Unprecedented feat: Joaquin Pedro Valdes cast as lead in 3 London musicals

Homegrown actor-director Joaquin Pedro Valdes has been doing us proud since he joined the touring cast of “Miss Saigon” in 2018 and relocated to the United Kingdom to try his luck in its exhilarating but hugely uncompromising theater mecca.

But the seasoned artist’s latest casting feat is nothing short of unprecedented. Joaqs, as what we’ve been calling him since we directed him in 2007’s “Into the Woods,” will be playing lead roles in three—yes, three—London musicals, two of them world premieres, that will be shown one after the other.

Christopher J. Orton and Jon Robyns’ “Then, Now & Next” will open at the Southwark Playhouse Borough from June 28 to July 29, with previews beginning June 23.

Thereafter, the eagerly anticipated English-language premiere of Frank Wildhorn (“Jekyll and Hyde”), Jack Murphy and Ivan Menchell’s “Death Note: The Musical,” based on Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata’s fan-fave manga, will be presented in a two-night theatrical concert at the London Palladium on Aug. 21 and 22.Directed by Julie Atherton, “Then, Now & Next” tells the story of Alex Shaw (played by Alice Fearn, star of “Wicked” and “Come From Away”) over a period of 20 years as she comes to terms with the love of two very different men, Steven (Joaquin) and Peter (Peter Hannah of “Waitress”).

“Death Note,” on the other hand, will be helmed by Nick Winston and follow the story of Light Yagami (Joaquin), a dissatisfied high school student in Tokyo who discovers a discarded notebook owned by the god of death, Ryuk. Joining Joaquin in the cast are Frances Mayli McCann (“Bonnie and Clyde,” “Chess”) and Dean John-Wilson (“Aladdin” and “Here Lies Love,” where he portrayed Ninoy Aquino).

‘Missed expectations’

The third musical, where Joaquin has also been cast as one of the leads, is even splashier and premieres soon after—although we’ve been sworn to secrecy so as not to preempt the casting announcement that will follow in the coming weeks.

“It’s very interesting because “Then, Now & Next” will be my third world premiere, after ‘Vanara’ (in October 2021) and ‘Killing The Cat’ (in March 2022),” he noted. “While the first two weren’t as successful, I’ve long accepted that ‘missed expectations’ are part and parcel of a theater artist’s life.”

Before “Vanara” and “Killing The Cat,” Joaquin was part of “Miss Saigon,” “King and I,” “Fanny and Stella” and “Heathers: The Musical,” followed by his yearlong stint with “The Lion King”—a formidable and diverse body of work by any measure, all racked up in less than five years! How prolific can you get?

Cast of “Death Note: The Musical” (from left) Frances Mayli McCann, Dean John-Wilson
and Valdes

“Getting cast in these new roles is quite humbling, actually—the fact that they’re entrusting brand-new material to me says a lot about my work. Does that make sense?” Joaquin mused. “Because of course there’s a lot of money involved to put up these productions. So there are lots of risks involved. It’s a ‘high risk, high reward’ or ‘high risk, possible massive loss’ kind of situation.“My agent said that since I was working out of London for a year—because of ‘The Lion King’ tour—it was time for me to return to London and build that momentum again.

Bittersweet homecoming

“So, I took a quick holiday and went home to the Philippines. It was really the perfect time to do it, because my father recently passed away, so at least I got to see him before he passed on.”

Admittedly, Joaquin’s homecoming was short and bittersweet because his dad wasn’t able to see the series of shows that helped build his ever-growing resume in the UK theater industry.

“My breakthrough kind of started to happen during and shortly after COVID, when it wasn’t as easy for people to travel. It was really hard, especially because my parents are older, so mahirap talaga to take trips.

“Although my in-laws, particularly my mother-in-law, have seen me in almost all of my shows. So, after doing ‘Lion King’ for a year,’ I’m back in London—kayod ulit, rejection ulit (laughs)!”

While Joaqs’ very Pinoy heart and resilience have taught him to take the many rejections in stride, he said that these are things he doesn’t take for granted. He may have been one of Philippine theater’s top leading men before his fateful UK adventure, but he asserted that he was never interested in the culture of celebrity back home.

In ‘Lion King,” for instance, when Joaquin wasn’t playing the coveted lead as cover for Simba, he was playing, among others, a grass or one of the legs of an elephant!

But while it seems easy for the actor to play down his accomplishments, we note that in his other productions, like “Fanny and Stella” or “Heathers,” he was cast in roles traditionally given to Caucasian performers! Truly astounding feats of colorblind casting, indeed. Joaquin pointed out, “One of my realizations as I was facing the challenges here was that my love for theater was never about the status; it was always about the process.”

Asked to tell us more about “Then, Now & Next,” Joaquin shared, “Initially, I had no idea what ‘Then, Now & Next’ was about, but I got invited to send a tape. They gave me parts of the script to read and asked me to submit some songs via self-tape. Both of its writers, Jon Robyns and Christopher J. Orton, are seasoned actors.

“Jon is a musical theater leading man who’s now playing the Phantom in ‘Phantom of the Opera.’ He’s played Jean Valjean, Marius and Enjolras in ‘Les Miserables’ and King George in ‘Hamilton.’ He’s also covered Chris in ‘Miss Saigon,’ I think at about the same time when Joanna Ampil was playing Kim.

“Around 10 years ago, when Jon was a fresh graduate and was in the cast of ‘Spamalot,’ he and cast mate Christopher started developing songs for a concept. And when lockdown happened, they suddenly had time to thresh it all out. Alice became attached to the project because they’re friends and West End colleagues.

“I’m excited to work with them, but I’m also just as thrilled about the gorgeous music and the themes it tackles—it’s about grief, coping, moving on and so much more. Aside from Alice, Peter and me, we’ll also be joined by Justin Brett and Tori Allen-Martin.”

In what way does he relate to his character Steven?

“Steven is me!” quipped Joaqs, laughing. “He’s a romantic; he wants to be in a relationship. Steven and Alex meet in their 20s, and what happens next is a whirlwind of adventure!’

‘Biggest role yet’

Meanwhile, Joaquin is anticipating a lot of enthusiasm and fan scrutiny for “Death Note”—and here’s why: “Oh my gosh. Tickets to the first two shows at the Palladium were sold out in eight hours!” he stated, laughing. “So much so that, later today, they’re going to release tickets for an extra matinee performance!

“I would say that this is probably my biggest role yet. Ever! The musical revolves around Light Yagami, the character I play. And it’s a big deal for me because I know the show. I’m a fan of Frank Wildhorn, who wrote ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ and ‘Bonnie and Clyde.’

“If I’m not mistaken, it was about 2015 when I first heard the buzz about him working on a concept album of ‘Death Note: The Musical,’ based on the famous Japanese manga. I was like, ‘This is so badass!’ And the one singing Light Yagami in the concept album was Jeremy Jordan. I loved the songs and, even better, they’re in my range.

“Fast-forward to 2023: Frank Wildhorn has ‘Bonnie and Clyde’ in the West End, and the director is Nick Winston, who I’ve worked with in ‘Fanny and Stella.’”

In what way does Light’s story resonate with Joaquin?

Joaquin Pedro Valdes

“There’s a lot that I can relate to,” he explained. “Light is a genius. He’s a high school senior who then goes into college, and he’s all about ‘Where’s the justice?’ (which he sings in a song)—because he’s frustrated by the fact that there’s so much evil in the world.

“One day, Light discovers a notebook—called the Death Note—which comes from the realm of the gods of death. If you write the name of anyone in the notebook, that person will die. After finding that there’s power in it, Light starts writing the names of all the criminals in Tokyo and, eventually, the world. But he starts getting consumed by this idea that he can actually be the god of a new world where there’s no evil!

“However, the more Light does this, the more he gets consumed by his own self-righteousness—and, through this notebook, he gets corrupted by the taste of murder. The Tokyo police then hires the world’s best detective, simply named L, to deal with Light’s emerging powers.

“Light and L become each other’s foil in a deadly game of cat and mouse—and the whole chase plays out like a pas de deux of tension, excitement and murder!” INQ

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