Gary V shares gift through inspired performance

Upon hearing of the show Tuesdays with Gary, we couldn’t help but recall a favorite book and Repertory play Tuesdays with Morrie. Somehow, we felt, there must be a connection somewhere, one we were determined to find out.

At the ongoing Tuesdays with Gary from the month of August extended to Oct. 22 at the Teatrino Promenade in Greenhills, we felt the magic of a Gary Valenciano we hadn’t felt in a long time. Gary brought us back to those start-up years in the ’80s at Tavern On The Square. Those were the years when competition was the name of the game, where one rode on the reputation of a manager, the uniqueness of a gimmick, the excitement of a love team. It was ages before the days of Instagram, Facebook and Twitter; certainly long before the sex video with or without permission was to become the rage of the season.

With friends Boots Anson-Roa, Vicky Anson-White and Alvin Anson, we sat in front of Gary’s La Salle high school classmates. They were loud and disturbing, but how often would you get this opportunity to bond with a schoolmate who had made it big, and made it on his terms without having to sell his soul.

We sat still throughout the three-hour, two-set concert that served as a flashback to those early days when Gary was known as the Michael Jackson of the Philippines. Gary found out about MJ’s death on a plane, and he cried buckets as Angeli, his wife, will attest. But life continues, and Gary moved on.

A.K.A. JAM from X Factor Philippines, mentored by Gary, opened the Teatrino show with four girls as frontliners. From then on, Gary went from song to song, from I Write the Song, For Once in Your Life, It Might Be You, Somewhere Down the Road, No Easy Way, Out Of My Life, One Last Cry, Separate Lives, You Are The Sunshine Of My Life, Isn’t She Lovely, Written In The Sand to Reasons. Throughout the first set, Gary was on stage, walking down the aisle, greeting people, climbing up to the gallery. There was simply no stopping him as he greeted and sang to everyone. The connection between performer and audience was tight and personal. We have never seen an audience as deliriously happy as this one.

The second set had the same fervor with more OPM songs and teleserye theme songs. Di Bale na Lang, Hanggang sa Dulo ng Walang Hanggan, Tayong Dalawa, Minsan Lang Kitang Iibigin, Sana Maulit Muli. Gary would stop and share a few jokes here and there. One that was particularly hilarious was during his early days when he was invited to sing at Ateneo. Upon getting there, he found out that Basil Valdez, Marco Sison and Martin Nievera were scheduled before him, singing the songs he had been prepared to sing. When they were done, Gary said, he mounted the podium to find most of the audience almost gone. 

It wasn’t all jokes either that night, however. Gary kept looking at the entrance to find Martin there. Their friendship is one that people to this day cannot understand. We don’t know how it all began, but Gary did turn Martin into one who was God-fearing, one who became a friend. The unexpected came about in As One, a blending of souls in a concept that toured the world and healed them both.

And this is where we found our link to Tuesdays with Morrie, the true story of cynical sportswriter Mitch Albom, exhausted in heart and in spirit, who travels a long distance for quiet conversations with his old bedridden professor that heals him of his skepticism of the world, and offered him renewed faith in God and in man.

Of course, Gary will always share with us a spiritual song he wrote. He performed Could you be Messiah to Me which got the same applause as the commercial songs. He never fails to acknowledge his role as ambassador of UNICEF Philippines, a title he has held since 1998. As a person living with diabetes since age 14, Gary has struggled with complications due to low blood sugar that may result in unconsciousness. But rather than mope and sulk, he and his family decided to promote awareness of the ailment with himself as best example. Gary is also an active member of the Shining Light Foundation formed in 2002 which supports mission work, scholarship grants, and medical assistance. You are one of a kind, Gary! Keep it up for many more years to come.

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