For K-La, life feels like Aladdin

Although she started to make a name for herself in the biz as a singer, little by little, Star Power alumna K-La Rivera is being led down different paths.

After successfully trying theater in Atlantis Productions’ recent staging of Aladdin — in which she played Princess Jasmine (the same role that Lea Salonga sang in the Disney movie version) and earning good reviews for her performance — K-La wants to do more acting, not just onstage, but also on television. She is aware, though, that she needs to improve on her Tagalog. K-La grew up in Canada, and while she can speak and understand the language, she still has far to go.

“Sa ngayon po, I want to try to get into shape again and learn more Tagalog because that would lead to opportunities in TV maybe, or even in film,” says K-La. “I would love to be on TV more, to be in a teleserye or to be in ASAP more, and at the same time, do more of my singing, even with Tagalog songs. I’d like to do an album with original Tagalog songs. I’d love that.”

K-La’s last recording project was a digital album. So if she gets the chance this year to do an original album of OPM songs, she’ll gladly grab the chance.

In terms of acting, she would like to do more theater also since she had so much fun in Aladdin. K-La informs us that she already auditioned for a future Atlantis production, although she couldn’t yet disclose which one. But she’s keeping her fingers crossed that the opportunity materializes. “I would love to do more theater work this year,” she says.

One of the reasons why doing Aladdin was so special to her is the special friendship she developed with co-star Tom Rodriguez who played Aladdin. The two of them were so convincing in their roles, but audiences were not aware that there was something developing between the two of them up to now.

The only reason it came to light is because of all the comments on Twitter and Facebook that they received after the play. People were commenting on how nakakakilig it was to watch the two of them onstage, and how obvious and easy their chemistry was — and it wasn’t just one person pointing it out. Friends would tell K-La that there was probably something at work there besides them acting. Even their cast mates and director Bobby Garcia of Atlantis productions would tease them. “Direk Bobby was always bugging us,” laughs K-La. “Actually, maraming tweets na sobrang kilig po sila sa aming dalawa. So ‘yun, I guess, it’s where we got to know each other.”

K-La clarifies, however, that right now, she and Tom are still in the getting-to-know-you stage. “It’s cute. It is. It’s nakakatuwa, kasi it’s also parang Aladdin din, with Princess Jasmine. Pero we’re just getting to know each other and nothing’s official pa naman. But we’re really happy, and for me, it’s my first time getting this close and getting to know someone this close because I’ve never had someone special before.”

The Aladdin song — A Whole New World — comes to mind and K-La laughs, seeing the obvious connection. “It’s kilig talaga,” she says.

This special “getting to know you” friendship has inspired K-La to do better at work. “Before, I would sing a love song, and I would just imagine (the feeling). But now, there’s an inspiration na behind the songs. I’m more inspired now when I sing love songs, like I have a reason na I can relate to them. It sort of brings the songs to life.”

That doesn’t mean K-La will prioritize her personal life over her career. It’s still early in the game for her, and there is still so much she wants to do. Pursuing more acting is just one of the things. “I’m still serious naman sa career ko,” says K-La, who was busy during Valentine’s Day with shows and live appearances. There will be more of those to come, and K-La is looking forward to all of them, especially now that she’s so inspired to work.