Cherie Gil takes solo stage for ‘Full Gallop’

MANILA, Philippines – Actress Cherie Gil takes on the challenging role of fashion editor Diane Vreeland in the solo 2 act play, Full Gallop.

G Töngi reports, it was also a journey of strength and self-discovery for the actress.

Actress Cherie Gil recently treated friends from the press to a special sneak preview of her one woman show Full Gallop.

Gil takes on the challenging role of ‘The Grand Dame of Fashion,’ Diana Vreeland, fashion editor for Harpers Bazaar and Vogue in the sixties. ‘Full Gallop’ explores the brilliance of a woman at the top of a fashion empire for whom reinventing style was a constant challenge and adventure. Gil says she looks forward to the process of preparing for a theatrical stage play. It is that same process that draws out her discipline as an artist.

Full Gallop director Bart Guingona believes only Gil can portray the iconic Vreeland for the stage.

BART GUINGONA, DIRECTOR: She’s a very good character actress. And Vreeland is a character. She’s a real character. She’s larger than life. She’s opinionated. Cherie had a very instinctive reading of her. So I said, “Wow, perfect.” 

Cherie Gil definitely looks the part of Vreeland, and with fashion designer Rajo Laurel on her team, it’s Diana Vreeland incarnate. Laurel will be creating six different sets of costumes for each night of Gil’s performance.

RAJO LAUREL, FASHION DESIGNER: Diana Vreeland has always been a person of interest for me. She has truly formed what we know as contemporary fashion today. It hasn’t even began, she was already formulating all these trends. And then in this visage of a caricature.  I mean, she was not pretty. Very big nose, long long hands, jet-black hair she would, you know. And then I read her biography and her autobiography and I was just drawn to this sort of like dramatic persona and I fell in love with her.

Cherie Gil has also fallen in love with Vreeland. She explains why she’s drawn to portraying strong women.

CHERIE GIL, ACTRESS: I’ve been separated five years. Maybe it’s also a personal journey. And I’ve been alone. I’m not gonna cry cause we do that on the side, behind closed doors. And I’m not gonna lie. I am using this part of my journey to be able to invite that at least a little bit of that strength because it ain’t easy to be alone. Only with you, I’m honest. You get that out of me, G and Rappler.

An artist totally devoted to her craft, Cherie Gil goes through her own journey of self discovery as she explores the character of Vreeland. The play is a challenging 44 page script that Gil must deliver in a two act performance. Director Guingona gives her this advice.

BART GUINGONA, DIRECTOR : If you don’t do something that scares you, then it’s not worth doing. You feel really good. Deal with it.

Calling it her “edge work,” Gil channels Diana Vreeland in Full Gallop not just through a physical transformation but with a subliminal and psychological depth befitting a woman of substance and style.
G Töngi, Rappler, Manila. –  Rappler.com