Joanna Ampil loves books on extraordinary women
Joanna Ampil went from being an ordinary student at St. Mary’s College in Quezon City to an extraordinary life as a theater actress in the West End of London. As the Cameron Mackintosh team arrived back in the Philippines a few weeks ago to audition many young girls, it brought back memories of all those who went ahead. Although Lea Salonga and Monique Wilson, being the first two to play Kim, are the most remembered, one must take note of Joanna Ampil who forged a continuing successful career as an actress in London. Aside from playing Kim in London, Joanna opened Miss Saigon in Sydney and returned to the West End as Mary Magdalene in Andrew LLoyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar. She has also played Eponine & Fantine in Les Miserables. Mimi in Rent, Christmas Eve in Avenue Q and Sheila Franklin in Hair. She decided to take some time off the West End stage to perform in a Philippine production of West Side Story and recently essayed the iconic role of Maria Von Trapp in the Resorts World production of The Sound of Music and was rewarded with her first Aliw Award for Best Actress in a Musical. Ironically as she has finally been recognized locally, Joanna is preparing to return to the UK as Grizabella in an international European tour production of Cats.
As Joanna prepares to enjoy time with her family and a Philippine Christmas, we asked her to share a few of her favorite books.
1. Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. “This is the first book I read written by Hosseini and I couldn’t get enough of his writing. This is also the first book he’s ever written. He has a gift of transporting people through his writing.”
2. Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. “It made me feel extremely lucky to be living in a country where women are treated with more respect and are given the rights that they deserve to have.”
3. Night by Elie Wiesel. “I found this book very healing. I wept loads after reading it. It was as If I were living the lives of those who died and survived the holocaust.”
4. Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden. “This book was very entertaining to read. It was easy and the story is quite beautiful. It made me want to read and learn more about the lives of these extraordinary women.”
5. The Last Day of a Condemned Man by Victor Hugo. “This was very insightful for me. Victor Hugo’s writing was always very detailed and he once again displayed that in this book.”
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The Reading Club recommends Fairy Tale Interrupted by Rosemarie Terenzio who worked closely with John Kennedy Jr. and writes about her time working with him. Available in National Bookstore and Powerbooks.
Your comments & suggestions are welcome at gr.rodis@yahoo.com.
