Oliver Oliveros - Page 47

Last year's New York Musical Festival's (NYMF) participant PRISON DANCER, a musical inspired by the world-renowned dancing prisoners from Cebu, Philippines, featuring music and lyrics by Romeo Candido, and book by Candido and Carmen de Jesus, is now a web series. PRISON DANCER, a 12 episode web series premiering this Spring, stars CANADIAN IDOL Season One finalist Mikey Bustos and MAMMA MIA! on Broadway's current Ali, Catherine Ricafort.

Repertory Philippines (Rep.), the country's premier English-speaking theater company, is celebrating 45 years in business by opening its 75th season with New York University Tisch School of the Arts alumnus and playwright Geoffrey Nauffts' Broadway dramedy NEXT FALL, a moving story of a gay couple whose religious differences add tensions and contradictions to their five-year romantic relationship. Rep.'s staging of NEXT FALL runs from January 13 to February 5, 2012 at Onstage, Greenbelt 1, Makati City; evening performances are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 p.m., and matinee performances are on Saturdays and Sundays at 3:30 p.m.

Ivory Music & Video, the exclusive licensee of Sony Music in the Philippines, has a neat Christmas treat for Cirque Du Soleil and Michael Jackson fans in the Philippines: the music company has just announced that the highly anticipated deluxe double CD soundtrack for Cirque du Soleil's tribute to the late Michael Jackson, IMMORTAL World Tour, which opened in Las Vegas at Mandalay Bay Resort last weekend, is now available in music stores nationwide. Ivory Music & Video has also launched its Facebook-based photo contest whose winner will win a trip for two to Los Angeles to see IMMORTAL - simply take a photo of you and your friend holding the IMMORTAL CD and email to mj@pongr.com.

Manila-based theater company Atlantis Productions Inc.'s Asian premiere of Disney's The Little Mermaid could have been a spectacular float addition in today's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in Times Square.

I just have to write about Lara Fabregas; she's my kind of a leading lady of the theater: enigmatic, elusive, complex, sultry, and divine. If she were to star as Hedda Gabler, the original, quintessential "desperate housewife" in Henrik Ibsen's 1890 play, in the big city, which versatile and accomplished actresses Cate Blanchett and Mary-Louise Parker did in 2006 and 2009, respectively, I'd be the first to fall in line for show tickets. Alas, Ms. Fabregas' much-awaited stage comeback after almost seven years is happening back home in Manila. At times like these, I wish I were a bridge that could stretch across the Pacific.

I just have to write about Lara Fabregas; she's my kind of a leading lady of the theater: enigmatic, elusive, complex, sultry, and divine. If she were to star as Hedda Gabler, the original, quintessential "desperate housewife" in Henrik Ibsen's 1890 play, in the big city, which versatile and accomplished actresses Cate Blanchett and Mary-Louise Parker did in 2006 and 2009, respectively, I'd be the first to fall in line for show tickets. Alas, Ms. Fabregas' much-awaited stage comeback after almost seven years is happening back home in Manila. At times like these, I wish I were a bridge that could stretch across the Pacific.

Young, bold and enterprising Atlantis Productions wraps up its 2011 season with the Asian premiere of Disney's stage adaptation of The Little Mermaid from November 18 to December 11 at the Meralco Theatre -- This comes right on the heels of Atlantis Productions' own productions of Broadway's smash musicals Next to Normal, Disney's Aida and In The Heights.

The first-ever BroadwayWorld (BWW) Philippines Awards, an audience initiative project that encourages BWW readers from the Philippines to nominate and vote for their favorite plays, musicals, and theater personalities of the past year, revealed its list of nominees two weeks ago to an overwhelming response. Related web pages on my blog and BWW have around 2,000 hits, 100 comments, 2,000 likes, and 100 shares to date.

Dulaang UP's RIZAL X's head writer Katte Sabate, and composer and lyricist William Elvin Manzano have just formed a new theater group called Dulaang Kalay whose inaugural offering is an original play titled 'Series Finale: Saan Hahantong ang Tagpong Ito?', a satirical look at Filipinos' incurable obsession toward soap operas.

"I'll always find the time to go back to my theater roots; everything I know now, I learned it from my professors and directors." - JM De Guzman

It's rather unusual to see Lea Salonga, a Tony Award-winning actress whose name has been synonymous with all things musical, flexing her acting muscles in a straight play; she did that once in the Manila run of David Auburn's PROOF back in 2001, and she's set to do that again via the impending Manila premiere of Yasmina Reza's GOD OF CARNAGE in July next year.

BroadwayWorld (BWW) Philippines Awards' nominees Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (Best Leading Actress [Musical] for 'Next to Normal'); Jay Glorioso (Best Leading Actress [Play] for 'Love, Loss, and What I Wore'); Vince Tañada (Best Direction of a Musical and Best Leading Actor [Musical] for 'Cory ng EDSA'); Frances Makil Ignacio (Best Actress in a Featured Role [Play] for 'The Joy Luck Club'); and 'Cory ng EDSA' (Best Musical) were big winners at the 24th Aliw Awards, an award-giving body that recognizes excellence among Filipino practitioners in the fields of theater, opera, dance, live vocal performance, and instrumental performance.

Lea Salonga, Adam Jacobs, Ali Ewoldt, Jose Llana, and Angel Desai led a company of mostly Filipino-American Broadway actors in SUITES BY SONDHEIM, a tribute concert to American musical theater icon Stephen Sondheim, at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center last night. THE BOOK OF MORMON's co-book writer, co-composer, and co-lyricist Robert Lopez, who's part-Filipino, was also honoured with an Award of Excellence at the concert.

BroadwayWorld.com's Richard Ridge and I, on two different occasions, have recently interviewed Lea Salonga about her newest project in New York City: SUITES BY SONDHEIM, a tribute concert to Stephen Sondheim, that will feature Filipino-American Broadway actors, and singers in a one-night-only performance at Alice Tully Hall, Lincoln Center tomorrow, November 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Leviathan Lab, a newly-established professional creative studio that's helping Asian American artists in advancing their careers in theater and film, recently met with some members of the press and presented excerpts from its inaugural production of William Shakespeare's comedy Twelfth Night, which opens tonight and will run until Saturday, November 19 at Arclight Theatre (152 West 71st Street).

Congratulations to BroadwayWorld.com (BWW) Philippines Awards' nominees, whose names are below, and were shortlisted from around 500 nomination entries sent from October 6 to 31.

While the city was being pummelled by a historic October snowstorm yesterday, Broadway actor-singers Lea Salonga, MiG Ayesa, J. Elaine Marcos, and members of the Filipino-American community braved the bad weather to get to Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall for The Oustanding Filipino Americans in New York (TOFA-NY) Awards, which recognizes individuals and organizations that have influenced the Filipino-American community in a positive way.

Right on the heels of her Disney Legend citation that had recognized her iconic vocal recordings for two Disney Princesses Mulan from MULAN and Jasmine from ALADDIN, Lea Salonga, born and raised in the Philippines, is set to receive another accolade: the Outstanding Filipino Americans in New York (TOFA-NY)Awards' Heritage Award on Saturday, October 29 at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

Right on the heels of her Disney Legend citation that had recognized her iconic vocal recordings for two Disney Princesses Mulan from MULAN and Jasmine from ALADDIN, Lea Salonga, born and raised in the Philippines, is set to receive another accolade: the Outstanding Filipino Americans in New York (TOFA-NY)Awards' Heritage Award on Saturday, October 29 at Carnegie Hall's Weill Recital Hall.

Needless to say, we value your opinion. Thus, on our third year as a regional site of BWW, we've previously announced that we're accepting nominations for the first BWW Philippines Awards, an award-giving program that allows you to nominate and vote for your favourite musicals, straight plays, and stage personalities that made the 13-month eligibility period from September 2010 to October 2011.