November 16, 2008 8 PM. I really enjoyed it! It’s too bad that not too many people were watching. Then again, it was a Sunday night. And there was a Rihanna/Chris Brown concert in Taguig. LOL.

First of all, I thought the actress who played Tracy was super cute. I’ve only seen the movie musical version so I’m going to compare her with that girl. Madel Ching is way better than movie version Tracy. Movie version tracy is so annoying and not cute. Oh and my favorite Tracy song is I Can Hear the Bells, both in the film and stage version lol.

Michael de Mesa as Edna… wow. I loved it! Work it gurl. What an incredible transformation. He looked like Baby Jane Hudson from What Ever Happened To Baby Jane. SERIOUSLY. When he first stepped into the stage, that was all I could think about. The only thing missing was the beauty mark shaped like a heart.

Nyoy Volante was a fabulous surprise. I never knew he could dance. As for Tim Espinosa, the guy who played Link Larkin.. I think he’s a better dancer than singer. But he was good for that role, too.The other actors were excellent as well. I’ve heard of Dulce before but this was my first time to see her live. Amazing.

And my favorite part.. the costumes and set design! It was so cute and pretty and very 60s. It was a really good staging, in my humble opinion. I enjoyed everything about it, even the old skool theater with the uncomfortable seats. It’s weird that I didn’t enjoy the movie version that much but I really loved the stage version. Oh well.

Hairspray Manila runs from November 14 to December 7 at Star Theater. Buy tickets NOW.

October 10, 2008 8PM. I absolutely LOVED it. I thought Christian Bautista did a really great job, contrary to what I have read in some of the reviews. And he’s OMG super cute in person :O I was also happy (and so were the audience, lol) when they announced that Maria would be performed by Joanna Ampil.

Joanna Ampil is a much more experienced in theater than Christian Bautista but umm.. I wasn’t really watching her! My eyes were always on Tony. Even if he looked awkward while dancing or screaming out “CHINOOOOOO”, he was still so uber cute. And yeah, he’s a good singer. I thought he still had the same range, “The Way You Look At Me” era. They have a cute chemistry going on. And I thought “One Hand, One Heart” was really sweet.

Overall, I loved it. Loved the sets, loved the music (even if it’s not a live orchestra), loved the lyrics (hello there Sondheim), loved the choreography, loved the energy! Especially Anita and Bernardo. Jake Macapagal and Rowena Vilar was full of life and energy during “America”.

So those are my favorite parts. Yay. I heard they were staging it again next year. If it’s still Christian Bautista omg I wanna watch. I also wanna hear Karylle’s Maria.

October 3, 2008 8 PM. There’s a first for everything. I have very very very little interest in the opera (genre?) because I always associate it with Bugs Bunny masquerading as a Viking woman attempting to hit the high notes. You get the picture. However, I was sort of curious about opera and the fact that Rent, probably the most popular musical during the 90s, was based on one of Puccini’s masterpiece, La Boheme. When I heard that they were going to stage it here, I was really interested in it. So was my sister. Ehe. Because we had very little knowledge on the music (except Musetta’s Waltz lol), we were excited to watch our very first opera. Wooh!

I was also looking forward to seeing the gorgeous set design of a romantic Paris in the 50s conceptualized by Catherine Martin and Baz Luhrmann. Stupid me didn’t read any of the write-ups on the newspaper. It was set in modern day Manila. lol.

Oftentimes I’d get distracted by the fact that they’re wearing denims and slogan shirts while passionately singing about their troubles and heartaches. However, whatever iffiness I felt was justified when the director wrote the following on the program: “The characters of Puccini’s masterpiece could be any young person wanting to make a name in a city that doesn’t care. That is the look and feel of the POC production. Aside from being a statement on the impermanence of love, the POC “Boheme” is also about a statement about young people on the fringe of society.”

The music was really beautiful. I simply loved the orchestrations. Brilliant. That’s the great thing with opera, it’s much more powerful and passionate than the usual broadway musicals. The emotions of the songs are more sweeping when sung in a foreign language and in such high notes. Hehe. The only problem was that it’s in Italian and I couldn’t understand a word that they were singing. Some of the really OLD PEOPLE watching it were slowly drifting into sleep because of the music and the fact that they couldn’t follow the story (I know this because their conversations were quite audible). My sister and I ended up relying on our “knowledge” and “skillz” in Rent so we’d know what scene they’re on.

“Hey, she has a candle! This must be the Light My Candle scene… Uy she’s dying, Your Eyes na siguro ito!” I was also looking for the character Mark so I figured he must be the guy with the sweater. Or something. It’s sad, I know.

Ana Feleo as Musetta was really good. She absolutely owned “Quando me’n vo“. Rodolfo, who I *think* was played by Conrado Ong, was good too. Jennifer Uy’s Mimi was ok, but I felt like she was overpowered by Musetta. Or was that always the case? Musetta has a presence unlike any other character in La Boheme. Hmm.. that’s probably it.

It’s too bad that they’re only showing this for three days. This is a must-see for fans of Rent. And I’m sure most of them are also first-time opera-goers. Make La Boheme your first opera! There were a lot of OLD PEOPLE (lol) who were watching, but it was great to see young people (like me and my sister!!) who watched it. Go see it. Now.

Oops, too late. The last show is tomorrow at 3 PM at the CCP. Aww. We actually have *free* tickets for the Sunday show because my mom’s company is a sponsor. However, I already bought the tickets for Friday because we weren’t really sure if they were giving the complimentary ones. I hope my parents wouldn’t fall asleep when they go watch it. Haha.

Photo Credit: Scan of the program cover

September 6, 2008 1:30 PM. We had absolutely no plans to watch this since it’s for kids (audience participation omg). But we were given tickets by our brother’s fiancée and one should never ever EVER waste tickets. Especially when free ones are given to you once in a blue moon!!

It was sort of fun. It really was a compressed version of the movie. I was positively SHOCKED when they announced it was already intermission. The first act was like 30 minutes. The second act, by the way, was much more cute. Everyone (I think) loves the song Reflection, but the songs that I liked best from Mulan is I’ll Make A Man Out of You (Donny Osmond, hello!?) and A Girl Worth Fighting For. The additional songs made for the stage version of Mulan was catchy. It’s a good thing they repeated the songs a couple of times because people might end up only remembering the songs sung in the movie.

As usual, the audience participation was cheesy but it was really cute to see little kids enjoying themselves. Actors were energetic, enough to overpower the noisy kids who just can’t sit still. The guy who played Shang was also in Altar Boyz. Ugh, I can’t believe I missed that show. Stage it again, please!

I think I decided that this weblog feature of the site will be dedicated to reviews. But I don’t have time to write agh. Besides, I haven’t exactly watched a lot of plays or musicals. Sometimes I completely forget because of something “school-related” that I have to finish immediately.

I wanted to watch Altar Boyz but it was in the middle of finals week and OJT. Second run, please?

Noli at Fili Dekada 2000 (July 26) I wasn’t able to wake up early so I arrived late at PETA. I missed the first 15 minutes of the play. Too bad I missed the whole Sisa scene. Anyway, it was a good play. It’s not something I’d watch unless it was required for class. And yes, it was required so I didn’t have a choice. The modern update of the two Rizal novels were good. I’ve forgotten about Noli and Fili as soon as we were through with the novels. As usual, I loved the references to Filipino pop culture.

I wrote a lengthier paper on the play for class. But it’s in Filipino. And it’s about foreignization and domestication ekek the approach is too academic. Anyhoo. The set was good too. I think PETA is my favorite theater. It’s so cozy and intimate. Sure, they use monobloc chairs but it’s has a really good ambiance. Sort of similar to that small theater in CCP. I forgot the name.

Cinderella (August 9) - Lovely set and costumes. The carriage was wonderful! Aaah. Lea Salonga, as usual, was brilliant. The last time I got to watch Lea Salonga perform was in Miss Saigon. No wait.. They’re Playing Our Song? Ewan. Cinderella is a cheesy Rodgers and Hammerstein musical but it was ok. I haven’t seen the Julie Andrews version, although my sisters have. But the made-for-tv production with Brandy, Pablo Montalban and Whitney Houston is my favorite. Bernadette Peters! I wish they got Pablo Montalban for the international cast, though. That would’ve been so cool.

Downside: CCP. The seats and the air conditioning were awful. The organizers also ran out of programs. Hello?!? Or maybe it’s their scheme to make people buy the cast recording instead. Which we did. lol. Whatever. They should’ve had printed extra copies, knowing that it’s LEA SALONGA.

I’m looking forward to West Side Story and La Boheme. I haven’t bought tickets to La Boheme yet since I’m hoping that free tickets might magically appear or something. Ugh.