LOS ANGELES?Two Filipino-American performers, Vanessa Hudgens and Nicole Scherzinger, star in a Neil Patrick Harris-directed production of ?Rent? this weekend (Aug. 6-8) at LA?s famed summer venue, Hollywood Bowl.

The staging of the Tony Award-winning show notches many firsts: It will be the first time that Vanessa and Nicole, who will play Mimi and Maureen, respectively, are working together in a stage musical. It?s also Vanessa?s first ?Rent? experience, so she is looking forward to it.

Vanessa?s boyfriend, Zac Efron, is excited for her. Zac also told us that Vanessa is doing all these ?cool gigs,? citing her role in ?Sucker Punch,? the eagerly awaited action-fantasy movie of ?300? director, Zack Snyder.

For the versatile Neil, who played Mark in a 1997 US tour of ?Rent,? the limited three-night production is his debut as the director of a large-scale musical.

***

Godinez lends voice to novel?s Pinoy character

We can?t wait to read Mona Simpson?s ?My Hollywood,? a novel set in Los Angeles about Claire, an American composer married to a TV sitcom writer, and her Filipino nanny, Lola.

From what we?ve read in reviews and articles about the book, we think there?s a movie to be made in the story of the two women and their intertwined lives. The 52-year-old Lola takes care of Claire?s son, William, so she can send money back home to her five children (husband Bongbong is estranged from her).

One of Mona?s novels, ?Anywhere But Here,? was turned into a 1999 film, with Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman. Some of the early reviews of ?My Hollywood? are good, with Elle?s Lisa Shea declaring that it is ?a beautifully wrought novel.? Publishers Weekly commented, ?Funny, smart, and filled with razor-sharp observations about life and parenthood, Simpson?s latest is well worth the wait.?

Singer-actress Becca Godinez, who?s based in LA, had the privilege of reading the part of Lola in an event held while Mona was still working on ?My Hollywood? (its working title was ?Coins?).

We asked Becca to share via e-mail how she got involved with Mona?s much-awaited novel?her first in 10 years: ?It was almost surreal how it happened. A good friend, actress Esperanza Catubig, saw me at a Fil-Am event here in LA and pulled me aside. She told me about this famous author who was writing a new book that included a Filipina among the main characters. She later said that a readers? theater group was looking for an actress to read a few pages of the book. Esperanza thought I would be good for the part?and that I was ?age-appropriate.? Hmmm?did that mean older? Mind you, I hadn?t been onstage doing theater in years at the time! I didn?t even know if I had become stale and rusty, but I was intrigued, so I said, ?Sure.? Nothing happened until?

?I was at a print store almost a month later, and my cell phone rang. It was Cedering Fox! Cedering is the founder of WordTheatre, a prestigious readers? theater group in LA, NY and London. Famous actors and actresses have worked with her to bring life to many books by reading specific parts of chapters. And, Cedering was on the phone talking to me! To make a long story short, she said, ?I like your speaking voice, and I can already tell that you?ll do

justice to the role. Would you like to be a part of this readers? group, which I named ?Brunch with Mona Simpson?? Would you be available to read the part of Lola??

?Oh dear. All I could think of was, I didn?t know who Mona Simpson was, and I was too embarrassed to admit it. As if reading my mind, Cedering said that Mona had one of her books, ?Anywhere But Here,? made into a film that starred Susan Sarandon and Natalie Portman. I saw that film! Cedering then said, ?You?ll be reading from Mona?s newest book project, ?Coins.? Me! Oh my gosh! She ended with, ?And, the author will be present to listen to you.?

?A few days passed, then I received the book section by e-mail. Soon after, I was at Cedering?s beautiful home. She cooked dinner, and after we chowed it down, she asked me to read for her. I was super nervous, but she said I did very well. I intimated that the moment I read the pages she had sent me, I knew who this character was. Her voice was so Filipina that I really thought that perhaps Mona had some Filipina in her. Mona understood the idiosyncrasies of Lola. She was acquainted with the Filipino?s spoken cadence, and it was easy for me to capture and portray the character.

?I arrived at the venue and met the other actors. I have to include here that it was a thrill to meet Dermot Mulroney, who was so humble and approachable. Anyway, I was the last to read. Mona was in the audience. I was relieved to hear laughter and see tears from the audience. At the end, I met Mona, who thanked me for giving voice to Lola. She gave me her card and asked if I?d be available in case she needed to talk to me. ?Are you kidding? Of course,? I thought. I was gentle in my response to her, but my heart was pounding loudly! I hadn?t heard from her. No one really heard much about ?Coins? again, and I prayed that Mona hadn?t abandoned the book.

?A few days ago, almost four years from that reading, on the front page of the LA Times? entertainment section was the article that announced Mona?s new book, ?My Hollywood.? She didn?t abandon it. She worked on the same story, modified it and increased the presence of the character, Lola, a Filipina nanny in Pacific Palisades, whose life of sacrifice and service is pivotal to the main character in the book, and whom I?m very proud to have been able to portray!?

E-mail rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com