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.

Pinky Amador as the legendary Edith Piaf

Woohoo! BFF Pinky Amador will be celebrating her 30th year in show business this year and will mark her milestone playing Edith Gassion in Atlantis Production's staging of Pam Gem's critically acclaimed musical  "Piaf".

The story revolves around the life of the legendary French singer nicknamed  La Môme Piaf  (or baby sparrow) as a self-destructive, promiscuous, alcoholic junkie. The title of the play comes from her signature song which I'm sure everyone is familiar with La vie en rose.

According to Atlantis, in this new Piaf version "Gems has reworked her classic 1978 play, vividly capturing the glamour and squalor the rise and fall of this complex, fragile and enigmatic performer."

I'm excited to see Pinky onstage and curious on how she will play Piaf which has been her dream role for years! In the last couple of years, she has been relentlessly studying and training for the role. She even went to the extent of perfecting her French, diligently studying in Alliance Francaise. Early this year, she flew to Paris together with the director Bobby Garcia to pay homage to Piaf and  ask permission to play her part. Apparently, some actresses who have were doing or attempting to do the role have gotten into accidents.

Mind you, Pink  is very very busy. Aside from Piaf, she juggles being a full time director of the Theater Arts department of the Meridian International or MINT College and plays a villain role in the hit teleserye of ABS-CBN "Be careful with my heart".

Gina Alajar, Pinky Amador and Bobby Garcia

Piaf will run until March 24 at the Carlos P. Romulo auditorium, RCBC Plaza (purchase tickets online at ticketworld). The play is directed by Bobby Garcia who is also celebrating his 20th year milestone as stage director. Also in the cast are: Giselle Töngi-Walters as Marlene Dietrich,  Ima Castro as Toine,  and the men of Piaf as played by Jamie Wilson, Reuben Uy, Altair Alonzo, Hans Eckstein, Mako Alonso, Nel Gomez and Sandino Martin.

Postscript:  Pinky, the director, the whole cast and crew were absolutely brilliant! Bravo!!  Note that the play is rated PG due to the strong language and sexual situations.