NIKKI SAMONTE was asked to sing acapella during the presscon and she impressed us with her set of vocal pipes so amazing for someone who’s 11 years old. She and Mica Torre alternated in the role of the young Nala, the female lead, in “The Lion King”. A product of “Pinoy Dream Academy Little Dreamer”, she has appeared in the movies “Tarot” as the young
Marian Rivera and “Mano Po 6” as the young
Heart Evangelista (who’s her lookalike). On TV, she has done “Midnight Phantom” and “Idol”. Born on March 1, 2000 and an only child, she took the audition for “Lion King” here in Manila last year. “We stayed in Singapore for 10 months,” she says. “The first two months, rehearsal, then the last eight months, the actual play na. All in all, I did about 200 performances. We were billeted at the Somerset Hotel and I studied grade 6 at Australian International School there.” Her idol is Lea Salonga and her dream is to have her own album someday.
Mica Torre is a veteran of local musicals like “Birhen ng Caysasay”, “Magnificat” and “Cory the Musical”. She won as Aliw Awards best child performer last year and won three gold and two silver medal in the World Championship of the Performing Arts in Hollywood. She’s now back in Singapore doing an international movie, ‘Li’l Big Trouble’.
