Vlad Bunoan

Article (news)

Gary V

Leah C. Salterio

<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752891560541IMG_0659.jpg" style="width:633px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Gary Valenciano reprises his Jacob role. Handout"/>Gary Valenciano reprises his Jacob role. Handout</div>MANILA -- More than two decades after playing the titular role in “Joseph the Dreamer,” veteran performer Gary Valenciano now returns to the stage not as the dreamer—but as the father who never stopped believing.Giving up TV offers and other projects, he embraces his role as Jacob in the Trumpets musical’s latest run, finding new purpose in a story that mirrors his own journey as a father and artist.“I gave up a lot of shows, a lot of offers,” admitted Valenciano. “I felt that it’s not always about accepting any show. It’s also about doing what I feel is timely and is going to have an impact on people either when they watch it or later on when they remember it.”The restaging of “Joseph the Dreamer” was offered to him since 2024, so he had to give up “Pilipinas Got Talent,” the talent search show where he was one of the regular judges.Valenciano is playing Jacob without alternate, taking on the role in all performances, even matinee shows.<div>Two Josephs </div>In the current run of “Joseph the Dreamer,” which will have other performances on July 18 to 20, Valenciano works with two Josephs – Sam Concepcion, who reprises his role from 2022; and Jordan Andrews, who steps into the character for the first time.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752891652800IMG_9916 2.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Gary Valenciano with the new Joseph Jordan Andrews. Handout"/>Gary Valenciano with the new Joseph Jordan Andrews. Handout</div>“It’s never the same,” Valenciano commented on his role. “It gives me a fresh take always. So what I did with Jordan [matinee], I will do a different thing with Sam [evening]. My performance is always different,” he said.“I’m always thankful that the show is never the same. Just as it’s never the same audience watching it, it’s also not the exact performance.”Working with Andrews as the new Joseph is a different take for Valenciano. “How nice to see Jordan grow,” he said.“First day of rehearsals, we all had our scripts on hand. Second day of rehearsals, we still had our scripts but we were throwing lines at each other. Third day of rehearsals, we set the scripts aside.“After one week, we didn’t have scripts anymore. Jordan was working very closely with Sam. So he would ask Sam, especially about dancing. Iba ang pitik ng katawan ni Sam sa pitik ng katawan ni Jordan. “There are some visual cues that I get from Jordan that’s different from Sam. So kung magaling sa letters si Sam, magaling sa numbers si Jordan. It’s a very fresh and a very inspiring experience for me to play the father of both sons.”<div>Father and son</div>“Joseph the Dreamer” is a show close to Valenciano’s heart. In 1999, he played the titular role of Joseph with Audie Gemora as his alternate.When Valenciano stepped into Jacob’s role in 2022, he was in tenterhooks as he was not sure if what he was doing onstage was right. He would always go to Paolo Valenciano, his son who is directing the musical.<div><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1752891737680CURTAIN.jpg" style="width:950px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="Gary Valenciano with the cast at curtain call. Valenciano/Facebook"/>Gary Valenciano with the cast at curtain call. Valenciano/Facebook</div>“I would always ask Paolo what was wrong in what I did then,” Valenciano shared. “He said, ‘This was okay, this you can improve, this you can do. Instead of this one, maybe you can do this attack. Or you can say this line.’“But for this new one for ‘Joseph the Dreamer,’ it just felt so natural to be dad, even in the rehearsals.“We tweaked the story a bit, especially for families out there, the father and son with strained relationships, that can be restored somehow. I just don’t know how.“Joseph was 17 years away from his father, spent how many years in prison, betrayed by his own siblings. But still, there was a reunification of the family somewhere along the line.”Valenciano isn’t stopping with “Joseph the Dreamer.” Another musical is already in the works for next year, with him slated to join the cast.“Joseph the Dreamer” starts the OPM icon’s second half of 2025 with yet a busier schedule. He is even staging an inspirational concert in the US. “The show is in a casino,” he shared. “They allowed it. ‘Sure, bring him over.’ It’s those moments that challenge me.“Okay, the performance is good, the singer is good, the actor is good, but the audience is looking for authenticity. That’s really the name of the game now.“So, if I can find a big performance, a big show, that’s great. If it’s a small, intimate one, that okay, too. But it’s got to be authentic from first song to the last. From the first word I say to the last thing I say. That’s what I’ll be doing.”

Gary Valenciano returns as Jacob in ‘Joseph the Dreamer’ — with no alternate. The music icon is all in for the Trumpets musical, saying the role has never felt more personal.

Gary Valenciano returns as Jacob in ‘Joseph the Dreamer’ — with no alternate. The music icon is all in for the Trumpets musical, saying the role has never felt more personal.

Gary Valenciano loves 'Joseph the Dreamer' so much, he’s doing every show

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Gary Valenciano loves 'Joseph the Dreamer' so much, he’s doing every show

Leah C. Salterio

Published July 19, 2025 10:29 AM PHT

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