Review Roundup: BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS by Trumpets
As an early Christmas gift, Trumpets, Asia's first professional gospel theater group, known for original Filipino musicals such as 'First Name' and 'Little Mermaid'--shows with strong moral and spiritual messages--brings to Meralco Theater another family-centric production, 'The Bluebird of Happiness,' which runs until Sunday, October 20.
Photo Flash: Sherman, Zialcita and Trinidad Lead Cast of BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS
Seasoned thespians Lynn Sherman ('The Lynn Sherman Show,' 'Rent'), Robie Zialcita ('Peter Pan,' 'Sweeney Todd') and Joel Trinidad ('Defending the Caveman,' 'The Graduate') lead the cast of theater company Trumpets' new original musical, 'The Bluebird of Happiness,' based on Belgian playwright Maurice Maeterlinck's 1908 play 'The Blue Bird.'
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.
