Q&A: NOLI Opera's Antoni Mendezona, Sal Malaki Sit Down with BroadwayWorld

Manila, Philippines--Prior to the sold-out closing weekend of the international touring production of National Artists Felipe De Leon and Guillermo Tolentino's magnum opus "Noli Me Tangere: The Opera," which played the Newport Performing Arts Theatre at Resorts World Manila, BroadwayWorld.com was able to sit down with the production's longtime stars Antoni Mendezona (Maria Clara, Sisa) and Sal Malaki (Juan Crisostomo Ibarra), who have been part of the production since its New York premiere in the fall of 2013.

With the brave efforts of businesspeople-philathropists Loida Nicolas Lewis, Jerry Sibal (who also designs the show's sets and costumes), and Edwin Josue, "Noli Me Tangere: The Opera," the Philippines's first full-length grand opera, has already played New York City, Washington, D.C., and Manila in less than a year.

Each tour stop had cast changes; directed by a new director; and accompanied by a new orchestra--Mendezona and Malaki went through it all, which both generously discussed, among other things, in below's transcript:

In the Kennedy Center and Manila productions, you played a different role. Was the role of Sisa more challenging than Maria Clara?

Antoni: On the contrary, Maria Clara is more challenging than Sisa because the role is very low--vocally. It's almost like for high mezzo. And I'm anything but...I'm a lyrical coloratura, which is very, very high. Maria sings all of the music, which is very low, and is in the passaggio area, which is very challenging for a soprano. Singing Sisa has some risks to it because it's very bare and naked. You have to be very delicate at certain parts. And if you messed up, everybody could hear that for sure. But my voice is made to sing that role (Sisa), which fits like a glove for a lyrical coloratura.

Why did you shift to Sisa?

Antoni: In New York, I originally auditioned for Sisa. But they wanted to cast me as Maria Clara because I had curly hair and I looked mestiza. But I wanted to be part of "Noli Me Tangere"; so I accepted the role of Maria Clara. The second time around they asked me to be part of "Noli," I told them, "I'd love to perform in 'Noli' again, but I can't sing Maria Clara. I just can't do it."

As opera singers, do you need to hit the right notes every time?

Antoni: You need to hit the right notes every time no matter what.

Sal: But in this case, as far as I can remember, the acting is first and foremost. If you missed one note, two, or three notes, they (audience) didn't really care.

Antoni: But if you were performing in New York, where there are a lot of opera critics, you could not let the voice suffer no matter how much acting you were doing. When you're singing to a seasoned audience, there's no room for error--vocally!

How was your experience at the Kennedy Center?

Sal: The Kennedy Center production was really good. We had a very good orchestra, and the (Japanese) director, Anna Etsuko Tsuri, was great! She was very prepared!

Antoni: Everybody was so professional--every staff member, the stage manager. They were very involved and on top of everything. Their time management was fantastic! As a singer, you just want to focus on your one job: to be true to the role and to the music. And when effective time management is not in place, your performance might also suffer.

Sal: And we had great singers at that time!

Antoni: It was a dream cast, down to the supporting roles, the chorus. Everybody sounded so good. American soprano Brittany Palmer, who was my cover in the New York production, played Maria Clara at Kennedy Center. She was fantastic! Her Tagalog was good. Every single thing she sang, she understood it.

Sal: We didn't have a lot of time to practice at the Kennedy Center though because it had to involve a lot of stagehands. At Kennedy Center, you had to move sets manually, unlike here, in Manila.

Do opera singers still use less amplification nowadays?

Sal: For me, I will just sing the way I sing. But not really pushing it out to fill the house like as if there's no microphone. Hey, I will lose my voice after like three performances.

Antoni: Opera singers are trained not to use amplification--it started in the 16th century, when there was no amplification. You study this technique of bel canto, which has been perfected to shape your throat so that acoustically you don't need amplification. So it's true opera singers don't need amplication unless the venue badly needs amplification so that people can hear us.

How was it working with Rachelle Gerodias (Maria Clara in Manila)?

Sal: I have worked with her before...she was my guest soprano when I had a concert in Surigao in 2007. I know her very well because we also worked together in La Boheme in 1992, with Rolando Tinio as our director. We have a very long history of working together.

Antoni: She's a lovely person, a beautiful singer.

Sal, you played Juan Crisostomo Ibarra several times in the past. Do you still get to discover new things about the character?

Sal: It depends on the director; every director has a different idea, a different input. But you have to integrate whatever you have already learned.

What would a Filipino audience member take away from "Noli," the opera?

Sal: I hope that Filipino audiences would look at the relevance of "Noli" in the context of today: there are still a lot of people who abuse power.

Antoni: There's two sides to the coin here: the abuser and the abused; it's a co-dependent relationship. And both need to be aware of such, and self reflect in order to see what's goin on; both also need to have and courage to speak up to say, "No."

Sal, tenor, is one of the most seasoned artists of the Los Angeles Opera Company, which is led by world-renowned tenor and conductor Maestro Placido Domingo. Two years ago, Sal officially made his 100th production with Los Angeles Opera--a very rare feat, which he achieved since joining the company in 1995.

Some of his career highlights include a Grammy Award for the Los Angeles Opera production of Kurt Weill's "The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny," which has a live DVD recording produced by EuroArts, directed by John Doyle and conducted by James Conlon; his portrayal of Giuseppe in Los Angeles Opera's production of Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata, also recorded for DVD, directed by Marta Domingo; and his portrayal of Uncle Yakuside in Giacomo Puccini's Madama Butterfly.

Antoni, a consummate performer, has been recognized internationally for her singing--with "images of heaven coming to mind when she [sings]."

Her professional theater experience and impeccable musicianship have led her to step in twice at the last minute for two important American opera debuts: one in the European debut of Tobias Picker's "Emmeline," where she played Sophie, and the other in the New York premiere of Thomas Pasatieri's "The Hotel Casablanca," where she played Veronique, which garnered a rave review from The New York Times saying, "Mendezona, a last minute substitute as the hotel clerk Veronique, stole scenes with her pealing voice and bubbly personality."

Her other operatic roles include Despina in Cosi fan tutte, Amore in L'incoronazione di Poppea, Zerlina in Don Giovanni, Le Rossignol in L'enfant et les sortilèges, Elisa in Il Re Pastore, Sandman and Dew Fairy in Hansel and Gretel with Boheme Opera, Flora in "The Turn of the Screw" and Dorinda in Handel's Orlando with Sacramento Opera, among others.

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