The seasoned singer-actress stars in a “role of a lifetime” as Diana Goodman in the critically acclaimed Broadway musical Next to Normal, a Sandbox Collective production, opening on February 2 at Ayala Circuit’s Powermac Center Blackbox Theater.
By Alex Y. Vergara
Shiela Valderrama opens the new year on a high note, as she essays one of her dream roles straight from “my bucket list.” The singer, actress and occasional host top bill’s The Sandbox Collective’s staging of Next to Normal, a rock musical by Brian Yorkey and Tom Kitt that deals with mental health, particularly bipolar disorder, a sensitive and previously taboo subject on Broadway. That was until Next to Normal debuted to critical acclaim on The Great White Way in 2008 and later West End.
This time, Rep. Toff de Venecia, one of the founders of The Sandbox Collective, directs the musical, which debuts on February 2 and almost every weekend thereafter until February 28 at Ayala Circuit’s Powermac Center Blackbox Theater in Makati.
And to give justice to the “role of a lifetime” as Diana Goodman, a mother who struggles with worsening bipolar disorder and its ramifications on her family, the singer-actress is leaving no stone unturned to get to the core of her character, understand her motivations and come up with a nuanced and sympathetic performance devoid of cliche and caricature, Shiela has started preparing for the role as early as November, analyzing the script and, with the rest of the cast, listening and talking to experts in the field of psychiatry, psychopharmacology and grief management.
“Even a priest talked to us to help give us more insights about the musical’s main subject, which is mental health,” says the multi-awarded Shiela, who won a Gawad Buhay award in 2019 for breathing life to Fosca in Passion. “This is the first time I’m playing a character with mental health issues. Diana is bipolar and borderline schizophrenic.”
While she had to undergo prosthetics to look the part of the unattractive and lovelorn Fosca, this time, Shiela’s face will be almost bare, with only movements, subtle as well as overt facial expressions and the power of her beautiful voice to help her move the story forward and convey emotions. Apart from being all-sung, the musical requires Shiela’s character to be on stage most of the time.
And since it’s billed as a pop-rock musical, fans will likely hear a different Shiela whose high, crystal-clear voice became her passport to a musical career starting at the tender age of 13. Instead, in keeping with the musical’s genre, Shiela and her fellow actors, including OJ Mariano as her husband, Vino Mabalot as her son and Sheena Belarmino as her daughter, will be belting the high notes with a rougher edge to them.
(The alternate cast is composed by Nikki Valdez, Floy Tena and Jam Binay, among others.)
“It will be a surprise,” she teases, referring to how she will manage her pop rock rendition. “They’re difficult songs to sing.” So, the audience won’t likely go home disappointed as vocal fireworks are expected to ignite almost all night on stage.
On comparisons between her role as Fosca and Diana, Shiela says: “Fosca has no mental health issues. She just wants to be loved, but has always been rejected. Diana is a completely different person battling mental illness that’s already affecting her family. At the same time though, she’s a sympathetic character.”
Both are difficult roles to play that require Shiela to approach them differently. The challenge to playing Diana, she says, is to be able to give justice to it by playing her “truthfully.”
“I need to essay a representation of people with mental illness. People with mental health issues without making a caricature out of Diana,” she adds.
If she is to go by what people who have seen the musical in its entirety during rehearsals are saying, Shiela seems to be on the right track.
A friend of hers who suffers from bipolar disorder came to Shiela after the show to tell her how the entire musical, including, of course, her performance resonated with her.
“It’s harrowing to see you having these episodes, and your choices are the stuff that I’ve done, things that I wanted to say but couldn’t say,” says Shiela, quoting her friend.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, a doctor also approached Shiela to tell her that he has patients who are just like Diana. “I saw all those characteristics in her,” the doctor said.
Shiela, who’s not suffering from bipolar disorder, at least, “not that I know of,” she says with a chuckle, also has plenty of insights to draw from in her efforts to breathe life to Diana. One of Shiela’s quirks, which she says is like Diana’s, is her tendency to be obsessive-compulsive.
“There’s a line there wherein Diana says, ‘I’ve disinfected the whole house.’ Upon hearing that, some of my friends who were watching it laughed because I’m naturally like that. She’s OC, and I’m OC. She’s a wife and I’m also a wife,” she says.
Apart from satisfying her soul as an artist, tackling a role as complex and as relevant as that of Diana Goodman is an ideal way, says Shiela, to further shine a light on mental illness. It also gave her a better understanding of people who have bipolar disorder.
“I have friends and close family who have it, and it can be quite frustrating to deal with them,” she says. “But now, I understand and can relate with them better. It gives me reasons to pause and think, even empathize with their condition.”
