EXCLUSIVE: Gerald Santos shares how he unexpectedly started a theater career in ‘Miss Saigon’

Rhea Manila Santos

More than a decade after he emerged grand champion of a singing competition and Gerald Santos admits he has come a long way since his two-year stint as Thuy on the West End’s Miss Saigon. “Actually wala sa hinagap ko na mapupunta ako sa theater but I fell in love with it. Ibang klase talaga yung challenge. Kasi dumating sa point na nandun ka na lang sa comfort zone mo. Dito kasi sa musical theater talagang ma-se-stretch ka to your limits. So yun yung gusto ko about this. So I would love to do more musicals para mas ma-challenge ko pa yung sarili ko at mas mag-grow pa ako as an artist and as a performer. So I would love to do it simultaneously, yung musical theater and acting,” he tells PUSH.Apart from auditioning for more productions abroad, Gerald said he would love to go back into acting on television. “If there’s an offer and it’s a good project then why not? I’m open actually. When I was in GMA I started acting sa mga teleserye so I won’t have a problem with that. Sa singing career ko naman may surprise kami na bago, may bagong lalabas na aabangan nila. Basta a new Gerald. Abangan nila yung ipi-present ko na music. A new side of me. Gusto ko surprise eh,” he explained.When not on stage, the 28-year-old performer said he has fallen in love with seeing more of the world. “Gusto ko talaga swimming and working out and traveling. Because nung nakapag-London ako and nakapag-Europe tour kami, talagang I got obsessed din with traveling and exploring the world. I love history as well so that’s why I love yung mga medieval structures so I fell in love with it and sa history,” he shared.

More than a decade after he emerged grand champion of a singing competition and Gerald Santos admits he has come a long way since his two-year stint as Thuy on the West End’s Miss Saigon. “Actually wala sa hinagap ko na mapupunta ako sa theater but I fell in love with it. Ibang klase talaga yung challenge. Kasi dumating sa point na nandun ka na lang sa comfort zone mo. Dito kasi sa musical theater talagang ma-se-stretch ka to your limits. So yun yung gusto ko about this. So I would love to do more musicals para mas ma-challenge ko pa yung sarili ko at mas mag-grow pa ako as an artist and as a performer. So I would love to do it simultaneously, yung musical theater and acting,” he tells PUSH.Apart from auditioning for more productions abroad, Gerald said he would love to go back into acting on television. “If there’s an offer and it’s a good project then why not? I’m open actually. When I was in GMA I started acting sa mga teleserye so I won’t have a problem with that. Sa singing career ko naman may surprise kami na bago, may bagong lalabas na aabangan nila. Basta a new Gerald. Abangan nila yung ipi-present ko na music. A new side of me. Gusto ko surprise eh,” he explained.When not on stage, the 28-year-old performer said he has fallen in love with seeing more of the world. “Gusto ko talaga swimming and working out and traveling. Because nung nakapag-London ako and nakapag-Europe tour kami, talagang I got obsessed din with traveling and exploring the world. I love history as well so that’s why I love yung mga medieval structures so I fell in love with it and sa history,” he shared.

Former Miss Saigon UK alumni Gerald Santos returns to the local stage in ‘Sweeney Todd.’

EXCLUSIVE: Gerald Santos shares how he unexpectedly started a theater career in ‘Miss Saigon’ | PUSH.COM.PH