Me: Should I or shouldn’t I.
He: Oh God, dear God, hear my plea.
Me: If I don’t do it now, I’ll never do it.
He: Oh God, dear God, don’t let it be.
Me: One is forgiven anything on one’s 70th birthday.
He: If she asks for a cruise this time I’ll agree.
Me. "God listens when I pray, but he loves me when I sing."
He: Please, dear Sir, also listen to me.
He laughed and love prevailed.
I. The Planning
Me: Should I make it a recital? In the RCBC theater?
He: We have to feed the guests.
Me: Or maybe it should be concert style in a bar. That would be cool.
He: We have to feed the guests.
Me: What sort of a program should I have — more opera, more pop, more Broadway?
He: We have to feed the guests.
Me: Nelson says more opera. Michael says less opera.
He: We have to feed the guests well. VERY, VERY, well.
II. The Planning Continued
Me: How perfectly lovely! Al says I can use the RCBC executive lounge.
He: Have you chosen a caterer?
Me: It will be so elegant!
He: Have you chosen a caterer?
Me: With the lovely night view of the city. What a lovely setting.
He: Have you chosen a caterer?
Me: I can have the band right at center with the tables….
He: Have you chosen a ca…..a BAND?!!
III. The Invitation
Me: I have a great idea for an invitation…
He: Have you cho….
Me: Yes! I’ve talked to Sunshine Puey about the food. I wanted…
He: Have you made your guest list? Be sure you have enough food.
Me: …I wanted a wide open mouth with notes coming out of it but Rem found this great picture on the Internet with the face of a woman singing – would you believe she looks a bit like me – with her mouth open wide…
He: Be sure you have enough food.
Me: The invitation will come from you…
He: Have you made your guest list? How many guests will you have?
Me: 70, 80, 90, 100, more…I dunno yet.
He: (Anxiously) You have to have enough food!
V. The Program
Me: Well, we’ve finally settled on the program and the script. Michael says it should be about me – sort of like a musical biography. He found me this great musical director, Inday Echaverria, and I will have a guitarist, a drummer and a bass player, and she has made such great medley arrangements, and I will be singing pop, opera, jazz, Broadway and blues, and…
He: Won’t that be an awful lot to learn?
Me: Oh no. I’ve been singing those songs for 50 years.
He: (Under his breath.) Yes, I know.
Me: And I’ll have Nelson sing from Porgy and Bess with me, and Cocoy sing from Piaf with me, and Michael, Liesl, Rem and Menchu sing Black and Blue with me...and…
He: How long, exactly, will this concert be?
Me: Well I was trying to keep it down to 50 minutes to an hour but Michael says I should just sing what I want to sing and not worry about the time so it might go a little over.
He: (With resignation) Be sure you have enough good food. And wine. A LOT of wine.
VI. The Night
Me and He: God, oh God, hear my prayer.
Me: Do I look alright? My hair looks a bit weird but my makeup’s not bad. My dress makes me look pregnant. That’s what I get for using a granddaughter as a fashion role model. Good the band’s here. Where are the guys? We have to go over the Black and Blue with the band.
He: Where is your seating arrangement chart?
Me: My what?
He: Your seating arrangement chart. You have to have a seating arrangement chart.
Me: Can’t they just sit wherever they want to? Ok, Ok. Violi, friends and family… tables 1 to 6. Repertory, tables 6 to…hmm, come to think of it…maybe we should add a couple more tables….
He: (In desperation) No seating arrangement chart! Will there be enough seats? Will there be enough food?
Me: Hi, guys! Good, you’re here. Now let’s go over…
He: (Muttering under his breath.) No seating arrangement chart! No seating arrangement chart!
And Finally
He: She doesn’t have a cold. She hasn’t lost her voice. She’ll be alright. But she hasn’t let me hear her. I don’t know what she is going to sing. She’ll be alright. She doesn’t look nervous. She’ll be alright. Then why am I so nervous?!
Me: I haven’t had enough rehearsal with the band…must remember the cuts…where is my cue sheet…now remember relax, relax...enjoy yourself…this is your once in a lifetime…these are your closest friends and family…they love you…oh…why am I doing this…I must be insane…relax…There’s Gigi now doing her introduction…the music from Fame is starting…tara ta rata rata rata ratatata…
Gigi V. …she has taught me one thing... that one is never too old to do what one wants to do… and so… Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome… my brave and foolish mother… Ms. Joy Virata.
Me: Here I go…ready or not…tara ta, rata, rata, rata, rat tata
The invitation read "Mr. Cesar Virata begs you to come and help him get through a celebration of 50 years of voice lessons of his wife Joy, January 18, 2006 at 7 p.m., Executive Lounge, 47th floor RCBC Plaza, Ayala Ave., corner Gil J. Puyat, Makati. Come comfortably. Earplugs not permitted."
Ms. Virata’s repertoire included pop songs from the ’50s and the ’90s, operatic arias from a repertoire acquired from 50 years of voice lessons, songs from favorite roles she played in a career that spanned 40 years, songs in the blues and jazz styles, and songs she’s always wanted to sing but never did and probably never will…but who knows? The songs were interspaced with anecdotes of her musical life. Ms. Virata sang, without intermission, for 70 minutes – one minute for every year of her life – which isn’t really very much to ask really good friends to listen to. (When asked why there was no intermission, Ms.Virata whispered that she was afraid she would lose half her audience.)
The audience, composed of 120 close friends, relatives and members of Repertory Philippines, after having imbibed a considerable quantity of wine, cheered the performance loudly.
The guests commented that the food was delicious. No one went unseated or unfed.
Oh yes. In her final song, Ms. Virata acknowledged Mr. Virata as having been "The Wind Beneath My Wings."