Lorli Villanueva: The diva who refuses to sing her swan song

It was a seeming reflexive reaction the moment news about Lorli Villanueva’s concert at the Kalayaan Hall of the Philippine Center in New York reached her fans and even those who were merely curious about what she would actually show.
Lorli, a proud recipient of a Best Supporting Actress award during the 1972 Manila Film Festival, and various other nominations through the years, to this day remains one of the few living portals of Philippine theater, movies, and television. After more than fifty films, enumerable stage plays and television appearances, Lorli maintains an image worth-emulating. She is epitome of an accomplished artist after having had embraced the very essence of her career until her latest public performance.
An inclement weather dismally greeted the Friday morning of October 19 with its muggy horizon that induced a sudden downpour and left “An evening with Lorli” organizers in a frantic situation. But Mother Nature must have spared Lorli from all the hassles because just hours before showtime, the skies turned clear with a temperature just perfect to entice a huge audience.
Promptly at 7:00 pm, the Kalayaan Hall was already packed to a capacity crowd enjoying the native performances of the evening’s curtain raisers, the students of Paaralan Sa Konsulado.
The diva’s entrance was truly one grand feat. Two escorts readily assisted her to her designated spot in the center-stage where she would be posted during her entire performance.
The main star’s opening number was a music-loaded medley seemed a bit of uptight, but is certainly forgivable after her being away from the limelight for long. A love-coated series of musical composition followed that automatically segued to “Send In The Clowns” where she was able to slowly redeem her sustaining power.
The succeeding numbers were remarkably penned and composed by the Gershwin brothers, Ira and George, that dramatically led the audience to tread down memory lane as Lorli sung “Love Is Here To Stay” (from the 1938 movie, The Goldwyn Follies and the 1951 MGM Pictures An American in Paris); “Summertime” (from the folk opera, Porgy & Bess); “The Man I Love” (from the 1928 Siegfeld hit, Rosalie); “Embraceable You” (from the 1930 musical, Girl Crazy); “Someone To Watch Over Me” (from the 1926 musical, Oh, Kay!); and “La Vie en Rose” or Life in Rosy Hues (from the 1946 popular song by French singer Edith Piaf) which Lorli effortlessly rendered with matching Tagalog version as penned by Filipino journalist Pete Lacaba.
Proving her versatility even in kundiman or Philippine love songs, Lorli rendered topnotch ditties of the 40s, 50s, and the 60s with a dash of comic actuations and funny antics that brought the house down.
Her rendition of “Maala-ala Mo Kaya,” “Bakya Mo Neneng,” ” Pobreng Alindahaw,” and “Usahay,” (a popular Visayan song that means, “Sometimes”) was more than enough to relive the golden era of Philippine music and helplessly be suspended under its spell.
A passionate artist and a born performer, Lorli generously offered a meticulously chosen repertoire and dramatically presented each sequence with either an appropriate intro or a justified narration.
Her being a  seasoned movie-TV-stage actress enabled her to render every number with such ease but noticeably loaded with a gamut of emotions. She could wink her eyes with subdued mischief, roll them with pun, or close them in seeming heavenly bliss and unfathomable ecstasy.
What was most amazing was not her ability to render different genres but her keen memory of every single lyric of her songs without neither the aid of a tele-prompter nor an idiot board which even regular performers are constantly equipped with.
Her second set was preluded with an overture of Claude Debussy’s “Clair de Lune” as effectively performed by world-renown piano virtuoso, Nelson Ojeda Valdes. After this Lorli delivered a dream-inviting narration: “When you hear music like that, that’s the best time to flirt. And when the moon is clear, that’s the best time to meet strangers!” Then, she sung Bart Kaempfert’s “Strangers in the Night” in her most melodramatic rendition that earned tremendous applause.
The proceeding ditties were but nostalgically classic: “Love Letters Straight From Your Heart” (a Perry Como original from the 1945 Paramount Films, Love Letters); “Bali a” (from the 1949 Samoan-inspired Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, South Pacific); “Greatest Performance of my Life” (a Loleatta Halloway composition as recorded by Shirley Bassey); and the Charles Trenet composition, “I Wish You Love,” as her finale number.
“Let’s leave this place with a beautiful smile!” She sincerely uttered as she bade her audience after thanking her sponsors, supporters,  and of course, her audience.
Despite occasional unsustained notes, it couldn’t be denied that Lorli still possesses that control of her voice, considering that she was seated in the entirety of her performance.
If only people knew that she was almost down-trodden due to a throat problem before the big day, they will surely understand her predicament. Lorli was merely administered with strong dosages of antibiotics that very morning just so to be able to go on with the show. Professionalism in the midst of anxiety? Why, yes! After three decades that she has been in the business, being a professional artist, undoubtedly, is one of her distinct traits.
Lorli’s special guest performers were equally professional and loaded with talent: fine artist Lito David on banduria, Leon de Lara on the laud, and Rudy Reyes on the guitar. They are collectively known as Ang Tatlong Rondalista. The magnificent trio, whom  Lorli teasingly tagged, The Rockers, more than proved their capability to really “rock” through their bouncy rendition of Bobby Gonzales’ popular novelty song, “Hahabol-habol.”
Former Philippine child star and currently an upcoming movie and Broadway actress Sybil “Princess” Santiago was the evening’s big revelation via her effective belting of “Besame Mucho” and a couple of Adelle’s songs: “Who Do You Think You Are” and “Rain.”
Although there was that intention to keep Sybil’s true identity, her striking semblance in talent and personality easily gave away the truth, that she’s Lorli’s real life Princess.
Lorli’s special guests that evening included the Honorable Consul General Mario L. de Leon, Jr. of the Philippine Consular Office in New York, PHHOSO, Inc. founder and president Nena Kaufman, Youth Success Global Foundation Chairman Ernesto S. Pamolarco, Jr., The Association of Fil-Am Teachers of America president Lumen Castaneda, the faculty members of Touro College, and the NYC Comptroller John Liu who presented a commendation to AFTA and YSGF.
“An Evening With Lorli” was appropriately tagged and perfectly conceptualized for after two solid hours of pure oldies-but-goodies music, the show was one event worth-watching. A consummate Filipino artist with a diverse talent and a wide range of music genre, Lorli’s distinct defining stance has always been the peculiar way she delivers her lines as complimented by her electrifying stage presence.
With an unparalleled talent like Lorli Villanueva, her moniker, even after years of non-performance and being inactive from the limelight, will undoubtedly remain with shining luster despite the absence of a marquee. For comments and suggestions, please email [email protected]