‘Mitch You Like Crazy’: Humor and music á la Mitch Valdes

Mitch Valdes has not lost her sense of humor, along with her love of music. In fact, laughter and songs have kept her sane these past three years of the pandemic.

To celebrate her 52nd year as a performing artist, she's holding the show Mitch You Like Crazy on 19 November at Teatrino, Greenhills Shopping Center, San Juan.

Daily Tribune engaged her in an email interview.

Daily Tribune (DT): Is this your first in-person show since the pandemic struck? What can the audience expect?
Mitch Valdes (MV): Initially it was just to celebrate the act of performing for a live audience. But I realized that I started professionally in 1970 on ABS-CBN, so that's 52 years ago. Let's celebrate surviving everything, including the pandemic. Instead of ranting on Facebook, I will share my opinions about what has happened to us these past three years — humorously and musically.

DT: The AMP is your back-up band. Does it remind you of the nightclub shows on Roxas (Dewey) Boulevard? Tell us about those times.
MV: Not only Roxas Boulevard in fully beaded gowns, but I was also a vocalist in a band at La Concha at the top of Hyatt Hotel. I sang dance tunes and rock while everyone danced. That was fun because didn't have to carry the group. Just sang all top tunes of the times, till the place closed down when martial law was imposed.

DT: You're celebrating 52 years as a performing artist. What really made you decide to become one? What kind of influence did your home and school play in your involvement in the arts?
MV: I was actually thrown into performing after flunking my accounting class in college three times, hahaha. The (German) nuns (at St. Scholastica) very kindly gave me remedial exams, but I guess I wasn't really interested.

I ran away from home, so I had to earn a living. I thought I would be in theater forever, but at that time it couldn't keep body and soul together. Everyone in theater were working professionals and did theater after office hours.

Because my dad was a singer in Japan and I spent my childhood there, I heard every form of music. He had a wall-to-wall record collection — from the classics to jazz to Broadway to movie themes. I also listened to the American comic performers in the clubs. You could even hear the clinking of the ice cubes in the glasses. I loved that sound.

DT: You've done music, theater, television, and film. What have you learned from each of them?
MV: Oh, wow. Musically I experienced variety and appreciation for everything. In theater, the discipline and preparation were sometimes more fun than the actual performance. TV made me think on my toes constantly. At that time the live shows I was in were almost like vaudeville training. The director would make kuwento the skit, then go! And I was working with vaudeville performers — Pugo, Balut, Tange, Chichay. Never break character or ruin the timing of a joke and the set-up, or else… And I was a colegiala from Repertory! I became very street-smart and could be green as the best of them. They were always testing me if I would get shocked, kasi nga Englisera. In sitcoms and drama, it was one reading, one blocking, and take!

DT: What music defines you as an artist, and why?
MV: I like rock, the blues, and jazz — depending on mood. Then I also love to suddenly belt out a Broadway tune just to jolt the conversation, or if I'm bored waiting on the set. My coworkers gape in shock, hehe.