Filipina theater actress Gab Pangilinan is feeling grateful and enthusiastic as she takes on the role of Mary Magdalene in GMG Productions’ Jesus Christ Superstar for its Manila leg this month.
Fresh from the gala performance at The Theatre at Solaire on May 5, Gab spoke candidly with PUSH ABS-CBN about what the role means to her and how special the experience has been.
“It’s been a rollercoaster, it’s so much fun. But also, I’m so happy and honored, privileged to be able to do this and just to be a part of it,” she said.
For Gab, getting the role was something she did not expect right away, especially after waiting months for the result of her audition. Upon knowing that she got the part, Gab was honest to say that she ‘couldn’t believe’ the news at first.
“Oh my gosh! I couldn’t believe it kasi I had to wait for months and wala, I couldn’t believe it. And ito na, totoo na siya.”
The theater actress said that she feels very much 'proud and humbled' to bring the iconic rock opera to life. Gab is also the only Philippine-based lead star of the run while Filipino-American Kalei Cotecson is part of the ensemble and serves as Mary Magdalene’s understudy.
Even if Gab was new to her castmates, she said she immediately felt welcome. “I’m just happy that they made me feel so welcome since day one. As in, sobrang saya.”
Gab also could not hide her happiness for her friend, Britain’s Got Talent finalist Matty Juniosa, who will be playing the role of Annas in the West End staging of Jesus Christ Superstar at The London Palladium starting this June.
“Syempre nagpi-PM (personal message) na kami kasi we’re friends talaga. So I’m really happy that he’s finally doing theater kasi he’s really good,” she said.
READ: Matty Juniosa joins the cast of ‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ on West End
Before the gala performance, Gab shared more about her role during the show’s media call. Talking with more friends from the press, she opened about how she approached playing Mary Magdalene and highlighted how this version of the musical shows a more ‘human’ side of well-known Biblical characters, as also noted by her co-star Joshua Bess who plays the understudy for the role of Jesus.
“Our characters are just so humanized in this version of the story. People know Jesus, people know Mary [Magdalene], people know these roles, but they've never seen them so human, I think,” she shared.
“As usual, as we approach any role, it’s the truth: what she stands for, what she believes in. It all boils down to what the story is trying to say. And we all know the Bible story, we all know the characters that we're given on stage. But I think what's so beautiful about Jesus Christ Superstar is how human every single person is,” she continued.
With over a decade in the theater industry, Gab admitted that this project felt different because it pushed her out of her comfort zone as it was the first time in a really long-time for her to enter a production without knowing anyone, given that this is an international tour composed of cast members from different regions in the world.
“It took me definitely out of my comfort zone... That was a lot of mental preparation because, when you enter a room not knowing how the process is going to go, you just have to be so open and so vulnerable. I'm just so lucky that it's these people that I ended up with. It's been so great and wonderful,” she shared.
She also said that the experience reminded her why she fell in love with theater in the first place, something she also told her husband and fellow theater star, Myke Solomon.
“It's removing everything attached to being a theater actor or being in front of an audience and it's coming right back into the heart of it and just telling the story and doing what we love to do, which is to be on stage,” Gab explained.
“Every rehearsal day, every time we get to step on stage together, it feels like home, even if I’ve just met these people. And it's such a gift, it's a privilege, and truly an honor that I'm a part of it. I'm just happy to be a part of it,” she added.
Jesus Christ Superstar will run in Manila from May 2 to May 31 at The Theatre at Solaire.