Ima moving on & finding her niche

After all the time she spent abroad — 10 years of living and working in London’s West End — it’s refreshing to learn that Ima Castro still retains much of her being Pinoy.

In a recent gathering with the entertainment press, Ima peppered her statements with “po” and “opo,” and showed no traces of an accent, British or otherwise. Ima has actually been back in the country for some time, appearing in two musicals for Atlantis Productions (she did Aida and In The Heights) and basically re-acquainting herself with the Filipino audience. She also re-signed with her former management Backroom, Inc. and has returned to doing stage musicals.

The thing is, Ima was initially reluctant to come home to Manila because having been away for so long, she was afraid she would not have a career to come back to anymore. “Kaya din ako nagtagal doon (London),” she says in flawless Tagalog, “Medyo I was scared to come back here, baka wala akong career na babalikan, mahirap ang walang trabaho.” In London — and apart from the stage musicals she was doing — Ima was also part of a small touring company that did excerpts from West End shows like Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Mamma Mia!. The producer hired her and other lead stars of the West End musicals, and would go on tour in the UK and Dubai for months at a time.

Then her marriage crumbled, and in 2010, her father passed away. Ima had to fly back to Manila to be with her mother, and it was because of this that she decided on a more lengthy stay in the country. She does have to fly back to London occasionally on account of her residency, but she is actively working in the theater again. In fact, she recently signed on to portray the role of the prostitute Sarraghina in the Tony award-winning musical Nine, which runs until Oct. 7 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati. Ima joins a stellar cast of stage and screen actors that includes Jett Pangan, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Eula Valdez and Cherie Gil.

“It’s an amazing experience. Ang dami kong natututunan!” enthuses Ima about this latest challenge. That includes speaking in Italian, for which she is getting a lot of help from Cherie, who lived in Italy for a time. Ima is not fazed at all by having to portray a prostitute whose job is to educate the young Guido about the ways of the world. “Yes, the role is a little risqué, and there’s a bit of skin and some touching,” she admits with a laugh. “But all of that is necessary to help the audience understand the dilemma that the young Guido faces. Hindi niya maintindihan why his experiences with Sarraghina feel good, but his mother and the nuns tell him it’s evil.”

Nine, which starred Oscar-winning actor Daniel Day-Lewis, was made into a film in 2009 and bagged four Academy Award nominations. While most people are ambivalent about stage musicals being made into movies, Ima prefers to see it as a good thing. “I guess it’s a good thing promotions-wise, because the musical becomes known. People who usually don’t make the effort to watch musical theater, will see the film and magkakaroon sila ng idea,” says Ima.

Is Ima planning to stay in the country for good? For now, that’s a possibility, but should an opportunity as good as Miss Saigon comes along, that could change very quickly. Right now, though, Ima prefers to take things one day at a time. “My mom needs me here,” she says. “Before, I had an album coming out, and I had shows to do when I left to sign with Miss Saigon in London. Medyo biglaan ang nangyari, and my managers were surprised, but they were very understanding about it, they supported me because they knew it was my dream.” Now, having conquered London’s West End, Ima is doing it all again, in reverse this time. She came home from London to resume her career here and is already working with her management team for her to record a pop album and do concerts again.

Although most people still know her from Miss Saigon, Ima is out to prove that she can move on from that and still find her niche in the business. “I think naman it’s a plus factor that they remember me as one of the leads in Miss Saigon, but there is life after that. I know in my heart they will accept me back in the pop world,” she says.