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TORONTO — The recent concert produced by Studio Six, “Celebratel Music with Josie de Leon,” was a major production where the performers were all local talents. This is a remarkable effort by our local producers to harness the local musicians, singers, dancers and choreographers to produce a major event comparable to those where the stars are imported from the Philippines or the U.S.

Much like locally-grown produce whose freshness and price benefit local consumers, our local talents shine on center stage when given a chance, not as front-acts nor one-or two-song time killers, but as stars in their own right.

There have been other attempts like this before but I haven’t seen one so elaborate and so filled with varied artists. First, there’s Josie whose effortless stage presence and ease at musical performance fill the stage and stir anticipation in the audience. I’ve watched her sing modern Tagalog love songs that required both energy and lilting tunes but the recent concert revealed she could spar with tenor Leander Mendoza and hit the high notes with aplomb doing a Phantom of the Opera number. And her repertoire included classic Broadway, pop songs, Natalie Cole (“Unforgetable”), Imelda Papin (“Kung Liligaya Ka”), Hot Dog (“Pers Lab”) and numbers with Canadian Idol Mikey Bustos.

Mendoza was a treat with his mastery of the piano and his gift of voice that easily filled the auditorium. Bustos was pure energy on stage with his dances and songs. They are only two of our local stars who made the show worth seeing.

There’s Karen Tan, whose powerful rendition of Kuh Ledesma’s “Dito Ba?” almost mersmerized the audience. I wanted to have more of her songs but her newborn baby rightly deserved time with her more than her stage appearances.

I was reminded of Vonnie Beltran, Chyrell Samson and Rodney Ronquillo whose star quality performances in our Ginsaugon concert in 2006 wowed the audience. Why were they not asked to showcase their talents here? Lilac Caña’s and Emilio Zarris’s appearances could have completed the local cast of stars.

But of course, there was Marvin de Guzman whose rendition of a Gary Valenciano number was done with much feeling. And there was Julius Tinsay whose Spanish numbers entertained the audience no doubt.

Mon Torralba of the Hot Dog fame was the musical director of the show. His handling of the lead guitar kept the musical numbers in order. His band was wonderful. It gave the show a professional sound that filled the air. It was like the glue the kept the show together.

Classical violinist Alex Cheung’s Phantom of the Opera truly held us breathless. And the dancers? With Josie singing and the band playing, the dancers drew the crowd up on their feet singing and dancing towards the end of the show.

The Celebrate magazine published for the show was glossy, had some interesting pieces on the artists and had more ads than it needed.

It could have been a perfect show had the Chinese Cultural Centre auditorium in Scarborough been filled to capacity that night.

Which brings us to a side issue. Why aren’t the usual suspects in the community, some of the high profile personalities not around? I’m sure Josie and her group of artists were not amiss in supporting their events, performing for free many times. Where were the massive crowds that thronged to the events of PIDC, Gawad Kalinga and the regional associations that had our local talents volunteering their time?

We owe these artists the support they deserve. I have always called them diamonds in our backyard. Our existence in a cold country like Canada would not have been richer without them.