Re: Sa Wakas

Putting up a rock musical is always challenging. How do you weave a story with a set of pre-existing songs, some related and some perhaps not?

The Sugarfree rock musical Sa Wakas offered feats of good plot-writing, but could've done more to improve on its characters.

SPOILER ALERT:

On Seeing Eyeball

My friends heroic_ and zany saw two plays from Eyeball with me at the CCP last Feb. 5.

“Doc Resureccion: Gagamutin Ang Bayan” was written by Layeta Bucoy. It won a Palanca and I can see why. The debate within the play was great, and the last scenes were killer. It took a while to get there, though. And it relied on curse word after curse word to keep the audience entertained in the meantime. I guess that worked because the audience didn’t seem used to profanity.

Plus points for Lou Veloso on stage.

“Bakit Wala Nang Nagtatagpo sa Philcoa Oberpas” was written by Carlo Pacolor Garcia. This play is close to my heart for many reasons—one being that I got to read this in its earlier forms. I think some aspects of the staging were too much, though. The ad billboard projected things that went from snarky, to corny, to historical. Sometimes, they felt like extra devices to tell people what the scene was about, in case it wasn't obvious enough. The songs were inaudible too. And the heart of the matter: a reconciled petite bourgeoisie couple, a victimized law enforcer, and a lumpen proletariat family calling the shots, got drowned out.

That makes for the score of 6.7/10 for each play.

Leave your electronic devices once in a while and hit a theater. It may even make for a great Valentine’s date.

Repertory Philippines' Shakespeare in Hollywood

Two worlds, both alike in prestige and reputation

On stage by Repertory Philippines', we see them together

From being skeptic to really enjoying their relations

All hell breaks loose as the theater is filled with laughter.

If those verses doesn't sound remotely familiar—albeit nowhere near (not even on the same planet) the level as the original wordplay Shakespeare could whip out—then you probably flunked literature or have no idea of the tragedy that defined all tragedies—Romeo and Juliet. But this production by Repertory Philippines is not about the two star-crossed lovers, nor is it a tragedy.

Shakespeare In Hollywood is a comedy about the poet's A Midsummer Nights Dream's characters Oberon, King of the Fairies, and his court jester Puck, who both somehow landed in a movie set as actors playing themselves in Hollywood. That in itself is chaos waiting to happen. Add to that a story of love, a bimbo, censorship, and a magical flower—well, it borders on ridicule, but you just have to see and experience the play to laugh with me here.

Hats off, first and foremost, to Cris Villonco: I appreciate you more now than when I saw you first as a little girl singing on TV. What got my attention to watch the play with anticipation was the moment Villonco went in for her first scene. I didn't even notice at first that it was her. Having seen her her in The Joy Luck Club and now in this play is an amazing transformation, a testament to her versatility as a stage actress. The accent, the clothes, the makeup, and yes, the well-endowed front-top-and-center, may have helped her portray Hollywood bimbo Lydia to her fullest potential. She, in character, was even the obvious choice for a few last words from Rep, because she—or her character, by her portrayal—leaves a mark the audience will surely remember.

First girl Only girl in the scene: "I'm all grown up now, thank you."
or, Can you guess who's playing a gay guy here?

That said, the whole cast did not disappoint either. They all did a good job in playing their roles. Allow me to mention Max Reinhart (Robie Zialcita) as Austrian director, censorship man Will Hays (Miguel Faustmann), Daryl (Topper Fabregas) the assistant, Puck (Red Conception) as the playful jester, and of course, Olivia (Caisa Borromeo) and Oberon (Hans Eckstein), King of the Fairies. Repertory Philippines is where seasoned actors are at home. Putting up a play is hard work; sets, sponsors, tickers, and rehearsals are a "labor" of love. So, props to the whole production team for making stage production appear effortless, and highly artistically done at that (read: light changes and sound effects/echoes).

Producer-director-censorhip is pretty much still the a thing of today.

Not that these are bad but why are your promotional shots in black and white?
Or, Why the hell don't you have a shot of Olivia and Oberon together? Or just Oberon and Puck?

Now, may I just say: how people spoke during Shakespeare's time is so romantic. It drains one of all cynical-ness and fills it with passion and awe. Eckstein as Oberon conversing in Shakespeare-speak with a "mere mortal" is win. I love it. But I guess, fashion sense during Shakespeare's time is still a downer. (But the production team did a great job replicating them!)

Repertory Philippines' Shakespeare in Hollywood gets and eight-point-two, for hilarious comedy with little speck of magic and love. 

*photos courtesy of Repertory Philippines

Repertory Philippines' The 39 Steps

I was too young to remember Alfred Hitchcock's fame or too girly then to enjoy Monty Python. But I love theater, so I was excited to watch Repertory Philippines' second production for its 74th Season. And I took with me the laugh quota expectations I had when they previewed it late last year.

It was an "unconventional" kind of theater at first, seeing the characters (and not MIB: Men In Black) move their own sets and props. But the way they do it in character kind of adds to the comedy, really, so it wasn't off. The whole play uses a mix of movie and theater direction, as if the audience was served Hitchcock and Monty Python tossed in a salad. The lights (flickering lights to suggest slow-motion action) and sound design (upped echo to suggest a spooky mansion) also contributed largely to how the story reaches out to its audience. Special mention to the use of shadow play for select scenes which gave the re-staging of this classic a pinch of Pinoy creativity.

Did Pinoys invent shadow plays?
Answer in 10 seconds. Timer starts now.

The four actors did a lovely and an obviously veteran (which here does not mean "old" but "experienced") take on their roles. They really looked like they were having fun acting. To switch from one character to another, one accent to the next, one costume change after another and another, I believe only seasoned actors can seamlessly pull off. Rem Zamora, Juliene Mendoza, Liza Infante-Robinson, and Michael Williams (he played one character; he was good, too) all did. Hats off to the "clowns" Rem and Juliene, who played the bulk of the characters I'm at a loss to count.

We are not old—this red phone booth is. And it's Photoshop again, duh.

I know not of the book or movie but I know I laughed out loud a lot. The first half's quick pace wouldn't bore any type of audience. Difficulty deciphering dialogue under thick accents or not being a fan of whodunit plots—you'll still laugh out loud. But when the love angle was heavily played in the second part, I found it dragging the upbeat suspense plot. It's a whodunit thing first and foremost, not a who-ends-up-with-him thing.

Repertory Philippines' The 39 Steps gets a seven-point-eight out of ten, for having great actors but still not being able to sustain my LOLs.


*photos from vintersections.com, courtesy of Repertory Philippines

Repertory Philippines' The Joy Luck Club

When I was young, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan was a popular topic for book reports. I don't remember reading the book, but I remember the 1993 movie of the same title. Mother-daughter relations, Chinese, American (note that Filipinos are heavily-influenced by both cultures) or otherwise, is a story I took to heart since I, too, am a daughter. When I learned Repertory Philippines would be staging it this year in their 74th Season (and luckily, I got a hold of tickets to see it and two other plays), I was eager to see how the experience would differ. That, and it's been like ages since I've seen a play. 

Walking into the Onstage theater gave me a whiff of college nostalgia (my org stages plays and productions). The bamboo sets seem only fitting since this was Rep's Chinese New Year offering. The play of lights, shadows, sounds, and slow motion was put into the play artistically so that the minimalist approach (imaginary props, doors, and what have you) was noticeable but not distracting. It transitioned the audience through the changes of story or time, which helped tell the stories smoothly.

Old-photo-look courtesy of Photoshop.
Or, Female leads rock the house! 

As the play went on, I found myself counter-checking who's who from the movie. But the artistic aspects did not disappoint. The powerhouse cast of strong female leads delivered superb performances, as well as the supporting actors. And I have to say Frances Makil Ignacio is a favorite. She totally caught me unaware when she delivered her lines that sounded as if she was chewing her food. Well, it was during a dinner scene, so I shouldn't be surprised at all really. It was just so... natural.

Frances Makil Ignacio's (left) comedic timing is effortless.
Or, Cris Villonco (right) looks very much like her role's movie version.

Though I wouldn't suggest one to jump into this adaptation of the book since some lines are long. It might be hard for other people, who have no idea about the plot, to keep up. Even I got lost in the Moon Lady really, but his (yes, the lady is a man sans the makeup) lines were delivered in a very convincingly folklore-ish or mythical fashion. But once you've read the book or watched the film, the appreciation of this version is very welcome. If the movie put faces on the names in the book, this play kind of made it 3D of some sort.

Repertory Philippines' The Joy Luck Club gets a seven-point-five out of ten, for its powerhouse cast, classic story, and fresh take on theater directing.


*photos from bp.blogspot.com, courtesy of Repertory Philippines. 

Ang Guro

Just viewed this last month. If it wasn't for school shit, I wouldn't be in the know that such a play existed.

Tickets cost Php250. But that's cool because what we got in exchange for purchasing the ticket was the non-submission of our final product (which is something that we just make up and produce and, in our case, we came up with "anti-hangover" pills).

This play was headlined by Karel Marquez (yes, the same gal with the scandal who used to VJ for MYX). In fact, Karel was the only A-lister here (together with her mom Pinky—Pinky Marquez is Karel's mom, right?—who did a special participation on this one). The rest of the cast were virtual unknowns, though some of their faces looked familiar.

Paul Ballano was the scriptwriter and director for this presentation. He should thank God for his sense of humor because if he wasn't funny, I wouldn't remember him at all. Kudos to him, too, that he chose to honor our country's teachers. Teaches are really one of the most underrated people in society.

The dude who played Mr. Inspection (or was it Inspecion?) was pretty good. If it wasn't for his role-playing, I would really think that he's gay. Plus, the other chubby teacher has pretty good acting chops, too. Exaggerated gestures are really a must to succeed in stage plays.

Karel did a wonderful job onstage as Ms. Resontoc (or was that Resonto?), the teacher (who apparently was Paul Ballano's 1st grade teacher in real life). Do you remember how your kindhearted, stress-free teachers used to talk to you back in the day? That was how Karel talked the entire time. It's as if she's in the zone to be a goody-two-shoes faculty member. Her refreshing face helped a lot, too.

Refreshing, not alluring/seducing.

Whoa whoa whoa! Not that type of fresh! I mean this...

Now, that's better!

The only part that I didn't like was the singin'. I don't know what it is, but there's just something about musicals that bore me to death.

Overall, this play merits a 7/10 due to the fact that I was amused for like two hours.



*images from www.abante-tonite.com, fhm.com.ph

Pinoy-French Contemporary Dance Week

My friend Marella and I saw the Pinoy-French Contemporary Dance Week on June 15.

The show featured a dance performance on video by local dancer and choreographer Donna Miranda (although, the video featured two of her students), Lin Yuang Shang and Caroline DesMaison.

Donna Miranda's "Anything Less is Less Than a Reckless Act" social experiment featured the choice of a lecture or a video of a boy and a girl moving through each other's bodily loops.

We found ourselves being rushed into the theater to see a piece that could have been called "We Fit Together." It was nice and smart. I like how one position could look like a choke hold one moment and tender at the next.

It was also too long─moving from "WTF!" to "I did not come here to see this" to "Fine" to "Really cheesy" to "Those young dancers are cute while their eyes are begging the camera man to stop" to something that looked like an Oren Lavie music video, which they should have stuck with.

And I wish Donna Miranda had handled the post-performance Q&A better.

Lin Yuang Shang then did a solo piece called "Kung Fu Dancing". I liked how he played with light and shadows and film. At one point, he used kung fu movies as his backdrop.

Later on, he had a video of the stifling modern city while he kept emphasizing how one must be like the water. I thought he could have done with less textual and verbal cues since his dance and videos were already strong.

Marella mentioned that he repeated and broke down the parts of his thesis too much.

Caroline DesMaison' performance "Entre Deux" seemed like the most complete and clear performance of the three. (She's in the second picture in the poster.) It didn't require text or visuals or a Q&A or lecture to explain what she was doing. All it was was a woman dancing to music, non-music, silence, and rain with her body trying to escape from itself.

Her performance was choreographed by Lin Yung Shang, who founded the Eolipile dance troupe.

Of course, the event was sponsored by Slenda, which also has a dance workout video called Slendance.

Bellyfest 2010

First-off, yey for us! We won something. We're now one of the ten bloggers who will get PETA (Philippine Educational Theater Association) season passes.

As part of our prize, we were invited to their first show, the Bellyfest 2010.

In another blog, I've written about stage reviews (I think I've written about one play here). Anyhoo, the Bellyfest 2010 was a whole day event so I'll speak briefly about the event and then move on to reviewing the performance.

The Event
The event was sponsored by Slenda. There were booths that sold Middle-eastern accessories, Turkish food, and glitter tattoos. There were also workshops on belly dancing, capoeira, and wushu. It was a feast for the senses. I think the event could have used more space and more seating, though. Also, the martial arts seemed out of place.

The Show
*cracks knuckles*
The performers were people from belly dancing workshops, professional belly dancers, a capoeira group, and a group of young wushu practitioners. It was divided into two parts.

The first part was a story (that seemed like a an amateurish retelling of a Paolo Coelho novel, with all due respect) that had a guy travelling all over the world, meeting these different dancers to find the perfect gift for his beloved, only to realize his beloved was the most perfect thing of all.

Apart from the capoeira and the wushu (which was awesome, by the way), the other dances were clearly belly dances disguised as Flamenco, a Chinese fan dance, and an Egyptian dance. Like, a belly dancer puts on a red skirt and says, "Hey, I'm from Spain."

I think it would have been better if they stuck to introducing each dance straightforwardly, like in the second part.

The second part of the show featured professional and hobbyist dancers from India, Australia and the Philippines. There were a group of teen belly dancers from Batangas who were good. But they looked so serious.

The highlights of this part of the show and the day were 1) A group of 6 to 7-year olds belly dancing; 2) Priya Murugusan's number, who earlier did a Bollywood teach; 3) international belly dancer Belynda Azhaar who shimmied on a drum; and 4) Sundee Vinas, from Batangas, who belly danced while balancing a sword on her head.

All in all, I give the show a 7/10. Here's a video of Sundee Vinas dancing. Enjoy.

*video from limnelson1

The Nutcracker - Pacific Northwest Ballet

(Culturati alert?!!)

A good Christmas memory for me would always be ushered in by the Dance of The Sugar Plum Fairy from the ballet The Nutcracker. This is mostly because I was made to dance to this as a kid and because they play this in some parts of Home Alone.

I saw the 1986 stage to film adaptation of the Nutcracker by the Pacific Northwest Ballet Company last night on MGM right after Glee. (So this movie is just as old as I am; and yes, I saw the Wheels episode of Glee.)

The production and costume designs were dreamy, of course. We have Where the Wild Things Are author and illustrator Maurice Sendak to thank for these.

This version's ending could have been more dreamy if it had stuck to the original E.T.A Hoffman short story where in Maria(Clara) marries the nutcracker prince is who is her godfather Dosselmeier's nephew. Instead, the film almost ends abruptly when after a series of dances, the whole cast wave goodbye to a floating Clara and Prince. They later fall from the heavens and Clara wakes up in her bed, a young thirteen year old girl again and alone.

Some of the dances seemed like they were there for the sake of but that's not surprising in a ballet or a classical production.