Review: Rachelle Ann Go Mesmerizes at Esplanade Debut

Singapore—In the nearly packed Esplanade Theatre on Oct. 13, West End and Broadway star Rachelle Ann Go, wearing a draped velvet gown encrusted with ruby gemstones, gave a stirring rendition of Schonberg and Boublil’s “I Dreamed a Dream” from “Les Miserables.” It was a special moment for theater fans because Go was recently announced to star as Fantine, a role she often returns to.  Next year, she will join the Australian leg of the “Les Miserables: The Arena Spectacular” world tour.

Mesmerizing both longtime fans and Singaporean audiences who may have been unfamiliar with her pop singing roots (Go only gained international fame when she joined the West End revival of “Miss Saigon” in 2014), her two-act concert at the famed concert hall never ran out of musical highlights, which covered diverse music from multiple genres: pop, musical theater, and Disney tunes.

Her versatile vocal range and technique, which seamlessly transitioned between pop and musical theater styles, emotional depth, and faith-grounded stories she shared with the audience, enthralled the concertgoers—many were health workers on their day off, colleagues in the entertainment industry, and her family, who traveled from the Philippines. 

Coincidentally, Go’s debut performance at the Esplanade also marked her 20th-anniversary in the biz, which began in a reality TV competition, “Search For a Star,” in her home country in 2004 to her joining the first international tour of the global hit “Hamilton,” which made its final bow at the nearby Sands Theatre last June.

Rachelle Ann Go

In “The Music in My Mind,” Go’s concert title, she opened and ended with “Defying Gravity” from another hit musical, “Wicked,” which she hasn’t starred in yet. And why hasn’t she? She’s an easy fit for the role of the green-skinned witch, Elphie.

Mainly partitioned into big medleys, whose choice of songs showcased her wide vocal range: The Disney medley (“Part of Your World,” “For the First Time in Forever,” “Reflection,” and “How Far I’ll Go”), Barbra Streisand medley (“Memory,” “People,” “A Piece of Sky,” and “Somewhere”), ‘90s medley (“Have You Ever,” “Never Gonna Let You Go,” “Officially Missing You,” and “Last Chance”), and Winning Hits medley (”Through the Rain” and “All by Myself”), Go brought back the audience to her early contesera days, an avid local singing contestant, and throughout the trajectory of her musical career, both its highs and lows.

Go recalled almost giving up during her first few months of playing Fantine in London.  Uprooted from her pop diva stature in the Philippines, shifting from pop to musical theater-style singing was uncomfortable for her.

At that moment, she started to lose self-confidence; out of the blue, a fellow actor gave her the warmest hug and told her, straight to her face, “You’re fantastic.” From then on, with complete confidence, she continues breathing life into the most extraordinary female roles made for the stage, Fantine in “Les Miserables,” and Eliza Hamilton, a role she originated in the original London production of “Hamilton” in 2017. At the Esplanade, Go sang Eliza’s heartrending solo, “Burn,” with utmost conviction, garnering rapturous applause from the audience.

Filipinos in the audience, too, were treated to a Tagalog romantic tune, “Bakit,” which Go engagingly asked the audience to sing with her.

Notably, this stage performance was a rare occasion to witness Go belting out songs “Don’t Cry Out Loud,” “Through the Rain,” and “All by Myself,” her go-to songs when joining and winning singing contests back in the day. Immortalized on old YouTube videos, Go rarely sings these big pop songs live, especially when she began her musical theater work.

Rachelle Ann Go, Vanessa Kee

It was also a breath of fresh air to have a young, talented singer, Vanessa Kee, who sang some duets with Go and a solo spot, “Alto’s Lament,” on stage.  Kee recently starred in Sight Lines’ critically acclaimed production of Jonathan Larson’s “tick, tick…BOOM!”

Props to Ria Osorio, the concert’s musical director, along with her band members: Robert Dennis de Guzman, guitar; Jenny Joey Medina, keyboard; Jorge San Jose, drums; Micah Lejandro Villena, bass; and backup singers Abigail Blanco and Yasmin Rose Castrodes Medina.  All imports from the Philippines, the band filled the large concert hall with a well-mixed sound, sans any instrument overpowering the others. In Go’s musical epilogue, “I Want It That Way,” Osorio’s band’s solid beats and upbeat rhythms encouraged the audience to stand and dance.

Timothy Vincent Recla, sound engineer, and Cynthia Roque, production manager and director, deserved a nod, too.

Rachelle Ann Go

However, Go’s rendition of “The Movie in My Mind” from “Miss Saigon” was quite a letdown; originally a duet between two doomed bar girls, “The Movie in My Mind” was sung solo by Go, with the help of her backup vocalists, Blanco and Medina. Its earnestness and air of uncertainty were lacking because of its solo arrangement. Go could have sung it better with Kee, sharing the stage with her in Act Two.

Outside the Esplanade Theatre, other pocket musical performances—both free and ticketed—continued entertaining audiences with their unique brand of music and talents—a testament to the Esplanade group’s commitment to being a bustling hub of diverse art, performances, and music in the heart of the city.

Photos: Aloysius Lim, Esplanade-Theatres on the Bay

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