Nyoy Volante Has A Grand Time Playing The Role Of Donkey In 'Shrek, The Musical', Has Forgotten Nina & Is Now Engaged To Mikkie Bradshaw

NYOY VOLANTE became known as the Acoustic Pop Prince but he found another career as a stage actor in musicals. We’ve seen him play various roles in the local musical “Kanser” (based on Rizal’s “Noli”), in the award-winning Broadway original, “In the Heights”, “Legally Blonde”, “Rent”, “Hairspray” and “Rock of Ages”. Needless to say, he’s very good in all of them.

He now plays the role of Donkey in “Shrek, The Musical” and it’s his first time to play a talking and singing animal. “This is my tenth musical and it’s the most challenging so far,” he says. “Malaki ang pressure for me kasi the role was played by Eddie Murphy in the original movie and he was very effective. So dapat, yung own interpretation ko, makuha ko yun but hindi dapat magtapos lang sa ganoon, kaya I have to give my own contribution to the character. So I speak like a noisy black guy, very fast and with a distinct accent. Even the singing, may pagka-Egoy rin ang dating. When the musical was first staged in September, very positive naman ang reaction ng audience. Maganda ang feedback. They just love Donkey as Shrek’s best friend and ever loyal sidekick.”

Playing the title role of Shrek is British actor Rycharde Everley (who did a great job in “Avenue Q”), Shiela Valderrama as character Princess Fiona, Lorenz Martinez as Lord Farquaad, Nel Gomez as Pinocchio and Carla Guevara-Laforteza as the Dragon. The show is perfect entertainment for the whole family during this holiday season and will be on a limited run at the Meralco Theatre from December 26 to 28, then January 2 to 4.

Nyoy is such an effective stage actor. Does this mean that he’ll now focus on theatre acting? “No, first love ko pa rin ang singing. I’ve released by 8th album last year, ‘Tuloy Pa Rin’, and I am now writing new songs for my next album to be released next year.”
On the love department, Nyoy has totally forgotten Nina and is now officially engaged to theatre actress Mikkie Bradshaw, who played the lead role in “Carrie”. “Three years na kami. When I proposed last July, I made a fairy tale book about us and attached an engagement ring to it. But late next year pa kami pakakasal.”