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20230229-via-Hadestown-IG

Yong Chavez

ABS-CBN News

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:950px"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/20230229-via-Hadestown-IG.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Isa Briones (left) and Jon Jon Briones star in &quot;Hadestown.&quot; <em>Hadestown/Instagram </em></span></span></span></div><p>Well-known for his professionalism, Filipino actor Jon Jon Briones was recently called out for being distracted while rehearsing. But he had a good reason -- his daughter, Isa, is taking over as Eurydice, the female lead in Broadway&#x27;s Tony award-winning musical &quot;Hadestown.&quot; </p><p>Briones, for his part, is also making his debut on the show as Hermes this March 19. </p><p>The talented dad-and-daughter duo has been in New York for a while now, working hard in rehearsing and nailing their performances -- except when Briones&#x27; fatherly emotions took over during the early part of their rehearsals.  </p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2973942"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p>&quot;So I&#x27;m watching Isa do her scenes, and I&#x27;m supposed to be doing something, saying something, while she&#x27;s doing her scene. And I&#x27;m just watching her and I would miss my cue because I&#x27;m crying,&quot; he said. &quot;It&#x27;s so bad! The director would go: &#x27;Jon Jon, pay attention.&#x27; I&#x27;m like, &#x27;I&#x27;m sorry.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>&quot;I can&#x27;t wait for everyone to see Isa in this,&quot; he added. &quot;We&#x27;ve always known she&#x27;s an amazing actress and amazing storyteller, and she has an amazing voice.&quot; </p><p>Isa was in the cast of the first national tour of &quot;Hamilton,&quot; and her theater credits also include an award-winning performance in a Los Angeles production of &quot;Next to Normal.&quot; </p><p>&quot;Hadestown&quot; is Isa&#x27;s Broadway debut, and the performer said the role was somehow a manifestation of her previously unspoken dream. Last year, way before she even had any inkling that she will be on the show, she found herself playing the &quot;Hadestown&quot; soundtrack over and over again.</p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2973943"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p>&quot;Oh we saw it coming,&quot; said Briones.</p><p>Isa, for her part, said: &quot;I mean, I&#x27;m a musical theater kid. And my dad at the time, he was doing &#x27;Miss Saigon&#x27; and the revival soundtrack had just come out, and I was listening to it. I think I always dreamed of it. I don&#x27;t know if I was aware of: &#x27;Is it out of reach? Is it not?&#x27; I just knew that watching my dad on stage, it was that feeling of, &#x27;Oh, if I&#x27;m not on stage, I&#x27;m gonna die. Like I need to do it.&#x27; It was that feeling of you&#x27;re just, &#x27;I can&#x27;t hold it in anymore.&#x27;&quot;</p><p>&quot;And so it wasn&#x27;t like, &#x27;Oh, I want to be a Broadway star.&#x27; It was just like, &#x27;I want to be on stage, I just want to do it.&#x27; I want to tell the story, I want to have that feeling, like seeing my dad enjoy what he does and respect what he does so much. That&#x27;s what I want to do,&quot; she added. </p><div><strong>Filipinos on Broadway</strong></div><p>The Briones father-and-daughter duo is mindful of the history of Pinoy excellence in &quot;Hadestown.&quot; Filipino-Mexican-American actress Eva Noblezada notably received a Tony nomination for her run as Eurydice in the musical.</p><p>Briones, who came from humble beginnings in the Philippines, started his career on stage as part of the &quot;Miss Saigon&quot; ensemble. &quot;Hadestown&quot; is his return to Broadway after his critically acclaimed turn as The Engineer. </p><p>The actor knows from his own experience the hard work it entails for a Filipino talent to receive any opportunity, let alone a principal role.</p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2973961"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><p>&quot;A lot of people my age, we fought a lot in ways... By showing up, by showing people what we can do and how passionate we are, and we&#x27;re here to stay. And I think now, looking at Broadway and seeing so many Asians, Filipinos on stage doing their thing and playing lead roles is a big thing, and it&#x27;s just gonna grow. And now my daughter is one of them and breaking through,&quot; he said. </p><p>&quot;And the thing is, Filipinos are very, very, very talented. And I always tell my kids, I always tell Isa, talent always raises. You cannot deny talent,&quot; he added.</p><p>Isa is paired with Jordan Fisher who plays Orpheus in &quot;Hadestown,&quot; which tackles two love stories set in the underworld. Its creators and production describe it as &quot;a genre-defying musical that blends modern American folk music with New Orleans-inspired jazz.&quot;</p>

<p>Broadway musical "Hadestown" is getting a double dose of major Filipino talent infusion as Jon Jon and Isa Briones take the stage on March 19. </p>

Broadway musical "Hadestown" is getting a double dose of major Filipino talent infusion as Jon Jon and Isa Briones take the stage on March 19.

Jon Jon and Isa Briones on starring in 'Hadestown,' representing Filipinos on Broadway

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Jon Jon and Isa Briones on starring in 'Hadestown,' representing Filipinos on Broadway

Yong Chavez,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 29, 2024 03:06 PM PHT

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Jon Jon Briones

Isa Briones

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