MANILA, Philippines - Audie Gemora, stages president, has found two Marias-a pop singer and a West End star-for the local run of "West Side Story," which he's directing.

Joanna Ampil, who is currently playing Fantine in the West End production of "Les Miserables," is splitting the stellar role with Karylle, a mainstay on the GMA 7 musical-variety show "SOP."

Says Joanna in an e-mail interview: "I called my singing coach ... [because] I wanted to get my soprano in top form."

Although Karylle has taken the pop route, she made her debut in Trumpets' "The Little Mermaid" and recently starred in Atlantis' "Seussical."

Still, Maria presents a mighty challenge for Karylle. "I've started voice training, too, since the role has a classical placement. I've also started jogging and swimming to get in shape."

Both are currently familiarizing themselves with the role.

"I bought a collector's item DVD of the movie starring Natalie Wood," says Karylle in a phone interview.

"I also have a DVD of the film and I saw the West End revival in 1999," Joanna relates. "I'm trying to get as much information about the play, the character and the music."

Adds Karylle, "I plan to get pointers from my ["Mermaid"] mentor Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, who has played Maria in the past."

Karylle feels humbled, and yet elated, that she'll be working with Joanna. "She's doing a great job showing Filipino talent to the world."

For her part, Joanna says she's looking forward to working with an all-Filipino cast after 15 years in Europe.

Christian as Tony

Another pop singer, Christian Bautista, is playing Tony, also a lead role. Says Joanna, "I'm sure I'll learn a lot from them. I expect it would be a different kind of discipline ... and I cannot wait to discover that."

Joanna points out that this production marks a series of firsts for her:

"This will be my first play in Manila. Although I have sung soprano in concerts and recordings, this will be my first soprano role. This will also have a lot of text. Most of the shows I've done in the past were sung through."

But she welcomes these "daunting" firsts, Joanna says. "I like to challenge myself every now and then. There's something about Maria that's so appealing to me, [maybe] because it was unattainable until now. Another factor is the music. It's a hard piece to learn musically, but once you master it, you'll feel proud singing it."

Although both Karylle and Joanna are stars in their own right, they didn't think twice about auditioning.

"I was nervous on audition day,'" Karylle recalls. "[I know] my mom (singer Zsazsa Padilla) was praying for me. My boyfriend (actor Dingdong Dantes) is excited for me."

After clinching the role, Karylle celebrated with Dingdong and her "Encantadia" friends Iza Calzado, Sunshine Dizon and Diana Zubiri.

According to Stages, Joanna sent her own video presentation. But when the prospect was broached to her, it was a no-brainer for the actress. "It's an incredibly colorful role. She goes through all sorts of emotions. I get excited just thinking about it."

Karylle agrees: "Maria is quirky and kikay (flirty), but she's also a passionate Latina, whose inner strength becomes evident towards the end."

E-mail: bayanisandiego@hotmail.com