Gina Respall was born in the Philippines and currently resides in Manila and in  the United Kingdom.  The youngest among a family of musically-inclined brothers and sisters, she is one of the three who pursued a musical career after she earned her degree and license in veterinary science.   " I grew up observing my brothers' band rehearsals, and in the process, I suppose I picked up a few lessons from them.  Aural skills was one thing I enjoyed much and would play with my other sister on our harmony singing.  My mom had a few long-playing albums of big band jazz, as well as musical theatre.  I used to know all the songs from most of the soundtracks in her collection."

 

At 16, she debuted as a singer of Hotdog Band in Palau and had to bring her older brother along as her chaperone.  She also joined quite a few singing competitions in school and nationally, as part of Yamaha's "Musicmate Girls" which paved her professional singing career.  After finishing her veterinary degree, she worked part time as a vet and as the singer of Polycosmic Record's then-new R&B group "Artstart Band", after two members branched out of the "Side A Band", with whom she recorded an album among which the song "Panaginip" and "Misty Glass Window" became hits.  

 

She then, ventured into musical theatre wherein she was cast the lead part Maria in "West Side Story", Bulakna in an all-star epic production of "Lapulapu" and was chosen as one of the international theatre artists to perform in a multi-lingual musical held at the  Tokyo National Theatre.  She then, travelled to Australia, Middle East, Singapore, and China as a music ambassador for the Department of Tourism.

 

Shortly after her dad's passing, she was invited to a private audition for a Kim understudy in  Miss Saigon and was picked by Claude-Michel Schonberg, himself to join the London cast in 1998.  After Miss Saigon's 10th year  Anniversary, she joined the original cast of the  London revival production of King and I at the Palladium theatre, as well as the UK tour and performed as Lady Thiang for about 7 years.  She feels honoured to have met and worked with the West End, Broadway and Hollywood stars, like, Jason Scott-Lee (of Bruce Lee fame) and one of the biggest musical theatre stars in Broadway and the West End , Ms  Elaine Paige, as well as Hollywood star, Stefanie Powers (from  "Hart To Hart" TV series), Saeed Jaffrey (from "The Man Who Would Be King"), as well as groups of world-class dancers and musical performers coming from various parts of the globe.

 

Her portrayal of Lady Thiang had gathered very positive reviews from theatre critics, both in the West End and on tour.

 

 After she finished her national tour with King and I, Gina was invited to audition for the lead part Maria, in the stage adaptation of  Robson's novel, entitled Mail-Order Bride,  which is about a northern farmer looking for love  and met a Filipina mail-order bride through an internet dating site.

 

Other UK theatre production credits were:   Thriller, Live (workshop) and Jerry Springer, The Opera.  

 

She also performs, produces and writes some of her own cabarets and concerts in London and Manila and has been performing jazz gigs in prestigious venues and events in Metro Manila.  Quite recently, she performed with fellow Filipino alumni of the  international Miss Saigon productions and international theatre artists in a charity gala concert to raise funds for Yolanda victims and helped raised about 20 M pesos to fund housing projects via Habitat.

 

Awards/Nominations/Citations: 2012 Aliw Award Nominee fo Best Female Performer in her Supporting Role (musical) for Lady Thiang in RWM's King and I; 2012 Citation Recipient for Best Female Performer in her supporting role in a musical for Lady Thiang in RWM's  King and I production.