Gian Magdangal, 34

Hong Kong Disneyland’s newest half-hour stage show, called Mickey and the Wondrous Book, is set in a magical library where Mickey Mouse and his sidekick Goofy discover a magical book that can bring stories to life.

The musical, which runs through several Disney hit songs, will make you believe in fairy tales once again. The performance cast is largely Filipino, headlined by Gian Magdangal. Coconuts Manila talks to Magdangal about his own fairy tale.

How did you find yourself working at “the happiest place on earth”?
I auditioned for the part. My audition song was “Seasons of Love” from the musical, Rent. I was actually part of SOP and Party Pilipinas for seven years. Unfortunately, when the show came to a close, I was no longer part of the new format. While I was doing theater at that time, I needed a next step. I saw an ad for this job and took my chance. When they offered me the job, I said yes. I really just wanted to take a chance and make another big step. That was just a year ago.

You’ve been frontlining a lot of shows in the park, how does that feel like?
Pressured! But I’m also very grateful. A lot of times, I still can’t believe I’m here. And at the same time, you have this feeling that you want to top yourself every time. Especially when you’re doing five to seven shows a day, five days a week! You really have to give your best, and then do better shows on a day-to-day, and a month-to-month basis. You should also always be on your toes, even if it’s 11am, hindi pwedeng parang bagong gising.

Five to seven shows a day, that’s a lot! What do you do when you get tired?
Call in sick, ha-ha. No, just kidding. It’s very tiring to do seven shows a day, but that’s what the contract calls for and that’s what we signed up to do, so regardless whether we are tired or not, we signed up for it. We have to commit to that.

What happens when you forget your lines?
We can’t forget our lines! Ha-ha, but if something like that happens, there’s a way to handle it. Mag-ad lib ka kung kailangan.

There are a lot of Filipinos working in Disney, do you guys hold Filipino nights?
When someone celebrates her or her birthday, that becomes a Filipino night — and suddenly, it’s just like Manila. That’s how it feels. Or when we go to Jollibee, which is all the way in Central, Facebook moment na iyan, because we live so far away from the city.

Do you go back to the Philippines often?
Pretty often. It’s a good thing that Manila is just an hour or so away. These past few months though have been very busy because we were preparing to launch this new show so I couldn’t go home. So I’m pretty excited for later because my seven-year-old son is flying in to spend a few days with me.

Do you ever use your job as a Disney actor to impress girls?
No more! I can’t even go out anymore. Even if you want to, you’ll just end up getting sick. We all live so far away from the city. We have our own little world here.

What are your plans for Christmas?
It’s really just a simple salu-salo with a little bit of singing. We’d do a bit of caroling, and there are occasions when we get to sing our own Christmas carols. It’s really something you bring with you wherever you go. Traditional love songs and Christmas carols.

Finally, is there a particular characteristic that only a Filipino can bring to the roles that you play?
I think it’s our background and our experience. The experience of sitting through three hours of traffic just to get to the airport from Cainta will come out when you start singing. Iba ang bitbit mo sa dibdib mo — even if you’re already feeling thirsty, or the key is a bit too high for you, you will sing that experience off. Yung alab talaga sa puso mo, that will come out.