Oliver Oliveros - Page 69

Filipino siblings Enrico and Jerianne Banson are producing Jonathan Larson's Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT at the Southside Theatre, Fort Mason Center, Building D in San Francisco, California via The Royal Underground Theatre Company, a JERICA Productions subsidiary. Their production of the popular rock musical opened last January 21, 2010 and runs until February 21, 2010.

New productions of Jonathan Larson's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT are about to open in Manila, the San Francisco East Bay and New Jersey. And all these productions happen to feature Filipino and Filipino-American actors in their roster of young and hip cast members.

Peter Quilter's (End Of The Rainbow, Glorious!) DUETS premiered in Atlanta, U.S. last year. DUETS has since had successful productions in New Zealand, Lithuania, Croatia, Australia and Poland. Repertory Philippines' version of DUETS, which opened on the weekend of January 15-17, 2010, marks the play's Asian premiere, and Repertory's first offering for its 73rd Season.

Tony Award-winning composer Jason Robert Brown (Parade, 13, Songs for a New World) joined 2009 Ovation Award nominees Michael K. Lee and Filipino actress Jennifer Paz in a one-night-only performance of 2009 Ovation Award Best Musical nominee and Off-Broadway gem THE LAST 5 YEARS last Saturday, January 9, 2010 at the David Henry Wang Theatre, the home of East West Players, in downtown Los Angeles, California. Proceeds from the event will benefit Broadway Cares (BC)/Equity Fights AIDS (EFA).

Filipino-American actress Arielle Jacobs is currently playing the lead role of Nina Rosario in the first national tour of Tony and Grammy-winning musical IN THE HEIGHTS. The tour kicked off in Tampa, Florida last October 27, 2009 and will end in Costa Mesa, California on August 15, 2010.

V-Day 2010 Campaign Event to 'stop violence against women and girls' and V-Day New York 'Healing Through Music' announce its second auditions for Eve Ensler's Obie award-winning play THE VAGINA MONOLOGUES to be staged at the Philippine Consulate in New York on Fifth Avenue on April 10, 2010, Saturday at 2:30 and 6:30 p.m. Female actors may show up at the auditions on January 23, 2010, Saturday at 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Champion Studios, 14th floor, 257 West 39th Street, New York City.

For 2010, Repertory Philippines has picked an exciting selection of shows sure to stimulate local theatergoers.

The Marie Eugenie Theatre of the Assumption (METTA) resumes its production of fast-paced and campy Off-Broadway comedy THE MYSTERY OF IRMA VEP on January 21 to 23, 2010 at the newly-opened Assumption Black Box Theater, 5/F Marie Eugenie Building, Assumption College, Lorenzo Village, Makati City in Manila. The show features popular celebrity impersonator Jon Santos and screen and stage actor JV Katipunan.

Tony winner Lea Salonga is singing the theme song 'Lipad' (Fly) of Filipino animated feature 'Dayo: Sa Mundo ng Elementalia' (Wanderer in the World of Elementalia), which premieres on Cinema One cable television on December 27, Sunday at 8 p.m.

BroadwayWorld.com Philippines had the opportunity to visit the recording studio where Audie Gemora (who just finished his run as Benjamin Barker/Sweeney Todd in Repertory Philippines' SWEENEY TODD) and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (who played Mr. Todd's accomplice Mrs. Nellie Lovett in the same production) were curing their version of the hit duet 'For Good' from the Stephen Schwartz musical WICKED. The new recording is included in Gemora's Broadway album dubbed 'Playlist,' featuring most of the musical arrangements by Hong Kong-based musician Rony Fortich (Hong Kong Disneyland, Once On This Island).

These brand new recordings, done in a sweeping, easy listening manner, effortlessly succeed with Gemora's rich baritone and heartfelt renditions. You will never get tired listening to tracks over and over again.

Philippine Daily Inquirer writer and theater critic Gibbs Cadiz cites local productions of Friedrich von Schiller's 'Mary Stuart' and Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's 'The Threepenny Opera' as best plays of 2009 in his annual 'Bravo! Best of Theater' roundup.

RENT Manila February 6, 2010 show owner, Our Awesome Planet (www.OurAwesomePlanet.com), paid a visit to the rehearsals on December 17 and took a video clip that shows stage director Robbie Guevara presenting his cast and the 'Finale B' number.

A self-confessed 'Broadway baby' conquers New York for the first time, by Oliver Oliveros. Excerpts from the Lifestyle Asia Magazine feature below!

Philippine Daily Inquirer writer and theater critic Gibbs Cadiz has recently cited local productions of Friedrich von Schiller's 'Mary Stuart' and Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's 'The Threepenny Opera' as best plays of 2009 in his annual 'Bravo! Best of Theater' roundup.

From over 5,000 song requests from around the globe - the U.S., United Kingdom, Australia, and Dubai - Lea had selected a diverse and electrifying set that delighted her loyal fan base, and new concertgoers alike in her two-day holiday concert (Dec. 11-12) at the PICC.

Philippine musical theatre lead player Audie Gemora (Sweeney Todd, Man of La Mancha) releases his much-awaited Broadway album just in time for the holidays. Entitled 'Playlist,' the album is independently produced and distributed by STAGES Production Specialists, Inc.

Lea holds her much-awaited big holiday concert dubbed 'Your Songs' at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), CCP Complex, Pasay City, Manila this weekend, December 11 (Fri) and 12 (Sat) at 8 p.m.

Bringing Stephen Sondheim's SWEENEY TODD closer to Manila theater audiences may at first seem like a Herculean task. After all, the taste of sweet, blood-curling revenge is not everyone's favorite bedtime story. But that was what Repertory Philippines has been doing in its incarnation of the musical thriller, set to end its highly successful run on December 13, Sunday, 3:30 and 8 p.m. at Onstage, Greenbelt 1, Ayala Center, Makati City.

Local and U.S. concerts for Philippine typhoon victims have been pouring in since typhoons 'Ondoy' and 'Pepeng' displaced thousands of Filipinos a few months back. New York-based Filipino and Filipino-American theatre performers held their own benefit aptly titled BROADWAY BARKADA PRESENTS BALIKBAYAN BENEFIT last Thursday, December 3, 2009 at the Philippine Center at 556 Fifth Avenue.