What a weekend. Four-day weekend! And the four shows: "Ibalong" by Tanghalang Pilipino at the CCP Little Theater, "Collection" by Dulaang UP at Diliman's Guerrero Theater, "Spring Awakening" by Blue Repertory at the Ateneo Rizal Theater, and "They're Playing Our Song" by 9 Works at the RCBC. The best of them, the one I'd suggest to anyone who'd ask if they could only watch one, is - by a mile - "Collection," this explosive masterpiece by Floy Quintos. Runner-up would be "They're Playing Our Song." All four shows, by the way, will be closed in a week.
Today is a historic day. It's my first time to watch the entire Oscars telecast on the day itself and on television. Thanks, no less, to the people behind EDSA I - and even more so to those in charge of cancellation of classes.
Seth MacFarlane was such a polarizing host. I loved him and want him back next year. The jokes were plain nasty, some of them shocking - and the way he gracefully jabbed at Hollywood's oh-so-pretentious butt was top class. "We Saw Your Boobs" should become a classic. Loved the reactions of Naomi Watts and Charlize Theron. Hello, Kate Winslet.
Other insane bits: Ted, his Jewish Hollywood beliefs, and the orgy at Jack Nicholson's; "The Sound of Music" joke; Meryl Streep's introduction, for, as said in Twitter, "Meryl Streep does not open envelopes; envelopes open for Meryl Streep"; "It's like church in here, only with more people praying"; Denzel in the Nutty Professor. Et Cetera. And may I just say, Daniel Day-Lewis gives the classiest, most entertaining, well-constructed speeches; he makes every other actor look illiterate - and oops, he's British.
WTF award of the night goes to "Brave" winning over "Wreck-It Ralph" in the Best Animated Feature category. Weirdest moment of the night goes to the Paul Rudd and Melissa McCarthy introduction - not even awkward, or awkward funny, but just plain weird.
Next up: Oscarthon Year 3, Summer of 2013. As of now, one of the Oscar winners in the acting category is also our pick, while our choice for best film is not among the Best Picture nominees.
UP Medicine 2016 at Ateneo BlueRep's "Spring Awakening." (Photo by Jenn Gargar).
I didn't go to class today. This module doesn't take attendance anyway, so why go to school and risk falling asleep to the lullaby of boring, unenthusiastic lecturers when you can stay at home and study away?
Our guy classmate who's in charge of the Valentine's surprise for all the girls in class asked me if I could write a poem to put on a bookmark the boys would be giving them ladies. Nope, came up with nothing exceptionally good for the season, that's what I told him last night. In truth, my mind just wasn't in the mood to write. Heck, I don't celebrate Valentine's, so why should my writing self? There's nothing I find crazier during the month of February than all the lovers in the world converging into one massive ball of cheese and goo. For the record, I think Valentine's is such an overrated day, and that if you truly were a creative soul, you'd surprise that special person the next day instead. Never be afraid to be different. My classmate Madison once suggested, as a Valentine's surprise, "kidnapping" the girl and taking her to an "abandoned" room where the boy would be waiting with all the doves and pigeons in the world. Taddah!
I think a lot of people nowadays, particularly in med school, are afraid to be different. In med school, they try to destroy you as much as possible - suck out all the creativity, color, and character in you until what's left is a machine that's supposed to be equipped with higher levels of empathy and sympathy. Most people in med school think art has no place in the world, that science is the only worthy way to go. I see them everyday, with their notebooks and transcriptions and their stethoscopes, acting all professional and sane.
Movie suggestions for lovers out there: Like Crazy (2011), Closer (2004), and Blue Valentine (2010). I give you a week, and thereafter, if the two of you are still alright, then you're one step closer to being meant for each other.
That's my mom crossing the famed bamboo hanging bridges in Bohol. Very hard to believe she did that, but photo speaks for itself. May 2012.
Outstanding news from the Everglades! My poem, "Forgetfulness: A Series," has been accepted for publication in the 2013 Bacopa Literary Review. It's a literary journal by the Writers Alliance of Gainsville, based in Gainsville, Florida. They publish only one issue per year (last year's featured 43 writers), so I guess that must count for something. Ah, how it is to have one's work displayed side by side these First World names #OA. The journal will be out in April-May, so I'll make a post for the poem by then.
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Saturday night, the theater club watched Repertory Philippines' production of the Tony Award-winning comedy "Boeing Boeing." When a show is perfect to near-perfect, I don't find the need to write a proper review of it anymore (unless on 'official duties'); a rambling in this blog would suffice. The case with Atlantis' "Avenue Q" and "Next to Normal," and Rep's "Jekyll and Hyde." It has to be said: When it comes to quality, you are more or less assured of a fine show with Rep.
Topper Fabregas (Robert) has to be the best thing in this show. His comic timing and skill for playing awkwardly funny is the reason to watch. Also, the stewardesses' nicely restrained accents. Also, David Bianco (Bernard) finally back onstage after a stellar turn in "Next Fall" a year ago. Also, Carla Dunareanu going wild as Gretchen the German. Also, Baby Barredo in the flesh - first time to see her onstage; this is a very calculated performance with "veteran" written all over it. Also, that scene where Gloria (played by Jennifer Bianco), in her night robe, sneak-flashes Robert. Giannina Ocampo, who plays the unbending Italian Gabriella, is actually our classmate's sister. Hooray for the six degrees of separation.
"It's not impossible."
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Oscarthon 2013 update: Will Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master top this year's list?
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It has been set: I won't be going to London this summer.
The
2013 ESU-International Public Speaking Competition Search for the
Philippine Representative to London in May was held last Saturday at the
UP School of Economics. I finished second. It was a damn good fight,
and the most thrilling public speaking competition I've ever had. John
Lenard Robles (BS BAA, UP Diliman) won first place, and I wish him the
very best in London.
Someone
remarked, when the finals were over and the judges were still
deliberating, that I was quite zen and calm about everything. I guess
that's an art you learn in med school, maybe?
My speech and more about the competition in the next post.
The six grand finalists of this year's ESU-Philippines competition. Photo by Sir Wendell Capili (taken from his Facebook page).
My review of the 2013 revival of the Filipino musical "Katy" is in the theater section of today's Philippine Daily Inquirer! Once again, my alter-ego Vincent got the better of me. Ugh. The online version here.
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'Katy' - from first note to last, an actor's show
Spotlight Artists Centre’s revival of “Katy,” which
closed last Sunday after a 12-show run at the CCP Little Theatre, was not without
its flaws.
Sure, this brainchild of Joey Reyes (book and lyrics) and
Ryan Cayabyab (music) – an attempt to chart the life and times of Katy dela
Cruz, so-called queen of Filipino jazz – still proved a musically relevant piece
bursting with boundless creativity. What it suffered from was Nestor Torre’s puzzling
direction.
The second act, in particular, felt quaintly fragmented;
blackout after blackout made the entire thing seem a disjoint constellation of
memories, in contrast to the previous act’s more cohesive storytelling. One
moment, it’s World War II, the villagers expressing their anguish through the
rousing “Luha sa Kinalimutang Lupa”; the next, Katy’s already in California,
fatherless and a widow.
Scenes ended abruptly, would-be emotional high points
cut short, and more than once, the audience was left in the dark for far too
long as the transitions trudged along.
Magnanimous cast
Which begged the question: Why go?
If only to witness the modest theatre almost explode with
the sheer amount of theatrical talent propelling this production skywards. In
its quest to humanize its title character through nearly three hours of song
and dance across decades, “Katy” triumphed with a magnanimous cast destined to
go down as one of the year’s finest ensembles.
At the forefront was Isay Alvarez, who originated the part
of bar girl Gigi in “Miss Saigon” in London. Here, as the adult Katy who appears
only in the prologue and second act, she was a luminous presence to behold. She
growled her way through the songs, as her character would imaginably once would,
and inhabited the role with a silent sorrow and ever-growing wisdom in her eyes.
If this was the real Katy, no one could possibly tell, but Alvarez gave us a
starkly layered depiction.
Meanwhile, teenage Katy was palpably portrayed by Aicelle
Santos, reportedly one of the final seven women in the “Miss Saigon” auditions
last November 2012. Consider this now her breakout performance – with an explosive
rendition of “Balut,” and displaying a flair for comedy in the farcical
“Bituing Tahimik.”
The rest of the cast relished their roles with as much
theatrical joy, best illustrated by the trio of Tricia Amper-Jimenez, Celine
Fabie, and CJ Mangahis (as full-volume Mary Walter), Katy’s fellow showgirls
and requisite support throughout the musical.
Visceral heartbreak
Tirso Cruz III, nowadays a staple patriarch figure
onscreen, played Katy’s father with sagely, overbearing watchfulness. He also sang
“Tingnan Mo nga Naman,” a father once more getting through his daughter after
years of muddle, and the heartbreak was visceral.
Gian Magdangal – man of the hour in Act I, tired and pot-bellied
in Act II – made for a surprisingly compelling Peping, Katy’s philandering
husband. Dulce, that booming voice that calls to mind Broadway’s Patti LuPone,
successfully painted a sympathetic interior to faded star Olivia.
We can go on extolling the virtues of this wondrous set
of performers, and it won’t be wrong. “Katy” was truly an actor’s show.
But there was a moment in Act I when all else must be
forgotten, and all eyes focused only upfront. The stage bare, the spotlights
focused on two women – Dulce and Santos, vanguards of two generations of
Filipino singers. Without a hint of fanfare or eye-popping background, they launched
into a duet of “Minsan ang Minahal ay Ako.”
For a production bereft of scenery and props, for a show
that could get quite loud and lasciviously funny, these four minutes of soaring
voices, beautiful lyrics, and sheer musicality – undeniably this production’s
zenith – were the ultimate reason to buy a ticket. This was a sold-out run, of
course.
Katy will have a rerun on July 25 to August 4 at the Meralco Theater.
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Video of the week #1: Lea Salonga sings "Empty Chairs at Empty Tables."
Video of the week #2: Lea Salonga sings "Higher" from Allegiance, a new musical.
Iloilo City is sweaty and dirty today with the Dinagyang Festival. I used to run around those streets as a kid, to relish that freedom from cars afforded us once a year. Back then, the city was still shaping up to be an up-and-comer, there was still an authentic rusticity in the air. Not now, when buildings are sprouting everywhere, glass and steel fast replacing stone and Spanish architecture in every corner. My father complains that what the city lacks is a skyline - he compares it too much to Manila's. But maybe that's just what we need for the time being. Hang on to that old-school feel for a little while longer before this journey of no-return into the realm of full-fledged urbanity.
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Friday night, I received what is possibly the most exciting piece of theater-related news for me this year. They are finally staging John Logan's "Red" here. Four shows only, starring Bart Guingona (superb in Rep's "Next Fall" a year ago) and Joaquin Valdes - leading man of my first ever Broadway show (in Manila). Valdes, to note, will be playing the role that won Eddie Redmayne (yes, he of recent "Les Miserables" fame) his Tony and Olivier awards.
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I have officially set a personal record: I've seen eight of the nine Oscar nominees for Best Picture - and the SAG Awards haven't even come to pass yet. What's taking so long for the decent screeners of "Amour" and "The Master" to get leaked? The theme for this weekend, it must be said, is boob exposure: Helen Hunt in "The Sessions," Marion Cotillard in "Rust and Bone," Naomi Watts in "The Impossible." I think it's time for me to start studying for Wednesday's Neuro exam.
When I last wrote here, 2012 was almost over. Now, it's three weeks into the new year, or nine weeks to the end of second year of med school. Within the first ten minutes of 2013, our neighbor attempted to match nearby pyrotechnic displays by playing the notorious "Gangnam Style" four times in full volume. Meanwhile, my nuclear family celebrated by tending to patients at the hospital, going on night duty at the pharmacy, and sleeping at eleven. I find this sort of domestication an occasional source of pride.
Sometimes, it seems quite hard to believe this most academically challenging stage of med school will soon be finished. We'll be starting neurology tomorrow for three weeks, then a week each of psychiatry, ophthalmology, and ORL, two weeks on orthopedics and rheumatology, and finally, one week of dermatology. At the end of it all, we'll attempt to look back and realize it's an outrageous amount of knowledge to wrap one's head around. Trust me, when a med student has his moments of contemplation, he is not spared that thought. But, we make do with what we're given - and in that sense, we are more than blessed.
Now on to the main agenda. I have to confess - and I know I'll be making this "confession" again when it all ends - this is probably my most favorite Oscars season since I started following the Oscars. The pundits call it a freak year; I call it excitement. Only Daniel Day-Lewis is a lock to win in the major categories (it's basically give him the trophy or sacrifice your organization's credibility). Okay, fine, to some extent, Anne Hathaway is, too. Wait, what, Anne who?
Now on to the main agenda (this is not a typo). Friday night, after almost a year of waiting, we finally saw "Les Miserables." And wow, is this film quite the local phenomenon. Suddenly, the least theatrical people are humming "I Dreamed a Dream" or "On My Own" while having lunch. Thirty minutes before our 6:50PM screening, the ticket counter area was packed with people - and surprise, the screening was almost sold out. But here's the greatest part of the story: The moment the screen turned black at the end, the audience applauded. I've never experienced anything like that before in a normal mall cinema screening.
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1. Tom Hooper really likes his eccentric camera angles. Sometimes, the close-ups can get annoying ("What Have I Done?"). Sometimes, the cinematography is questionable. The long shots, such as those of the bishop's mountainous aerie, are gorgeous.
2. Favorite sequences: At the End of the Day-Lovely Ladies-I Dreamed a Dream-Fantine's Arrest, Master of the House-Thenardier's Waltz, In My Life-A Heart Full of Love-Attack on Rue Plumet-On My Own.
3. Favorite extras: Plump "At the End of the Day" female worker and Santa in "Master of the House".
4. Russell Crowe has the ominous authority and unbreakable presence required of an actor to play Javert. And then he starts singing.
5. I don't know which is worse: "Stars"/ Javert's entire track as sung by Crowe, or "Bring Him Home." Dear Hugh Jackman, one does not simply belt out "Bring Him Home" - or do you really pray at the top of your voice?
6. The world is unfair. Eddie Redmayne (Marius) and Samantha Barks (Eponine) deserve just as much awards attention as Anne Hathaway (Fantine). Their characters' solos are clearly the three highlights of the film. Eponine has never been this pathetic, and Fantine, stuck in earth-hell.
7. Look everybody, it's Gabriel Goodman!
8. Ensemble? Oh, you mean the West End.
9. It's confirmed: I'm heartless. Most others shed some tears at one point or another.
10. "Les Miserables" is far from flawless. But it's way more love than hate, that's for sure.
Last night, we were told via Facebook that the research presentation originally scheduled for January 4 has been moved to a later date, owing to a unanimous decision by the group leaders and the activity head. Wow. Just wow. See, this is the kind of disrespect the College of Medicine showers upon its students who come from provinces that require a 10-hour bus ride or a plane ride to get to.Behold, even the best medical school in the country can have f*cked up principles.
I had a mini-French film festival yesterday, with "The Intouchables," France's submission to the foreign language film category of the upcoming Oscars, and "Holy Motors," which the English-language critics have showered with overflowing love. The former is a touching two-man drama involving down-on-his-luck black guy and rich tetraplegic white guy, and how they change each other's lives. The latter, about a man who works as a... performance artist (?), complete with (fake) dick exposure from Denis Lavant, is insane. Ah, you gotta love the French.
Thursday afternoon, I visited grandma. She fed me kiwi and grapes and chiffon cake and a brownie. Also, we ended up watching a TLC show where Americans attempted to make (and lo, they succeeded) a 31-patty burger oozing with commercialized cheese. And another show where they replicated life during 19th-century America. I learned how skimmed milk comes about.
Wednesday morning, I saw "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." Allow me to shamelessly admit that I sort of welled up in the end. I think I'm gonna watch this again before Christmas break ends.
Christmas Day, we watched "Sossy Problems" - one of two GMA entries to this year's MMFF. What a fun movie. Different narrators for the beginning and the end. Also, as the end credits rolled, we couldn't quite figure out what we'd just watched. The verdict: It's so, so, so terrible, it's funny. Watch this, I dare you, if you have the guts. Just remember, movies like this exist to remind us that there are worse things in life. "Don't panic, it's organic!"
On Christmas Eve mass, the commentator forgot to ask everyone to rise during the processional, even as the cross was already halfway down the aisle. An excommunication is called for.
Nasty little joke, those Mayans pulled on us. Now roll in your Mexican-earth graves. Nostradamus is so 20th century. But preparing an underground hideout in the case of an apocalypse wasn't what prevented me from writing. Renal happened, TRP happened - soon, I found myself on a plane bound for Iloilo, in dire need of wintry escape. The weather here's pleasantly chilly; the house, with the windows opened, feels like it's on centralized air-conditioning.
The King and I (November 30, 7PM)
This Resorts World Manila production directed by Freddie Santoswas recently named Best Musical by the Philippine Daily Inquirer. No surprise there - this and Repertory Philippines' Jekyll and Hyde were undoubtedly the two best English-language musical productions of the year. Monique Wilson looked frail, barely nailed "Shall I Tell You What I Think of You?"; overall, a tired but well-acted Anna Leonowens. Leo
Valdez as The King and Gina Respall as Lady Thiang delivered solid work (Respall, in particular, with a haunting "Something Wonderful"), but in our opinion, it
was Tanya Manalang who turned in the most captivating performance. Crystal-voiced and gregariously poised, Manalang shimmered in the role of Burmese slave Tuptim, a bravura "My Lord and Master" transforming the ballad into a blazing display of soaring artistry. By then, all doubts were effortlessly wiped out: Miss Saigon West End 2014 has found a legit Kim. The technical aspect of the production
is various elements of regal spectacle come together - at its pinnacle,
the life-sized elephant discreetly giving The Phantom of the Opera the finger. We can't wait to see this again next year with Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo as Anna.
Say hello to my first ever illegal show photo. As posted in Instagram, "The white silhouettes are Leo Valdez (in bed) and Monique Wilson in Resorts World's 'The King and I' - highly entertaining, spectacularly designed."
Aladdin (December 1, 2PM)
What a mess of a book (Poor K-La Rivera had to make do with a vastly underdeveloped Jasmine)! Despite that - and some questionable choices in choreography (too much going on in the Act I opener "Arabian Nights"; too little for a supposedly grand parade in Act II's "Prince Ali") - this Atlantis Productions season ender proved quite entertaining and a more cohesive show than last year's The Little Mermaid. Thanks, no less, to an almost perfect cast (Jimmy Marquez's Iago - what exactly was he, to put it vaguely?) and overflowing technical inventiveness - lush costumes, Ceejay Javier's golden musical direction. Tom Rodriguez was quite the theatrical revelation in the title role, while Aiza Seguerra as Genie virtually lit up the stage whenever she romped on it. The cherry on top, of course, was "A Whole New World" - a poignant rendition that freewheeled across uncharted borders of 21st-century theater, no doubt flooding the unsuspecting audience, as the song goes, with indescribable feelings. In true Disney fashion, magical.
This photo (from Playbill.com) - one of those theatrical moments we'll remember for quite some time.
The UP Medicine Class of 2016 Theater Club, feat. (L-R) yours truly, Crissy the Kafka-esque, Tricia the Ninja, and Jenn the eternally gorgeous new member. Marky of Loveland, Terence of Hong Kong, and Carmela of Hillsborough were missed.
SEE ALSO: Our review of Resorts World's The Sound of Music and Atlantis' The Little Mermaid.
The von Trapp Children (December 5, 8PM)
Four young singing sensations in the Newport Performing Arts Theater (that cavernous space too damn wide to be proper enough for a real-deal Broadway show). The concert didn't sell out, but whatever. Never mind, as well, that the singing occasionally trod on ground far breathier than desirable. The von Trapp Singers - once a traveling family choir, now reduced to a youthful quartet - proved that they are indeed the musical family. Pristine, clear tones all around! Highlights of the 1.5-hour concert included the Appalachian song "Down to the River to Pray," the Rwandan national anthem "Rwanda Nziza," and the beloved title tune and "Edelweiss" from The Sound of Music.
L-R: Melanie, Justin, and Amanda von Trapp, with their prominent Muon-tien-na accents.
TRP 39 (December 13, 7PM)
Earlier this year, I was elected the UP Meridian TRP head. As a refresher, UP Meridian is the UP College of Medicine's Filipino-Chinese organization (for all students of Asian descent, I must emphasize); TRP - Tao Rin Pala - is the college's annual cultural celebration featuring performances from the various classes, organizations, and departments. Our color-theme for this year was blue-peace. So, to a medley of tunes from the film Memoirs of a Geisha, I staged a full-blown production number depicting an Asian farming village visited by a sort-of-goddess. We had farmers, market vendors, sash and fan dancers, flag men. Best part of all: The stage was awash with confetti and metallic paper by the end. Definitely one of my proudest moments in med school.
Snapshot of UP Meridian's performance. Still too lazy to transfer the full video.
Books and Films
Oscars season is heating up! The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, at almost three hours, will prove quite the cinematic challenge to anyone who enters the theater not 100% invested in watching it. Otherwise, we really don't get all the hate -this is a triumphant, fulfilled work layered with lush visuals and a richness in story-telling. The Deep Blue Sea at times feels forced as a film translation of the play, but the luminous Rachel Weisz, Tom Hiddleston, and especially Simon Russell Beale (with expert command of language and thespian sensibilities) make this worth a second watch. Ted, to echo Ebert, has the funniest film character of the year in its vulgar titular bear. End of Watch is a sensitive, unabashed depiction of police work and the consequences it entails and is sure to make our Oscarthon's top ten list - not a choice most American critics have made. Safety Not Guaranteed won the Indiana Film Journalists Association's best film citation for the season - and we're having slight trouble seeing why.
David Mitchell's "Cloud Atlas" - definitely one of the best reading experiences of my life. As I said in Twitter, "a work of breathtaking literary ambition."
The F*cking Radio Commentator (December 21, Lunchtime)
A mother was found to have murdered her kids in their home in the distant municipality of Badiangan, Iloilo. Reporters were swarming over her like flies by noon. The following is a non-verbatim transcript in English.
Commentator (C): So mother, why did you kill your children?
Mother (M): I heard a voice in my head telling me to kill them.
C: A voice in your head that only you could hear?
M: Yes.
C: And other than that voice in your head, you are pretty much healthy?
M: That appears to be the case.
C: (addressing the listeners and his fellow commentator) So here we have a woman who distinctly heard a voice ordering her to slay her own kids. She's quite healthy - this can't possibly be a sort of mental illness now. If you ask me, ladies and gentlemen, I'd say it's the work of a demon.
WHERE WERE THE NEUROLOGISTS AND PSYCH TEAM?!
UPMedicine Class of 2016 performs "Para Sa Mag-aaral ng Medisina" - winning the Best Performance Award for TRP 39 Chorale Competition, and 1st runner-up overall (as 50% of the score was for the contest piece, prejudged by a separate panel).
Miss Universe 2012
My grandmother is a
Miss Universe genius. She can correctly predict the winner with only the
Top 16's swimsuit competition. While everyone else was going gaga over
Miss Philippines, she was seated composed on her throne, across her face
a knowing smile that said, "No, my offspring, not this year." My
predictions were almost five-for-five. Brazil (who curiously looks way,
way older) and Australia (champion of obese people, enemy of
endocrinologists, dieticians, and gym trainers) were the easy ones. Had
Venezuela - for me, easily the most beautiful of the five -
answered in her native tongue instead of that rambling ode to surfing,
she'd have won. And so we have two: In retrospect, the timeliness of
USA's answer (and how natural she appeared and sounded) flew the crown straight
to her head and - dare I utter this heresy - made Miss Philippines sound
generic. I think the LadyMed committee ought to make me judge in next year's pageant.
We saw Rise of the Guardians yesterday. If it wins over Wreck-It Ralph for Best Animated Feature in the Oscars next year, I won't be jumping up and down.
1. This film must be a headache to watch in 3D, what with the too-intricate gliding and flying sequences.
2. Jack Frost looks like some anime teenager, only fluent in English.
3. The scenery is marvelous. Shanghai, Moscow, Manhattan - you rarely see these places in animated films, much less portrayed as how they are in real life.
4. Worse things could have happened. Pitch could have raped the tooth fairy, who is such a flirt-in-denial.
5. We initially thought Jamie's pet dog is a goat.
6. Why is the Easter bunny so busy?! I'm pretty sure not all Christians go snooping around the neighborhood park for hidden eggs during Easter.
7. The message of this film is that American kids nowadays are so - have incredibly colorful imaginations, most of them believe in Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, sandman, and Easter bunny as much as they believe in the existence of the sun.
8. The ending is just plain terrible. Like, that was it?
Overall, this film is loads of fun, makes deliciously outstanding use of animation (the colors are just glorious, the attention to shape and form impeccable). But I'm still for Wreck-It Ralph.
The sandman channels Dumbledore in Half-Blood Prince.
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... Still pissed off about Life of Pi being pushed back to Januarynext year.
... We're finally done with endocrinology. The next two weeks (last two for the year) will be devoted to nephrology. Here comes urine.
... Did you hear? I finally got published in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. Oh happy days.
... Every time I hear Jose Mari Chan's Perfect Christmas, I feel like tearing up.
The Philippine Daily Inquirer has started a stand-alone theater section, which comes out every Saturday. The Gibbs Cadiz is now the editor and has invited me to be part of his pool of writers. My first piece (originally a simple blog entry) comes out this Saturday: omnibus reviews of "Stageshow" and "William" - the shows I saw during the 4th National Theater Festival at the CCP. [UPDATE: Online version of my article here]
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'William' and 'Stageshow'--rerun please
"Stageshow" by Mario O'Hara is first and foremost a Broadway show for the Filipino. Yet, during its initial run last month, it had the misfortune of competing with "The Phantom of the Opera," which played to packed houses night after night right above it.
How fate bitchily makes use of its metaphors. For had the audience of "Phantom" also paid as much attention to this player at the CCP Little Theater, they would have been treated to a dazzlingly coherent act of acts, a melange of overflowing artistry that all the more made sense as a whole.
There's straight drama, melancholy and flashy musical numbers, dance
routines, even a radio drama (utilized to enchanting effect). One can very well call this O'Hara's farewell gift to local theater.
Shamaine Buencamino left not a single emotion untapped in her virtuoso turn as Ester (in some distant way, it might as well be her "Sophie's Choice"), but an even more fiery star burned in husband Nonie Buencamino, who flirted, tap-danced, philandered, and died his way to dizzying actorly heights, culminating in an explosive redefinition of "performance" in "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die."
Charmer
"William," meanwhile, a play that makes adroit use of rap to tackle Shakespeare in the public school classroom, was a charmer from start to finish. In transposing Shakespeare's stratospheric English to commonplace Filipino, to the tongue of the ordinary Manila pedestrian, the sidewalk hagglers, the manangs who run the market stalls, the play successfully delivered the Bard and his works to the plate of its hormonal teenagers in fresher, less complicated fashion.
The ingenious set: Chairs. They become school lockers, other forms of furniture, even entrance/exit archways. A student enters, the teacher says to him: "Ay wala nang upuan. Sige, pitas ka na lang diyan." If money can't grow on trees, at least chairs can.
Five central performances, each personality as distinct as the color-coded costumes, anchored by Meann Espinosa's teacher - an insanely brilliant ball of comic sensibility - and Jojo Atienza's shape-shifting turn as the four fathers. Plus, a delightful lesbian in Happy Constantino's Strawberry Shortcake ("'Beh, for short").
For these two productions - rerun please!
Future doctors from the UP College of Medicine with the indefatigable Meann Espinosa. From my Instagram (username: vincengyu).
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#chill_mode
Friday night, we watched Revolution - De La Salle Innersoul's 15th anniversary concert. Well, I was actually required to watch - it was our friend Rika's final concert with the org (she graduated last month). It must be said that alumni of this org include Gian Magdangal (who was one of the night's special guests), Fredison Lo, and Johann dela Fuente - stars of 9 Works' recent staging of Rent (my review).
I'd say the concert was somewhere between Maroon 5 (where people are shouting and jumping and singing along) and Lea Salonga (prim and proper, one-woman theatrical show). Songs included the Aria winner "You're the Voice" (originally recorded by John Farnham), "Sowing the Seeds of Love" (Tears for Fears), and "Love Is a Battlefield," which was Rika's solo. One definite downer, however, was the sound system. I don't know how to describe the mechanisms or whatever, except that it was inappropriately, annoyingly (in the technical sense)... LOUD.
The Yuchengco Auditorium is now the most beautiful venue fit for a theatrical production in Manila that I've stepped foot on. Big but not cavernous, with excellent sightlines. They might as well make this the next Meralco Theater (which really needs major fixing).
The ubiquity of microphones... is something you'll never see in UP.
Lastly, I finally met the La Sallian Iloilo-Bacolod circle. Went home at two in the morning.
Rika's photo (and abs), borrowed from Facebook without her knowledge.
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#bitch_mode
The older version of "Cafe Comforts" is one of nineteen poems published in this year's Waywaya, the literary folio of the Manila Collegian, released within the past couple of weeks.
For the record, this is an unsatisfactorily edited folio. There's - yet again - a 't' in my name. Really now, I don't know where editors get the idea that a contributor misspells his or her name. In this modern age, a responsible editor can surely spare some time to query the writer through whatever electronic means. But the (overlooked) errors extend beyond authorship. Take this, from "Curtains and Tales," for example:
movies never to be enjoyed,
fowers never to be given
Given that it took a ridiculously long time to release this folio (deadline of submissions was late March)... I rest my case. After all, part of our tuition goes to the publication, does it not? In my final year in high school, we worked on and released our publication's premiere literary folio in just three months - with a core working group of less than ten people. Just saying.
