. Inevitably, one leaves the theater with Nyoy having made more of an impression. But that does not detract from the great singing Nina produces. Her charm more than makes up for the more static role she portrays.

As for the selection of songs, there’s the heady exchange of hits (Nina takes on Nasaan Ka Na while Nyoy belts out Jealous) and even the trick of Nyoy singing hit songs associated with women singers (Officially), while Nina sings a Boyz2Men hit (End of the Road) and My Girl becomes My Guy. The expected spate of favorite romantic songs are there for the mining - Just Once, Everything I Own, Mabuti Pa (Gary Granada’s Metropop winner), Fallen and so on. So if it’s familiarity with the songs, you’ll have no issue with the repertoire and the singing-along nature of the night.

I will say something for the stage set design. If you sponsored this show, you got value through the design. Made to look like a section of a park and sidewalk cafe, one had KitKat benches, several Ellips posters, a table umbrella for Nestle, a Fossil logo on the wall of a building and a Moby pushcart. Only thing missing was the drugstore frontage for Ponstan. We don’t only sell tickets in this concert series!

That is the danger with such conceptual concerts, whether it limits or detracts from the true essence of why we’re there - the singing. In this case, the line is straddled precariously, but I’m glad to report that the collaborative talent of the two shines through, time and time again. On the rainy, wet night I got to catch their performance, Nina and Nyoy certainly brought sunshine to the lives of the hopeless romantics that made up the audience.