Tan Qiu Ling
Like Broadway stars Lea Salonga and Monique Wilson, with whom she has actually performed, Julia Abueva is a Manila-born child prodigy who’s spent her childhood honing her amazing voice. You might scoff at the label of prodigy, but it’s no stretch considering that at 18 months old, she could deliver the powerful “Tomorrow” from the musical Annie.
American President Barack Obama got to hear her sing at the APEC Concert in 2009, capping solo performance highlights that also include the Southeast Asian Games in Manila in 2005 and the 28th International Organization for Standardization (ISO) General Assembly that played host to 120 nations.
Come February, you can say you got to hear her too, as she will star opposite Nathan Hartono in upcoming musical, Spring Awakening.
Touted as “The ground-breaking must-see musical” by the New York Post, Spring Awakening is a coming-of-age story about a group of teenagers awakening to their sexuality, while exploring controversial themes such as homosexuality and abortion.
In this Pangdemonium production, of the West End original that has won 8 Tony Awards and 4 Drama Desk Awards, Julia takes on the role of Wendla Bergmann, a sexually naïve teen who loses her virginity to a childhood friend.
Discovered by Cat Ong at 8, Julia’s singing career took off when she was a guest performer for the local singer’s concert in 2003. Stunning listeners with her powerful, Charice-like voice then, she has since held her own sold out solo concert, “I Believe” in 2008 at the Esplanade Theatre Studio.
It was the same year that the accomplished singer was featured by Oprah Winfrey on her (now defunct) talk show as one of the “World’s Smartest and Most Talented Kids”. Along the way, Abueva also dabbled in musicals, playing lead roles in productions like Toy Factory’s Sleepless Town and the Repertory Philippines’ 2009 The Fantasticks.
Despite her career success, Julia is reluctant to label herself as a musical savant.
“I’ve always seen myself as a regular kid,” She shrugs. “When I was young, for a while I didn’t really know what prodigy meant… Being called that just made me want to keep doing my best, hopefully living up to that and just have fun performing.”
The talented songstress moved to Singapore when she was just 4. Her first impression of the country was that “it was so bright and sunny and clean,”
“I remember my brother and sister used to tell me that this place was so strict, like you can’t have gum here or you’ll get arrested and then they kind of started exaggerating like you can’t fight or you’ll go to jail.” The youngest of 3 children in the family recalls. “After a while I realised they were just kidding. They love to pick on me because I’m the youngest.”
Between Filipino or Singaporean food, local food turns out to be the international star’s nosh of choice. Her favourite dish? A bowl of piping hot wanton mee[A local dish with thin noodles served with fried or soup dumplings, sliced barbequed pork and vegetables].
Of course, being Singaporean also means speaking like one. “I remember there used to the period when I even tried speaking Singlish [colloquial Singaporean English],” she says.
But that didn’t come easy. “Hearing the ‘lahs’ like ‘yeah lah’ and all that stuff – that I had to get used to,” says the granddaughter of Filipino artist, Napoleon Abueva.
While fitting into the local culture may take some getting use to, singing is second nature to the devoted Catholic, who’s grateful for her God-given talents.
“Every time a new performance or opportunity comes up, it’s like, Christmas! It’s just something that never fails to make me happy.”
However, success came at a heavy price. Julia recounts her tough transition from middle to high school while juggling her singing commitments.
“There was just so much so much work piling up and I had so many performances. My teachers were getting mad at me and my grades weren’t as good as they used to be. There was just so much pressure… I felt like I had to slow down, kind of just step back and balance everything out,”
And she did. The high school student has now struck a comfortable balance between her education and musical career by taking on fewer projects, or simply using intervals in her rehearsals to complete her school assignments. She’s even found time to indulge her playful nature.
“[My friends and I] are like kids,” she laughs. “We go to Wild Wild Wet, Snow City, ice skating… We do everything.”
Spring Awakening will run from Feb 3 to 26. Tickets are available from SISTIC.