LOS ANGELES?After she sings the last note and executes the last dance step in the ?Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam? concert tour, Anna Maria Perez de Tagle hopes to perform next on a Broadway stage.

The Filipino-American singer-actress, whom we recently interviewed in New York?first at Le Parker Meridien Hotel and then on the red carpet at the premiere of ?Camp Rock 2? (?CR2?) in the Lincoln Center?revealed how she?s been pursuing her musical theater aspirations.

Anna Maria said that her manager, Kevin Jonas Sr. (the father of the Jonas Brothers), arranged a meeting with Sir Cameron Mackintosh, the producer of such musicals as ?Miss Saigon? and ?Les Miserables,? in London. This took place around the time Nick Jonas made his West End debut on ?Les Mis.?

Anna Maria, granddaughter of veteran actress Sylvia La Torre, recalled that the meeting with the popular British theatrical producer turned into a singing audition.

Three songs

?I prepared three songs from ?Les Mis? and ?Miss Saigon,?? said Anna Maria. ?I didn?t know it was going to be an intense audition. I got a call about four hours before the meeting. They said, ?You need to sing live for Cameron so we?re bringing a pianist for you to rehearse with before the meeting.? I went in and rehearsed with the pianist for about 15 minutes.?

The actress who appeared in the movie ?Fame? last year recounted: ?As soon as Cameron came in, it was almost like, ?Hi, nice to meet you. Okay, let?s sing.? I had to sing each of the three songs in three different ways. These were difficult songs to sing.?

Of the powerful impresario who tapped Lea Salonga to originate the role of ?Miss Saigon,? Anna Maria said: ?He was very sweet and nice. He asked what I was currently doing. I told him that I?m on tour for the rest of the year. Hopefully, I?ll get to do something next year. I?d like to be in a Broadway musical?to sing, dance and act at the same time. That?s something I want to try.?

'Camp? tour

She added that the tour rolls on until the end of the year. ??Camp Rock 2? is my life right now,? she pointed out with a smile. ?The tour continues with stops across the United States and then goes to various cities around the world, many in Central and South America. After that, I?m hoping to do Broadway or go to the studio and record my album. I?m working with some of the key talents responsible for the recordings of the Jonas Brothers.?

The daughter of Artie (a former actor) and Evelyn Perez de Tagle surprised us with her dancing skills when we watched her and the cast in the ?CR2? tour stop at the PNC Bank Arts Center in Holmdel, New Jersey. ?I was surprised, too,? a beaming Artie said when we bumped into him during the premiere at the lobby of the Alice Tully Hall.

?I had to do two weeks of dance rehearsals for the tour,? Anna Maria said, trying to be heard amid screams from fans watching the red carpet arrivals (we also survived the scream fest at the concert). ?We have to give it our all for the fans.?

She?s glad her parents showed up. ?My mom hasn?t seen the movie yet so she?s really excited,? she said. ?We?ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. It?s been three years since the first movie came out. We never knew it would be this successful. We are happy, anxious and nervous at the same time.?

Anna Maria reprises her role, Ella, in ?CR2,? the sequel to the original TV movie on the Disney Channel which was the No. 1 entertainment telecast on US cable TV in 2008. The returning cast includes the Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato and Fil-Am singer-actor-dancer Roshon Fegan (his mom is Filipina).

In the sequel which premieres on the Disney Channel in the Philippines on Sept. 5, 7:30 p.m., the cast returns to Camp Rock for another summer of music and fun; but the nearby state-of-the-art Camp Star has lured many instructors and campers.

Asked if she has attended a similar camp in real life, Anna Maria laughed and replied: ?No. I went to a Science camp when I was in sixth grade. It wasn?t anything like Camp Rock at all. It was very much study-related.?

She revealed the challenge of pretending that it was summer while they were filming night scenes during a chilly October in Toronto last year. ?We had to film from 5 p.m. to 5 a.m.,? she said. ?It was freezing cold every night. It rained half the time. We had to dress and act like it?s summer. I wore tank tops and skirts because my character is a girly girl. We huddled around heaters in between takes.?

Life on tour

What?s fun is life on the tour bus with her cast mates Alyson Stoner, Matthew ?Mdot? Finley and Jordan ?J? Francis. ?I love being on the bus,? she said. ?It is easy to sleep on the top bunk. There?s always food in the fridge so that we get ?refilled.? The TV or music is on.?

Of the Jonas patriarch, Anna Maria remarked: ?He?s like my second dad. I tell him that all the time. He?s the best manager. Without him, I wouldn?t be on this tour.? Teased that she could be a Jonas Sister, she chuckled and quipped: ?Yes, I could be, because the guys don?t have a sister.?

She believes that brothers Nick, Joe and Kevin have remained the same guys she met three years ago. ?I met the Jonas Brothers for the first time when we did ?Camp Rock 1.? ? She said she signed with Kevin Sr. as her manager after about two weeks of filming ?CR2.?

In the gap between the first and second TV movies, ?we did our own thing,? she said. ?I did ?Fame.? Nick has his own career. Joe is also working on his own career. Kevin got married.?

In the scream-filled ?Camp Rock? weekend in New York, we were struck by how Anna Maria and the popular brothers went out of their way to please their fans. It?s all part of the elder Kevin?s advice to them: ?He always tells us, ?Live like you?re at the bottom even though you?re at the top.??

Email the columnist at rvnepales_5585@yahoo.com.