When the first production meeting was held for Lani Misalucha’s “Still, Lani” concert (August 21 at The Theater at Solaire), director Calvin Murphy Neria realized he was in for a tough job.
“We did our first production meeting last April and I realized that early, ang hirap i-direct ni Lani,” said Calvin. “Sa totoo lang, bakit? Walang hindi nakakanta.
“The challenge as a director, also for Toma (Cayabyab), our musical director — we were talking online then — for a Lani Misalucha show was ang hirap gawin ng repertoire. It’s a challenge because she can sing anything.”
It’s a matter of not doing songs that other singers have done before. “The others heard those songs before,” Calvin informed. “We will stick with the classics and hits of Lani. The iconic ‘Bukas na Lang Kita Mamahalin,’ ‘Tila,’ ‘Tunay na Mahal.’
“One thing that we can promise for this show, audience will see a different Lani. Ibang klase talaga si Lani. If you will notice, we started it with a poster. Everything here in this concert was strategized in such a way that we really show a different Lani.
“For the concert, I don’t want to pre-empt anything, but we will do away with big gowns. The show will be stripped down. Very simple because at the end of the day, audiences love Lani because of her voice and her talent.
“We don’t need theatrics. We don’t need to reveal anything grand. Walang pasabog. After all, Lani is a singer. She is not a show girl. It’s so happened that she went to Las Vegas and she had to do her thing (residency) there.
“At the end of the day, Lani is a great singer. That’s what we will sell in the concert and that’s what we want to promote. It’s her 40th year in the music business and she really wants to give back.”
When Calvin first pitched the concert to producer Backstage Entertainment, he wanted to make Lani return to the concert scene.
“Lani was still shuttling back and forth the US and the Philippines when this concert was conceptualized,” Calvin said. “We are not making any grand pasabog. We will prepare something really, really special for her audience. The loyal Lani audience, the millennials. We are preparing something for everyone.”
The nine-member Ben&Ben will share the stage with Lani for the first time. The concert is also introducing new talents.
Calvin has been having sleepless nights thinking of other special for the concert. “Lani wants to build up new talents,” disclosed Calvin. “She want to collaborate with new talents. The show is really exciting.
“We brainstormed even up to 3 in the morning. This was really hard to present. My research didn’t end on the pre-production. I talked to fans, I talked to gays. I talked to people what songs of Lani do they want to hear in the concert. It was hard to finalized her set-list.
“We asked each other in the production what songs should Lani render? Will she do this particular song? Will we include it in the set list? The elimination process in doing her set-list was endless.
“We needed to trim down the songs. Otherwise, we will extend the concert to two days. We want Lani to present the best of the best. She will do medleys. We don’t want the audience to look or miss Lani’s hits.
“But we will present something new. I don’t want to spill the bean, but she will do an operatic aria similar to ‘Queen of the Night’ she did before.”
After The Theater at Solaire, “Still, Lani” will tour key cities of the Philippines in the latter part of the year.
