Singer-actor-artist Raymond Lauchengco never hides his age. This November, he is turning into a “senior bagets,” will turn 60, and is proud about it.
The original “Bagets,” along with Aga Muhlach, William Martinez, Herbert Bautista and JC Bonnin, is staging a concert, Everybody Loves Raymond, November 28 at The Theater at Solaire.
However, just in case people think Raymond will simply restage his concert last November 2024 marking his 40th anniversary, Raymond is making it clear that his forthcoming show will mark his 60th birthday and will have a different set list.
Aside from his hits, which are what the audience looks forward to in his concert, Raymond will stage a “totally different” show. “Last year, we did Just Got Lucky,” Raymond said. “I guess you could say the one on November 28 is a continuation, Everybody Loves Raymond, the birthday concert, but it’s a totally different show.”
The scope of the concert is wider this time. “Last year, we staged my 40th anniversary, so I wanted to go back to my roots,” Raymond said. “What are my roots, at least in show business. But for my 60th birthday, we are talking about six decades. We will talk about my influences.
“I started out as a choir boy when I was 11. I fell in love with classical music. Then I joined musical theater when I was only 12. That was when I discovered how beautiful Broadway music is. I wanted to be a singer of Broadway songs.”
After his choir days, Raymond debuted onstage when he was merely 12 and performed in The King and I, the musical with Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Rissa Hontiveros, Rajo Laurel.
“After that, I discovered and fell in love with OPM (Original Pilipino Music),” recalled Raymond. “I realized OPM will not be eclipsed. Our music is just as beautiful as Barry Manilow can produce. So all those phases of my life are kind of dwelled on in the concert.”
“The concert, Everybody Loves Raymond, covers all my influences, from classical to Broadway to Barry Manilow,” Raymond offered. “I wanted to be Barry Manilow. I wanted to be a great balladeer like Manilow.”
His favorite Barry Manilow song is not just one. He is, in fact, doing a medley of Barry Manilow hits in Everybody Loves Raymond.
His guests are megastar Sharon Cuneta, Ice Seguerra, Mitch Valdes—who will “teach” him how to become a senior citizen that’s going to crack up the audience—plus two surprise guests.
Raymond is excited that Sharon will join him onstage. “Sharon discovered me,” he beamed. “She was the one who took me from theater to the movies. So Sharon is a big part of my life. She has to be a part of my 60th anniversary concert.
“Last year, she couldn’t make it because she was touring with Gabby (Concepcion) in the US and Canada. So we had to do an interactive video. She gave me a whole day to film her and record her. This year, Sharon is appearing live onstage. We will sing together. It’s a dream-come-true for me.”
Raymond made his big screen debut in Sharon’s film, Cross My Heart, opposite Rowell Santiago and directed by Eddie Garcia (1982). “I was this obnoxious boyfriend who does nothing but to play chess,” Raymond shared.
“There’s no Raymond Lauchengco if there was no Sharon Cuneta. She brought me from the world of glitter to the world of recording. That’s why last year, when I celebrated my 40th year, it was so important to me to have Sharon there. She was the one who opened doors for me.”
Everybody Loves Raymond was taken from the title of the ‘90s Hollywood sitcom that starred Ray Romano. “I actually wanted Just Got Lucky 2, but I sat down over breakfast with GR (Girlie Rodis), she said, ‘No, this is a different show. It should be something different.’ So out of the top of my head, I said, ‘Everybody Loves Raymond.’
“GR said, ‘Okay, that’s catchy. I like that.’ Because Everybody Loves Raymond was my favorite sitcom in the ’90s. Now, what are the chances that you would have the same name as the star of a very popular sitcom?’ I’ll borrow the title for my birthday. People are not allowed to get mad at me for my birthday.”
Raymond Lauchengco (third from left) with, from left, musical director Marvin Querido, producer Mia Rocha-Lauchengco, stage director Menchu Lauchengco Yulo, concert producer Girlie Rodis and co-producer Angela Lauchengco.
Musical director of Everybody Loves Raymond is Marvin Querido, who was also Raymond’s director last year. Raymond’s elder sister, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, is directing him for the first time.
“I’ve directed Menchu many times, but she has never directed me,” Raymond granted. “But for my 60th birthday, I felt it should be someone who has known me since I was born. Where can we find somebody who knows me better?”
Raymond loves turning 60 since it allows him to look back. “It makes you realize that everything you go through has a purpose,” he said. “I realized that the most extraordinary part of my life has been the people in it—my family, my friends and every single audience member that I have connected with through music who still listen to me after all these years.
“Somehow, when you’re living it, you think that they are just people that you cross paths with. What you don’t know is they become a part of the tapestry of your life and they make your life richer. Another thing that this concert is, this is a celebration of them, those people.”
He recently recorded a new single, My Favorite Story, penned by the songwriting couple Odette Quesada and Bodjie Dasig.
“So my life is made up of maybe millions of individual stories that come to me everyday,” Raymond said. “You put that together, it becomes my favorite story – everybody whom I have aged with.
“Odette and I are going full circle. She wrote my first single, I Need You Back. She also wrote Farewell. This year, I wanted to do something that I haven’t done in a long, long time. I want to give the (new) song to the people as a gift, instead of receiving a gift for my birthday.
“I wanted to be recording something that’s meaningful. I wanted the kind of song that will be able to say that to people. This song is my way of saying ‘thank you’ to everybody who has become a part of my life.”
So this year, which marks a new milestone, Raymond prepared three things—a new single, My Favorite Story, that will debut in the concert. “It’s already on Spotify and Amazon, but I will sing it live for the first time in the concert,” said Raymond. “It’s a token of my appreciation to the people.”
He also wrote a book, Dance With the Wind, one of the short stories that Raymond created, a compilation of all the art and essays that he did during the pandemic.
“That’s the anthology of everything,” he said. “The art and essays. There’s a tree that grows on the hillside, hanging precariously on the side of the cliff. A little boy climbs up and asked, ‘Mr. Tree, how come you’re bent that way and how come all the trees around you have been knocked down? How come you’re still up?
“The tree said he never fought the wind and decided to dance with it. Instead of fighting it, I bent and I swayed and I made the wind my friend. So I’ve learned to dance with the wind that’s why I’m still around.’ That’s one of the stories I wrote.
“My wife (Mia Rocha) managed this book project, and I think she did an awesome job.”
Everything culminates in the concert, Everybody Loves Raymond, on November 28 (Friday) at The Theater at Solaire.
With the Bagets musical coming up in January 2026, with young artists in the cast, Raymond is just so proud that he is one of the original Bagets in the 1983 film directed by the late Maryo J. de los Reyes.
“When we did Bagets then, it was in a world without gadgets,” lamented Raymond. “Everything is different now. What I’m thinking now, is how can you strike a friendship, how you can have a barkada that’s solid with gadgets to distract you. We turn to community. We turn to each other. That’s one of the things that I’m little wary about.
“Today, it’s a world of pure of gadgets. When we were going to school in the eighties, we would see each other and that’s the time we know what we will do for the day. Kain tayo, inuman tayo. It was all people oriented. Now, how are you going to do that?”
“I hope they can adapt that to Bagets, but that’s going to be a big challenge. PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) is very good at what they do. So I just want to watch Bagets and enjoy it.
“This is a different world. The messages are universal, but we’re still the same. In music, we still use the same seven notes . What changes is the way we express ourselves, the language that we use. Perhaps, nowadays, the language is more casual. Perhaps in the sixties and seventies, it was more flowery. Perhaps, in the eighties, that was retained. Now, there’s just a bit of less formality.
“The messages, they’re still the same. Love is love. Sadness is sadness. Those things don’t change. The music, it’s difficult to change when you only have seven notes. ”
Beyond Raymond’s 60th, he has no idea what will happen. “There’s this saying that I heard,” he said. “I forgot if it’s Indian or Jewish. But it said that if you want to leave something behind, if you want to leave a legacy, there are three things you can do.
“First is you plant a tree. I planted many trees. Secondly, have children or support a child if you can’t have children. I have two beautiful children—Nathalie, 18 and Davey, 15.
“Third, write a book. I never thought, in my wildest dream, that will happen. If somebody had told me then that I would write a book someday, I would have said, ‘Huh?’ Are you sure?’ I didn’t plan anything for my 60th. I just planted seeds and now it’s the time to sow.”
Producers of Everybody Loves Raymond are so proud to bankroll a concert again for Raymond. His manager, Girlie Rodis, partnered with his better half, Mia Rocha-Lauchengco and his cousin, Angela Lauchengco. Girlie’s Global Resource Creative Exchange is the producer.
His birthday wish? “You know, I’m just full of thanks and gratitude,” Raymond said. “I can’t think of anything for myself, but get my senior card ASAP. I can’t wait to avail of the discounts. That’s so exciting that you don’t need to line up, you get 20 percent discount in restaurants and drugstores, free parking. You can even ride the scooter in the mall. That’s why I want my senior card.”
