JOJO DELA CERNA: FROM BANSALAN STAGE TO LONDON’S WEST END

By HENRYLITO D. TACIO

The name Jojo Dela Cerna (real name: Jovy Adlawan) may not ring a bell among Filipinos. But in London’s West End, he is a familiar moniker. He has played Thuy in the award-winning Miss Saigon for four years at Drury Lane Theatre Royal. Prior to that, he performed the same role in The Music of Schonberg/Boublil concert in Manila.

His West End major cabaret acts include “I’ll Be Here with You”; solo debut showcase, “Truly Grateful”; his album launching, “Music & Me”; and “We Can Be Kind” album. His recent West End cabaret acts venues include The Mountbatten Hotel Lounge and at the Jermyn Street Theatre.

Dela Cerna is part of The King and I original cast recording at the West End and the United Kingdom tour where he played the tragic lover Lun-tha. He played Emperor Abe on Stephen Sondheim’s Pacific Overtures, which was staged in Leicester Haymarket Theatre. Another notable emperor role was in the Christmas pantomime called Aladdin (in Wimbledon Theatre and Orchard Theatre). “

Before his United Kingdom stint, he has performed as a lounge singer and toured in road shows of major Filipino cities as well as various Manila-based theatre productions. He also appeared in one of the plays staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP).

Actually, he started his career in several singing competitions including the First Zamboanga City Music Festival. He emerged as champion in Belter of the Year in National Panasonic’s Quest for the Best (1993). He also represented the Philippines in the Third International Laser Competition in Bangkok, Thailand where he emerged the winner.

He graduated high school from Holy Cross College of Bansalan and then earned his Bachelor of Arts in Communication from Ateneo de Davao University in 1991.

Dela Cerna and I had two things in common. Aside from growing up in Bansalan, Davao del Sur, we were also honored as Outstanding Bansaleño in 2020; he was cited for performing arts while I was given the citation for journalism.

Recently, I have had the privilege of talking with him. He answered my questions in a straightforward manner and without much fanfare: direct, precise, and deductive. He recalls the past events as if they were just yesterday.

“I remember participating in singing competitions most of the time, being invited to sing on so many occasions including polit- ical rallies I did not even understand why I was there at a young age,” he recalls. “I had graced numerous weddings to sing love songs in the church, and even fu- nerals just before the coffin gets sealed in the tomb while singing a very sad song by special request. I was mostly active at school programs representing the school or Bansalan itself whenever I entered competitions in regional levels.”

He got interested in singing when he was between five or six years old. “I started entertaining my family between those ages. Both sides of my family always requested me to sing during family occasions, and my grandparents always ended up in tears of awe and adulation, perhaps I carried on singing that way – with feelings as always.”

It was his eldest sister who trained him at home. She regimented vocalization, especially in the morning in a neck deep drum of water for lung power. “But my