TWI's Chewy Buhion had the wonderful pleasure of sitting down with some of the cast and crew of Repertory Philippines' season opener, BOEING BOEING.
Topper
Fabregas – Robert
Topper plays Robert, Bernard's (David Bianco's) old friend who gets tangled up in Bernard's various affairs. You may recognize Topper from several of his past projects with REP - as he is no stranger to the stage. But even more exciting news has come Topper's way as the Miss Saigon auditions rolled into town at the end of last year. Topper talks to us about BOEING BOEING, MISS SAIGON and his future in the West End!
...
Where did you get the inspiration for the
character?
“Actually, I saw the revival [of the show] in the States,
and it was amazing. The only thing I’m trying to do is not copy what the guy
did there, because it’s absolutely impossible! Inspiration? Wala pa, I’m still looking for it, I
guess, honestly. I remember it was a movie before with Jerry Lewis, and I’m
trying to find the comedy of that era. That sort of slapstick type of comedy,
or that old fashioned type of comedy. I’m trying different things right now,
and you watched the newest version of him now!”
How much of Topper is in that character?
“How much of me? Oh my God! Quite a little bit! I’m
just as fidgety, and nervous as he is, I guess. There’s a social awkwardness
that I think I have. He’s not as aggressive, he’s not as out there, he’s still
a bit more reserved, a little quirky. I’m not provincial, but the quirkiness
definitely! He’s a little bit off kilter, like the way he thinks. That’s a
little bit of me in there. If that makes sense!”
How does it feel to be short -listed for
Miss Saigon from the 1,250 people?
“Oh my God, yeah, it’s amazing! It was just really
crazy. I just went, of course everybody just went to audition. You never really
know what they’re looking for, and I just went. I said, “Okay I’m just going to go for it.” I tried not to hype it up so
much, because I’m just so used to getting disappointed. You know what I mean?
You don’t want to build it up so much only to not get it, and just feel
absolutely bad. You’re just trying to find the, ‘Oh I’ll just go, I won’t prepare. Whatever!’ I was trying to be all
nonchalant about it. And then ayun, I
just got called back, and called back. It was nerve-wracking actually. So, yun. So… How does it feel? It feels, I
don’t know, it’s amazing. Whatever happens I’m happy, I guess because it just
feels great. I don’t think I have really thought about it yet. Nothing’s
confirmed yet, they’re staging in 2014, who knows what’s going to happen, it’s
like I’m happy. I feel the fact that I made the short list out of all the
people that auditioned, that’s great na.
From here on, who knows? Who knows if they’re going to come back? Who knows if
they find other people from other countries, and who knows if they even decide
to go with their short list here? There’s just so many “who knows”, so I’m just
trying to be content with the fact that, yep I got on that short list!”
Do you see your future self, going into
international theatre?
“Yeah! I was hoping to get into Saigon, because I really wanted to live
somewhere else for a while. I really wanted to live in London. I’ve never been
to London, but of course to do the show would be great. But actually to live in
London would be amazing, at least for 6 months. I think that’s why I went to
audition. I’ve actually worked abroad, I went to school in the States, I went
to theatre school in New York, and I worked there for a year. It was nice to
work in theatre there, it’s such a different experience. And when Saigon came I
was like, “Yeah I want to also try in
London, and just see what happens.” Yeah, definitely. But I love it here!”
For
more information on Repertory Philippines, check out their website at www.repertory.ph and for tickets, if
course, for tickets please visit our website at www.ticketworld.com.ph, reach us on our hotline at 891-9999
or visit our many TicketWorld outlets!
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