Back on stage

Despite the accolades from the world of cinema, theater remains a big part of her life. Recently, Consunji returned to the stage after 10 years as the headliner of the City Chamber Orchestra of Hong Kong (CCOHK) show A Night at the Musicals.

Her getting to play the lead vocalist was the result of "a fortuitous accident." A friend of hers was involved in putting the CCOHK show together. Consunji told the friend she knew most of the songs they had selected. This led to her getting invited to sing at the concert by Leanne Nicholls, CCOHK's founder and artistic director. The plan initially was that she would sing only a couple of songs.

And then COVID-19 happened. The show got postponed from 2020 to 2021. With Hong Kong's strict travel restrictions still in place, bringing in the original headliner, Lisa Jane Kelsey, from the UK, was not a practical idea. The organizers approached Consunji to perform as the lead vocalist, and she happily agreed.

When I interviewed her in the lead-up to the performance, Consunji sounded both excited and also slightly nervous. "It actually gets harder when you know the songs because a lot might have changed since you first learned them and you can't sing the songs in the same way.

"For example, I first learned Think of Me when I was around 18 and I sang it at a higher pitch because that was my voice then. But I'm in my 30s now and I can't sing it that way.

"I can do it, but it doesn't match me anymore as I can't pretend to be as sweet as I was when I was 18. I think my challenge is: How do I approach the songs afresh and not sing them by using muscle memory?"

Consunji definitely rose to the challenge on D-Day, as she blew the audience away with her dynamic performance, alongside fellow singers Raymond Young and Corinna Cheng. Her powerful yet graceful voice reverberated throughout the concert hall as she effortlessly belted out her renditions of Broadway classics such as Think of Me from The Phantom of the Opera and Defying Gravity from Wicked.

In the duet I Still Believe from Miss Saigon, sung with Cheng, both singers were able to portray the powerful message and emotions of the song. Throughout her impressive 15-song performance, Consunji evoked memories of the musicals the songs are originally from, while adding her own personal touches and making the songs her own.