RAK OF AEGIS Returns; Mariano, Marquez et al. Join Cast
Philippine Educational Theater Association's (PETA) new hit musical, RAK OF AEGIS, returns to PETA Theater Center (5 Eymard Drive, New Manila) with 67 more performances lined up! New additions to the cast are OJ Mariano (Kiel), Arnel Ignacio (Fernan), Jimmy Marquez (Jewel), Gio Gahol (ensemble), Abigail Sulit (ensemble), and Kimverlie Molina (Aileen).
At TAG's Workshop, Actors Pump Up Their Voices
An actor uses two important tools: the body and the voice. Oftentimes in acting workshops, the facilitator focuses more on physical activities than vocal exercises. However at Theater Actors Guild's (TAG) Actor's Voice Workshop, a different approach to developing the actor is brought about.
Photo Flash: Ballet Philippines' RAMA HARI Production Shots
The legendary Indian epic tale of "Ramayana" comes to life once again with Ballet Philippines' (BP) restaging of the hit pop ballet musical "Rama Hari," which opened last Friday, November 30, and will run until Sunday, December 9 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Theatre.
BWW Interviews: Mariano, Aguilos Talk RAMA HARI
Two of the country's most talented and active thespians, OJ Mariano ("Rent," "Forbidden Broadway") and Kalila Aguilos ("Jekyll and Hyde," Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah") are chosen to play Rama and Sita respectively in the revival production of the hit pop ballet musical "Rama Hari," based on the Indian epic "Ramayana," and directed and choreographed by Ballet Philippines' founder Alice Reyes, which runs at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) main theater from Friday, November 30 until Sunday, December 9.
BWW Interviews: Pangan, Aguilos Shed Light on Working with Repertory Philippines
How does a neophyte at Repertory Philippines, one of the country's pioneering theater companies, which is known to have molded world-class talents such as Lea Salonga, Monique Wilson, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Michael Williams, and Audie Gemora, among others, under the infamously stringent rehearsal and performance policies of the late stage director Zenaida Amador, fit in?
Photo Flash: JEKYLL AND HYDE Opens in Manila
Repertory Philippines' current 45th theater season reaches fever pitch with the premiere of composer Frank Wildhorn and book writer and lyricist Leslie Bricusse's overtly melodramatic, pop rock-laden Broadway musical JEKYLL AND HYDE. However, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, director for JEKYLL AND HYDE, along with her team, seems to have been rising above the original Broadway production's bad reputation since the local production opened last weekend. Whereas American critics find Wildhorn's body of work as "gallumphing, dunderheaded musicals that make everything by Andrew Lloyd Webber seems like great art," says Linda Winer of 'Newsday'; Filipino critics find Repertory Philippines' stripped-down incarnation of Wildhorn's most popular undertaking as nothing short of a miracle. "By doing away with the stage spectacle [without the high-tech gimmickry that marked its Broadway run], the focus was redirected to the actors - and rightly so," says Vladimir Bunoan of ABS-CBNNews.com.
HEDDA GABLER Starring Lara Fabregas Closes Today
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.
Lara Fabregas Makes a Theater Comeback Via HEDDA GABLER, 11/25-26
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.
Photo Coverage: Asian Premiere Of AMERICAN HWANGAP, Show Closes 10/3
Korean American playwright Lloyd Suh's Off-Broadway play 'American Hwangap' holds its Asian premiere in Manila through a co-production arrangement between the Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) resident theatre company Tanghalang Pilipino, and New York-based Lark Play Development Center. Top billed by the Philippines' most respected actors on stage, television and film - Mario O' Hara, Celeste Legaspi, Gina Pareño and Bembol Roco - 'American Hwangap' is presented in its original English form, and in a Filipino translation written by Philippine literature professor and writer Joi Barrios-Leblanc. The play runs until Sunday, October 3, 2010 at the CCP Little Theatre.