MANILA, Philippines - At first sight, Nikki Gil would seem to relate with her character in the musical “The Last Five Years”.
Nikki plays the role of Cathy, a struggling actress who was left hanging by her husband Jaime (Joaquin Valdez) because of their differences.
As Jaime climbs his way up as a novelist, Cathy is struggling to find the perfect opportunity for her. As their roads cross at one point, they took different turns, leading their marriage to collapse.
The musical's director Robbie Guevarra described his attack on “The Last 5 Years” as a “memory game.”
The two characters reminisce two different time lines: Cathy starts from the time Jaime left, going back to their first date, while Jamie takes the time when they first met up to the time when he left Cathy.
Joaquin and Nikki said that it's kind of “weird” to perform on stage interacting with an “imaginary” person, only guided by the spotlight.
“It was weird because at one point, when we're just trying to get used to not really talking to someone,” Nikki said about having a “monologue.” “I catch myself talking to an imaginary person, just trying to get used to the sensation. I'm used to talking to myself, that's one thing, but no one...it's weird.”
What Nikki found most difficult is “for me is being happy alone on stage towards the end.”
“Kasi it's easy to be lonely all by yourself. But being happy all by yourself, pretending to be with someone, without any one to bounce off energy from was a bit of a challenge,” she explained.
The Kapamilya singer-actress added that she is also used to “sounding pretty” when she sings, but is something that is not highlighted in the musical.
“It was very challenging for me to surrender to the truth of the material and not be vain with how I sound just to be able to tell the story,” she confessed.
Asked by the press what Nikki would give as a piece of advice to her character Cathy, who is going through depression after her husband left her.
“Thank you for that wonderful question,” Nikki said in jest, adding that the question was challenging. She said however that what she will probably tell Cathy is that “everything's gonna be okay. This moment, it'll pass, matatapos at matatapos din.
“It's gonna hurt, it's gonna be painful, the days will gonna feel so long, it'll feel like you cannot see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it will end. Cathy can look back in a few months or years, and Cathy can't even imagine that she was that broken.”
“The Last 5 Years” runs every weekend, starting August 9 until August 31.