JOAQUIN PEDRO VALDES ON STARRING IN 'PERCY JACKSON' MUSICAL, MEETING JUDI DENCH

Filipino actor Joaquin Pedro Valdes threw caution to the wind when he left his lucrative theater career in the Philippines in 2018 to try his luck in the United Kingdom as part of the touring ensemble of "Miss Saigon." But it was a risk that has handsomely paid off for the seasoned theater star, who has since become one of the West End's busiest and most prolific leading men.

- By RITO ASILO

If we go by his body of work in the six years that followed since he and his wife, lawyer Agee Romero-Valdes, moved to London, it's easy to see why Joaquin's string of successes can hardly be perceived as a fluke.

After all, no other homegrown Filipino theater performer has been a more regular recipient of colorblind casting than Joaquin, booking back-to-back roles that are traditionally given to Caucasian or West End-bred performers.

After his stint with "Miss Saigon," for instance, Joaquin hit the ground running with roles in "The King and I," "Fanny and Stella," "Heathers: The Musical," "Vanara The Legend," "Killing The Cat," "The Lion King," "A Song of Songs" and the star-studded "Then, Now & Next."

Even splashier were the projects that followed, including his career-boosting lead roles in "Death Note: The Musical," Stephen Sondheim's "Pacific Overtures" and Stephen Schwartz's "The Baker's Wife"—which wrapped up its run at the Menier Chocolate Factory last month.

For any theater practitioner, whether in London or New York, getting cast in 12 productions in six years is no easy feat.

But Joaquin refuses to rest on his laurels. Beginning next month, he will be seen in "The Lightning Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical," set to open at The Other Palace on Nov. 22 until Feb. 2.

"I play Luke Castellan, the lead character's main nemesis, who is the son of Hermes, messenger of the gods in Greek mythology," disclosed Joaquin in an exclusive interview with The Philippine STAR conducted over dinner when he and Agee came home for a visit recently. "It's a brand-new production based on the 2005 novel by Rick Riordan. It had a limited Broadway run just before COVID (in 2019) and will be making its London premiere in November with a new director-choreographer (Lizzi Gee of 'Groundhog Day')."