Of lions and grassmen - The Lion King Musical Experience

WaMu has a special way of loving me.

Last week was one of the most eventful weeks of my life as a CSR. With our account enjoying a rollercoaster ride and the Christmas season inevitably approaching, I was caught right in the middle of everything. I honestly was considering leaving the company once more and moving on with another career path or just continue somewhere else. I don't know what part hormonal imbalance played this time, but I was simply exhausted. Needless to say, I was ready to give up.

I was actively involved in our musical production then. I was tapped to join the props committee and that's where the stress originated. With barely two weeks to accomplish so much and there's the unexpected lack of OTPs even with ten to 15 minutes of waiting time, I strongly believed we were overreaching. Have you seen The Lion King Musical on youtube? We were aiming for that. No shit.

With generous help from my CPO/CE teammates, we were able to deliver my assignments - 4 grass headdresses and four tree headdresses and hand pieces. Imagine creating each and every damned blade of grass out of walis tingting and green crepe paper, branches from mache'd paper sausages and leaves from wires and more green paper. Coke, CE's QA was my partner here and she worked like a machine! Without her I could've cried out of frustration. She made it possible, least to say.

Saturday morning, 36 hours before the big competition, I was applying finishing touches to my assignments. Delivered them to the props team, only to find out the animals were still ghostly white. There was so much to do in so little time. I decided, hey I could spend a few hours more helping out. A few hours turned into a day. I didn't go home from my Friday night shift until it was Sunday morning already. I was a zombie.

Blood, sweat and tears - literally. I was tearing up inside because I didn't wanna give up. Everybody was expecting so much from us. And it'll break their hearts to know that the props department screwed it up for them. No, no. Giving up was not an option.

I haven't seen such level of unity from all walks of life in the corporate world. Management people get down on their a$$ses and got dirty. My hands hurt from painting, twisting wires,  cleaning, sticking paper and more cleaning. Our biometrics scanner already refused to read my fingerprints. Naubos na yata ang fingerprints ko. Nobody slept but no one got cranky, well at least not out loud. I appreciate the cheerfulness of these guys I was working with. It spelled the difference between giving up and hanging on.

Sunday morning came, everything was still a far cry from completion, but then we knew it was possible. I was able to go home. I hugged my Little Munster who was nagtatampo na at that time. I promised her she'd have all of me after the production. "Just give me one more day, babe," I told her.

Woke up late. Call time was 4PM, I woke up at 5. Without spare time to shop for a red-and-black get up, I recycled my old clothes. Screaming red Chinese blouse and generic black pants and leather boots. I reached A-Venue at 7PM, hoping against all hopes that I hadn't missed our own presentation yet.

First reaction was, wow... People did get dressed to kill tonight. I'm already dead so yeah. I didn't even apply make up, for all I care. I just wanted to go backstage and extend assistance to the presenters. Met with my CPO team then ran towards the actors. Lo and behold! It was the perfect eye-candy! I suddenly felt like playing veterinarian. Lionesses, gazelles, zebras, giraffes, birds, an elephant - I just died and went to wilderness heaven. I knew then we're going to give the crowd something to remember. Hopefully not something we're going to regret forever. Heh..

Of course the actors got so nervous. I scavenged for cigarettes, lighted them up and even placed them in their lips since they have stuff attached to their hands and arms. Ultimate yaya talaga, but I was having a good time. If there was a shortage of adrenaline everywhere else in the world that night, it's because we hoarded them by tons.

I was trying to catch a bite when it was announced that WaMu was about to perform. I dropped my fork and ran towards the back of the stage. I sent up a silent prayer, asking God to watch over us.

I was especially nervous because our actors never got to try the props and costumes. No dress rehearsal, whatsoever.

Darkness. Silence. Then came that familiar 'chant' from Circle of Life. Spotlight and smoke on Macky, who played Rafiki. I was stunned.

Macky delivered a standout performance as Rafiki. I know he's good but I didn't expect he's THAT GOOD. He won the crowd's attention, now it's the rest of the cast's turn to win their hearts. And they did.

Everything's a blur now to me but I'd never forget how I felt that night when I was watching them perform. I was crying so hard. I was sobbing. I covered my face in disbelief. I didn't expect the musical to look so damn good. When the zebras and the gazelles and the giraffes started moving around, I could no longer breathe. "Those were the ghostly white animals we were working on last night," I said to my self. We almost didn't have a presentation!

The elephant that walked towards the stage, followed by four lovely white birds deserved special mention too. I love it that our managers and supervisors were so 'game.'

Every now and then I'd snap out of the state of trance I was in to assist with costume changes. I was extra proud when the grass and tree men appeared on stage. Those grasses, those trees - they expected so little of them. It was a real ego booster to hear somebody from the crowd, a non-Wamu employee, blurt out "para dun pala yun. Ang galing!" I wanted to say, "kami gumawa nun eh, ganda no?" But I was afraid baka kuyugin ako. So I continued watching from the side of the stage in silent awe.

The actors - each and every one of them, deserved the cheers and the claps and the whistles from the crowd. They were so damn good up there! And it also helped that the lighting was great. Golds and greens and purples continue to flood the stage. It was the total package!

I know I've said it a lot of times before, but I'll say it again - STANDING OVATION, BABYYY!!!

Towards the finale, it also helped that we chose a grand song to end the presentation. As our Boss Wax sang "in the circle... The Circle of Life!," everybody was just screaming and cheering and clapping helplessly. Never mind that the party poppers didn't go off. We didn't need confetti anymore. It was the grandest, most extravagant moment of the night. It took a long time before the cheering died down. I have all the right to say, we won 'em hearts fair and square and we wouldn't let them go just yet.

I ran towards Ian G and hugged him real tight and cried some more. My body must've been experiencing hormonal breakdown already. From frustration to panic to surrender to extreme pride - my systems couldn't have handled them easily. One solution was to continue hugging and kissing everybody. I love this team! I didn't ever want this night to end.

As we impatiently waited for the announcements, we took pictures, drank beer, chatted and smoked. Then came the moment of truth. The 5th placer was called, then the 4th, then the 3rd. WaMu had not been called yet. We were jumping with excitement already. Then the host called us to the stage, along with the other team whose name had not been called out too.

I'll cut it short. WE WON!!! For the very first time, WaMu won the group competition. And because the big people were so impressed, they doubled our prize to 40K. We were ecstatic! But it doesn't stop there. Our 40K? It was doubled once more! We won 80K!!! Oh this night continued to rock my world!

More hugs and kisses and picture-taking later, we were nearing the end of the night. We took pictures of our props - the very same things we were frustrated about the night before - and bade farewell. The zebras and gazelles suffered broken limbs. There's not much we can do for them then. We left them backstage, with all due respect.

Off to our after-event party. Oh how I enjoyed our little victory celebration. I'm infatuated with the fact that suddenly, I have great new friends! We all ended up in a small hotel room right across A-Venue. I went home Monday morning.

So what did this experience teach me? A lot of things, that's for sure. I learned that willpower spells so much difference when you're trying to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks. That you'll earn friends by being helpful. That sense of humour is one of the greatest gifts on earth. And oh, most importantly - WE ROCK!!!

And when people ask me, "were you there on the stage?" I always answer, "I definitely was. See the headdresses and the costumes? I am part of those. I won't dream of being anywhere else."

Heehee... I love my life. Now that's modesty aside. *wink*