There are exquisite works of art that come from Manila, and it’s always been that way. Lately, however, the past century or two, there have been some very impressive leaps of genius. Content and form are merged in very amusing ways in contemporary art from the Philippines, and Manila is the center of the storm. Innovations in installation art, conceptual and performance work, and experimental music are rather common, but no less extraordinary for their numbers.
On the other hand, in the arena of entertainment, there are also splendid and spectacular innovations, and a consummate performer like Pinky Amador gives the city a traction in the international arena that’s hard to ignore. She, too, is rather hard to ignore, or better, once one meets her, there’s no good reason to ignore her. Her doe eyes don’t always betray the confidence that animates them, but it’s always working. With a charm that’s as magnificent as any perfect totem, there is a presence in her that comes out in magnified forms when she is speaking from the screen or from the stage.
Her newest project, You to Me Are Everything , with Dingdong Dantes and Marian Rivera, is a film where she plays a kind of wicked stepmother who’s not wicked. Her wit and intelligence do come through in every scene, and she’s incapable of blending in anywhere. This is a kind of magnitude of attraction here, where the equation between the stars in the sky and human counterparts starts to make sense.
Her big break came with landing a role in the London production of Miss Saigon, and since then, she’s had work here, there, and everywhere. Travelers may not run into her when they set foot outside of Manila hotels , but they’re likely to see her face sometime during the day. On the cover of a magazine, or perhaps from a billboard, and even in 2 dimensions, she seems to reflect and exude the energy of the sun.