CAST SPOTLIGHT - A Fire In The Soul: A Cantata

THE CAST

Franco Laurel (Br. Antonius) is a theatre, television and film actor.  He is a two-time Aliw Awardee for Best Stage Actor in a Musical.  He has two recorded albums under his belt, beginning with his self-titled album in 1999 and With You in 2002. 

Michael de Mesa (Br. Egbert)  is an award-winning actor for film, theatre and television. He is currently based in the United States but is back in the Philippines to work on the new TV 5 soap, Valiente.

Miguel Castro (Br. Arkadius) is a singer, actor and visual artist.  He is currently a regular singer for Armida Siguion Reyna's Aawitan Kita Live sa Makati, and a member of the Filipino Tenors. 

Floyd Tena (Br. Athanasius) is a singer, radio talent and commercial model.  He has appeared in numerous theatre productions and is part of the all-male Filipino vocal trio, Primo.  

Jonel Mojica (Br. Friedbert) is a Full-time Real Estate executive and occasional actor, singer and radio talent. He was last seen in Von de Guzman's Lam-Ang.  

Al Gatmaitan (Br. Mutwald) is a Lyric/Spinto Tenor and actor.  He has worked with the Philippine Opera Company, PETA and other prestigious theatre groups.  His works include the musicale film Emir and the stage musical Noli Me Tangere.  

Only Torres (Japanese Captain)  is a singer, stage actor, music director and vocal coach.  He has directed the music of ALIW Award Nominee productions such as Repertory Philippines’ Little Women and Sweeney Todd.  

Nazer Salcedo (Japanese Soldier 1) is a stage actor,director and, educator.He has performed in Europe, America and all over Asia as a classical and kundiman artist. 

Gary Fabricante (Japanese Soldier 2) was one of the cast members in La Boheme  in Singapore (1997) and recently in Kaos, a musical-spectacle show at the Newport Performing Arts Theater in Resorts World Manila.  He currently sings with the Ateneo Chamber Singers, Mass Appeal (a group of professional musicians), Chamber Choir of Asia, the Akafellas and with Nelcanto, an all-male quartet singing classical-pop repertoire. 

John Gilbert Arceo (Japanese Solider 3) has been a film, television and theater actor for the past 20 years.  His film credits include Scorpio Nights 2, Ekis, Pendro Penduko, Gangland and Amok.  He has hosted regular shows for ABS-CBN and GMA-7 in Bacolod City.  He was part of the cast of the A Fire in the Soul (Bacolod production).

Naomi Sison (Alma Mater) is a pianist and singer.  She has performed as a soloist in Paco Park, the Thomas Jefferson Center and the May Theatre in Osaka.  

Jaime Fabregas (Narrator) is an actor, composer and scorer for film. He is one of the most respected veteran actors in the industry with more than 100 movie credits to his name.  He is presently seen in ABS-CBN’s new primetime soap, E-boy. 

Conchita Castillo (Narrator) is an educator and stage actor. She is a founding member of the Genesius Guild Bacolod and actively involved in the theatre activities of the University of St. La Salle, Bacolod.  

Dado Jose (Narrator) is a retired banker.  He has acted in Royal Hunt of the Sun and was last seen in TV5’s Regal Shocker. 

Ricardo “Ricky” L. Gallaga, Jr (Narrator) is a  father, ophthalmologist, teacher, friend, collector of Nativity sets (and miniature shoes, eggs, angels, etc.), has been involved in acting and directing for the past 50 years.

Tanya Lopez (Narrator) is passionate about theater, museum work and photography.  This Bacolod-based Negrense artist dedicates herself in using arts for education and advocacy.  Her interests include developing scenarios through improvisations, works-in-progress and inter-disciplinary creative collaborations.

Louie Zabaljauregi (Narrator) is an occasional stage and movie actor. He has appeared in various plays, among them is Man for all Seasons; and movies like Virgin Forest, Ang Magdadapo and Namets.

THE ARTISTIC STAFF

Peque Gallaga conceived A Fire in the Soul as a Cantata. He is a multi-awarded film director, writer and production designer. He is a steadfast educator and is the mentor of countless troops now active as actors, production people, or art department talents in the entertainment industry. In his childhood, he saw the film, The Great Caruso where they sang the “Anvil Chorus” from Il Trovatore and the “Drinking Song” from La Traviata, and he has been hooked on musicals ever since.

Gabby Fernandez conceived A Fire in the Soul as a stage musical and was the director of its first staging at the University of St. La Salle in Bacolod in 1995. He is a film, theater and television writer, production designer and director.  He is presently the Chairman of the Production Design Department of the School of Design & Arts, De La Salle-College of St. Benilde.

Vicente Garcia Groyon wrote the lyrics and libretto of the Cantata. He is a novelist, film writer and educator.  He teaches with the Department of Communication Arts at De La Salle University. He is a two-time awardee of the Manila Critics Circle, National Book Award for Fiction.

Von de Guzman is a composer, arranger, and music director for film, television, theater and advertising. His musical scores for full-length feature films have won awards in various award-giving bodies in the Philippines. He is a senior lecturer in Film Scoring, Composition and Songwriting at the DLS-College of Saint Benilde. He wrote the music and orchestration of A Fire in the Soul, and is also the orchestra conductor.