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Manila Bulletin devider Entertainment devider Celebrities devider Shiela Valderrama-Martinez gets dream role with 'Rama Hari'

Shiela Valderrama-Martinez gets dream role with 'Rama Hari'

Published Sep 3, 2023 06:21 am

At A Glance

  • Shiela was originally going to do Sita for the 2020 production of "Rama Hari," but the staging got interrupted by the pandemic a week shy from the opening. 
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Shiela Valderrama-Martinez

Musical theater artist Shiela Valderrama Martinez has not rested on her laurels even after nearly three decades in the entertainment industry. She keeps her calendar busy with projects and performances even in the last quarter of 2023.

She is now busy rehearsing for the staging of the acclaimed musical, “Rama Hari,” the only work that features five of our National Artists together.

“To play the role of Sita is a dream of mine,” Shiela admitted. “Not only because of the role itself, but the once in a lifetime opportunity to do this gorgeous masterpiece and get to work directly and personally with two National Artists – Alice Reyes and Maestro Ryan Cayabyab.”

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Alice Reyes for direction and choreography, Salvador Bernal for production design, Bienvenido Lumbera for lyrics and libretto, Ryan Cayabyab for music and Rolando Tinio for the English translation.

For this run of “Rama Hari,” Shiela will headline the opening night at The Metropolitan Theater on Sept. 15 and the closing gala show at The Samsung Performing Arts Theater on Sept. 24.

She will be joined by Arman Ferrer as Rama and from the original 2020 cast, Audie Gemora as Dasarata and Poppert Bernadas as Ravana. They will be accompanied by the Orchestra of the Filipino Youth led by Toma Cayabyab.

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Shiela was originally going to do Sita for the 2020 production of “Rama Hari,” but the staging got interrupted by the pandemic a week shy from the opening. 

“So when they invited me to do the role of Sita again, I was ecstatic,” Shiela said. She won best female host in the Aliw Awards 2022. She shortly joined 1LitCorp roster of hosts managed by Issa Litton.

Shiela keeps her calendar busy as talent of Stages Management, with David Cosico as her personal manager. She was one of the main female lead vocalists in the Disney Orchestra live concert held in Kuala Lumpur last May and performed for the Mega Pride Ball on Independence
Day.

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She did her first sarsuwela, “Isang Gabi ng Sarsuwela,” at the CCP Black Box Theater last June, directed by Dennis Marasigan. 

She will be joining a new project by director Erik Matti that will start shooting in September and will be shown on Netflix.

Moreover, Shiela is scheduled to perform in upcoming live events in Singapore, Bangkok (Thailand), Shanghai (China) and Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia) for the rest of the year.

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