If opera gives you goosebumps, you’ll be amazed by his “Queen of the Night” aria from Mozart’s The Magic Flute. If Whitney Houston’s ‘whistle register’ brings tears to your eyes every time, get your Kleenex handy. The five+-octave range of his Kazakh hero, Dimash, only gives him trouble on the lowest notes.
For the past three years, Angeloo has stayed up late on school nights, singing at every bar and theater in Vallarta and winning almost every contest he enters.
A Child Prodigy is a young person with exceptional qualities or abilities; now 13 years old, Angeloo qualifies across the board. He is completely self-taught; his English is excellent, and he sings in these languages: English, Spanish, French, Japanese, Russian, Kazakh, Italian, Korean, German, and Otomi. Now it’s time to find the teachers who can guide him toward a future that will surely be on stage.
Before Mexico’s Independence Day celebrations last week, Angeloo appeared on Isla Cuale and sang several songs, including ‘Bésame Mucho’ in Otomi, an indigenous language spoken by only 240,000 people in Central Mexico. Three of Angeloo’s superfans were on the island that night – me, Gillian Parrillo, and her husband, Pierre Cutler and were invited to join Angeloo and his family at El Grito in the main square on the night of the 15th. We had front-row seats directly below the balcony where Mayor Luis Mungia waved an enormous flag, pronounced the words of Father Hidalgo beautifully, and we shouted right back! Food was prepared and passed to the few hundred invitees, along with merch that included horns, flags, and ball caps.
The best part of that night was standing mere feet from the stage and watching Angeloo fearlessly sing his heart out to the tens of thousands of Vallartenses lining the streets. Angeloo performs the same for 10 people or 10,000, and he never, ever brings lyrics or program notes onstage. If he doesn’t know a song perfectly, he won’t sing it in public.
Angeloo’s steadfast cheerleader is his father, Oscar Corral. He is Angeloo’s primary caregiver and devotes his life to his son. He wants as many people as possible to hear Angeloo sing, and he also knows that somewhere out there is somebody who can help his boy reach his potential. Until that day happens, and I am as certain as his dad that it will, we must work together and help them financially.
The contests that Angeloo enters often end up in Guadalajara or nearby Zapopan. He is heading there next week to present the first prize in La Voz de Zapopan, a contest which he won a year ago. He will also be a judge this year.
In a perfect world, the State would pay for his expenses; however, in reality, three people have to travel together. Because Angeloo is a minor, his dad has to be by his side until his son sets foot on the stage, so ‘Uncle’ Marco will go as well to film everything from the audience. So, three round-trip bus fares, hotels for two or three nights, transportation, meals... it adds up.
The other major expense is Angeloo’s schooling. A small group of us are committed to paying for his private, online school, which is international in flavor and scope. Angeloo has been bullied in the past, and he says the high school he would have to attend without the private school is not safe. That is 5,000 pesos/month.
‘Uncle’ Marco Melendez has set up a GoFundMe page that could use some serious pumping up. Please help with whatever you can; if you are in town, you can see Angeloo every Wednesday night at La Catrina Cantina at 8 pm.
Angeloo is multi-talented, yes, but more than that, he is a kind teenager who worries about his generation listening to gangsta rap and narco-music. He sings songs about love, friendship, and peace, and lives his life accordingly; there is a very old soul in that young man.
If you want more information on how to help Angeloo, send me a private message on Facebook.
Thanks to Pierre Cutler for a few photos.
