Tuesdays With Gary: A certified hit

Tuesdays With Gary (TWG) promised to recreate Gary Valenciano’s early years as a performer prior to his earning the Mr. Pure Energy moniker at the legendary entertainment venue Tavern On The Square.

TWG ran for 12 evenings at Teatrino in Promenade, Greenhills and it delivered so much more than it promised to the delight of Gary’s fans and hundreds of Gary V converts, who saw him perform for the very first time.

The intimate set-up of Teatrino is the perfect venue for TWG as Gary surprised guests and fans right before each of the shows by hopping from table to table as if welcoming the members of the audience to his home. In fact, Gary consistently refers to Teatrino as his home for the entire duration of his series. Gary shook hands with his audiences and had photo-ops with them — a rare treat for his fans who are used to watching him in mammoth venues such as the Smart Araneta Coliseum, the ULTRA and the Folk Arts Theater.

All-female vocal group AKA JAM from the first season of The X-Factor Philippines, whom Gary mentored himself, opened the show. AKA JAM is composed of Katrina, Monique, Jhelsea and Ashley. It should be noted that Katrina Velarde, who is also the vocal director of the group, recently gained mainstream popularity as the Suklay Diva when a video of hers singing a Beyoncé song using a purple comb as a makeshift microphone went viral both on Facebook and YouTube. AKA JAM set the mood of TWG by dishing out their fabulous cover versions of such homegrown party anthems as Got To Be Real, Jump, Ain’t No Mountian High and a stirring rendition of the classic ballad, This Is My Life, that was especially arranged for them by musical director Mon Faustino.

Gary’s first set consisted of songs from his musical influences such as Al Jarreau, Earth Wind and Fire, Stevie Wonder, Kool & The Gang, Michael Jackson, Bryan McKnight, Barry Manilow and James Ingram. It was apparent that Gary was in his finest element when he started to sing Earth, Wind, and Fire’s I’ll Write A Song For You, Barry Manilow’s Somewhere Down The Road and his big-band version of For Once In My Life.

Even some of Gary’s musicians were given the spotlight like guitarist Maki Ricafort (from Team Sarah of the first season of The Voice Of The Philippines) who sang a powerful cover of Brian McKnight’s seminal hit One Last Cry and back-up vocalist Elké Saison-Ortiz who dueted with Gary in the classic break-up ballad Separate Lives. Gary closed his first set by paying homage to Earth, Wind, and Fire leaving audiences gasping and screaming for more after Gary sang seamlessly and effortlessly in the vocally challenging Reasons.

Julianne, who is the first female artist to win Best New Female Recording Artist and Female Recording Artist of the Year in 2008’s Awit Awards and currently a third-placer in Philipop, did a mid-set performance that took the audience’s breath away. Julianne’s laid-back yet very unforgettable performance consisted of a diverse line-up of songs, which included Al Green’s Let’s Stay Together, Sting’s Englishman In New York as well as her self-penned hits such as Tulak Ng Bibig, Grateful and her latest single Ikaw Lang.          

Gary’s second set consisted of a selection of some of his well-loved hits. Gary, who wrote over 50 songs in the span of his 30 years in the music industry, explained, “We are saving the other songs that you all love for the big concert in 2014 at the Araneta.”  

Gary dished out rarely sung hits from the ’80s like What More Can I Say, Paano and Could You Be Messiah. His well-loved Teleserye Medley consisted of Tayong Dalawa, Minsan Lang Kita Iibigin and Walang Hanggan, the latter a song he produced and arranged. Gary shared the spotlight once again with his fellow musicians as he performed Each Passing Night, Reaching Out, Narito and Sana Maulit Muli with Mon, Elké and May-ann Casal-Soriano.

Gary closed the show with a stirring and incomparable rendition of Al Jarreau’s Spain, which he said was his audition piece to manager Sandra Chavez, “I started my professional career with this song and it is only right that we end this concert with this number that I performed for Sandra Chavez 30 years ago.”

Some of the dozens of popular personalities seen during the entire run of TWG were Zsa Zsa Padilla, Martin Nievera, Iza Calzado, Joel Cruz, Jamie Rivera, G Tongi, Erik Santos, Jed Madela, Princess Velasco, The X Factor Philippines’ KZ Tandingan, Gab Maturan, Daddy’s Home, Kedebon and Jeric Medina, The Voice Philippines’ Klarisse de Guzman, RJ de la Fuente, Abby Asistio, Marissa Saroca, Isa Fabregas, Cara Manglapus, Emmanuelle Vera, Lee Grane, Kimpoy, Gabriel Ramos, Angelica Prado, Morisette Amon, Joyce Liquicia of ASAP, ABS-CBN’s Laurenti Dyogi and Cory Vidanes, Anthony Pangilinan, Anna Fegi, Juan Miguel Salvador, Piki Lopez, Vicki Belo, Cristalle Henares and Ogie Alcasid.

Due to insistent public demand, Tuesdays With Gary will have a special repeat performance on Nov. 15 at Teatrino.

Tickets are priced at P2,000, P1,500, P1,000 and P500. For details, call Teatrino Ticket Booth at 721-2949, 722-4532, 722-4501 loc. 116; Music Museum Ticket Booth, 721-0635 and 721-6726; TicketWorld, 891-999 or www.ticketworld.com.ph; and SMTickets, 477-0222 or www.smtickets.com.

Tuesdays With Gary is a production of Manila Genesis Entertainment & Management, Inc. and GVPI for the benefit of Shining Light Foundation for the Bohol and Cebu earthquake victims.