Finding oneself in HK Disney

When Anna Marie Fegi was a young girl growing up in the small provincial town of Lutopan, Cebu, all she dreamt of was to bring home what she could to augment the family coffers and put food on the table.  So off she went joining whatever singing contest there was for the cash awards she often got.

As a young lady making a name for herself in Manila as a singer of no mean ability, Anna dreamt of building a home for her parents, of bringing them to the Big City of Cebu, and providing them with the comforts she was then enjoying, which she ultimately did.

Now a mature woman of 30, testing her mettle on international soil at Disneyland Hong Kong, Anna’s dreams are for herself that she may discover what it is that she was destined to do.

Meeting up with Anna in Hong Kong where she has been for more than a year was a heady experience for both of us and one we thoroughly enjoyed. When we accepted her invitation to visit and stay in her condominium unit, we were anxious to find out how the experience had changed this girl whom we had challenged to leave her native Cebu and gamble on a career in Manila in the year 1999. 

Most everyone who has followed Anna’s career is familiar with her rise to fame. As a student in Cebu City she started making a name for herself by virtue of her extraordinary birit power, when birit was still respectable and not an overused ability.

In the course of seven years after she relocated to Manila, she went from band front-liner to solo lounge singer, regular member of ABS-CBN’s ASAP, concert artist, recording star for BMG and musical theater artist mostly for Bobby Garcia’s Atlantis Productions.  

Last year, Anna took another big step in her career — that of accepting Garcia’s offer to join the company of Hong Kong Disneyland. Not a few wondered what she was up to, ourself and possibly Garcia included. Wasn’t this a wrong step to take? Wasn’t this a demotion after the stature she had reached in her seven years as a professional? What was behind this move of hers?

All her life, Anna has taken risks that younger girls would be afraid to take. In all these cases, she has always prayed for guidance, often asking the Lord for a sign that she was making the right decision. This was again the case with Disneyland, and looking back she is happy that she went through with it. The experience, she says, has taught her many lessons.

Most importantly, it has given her the opportunity at this stage in her life to look at things from afar with a better perspective. It provided her with the chance to be herself, away from the lights and the fanfare, from people who told her what to do, from well-meaning friends who always gave her solace, from parents to whom she would always run when troubled, from colleagues and people in the business who always knew better. She felt she had to be away from her comfort zone.

As of this writing, she would have been in Hong Kong for 14 months, the longest she has been away from home. Working abroad is nothing new to her. At 17, she was already traveling as part of the cultural group of San Jose Recolletos, her school in Cebu. She performed with them in Hawaii, California and Utah for a month; was part of the Japanese production of Hair where she had to learn songs in the language for four months; spent a traumatic four months as part of a band at the Hyatt Hotel Malaysia; was in Singapore  for Rent for two months.

"There is really nothing different for me to be far from family and friends. I love traveling, checking out places and meeting new people," she says, explaining however that this time she is more mature and able to assess matters on her own.

Reacting to our perception that it could be interpreted as a demotion, Anna candidly demurs that perhaps this is what she needs at this point in time. "It is a most humbling experience. Nobody knows me here. I am by myself. I have no car, no road manager or production assistant to do the dirty work for me. It was the right decision."

We had gone on this trip with good friend Manolet Garcia, senior faculty of the College of Saint Benilde, who early on in Anna’s career recognized her potential and supported her with seven concerts, either as solo artist or guest. Immediately upon arrival, we headed immediately for Disney to make better use of our limited time in Hong Kong. Anna who met us at the gate was beside herself with enthusiasm. We saw her from afar beaming widely with delight. She hugged both myself and Manolet tightly.

She had been contracted to play the lead character Nala, the lioness mate of the lead lion Simba in The Lion King, a 30-minute entertainment tribute to the original Disney animated film. The presentation was part-musical, part-Cirque de Soleil acrobatics, part-circus with fire-warriors demonstrating their fire-eating and juggling prowess, and part-extravaganza, all designed to awe the audience of the theater in the round venue. In the finale, the huge stage elevated itself and rotated its center as four giant floats carrying the cast moved into the center in a grand display of fire and flourish.

The lion was king, and Disney was king and no one was to distract the public from that. That was made obvious by the absence of billing, a playbill, an announcement of the cast as in a Broadway or West end presentation. It took some adjustment for us, and wondered how the public would take to this.  Apparently, they didn’t mind.

We asked Anna if it took her some adjustment, she who was used to seeing her name up in lights. She says that when she accepted the contract, (renewable every six months through auditions where Disney gives priority to talents already at Disney), she already knew what to expect. That she wouldn’t be singled out. That she would be paid the same as others in the same category. That there would be no special treatment. Apparently, this was part of the new life she had prepared herself for.

Still, rules or no rules, talent will always be appreciated. For one thing, the hiring of Anna and her sister JingJing in the lead role of Nala is considered already a breakthrough in the show traditionally hiring Afro-Americans for the lead roles.

But what pleases Anna to no end was her selection during the New Year’s Eve Mickey 2007 Countdown where she was handpicked to be the solo performer. Not only was she introduced as Anna Fegi, but was made to sing a total of 12 songs that had nothing to do with Disney nor her role in Lion King. It brought back memories of performances in the Philippines, singing live with a band songs like Mack the Knife, Somewhere Over the Rainbow and Orange Colored Sky.

Life is good, and God is good, Anna feels. And perhaps at this time, she is ready to say goodbye to Disney and once again return to her homeland when her contract expires, and face the challenges anew, armed with a new resolve gained from life at Disney.       

(E-mail me at [email protected].)