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Pinky Amador continues to spread her wings in 'Angels in America'

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Leah C. Salterio

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/entertainment/03/30/pinky-amador-2.jpg"/><figcaption>Pinky Amador as the Angel in &#x27;Angels in America.&#x27; Handout</figcaption></figure></div> MANILA -- Pinky Amador celebrates her illustrious, 36th year in the acting business with “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” Tony Kushner’s play now being staged by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group and directed by Bobby Garcia.Given her lineage -- she is the niece of Repertory Philippines’s late founder, Zeneida Amador -- she was exposed to theater at a very early age. She started watching plays at Rep at the age of five. “Even if I never really focused to become an actress – I was painfully shy, can you believe it? – I think, due to the exposure, I sort of knew in the back of my head that I could do it,” Amador shared.“I started out as a stage crew, caretaker of a cat, actually, until a play came along, where they needed the crew to play many bit roles. Next play, I ended up the lead opposite Junix Inocian and Joy Virata in ‘I Ought To Be In Pictures.’ The rest is history.”In 1983, she won her first acting award (Aliw) for playing the title role in “Agnes of God.”In 2017, Amador returned to Rep not to rehash her role in “Agnes of God” but to joi the restaging of the play, essaying the role of the Mother Superior, with the young Becca Coates in the lead and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as the atheist-psychiatrist.And now, Amador cannot be any prouder that she gets to join the esteemed cast of “Angels in America.” She believes the play is more relevant now than when it was first staged in Broadway nearly 30 years ago.“Nowadays, with the advent of technology, populism and social media/fake news, there is even more separation between people, families, nations, etc.,” Amador explained.“Locally there are 32 new cases of AIDS daily. People ages 25-34, registered the highest incidence (27,000), followed by 15-24 (15,000). So those statistics alone makes this play extremely more relevant now.” Moreover, the theme of “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches” resonates with the Filipino audience, considering the glaring socio-political changes in the country.<div>MULTIPLE ROLES</div>Amador’s Angel character basically relates to protagonist Prior Walter (played by Topper Fabregas), as she is the “messenger” who comes to awaken the “prophet.” Among the challenges of playing the Angel is getting used to the local harness and the height she needs to fly while onstage. “But for me, it&#x27;s really getting the exact timpla that my director exacted from every character I play (as most of us essay multiple roles). He knows exactly what he wants and knows the material extremely well,” she said.Interestingly, all the actors in “Angels in America” play other roles. Amador, for instance, plays three other characters, aside from the harnessed-strapped Angel. She is also Nurse Emily, an Italian-American nurse to Prior Walter.“She is a courageous woman who has chosen to work in the AIDS ward of their hospital at a time when patients were literally dying left and right,” Amador said of Nurse Emily.Another character is Sister Ella Chapter, a devout Mormon, real estate broker and best friend to Hannah Pitt (Cherie Gil).“Sister Ella was a little easier to portray, since Cherie and I go back to our high school days when she moved to my school back in the day,” Amador recalled. “I have practically worked with her and every member of her family (and extended family). ‘Angels in America’ is our first time onstage together.”Amador also added her personal touch to portraying Ella, a native Utah woman with a descent from the Midwest in terms of accent. “She is also perennially in awe of Hannah, so there is a status play,&quot; she noted.“Third character, apart from the angel, is a homeless woman who has a scene with Hannah Pitt. She is mentally disturbed and in the streets during winter. I changed her physicality, voice range, accent and lilt to make her very different from the rest.”“Angels in America” features some of the most-acclaimed, awarded and respected names in the country. “The play is written in such a way that although the scenes seem episodic, we all help propel the study forward,” Amador explained. “Although the role of the Angel here is short in Part 2, ‘Angels in America Part 2: Perestroika’ has much, much more to do between her and Prior Walter.”<div>FILMS AND TV</div>In &quot;Angels in America,&quot; Amador gets to work anew with Garcia, who directed her when she played legendary French singer Edith Piaf in the musical &quot;Piaf&quot; in 2013.To get herself into Piaf’s character, Amador even travelled out of the country with Garcia. They went to Paris to visit Piaf’s grave.“Bobby is a fascinating ‘actors’ director,’ so to speak, because of his humanity, wisdom and generosity,” Amador said. “I would literally take every opportunity to work with him anytime.”Apart from theater, Amador is also in films and even on TV. “I would like to do a lead in a indie film which can go to the international film festivals,” she expressed.In her early years of acting in films, Amador got to work with such award-winning megmen as Joel Lamangan (“Kadenang Bulaklak”), Eddie Garcia (“Magdusa Ka”) and Tikoy Aguiluz and Butch Perez (“Balweg”).When she’s not onstage or in front of the cameras, Amador gets to unwind by watching films or communing with nature.“Mostly, it’s about balancing, being active in sports and being relaxed by a massage, dinner with friends and reading a good book,” she offered.

Pinky Amador celebrates her illustrious, 36th year in the acting business with “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” Tony Kushner’s play now being staged by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group and directed by Bobby Garcia.

Pinky Amador celebrates her illustrious, 36th year in the acting business with “Angels in America: Millennium Approaches,” Tony Kushner’s play now being staged by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group and directed by Bobby Garcia.