Vince Vicentuan

Musical theatre became a transformative part of my life when I first encountered 'Miss Saigon' as a young adult in 1989.

Amidst excitement and anticipation, 'Asian Persuasion,' a film by Tony and Grammy-winning Filipino producer Jhett Tolentino, premiered on Monday evening, November 27, at SM Megamall Cinema 2. During the exclusive press screening, press members along with the cast and creatives talked about the future of Asian cinema, diversity and representation, and the pivotal role Filipino-American actors play in Hollywood.

'I Will, the Musical' successfully premiered at the iconic Manila Metropolitan Theater stage on October 14, almost a year after it was filmed at the Music Museum and streamed online in 2021.

A summer night couldn’t be more propitious: an amphitheatre sitting loftily atop rugged Antipolo terrains adorned with humongous homalomenas, philodendrons, and alocasias growing uninterruptedly, a buzzing crowd of guests gushing over the museum’s Castillan-influenced architecture jutting into the night sky, and an impressive lineup of performers headlined by one of the most exciting classical singers to have emerged in the past decade joined by an international musical theater artist-guest who has won countless hearts with his dashing good looks and smooth, dramatic voice.

We recently sat down with “Miss Saigon” alum Gerald Santos and his award-winning composer-writer-director-manager Rommel Ramilo to talk about their wins at the 2020 Aliw and BWW Philippines Awards, recent and upcoming works, finding the creative oasis and breaking new grounds on the virtual platform, and more. Dubbed ‘10 and 10,’ here are the excerpts of the conversations that focus on 10 questions that matter to each of them.

Good musicals are like magnets a?' they attract crowds from near and far that not even pervasive talks of a global pandemic could stop them from inflicting their charm on their willing patrons.

CATS is not your ordinary musical. In fact, it's a sung-through piece of dance theater, which was conceived for the West End stage at a time when Andrew Lloyd Webber had never yet had a huge hit, and the emerging art form was heavily identified with the American Theatre.

Sweeney Todd is a directorial triumph. Obviously, [Bobby] Garcia has full control of all the elements of the production. It's one cohesive endeavor that proves whimsicality combined with creative intelligence could be what memorable theater is.

Aesthetics is said to be the science of beautiful in its myriad manifestations--be it sublime, comic, tragic, pathetic, whimsical, or ugly.

We recently sat down with Angeli Bayani, who plays Harper Pitt in the Atlantis Theatrical production. Angeli is cast alongside theater stalwarts Pinky Amador, Cherie Gil, Topper Fabregas, Markki Stroem, Andoy Ranay, Nelsito Gomez, and Art Acuna.

Everyone knows the musical all too well. At least for those who were already breathing theater when The Phantom of the Opera opened in London's West End in 1986, and on Broadway in 1988.

They say that history is written by the victors, its integrity dependent on who actually wrote it.

Tony and Grammy Award-winning Broadway producer Jhett Tolentino and Frontrow Entertainment have officially announced the six key Philippine cities for the five-month 'M. Butterfly' 2019 National Tour, commencing this February 14, 2019 in Iloilo, and ending June 2 in Baguio.

Imagine yourself in a small room where you can watch people in their most unguarded moments and listen to their innermost, basest desires without any burden or worry of getting caught… Imagine yourself doing what you love doing with no cares for time and space… Imagine yourself in a dressing room where the ethereal meets the corporal, and the objects of your voyeuristic eyes are actresses prepping up for their roles prior to their cues on stage.

In the play 'Boston Marriage,' dramatist David Mamet famously quotes, 'We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.' Indeed, as life in the present has become ever more stressful, one can always choose to find comfort in the gustatory wonders of a perfect pie.

Jukebox musicals have been quite a trend lately. Owing its origin to Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, which successfully ran on West End from 1989 to 2003, the genre's popularity has been boosted by many others that followed suit, such as Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, featuring the music and life of Carole King. Just recently, Manila had seen the staging of a tribute to one of the country's more enduring musical groups, The Apo Hiking Society, with the successful Eto na! Musikal nAPO! This mid-October, yet another jukebox musical, built around the iconic songs of major karaoke staples provider, Air Supply, beckons.

The press preview of David Henry Hwang's award-winning play 'M. Butterfly,' produced by Broadway producer Jhett Tolentino and Frontrow Entertainment, at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater proved to be far stronger than the force of nature, fluttering nonchalantly despite looming news of a super typhoon. As if on cue, Typhoon Mangkhut was a no-show when the local press trooped to the Bonifacio Global City Arts Center to witness with excitement the return of this classic, 28 years after an 18-year-old RS Francisco won the hearts of critics and audiences alike in Dulaang UP's 1990 local premiere.

The simple but elegant opening and press launch of the Maningning Miclat Art Award Exhibition at the Far Eastern University (FEU) Nicanor Reyes Exhibit Hall last September 4 heralded a new batch of young and talented student-artists competing for the top prize, further ensuring award-winning artist, poet, and educator Maningning Miclat's legacy.

Philippine theater enthusiasts will surely take pride in the Manila kickoff of the first-ever international touring production of Disney's 'The Lion King,' hailed as 'the world's #1 musical.'

As far as our fickle adult memory is concerned, there could be very few child roles in major Broadway and West End musicals that captured our hearts: Annie, Oliver, Mary Lennox, and Dorothy. Matilda is the latest welcome addition.