VIRGOROUS adventure with Rex Smith
Rex Smith’s recently-concluded nine-city Valentine tour of the Philippines took him as far north as Pangasinan and far south as Cagayan De Oro then onward to Singapore for a final performance onboard the Star Cruises mega cruise ship SS Virgo. All shows were well-received and Rex has never sounded better. At the Waterfront Hotel show in Cebu, he shared billing with another music legend Dan Hill and wowed the crowd including Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama. Three days prior to the Cebu show, Rex performed to an SRO crowd at the Midas Hotel and committed whatever he earned in that show to the
Typhoon Sendong victims of Cagayan De Oro. Cagayan De Oro, the next stop in the concert itinerary, was where Rex planned to donate the funds in person to any city official who watched the concert. Alas, we didn’t find one and were utterly disappointed. Our luck changed on our flight back to Manila because we sat beside Sen. Koko Pimentel who just visited the flood victims and made a donation of food and clothing. He volunteered to do the donation himself on behalf of Rex. Sen. Koko was so warm and accommodating that he definitely has my vote come 2013 elections. On board that Cebu Pacific flight, Rex also gamely sang Simply Jessie on the plane’s PA system to the delight of the passengers and Cebu Pacific flight attendant Iya.
The final show on Rex’s tour was onboard Asia’s largest and newly-refurbished cruise ship — the Singapore-based SS Virgo. This was a wonderful finale to the hectic tour because cruising on the calm seas of the Strait of Malacca is definitely relaxing and invigorating. Better still, it was on a cruise ship I’ve always enjoyed sailing in, and since it got refurbished to the tune of a billion pesos, I was very curious to see the changes.
Our entourage boarded SS Virgo early evening of Wednesday and though we were dead-tired from sightseeing for a whole day in Singapore, I opted to do an ocular of the ship before going to bed. I immediately noticed the changes. On the top deck, the swimming pool has a new tube
slide, which I only see at first-class water parks in the US. The spa and gym got bigger with more amenities and first-rate gear. So many new additions that it might take a whole page of this paper if I started enumerating all of them. My favorite chow spot Blue Lagoon, which is open 24 hours, got expanded and refurnished with more comfy seats with a great menu to match. The best feature of the ship for Pinoys like me is the almost one-third Pinoy crew of the ship. They’re in all floors — from engineering to maintenance to housekeeping to dining to entertainment — and always smiling and ready to assist. I almost feel at home.
Rex was the main performer of the 1,000-seat luxurious Lido Theater at the eighth deck held on the night of Feb 23. We had to tweak our set list to give it a more “cruise” appeal. We added songs from the Broadway musical Sound of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein. Fortunately, Rex played Captain Von Trapp in a recent Sound of Music road show in the US and the songs were still fresh in his memory therefore, requiring minimal rehearsal. Rex opened with Build Me Up Buttercup, performed all his platinum hits and closed with self-penned Let’s Make A Memory. The show was well-applauded and the Do-re-mi audience participation was great fun. The Lido Theater on SS Virgo is every performer’s dream venue. The acoustics are pro, equipment is a high-tech and the backdrop is a giant LED screen.
After the show, a sumptuous dinner was tendered for Rex at the ship’s highend Chinese restaurant Noble House. Joining the dinner was Star Cruises VP for entertainment Colin Kerr who was also celebrating his birthday and SS Virgo cruise director Myla Zinampan.
Next day, Rex and lovely wife Dr. Tracy Lin disembarked SS Virgo with a solemn promise to board the ship again.
( A little trivia on the Rex Valentine Tour 2012: Rex performed 10 shows, flew on five airlines (Hawaiian, Philippine, Air Phil, Zest Air and Cebu Pacific) and performed and rehearsed with three different bands and spent two days shopping in Greenhills. Whew!)