MANILA, Philippines - The audience came in droves. Some in wheelchairs, others with canes. Still others with their caretakers or nearest of kin. No, it is not a convention of senior citizens. It just so happens that through the years Willie Nepomuceno, better known as Willie Nep, has maintained the same following he had when he first started in show business some three decades ago. In fact, almost the entire family is there to enjoy Willie’s unpredictable repertoire of personalities and issues.
In the same lobby of the Music Museum, we saw not only the long beeline at the box-office but ticket scalpers peddling prime seats tickets at an amazing amount of P6,000 against the regular price of P2,200 which the authorities concerned couldn’t do anything about since they were purchased legally beforehand.
Backstage, a little commotion ensued shortly before curtain time. Willie had a fit of temporary blindness but decided “the show must go on†though delayed, after some 30 minutes of relaxation exercises.
Willie broke the ice with an upbeat opening song and started to reminisce the old political jingles of the past with the audience in stitches as they recalled the music of endorsers like Rosita de la Vega and Nora Aunor.
Next, he mesmerized the crowd with the quick-paced mini-concert of his idols from Tony Bennett, Johnny Mathis, Stevie Wonder to Lionel Ritchie. It was smooth-sailing all the way except when the microphone accidentally fell while he was doing Barry Manilow. In true stage-trooper fashion, Willie picked it up and in a composed characterization sang, “You know I can’t sing without youâ€(pointing to the microphone). The audience simply adored him.
Surprise of the night was Jessica Sanchez, live on stage... well, almost live. Jamie Rubio is definitely a sure-fire deadringer for the Idol icon. At one point “Erap†declared, “She might be second only in American Idol but to us Filipinos, she is second to none!â€
EPAL touched on a variety of election-related topics like the nuisance candidates punctuated by the ’70s Jukebox King, Victor Wood, who sang a medley of his greatest hits if only to prove he has the track record to qualify as a candidate. The political family dynasty issue was ably reprised by the family of John Puruntong, set in the nostalgic period of the sitcom John en Marsha of the late ’70s.
Scene-stealer of the night though was Kris Aquino as impersonated by Frida (Willie’s daughter) who captured every essential gesture of the grieving Presidential sister in a solid acting characterization and yet managed to deliver a very hilarious punchline: “When you see a white smoke coming out of the Times St. chimney, that only means meron na akong bagong Papa!â€
The war of the big boys dubbed as the Thrilla in Manila saw the former president and the incumbent mayor throw mud and sink at each other as they fought for the hearts and ballots of the capital city with much belly aches.
Not to be outdone was the new entertainment tandem of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Justice Serafin Cuevas who was out to prove that there’s life after the impeachment trial by launching a new career following the footsteps of The Everly Brothers. They sang their carrier single We Voted For You as The Elderly Brothers.
Another highlight of the show was the astonishing presentation of Celine Dion through the magic of video technology singing a live duet with Willie Nep.
The two nights of EPAL The Musicale both played to a full house that left the audience wanting for more.
In response to the clamor, a repeat has been scheduled on May 4, Saturday, at the Music Museum.
The fun begins at 8:30 p.m. Tickets are available at selected National Book Stores, Robinsons Department Stores, Cinema Lobby (Greenbelt I and Trinoma), Resorts World Box Office, TicketWorld Office and www.ticketworld.com.ph.
For details, call 891-9999, 0916-340-3919 and 0921-564-2108.