MANILA, Philippines - When 17-year-old Joreen Bautista initially auditioned for the award-winning musical, Miss Saigon, she only tried her luck to gain “certain exposure.” Little did she know she was in for a chance-of-a-lifetime stage experience.
“I saw the post of the Miss Saigon auditions in Manila in social media and was at first only thinking of giving it a shot,” Joreen recalls. “I was busy at the same time then. I remember tweeting, ‘To audition for Miss Saigon or not.’ A lot of people replied, ‘Go for it.’
“I thought about it and knew it would give me such an experience to sing for the great directors. So I thought, ‘Why not just do it?’ I knew it didn’t have to be very serious anyway. Whether or not I got called or got in, it’s always a plus for exposure. So I did. I auditioned.”
She sang Sun and Moon and Kim’s heart-wrenching, solo number, I’d Give My Life for You, a song for Kim’s son, Tam. “There were around 20 of us who auditioned, I was the only one who got a call back,” Joreen shares.
A few more callbacks followed, then, Joreen learned she made it to the final auditions. A month later, she received an e-mail from Miss Saigon casting director, Paul Wooler, who told her she has been kept into consideration as understudy for Kim. Last December, she received another e-mail that formally offered her the part of Kim’s alternate.
When Joreen learned that she passed the auditions and was offered Kim’s alternate, she had mixed emotions. “My hands were shaking,” she offers. “I was very excited and nervous at the same time. I was so overjoyed and was really thankful this wonderful opportunity opened for me.”
Other Filipinos in the main cast of Miss Saigon include Red Concepcion, who will play The Engineer and GMA 7 talent Gerald Santos, who will essay the role of Thuy.
When she was in fourth grade, Joreen watched excerpts of Miss Saigon staged in her school. She has yet to see the full production live onstage. “I’m 17, just like Kim. I was told Act 2 will be a bit more challenging, where Kim starts being stronger and more experienced. I have to be able to feel emotions I had never felt before. I have to give a sense of truth to what’s happening in the show and feel as if I really am the character.”
Joreen left first week of May for the UK, where she is set to start rehearsals for Miss Saigon, her first major production. The musical opens July 1 at the Curve Leicester Theater. After the UK run, Joreen will also join the cast in Dublin, Ireland.
“I do not know yet about what to really expect about performing in the international stage for Miss Saigon,” Joreen says. “But I do believe this will bring me so much learning and experience, that such opportunity is not opened to everyone. So as early as now, I am already thankful.”
Joreen is thrilled she has met Lea Salonga, who originated the role of Kim in the UK and went on to make a name for herself in the international stage. “Lea’s biggest advice to me was to be able to have a talk with my leading man to make agreements and set boundaries, knowing what it takes to play Kim.”
This greenhorn is understandably hesitant to do kissing scenes, since it is obviously something she is not used to doing. “From the beginning, we (my family and friends) all knew what it takes and what one will have to be going through in playing the role of Kim,” Joreen states. “Knowing Kim is only a role and it doesn’t mean it will be who I am, they are still very supportive.”
She looks up to Lea Salonga, Rachelle Ann Go and Sierra Boggess. She also feels privileged to have had the chance to talk to Carla Laforteza, Isay Alvarez, Audie Gemora and director Bobby Garcia, “whose words have been of really big help in preparing for this big journey.”
A talent of Rank One Productions, with David Cosico as her manager, Joreen developed early interest in music and the performing arts. She has always loved musicals, particularly Phantom of the Opera, Les Miserablés and lately, Miss Saigon.
“I loved acting because you could be anyone,” Joreen says. “Performing onstage really has been one of my dreams since I was young. It is overwhelming to think what has been given to me is so much bigger than I thought.”
After Miss Saigon, Joreen wants to finish her studies. She will go to college and plans to take up interior design, music or business, her interests and strengths. “But if God opens another door for me and it comes a bit earlier, then I will have to weigh things first.”