Rak of Aegis, original pinoy rock musical comedy

Bravo!!! This is Philippine Educational Theater Association's (PETA) second run of "Rak of Aegis," an original Pinoy comedy musical based on the songs of the band called Aegis.

I must be honest. I never heard of the band before and I'm not familiar with their music. In fact, I asked the guy who sold the souvenir program who the band was. He looked at me dumbfounded with wide eyes and said .. 1990s all-female rock band?... Halik (Kiss)? Luha (Tears)?  Bakit, Ako Ngayo'y Hate Mo (Why, Do You Now Hate Me?)..  "Ummmm... sorry" was all I can say.

Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed the show - the actors, the music including the well thought out set design with matching knee-deep flood waters and rain. Yes, there was rain and no, you won't get wet.

Performers that night were two-time gold medalist in the World Championships of the Performing Arts Kim Molina as Aileen, Robert Seña as Kiel, Kalila Aguilos as Mary Jane (Issay Alvarez alternates), Kaikai Bautista as Mercy and Arnel Ignacio as Fernan.

Director Maribel Legarda recounted in the foreword of the souvenir program, that two years ago musical arranger Myke Salomon jokingly said "kung meron Rock of Ages, dapat tayo Rak of Aegis." And the three of them together with Liza Magtoto, the playwright, created the musical.

Magtoto would listened to the songs over and over each day.  She said it was the line "ngunit heto, bumabangon pa rin" (But I'm here, still rising) from  Basang Basa ng Ulan  (Soaked through with Rain) that gave her the inspiration to create a plot out of the word 'resiliency" and "ulan" (rain) brought back images of  floods caused by the super typhoons.

She said "I remembered post-Ondoy relief efforts, during PETA's pyscho-social debriefing in Biñan, Laguna.  Two months after Ondoy, the place was still flooded. The shoe and sandal industry was almost gone, globalization had taken its toll as Crocs was in fashion. The mothers I interviewed suspected a subdivision causing the floods, although to this day, the speculation has to be verified. The government had no clear support for the local industry. Although Christmas was going to be bleak, the people didn't look so defeated."

guess who we spottled in the house - David Pomeranz!!

Indeed in 2009, Maricar Cinco reported that the townspeople of Malaban in Biñan, Laguna had to save other than their lives were "the sandals that floated around before the rising floodwater swept them away."  The town had 500 footwear producers and now, only 30 of them survived. In another report, it said over 114,700 people were made homeless and many lived on the top floors of their homes for up to four months, waiting for the flood to subside.

The playwright said that she didn't want the story to simply revolve around resiliency.  She said "But the narrative is more in tune with the songs themselves. This is to say, we bounce back when it comes to love. More than this societal background, most Aegis songs are about love - or actually, the loss of love. So the spine of the play is still this (losing and perhaps finding) love in the time of calamity."

I beg you...please don't miss this show!  It's fun, original and timely! The show will run until August 31, 2014.

Priscilla, Queen of the Desert in Manila!!

in trippy 1970s outfit

The best way to watch the opening night of the trippiest musical staged in Manila is to come in - what else,  drag! So we watched "Priscilla, Queen of the Desert" all made-up and garbed in 1970s psychedelic outfits with matching falsies and wig (Tessa came in her biggest, fluffiest afro wig).

The musical is definitely a must-watch! I must hand it to Resorts World for getting top-rate actors - three-time ALIW awardee Leo Valdez, comedian and impersonator Jon Santos and Red Concepcion  - including seasoned performers such as Bituin Escalante, Pinky Marquez, Timmy Canlas, Michael Williams, Menchu Lauchenco-Yulo, Lani Ligot to be part of the ensemble.

(from left) Leo Valdez as Mitzi (n yellow), Red Concepcion  as Felicia (green) and Jon Santos as Bernadette (purple)

with happy campers Pinky and Gai

The story is about the adventures and misadventures of three friends - two drag queens and a transsexual - as they travel into the heart of the Australian outback in a pink-painted bus they named "Priscilla." Note that the musical is very Australian. The scenes depicted their homophobic bogans (redneck in American slang), aborigines and even a castrating pinay who can work on her muhlabanda. 

Get ready to dance all night as the musical plays top 1970s disco hits - Alicia Bridge's I Love the Night Life, Abba's Dancing Queen, Peaches and Herb's Shake Your Groove Thing, The Weather Girls' Its Raining Men, Village People's Go West, Tina Turner's What's Love Got to Do With It?and many more and including hits of Australian singer Kylie The Locomotion, Can't Get You Out of My Head.

The local production is directed by Jaime del Mundo. The musical will run for three months until July 13, 2014.

Chicago Chicago! 5 Must do things in Chicago.

Chicago River

Did you know that the Chicago River is color green because of the clay floor and the algae that grows on that clay?  Well, that's what the guide said during our architectural boat river cruise which by the way is a must- do while in Chicago. 

Here's my five must do things while visiting Chicago:

1. The restaurants! Its a foodie's haven. "Chicago cooking" has been buzzed about in the last couple of years as one Chicago resident described it as "daring, snout-to-tail, chef-driven." 
Blackbird chef Paul Kahan was the first to defy the foie gras ban way back which led to the city repealing the law. Must try are: Purple Pig food from rising star chef Jimmy Barrios who opened Batali's New York restaurants (note: no reservations so best to go off-hours), top Chef winner Steph Izar'ds Girl and the Goat, Maud's Liquor Bar by Chef Jeff Pikus, Boka in Lincoln Park, Naha on Clark, the new Italian-fare Balena. To book a table try opentable.com. 

Anish Kapoor's Cloud Gate sculpture 

2. Take the  Architectural River Boat cruise. Actually, it  should be the first on your list to give you an orientation of the City, its history and architecture. Note that it was scorching hot this June with temperature as high as 100! So, best to go early to avoid the lines and also wear a hat and sunglasses.



3. The Millenium Park to see the modern  art sculptures laid out in the 9-hectare garden and the iconic Cloud Gate (right photo), the gigantic, biomophic  sculpture made by Anish Kappor. It took him two years to complete this biomophic piece referred to by Chicago residents as 'the bean'. It is huge! 33 x 66 z 42 feet and apparently weighs 110-tons and made up of 168 stainless steel plates welded together with a mirror finish. 

with Eileen, Torpedo Los by Lichenstein behind

4. The Museums - top of my list is the Art Institute of Chicago on South Michigan Ave.  I was lucky to catch the retrospective show of Roy Lichenstein (until September 3), the largest exhition so far of the pop artist mounted with more than 160 of his works up. I heard it took four years to mount this exhibit. Also check out the Museum of Science and Industry on Lakeshore Drive. The museum has four floors and special exhibits so allot at least 4-5 hours!! I was able to see the interactive exhibits You! The Experience, Genetics and the Baby Chick Hatchery and Fast Forward and missed Mythbusters Explosive Exhibition and Smart Home: Green + Wired. 
If you have more time, go visit Sheld Aquarium which has the largest shark exhibit and tank and the natural history museum,  Field Museum. 

5. And lastly, go check out the theater scene which now rivals New York. Clybourne Park was first staged by Steepenwolf before winning a Tony for Chicago-playright Bruce Norrisand now playing in New York. Theater! I watched the Million Dollar Quartet, a fun musical about the story of Sun Records producer Sam Philips' last night on December 4, 1956 with his four bankable talents - Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Carl Perkins and his then new discovery Jerry Lee Lewis. To get discounted tickets, visit hottix.org.

Last tip, bring your running shoes and run along Lakeshore Drive or Michigan Ave to the Water Tower. Enjoy!