Pinky: About time I say thank you

Foreigners who date Pinky Amador are appalled when people come up to her out of nowhere, stare at her and ask for an autograph or a photo-op. They tell Pinky, "Can you tell them to stop staring?".

The non-plussed Pinky’s reply: "Sorry, I just can’t."

Twenty three years of showbiz has robbed Pinky of her privacy. And her foreigner dates, clueless on who she is in the Philippines, just get freaked out. Pinky doesn’t tell them she has appeared in Miss Saigon, London, has played the mother to every soap star (e.g. Angel Locsin, Richard Gutierrez, Mark Herras), starred in many an acclaimed movie with the best stars in the land, etc.

And, after 23 years in the business and still counting, Pinky is a rare fish who has withstood the comings and goings of the showbiz seasons.

"I’m lucky. I was in the right place at the right time. And I had good mentors," she admits with the humility of anyone who has honed her acting chops in theater (specifically Repertory, which her late aunt, the Zeneida Amador, co-founded).

"My first film, Viva Films’ Magdusa Ka, was very prestigious. It starred Eddie Garcia and Christopher de Leon." The period – the early ’80s – was the heyday of Viva Films and Pinky was a virtual lagarista – making one movie after another.

Pinky was doing as much as 40 plays in four years, or 10 plays a year for Repertory, whose name alone would make an aspiring theater actor genuflect.

It was her Tita Bibot no less who firmly fashioned her thespic skills and, assured that she was all primed up and ready, saw her fly to horizons near and far as an actress.

Pinky recalls a time when she wanted to change the name in the marquee from Pinky to Pilar Amador – her real name. She stealthily asked someone to put Pilar Amador on the marquee for a play she was doing. But when her Tita Bibot saw it, the theater stalwart flew into a rage.

The feisty niece was no match for her Tita Bibot. All Pinky could do was meekly say, "Yes."

So Pinky it became till now.

"My parents named me Pinky even when I was still in my mother’s womb. Maybe because I happen to be the only girl in the brood, and the youngest at that," she relates.

She has no reason to regret using that name. That name has topbilled countless plays, the latest of which is the local production of Eve Ensler’s The Good Body.

It was on the lips of every stage hand in Miss Saigon London, where Pinky got the royal treatment – invitations to all the clubs, limousine service, etc. – at her disposal.

Pinky’s name also appeared in a Miss Saigon album, which she plans to follow up with an all-new effort soon.

Yes, she sings. Never mind if the actress in her has eclipsed her musical side.

"I consider myself a singer who wants to tell a story: an interpreter of lyrics. I can’t do ‘vocal calisthenics’ since I’m an alto, but I like to use the music to set a mood or expression and ‘play the piece,’ having different versions or attacks to it, similar to acting," she says.

She laps up all things musical, even an obscure Bulgarian children’s choir, with one exception: heavy metal.

Her father, a former legal adviser of Vicor Records, has been egging Pinky to start a singing career since she was 15, but acting took the front seat.

Now, however, she has all the chances to show she can act and sing for all she’s worth. This, Pinky will do in her first major solo concert dubbed You Love Me! You Really Love Me! on Nov. 30, 9 p.m. at Teatrino, Greenhills (produced by Net OneGroup, Asian Spirit, Chikka and ALV Talent Circuit in cooperation with Artic Vodka, World Music Room Family KTV, Annexus International Relocation Services, Inc., Bioessence, Gloria Jeans Coffee, San Miguel Super Dry and sponsored by Rhett Eala, Oliver Tolentino, Bambbi Fuentes Salon and 105.1 Crossover).

It’s thank you time for Pinky, who knows only too well how much friends and her audience have propped her up all these years. It’s a bit overdue. But what the heck, better late than never, right?

The show’s title was inspired by Sally Field’s memorable quote upon winning her second Oscar Best Actress award (for Places in the Heart in 1985).

Pinky’s director, Floy Quintos, came up with the title, and Pinky thought it best describes her euphoric feeling of being around after 23 years.

Those years may have not brought her the Sharon Cuneta kind of stardom. But that’s okay for Pinky. She’s happy being who she is – a character actress who can play any role, and a theater thespian who has earned her spurs.

And all because she has that trait common to all people who last long in the business: a passion for excellence. It was what drove her to study acting at the prestigious Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in the United Kingdom.

It’s also what’s driving her now, that she’s counting her blessings and planning her moves. Among them is ABC 5’s Hollywood Dream, where Pinky emerged as one of the finalists. As such, she’ll literally pursue her Hollywood dream by going to the US next year.

"I’ll see how struggling Pinoys fare in Hollywood," says Pinky.

While she’s there, she will also embark on an eight-city tour with Leo Valdes and Monique Wilson.

Pinky will also work on her long-delayed second album next year.

Yes, the audience loves Pinky. And it’s all because she loves them back enough to give them her best shot – show after show.