Rowena Vilar Without Her Anita Wig And Singing Miss Saigon
Although Gibbs Cadiz warns Rowena Vilar to kiss anonymity goodbye, majority of Filipinos may still not recognize her without her curly wig, which she wears while playing Anita in the Stages production of West Side Story in Manila. Thus, here she is without her wig, singing Miss Saigon tunes in duets with Joanna Ampil and Gian Magdangal during a presscon last 06 August 2008.
Gibb’s review of West Side Story on the Philippine Daily Inquirer has this to say about Rowena Vilar, “A fine singer and a spectacular dancer, Vilar’s line extensions in the fizzy “America” number are a wonder to behold. And when she duets with Ampil—the show’s two strongest performers dramatizing “A Boy Like That/I Have a Love” through character, melody and lyric—the show reaches its shivery, glowing peak.”
David Dizon of ABS-CBN deemed her performance as mesmerizing, “The biggest surprise of the evening, however, came from Australian-born Rowena Vilar who plays the role of Anita. Vilar electrifies every scene she is in simply through her presence, her verve and her total commitment to character. After the first act, our small group was raving about her performance and asking who she was. She simply mesmerizes the audience through her every perfect song and dance and dredges up the audience’s compassion in the near rape scene at Doc’s bar. No wonder Lea Salonga is so impressed with her.”
In Australia, Rowena was part of the cast of The Boy from Oz (with Hugh Jackman) and the Australian tour of Ms. Saigon, where Leo “The Engineer” Valdez noted her performance and highly recommended her to producer Audie Gemora.
And, here’s Rowena Vilar performing as Anita in the America number, partnered by Jake Macapagal as Bernardo and accompanied by the West Side Story ensemble, during the Grand Launch of the Manila run at Trinoma Mall on 20 August 2008.
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