#REPERTORY PHILIPPINES

[akocomyk]

1. What is your most favorite movie of all time?

2. What is your most favorite filipino movie?

3. What is your favorite international series?

4. What is your favorite filipino series?

5. What type of movie you usually watch?

6. What was the last movie you watched in cinema?

7. Have you watched any theater play? What is it?

8. If a movie was made about your life, what genre would it be?

9. Who’s actor would be best to play as you?

10. What ending would you like it to have?

There's a lot. And I'm a Star Wars fan, so there's that. Outside of that franchise, my favorite film would be Pan's Labyrinth (2006).

First movie that came into my mind is That Thing Called Tadhana (2014).

Right now, Heartstopper.

None, 'coz I'm not really a fan of Filipino series.

Movies that have good reviews or are worthy of awards.

Barbie (2023).

Only the ones produced by Repertory Philippines, when they performed in Greenbelt. We watched plays as a part of our field trips. The ones we watched were Aladdin, Mulan, and Jack and the Beanstalk.

Animation! Hahaha

If the film is gonna be animated, eh di voice actor? Hmm... I don't have anyone in mind, I'll leave this job to the casting director as they would know better than I do.

A bittersweet ending.

[marjmae]

"ARTICLE ABOUT NEW SOCIETY "

The New Society started in 1972 and focused on the development of the country. It tried to stop pornography and established a new office called the Ministry of Public Affairs. The government also reviving old plays such as the Cenaculo, Zarzuela and Embayoka of the Muslims. Singing both Filipino and English songs received fresh incentives and those sent abroad promoted many Filipino songs. Weekly publications like KISLAP and LIWAYWAY helped to develop literature in the Philippines during the New Society period. Filipino poets such as Ponciano Pineda, Aniceto Silvestre, Jose Garcia Revelo, Bienvenido Ramos, Vicente Dimasalang, Cir Lopez Francisco, and Pelagio Sulit Cruz wrote poems about patience, respect for native culture, customs, and nature. Composers such as Freddie Aguilar, Jose Marie Chan, and Tito, Vic and Joey also contributed to the period. ANAK of Freddie Aguilar became an instant success due to its spirit and emotions.The government led in reviving old plays and dramas, such as the Tagalog Zarzuela, Cenaculo and the Embayoka of the Muslims, which were presented in the rebuilt Metropolitan Theater, the Folk Arts Theater and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Many schools and organizations also presented varied plays, such as the Sining Embayoka at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. In 1977, the Tales of Manuvu was added to these presentations, performed by Celeste Legaspi, Lea Navarro, Hadji Alejandro, Boy Camara, Anthony Castello, Rey Dizon and choreographed by Alic Reyes. The following organizations contributed to the development of plays during this period: PETA of Cecille Guidote and Lino Brocka, Repertory Philippines of Rebecca Godines and Zenaida Amador, UP Repertory of Behn Cervantes, and Teatro Filipino by Rolando Tinio. Radio and television continued to be patronized, with play series like SI MATAR, DAHLIA, ITO AND PALAD KO, and MR The New Society of the Philippines was characterized by a number of popular television plays, such as Gulong ng Palad, FLOR DE LUNA, and ANNA LIZA, as well as popular Filipino films such as Pista ng mga Pelikulng Pilipino (Yearly Filipino Film Festival).

Bilingual education was initiated by the Board of National Education in 1958 and continued up to the period of Martial Rule in 1972. The focus of education and culture was on problems of national identity, re-orientation, renewed vigor and a firm resolve to carry out plans and programs. The forms of literature that led during this period were essays, debates, and poetry. Short stories, novels, and plays were no different in style from those written before the onset of activism.

Photo credit/reference: The Period of Activism and the New Society. (2014, November 3). Philippine Literature. https://group4lit1webpage.wordpress.com/period-of-activism-and-the-new-society/#:~:text=Period%20of%20the%20New%20Society%20(1972%2D1980)&text=The%20New%20Society%20tried%20to,and%20so%20with%20school%20organizations.

[spaceasianmillennial]

Archived Post

HERE LIES LOVE - Preview Experience

[This was so deep in my drafts. I didn’t realize I didn’t post it. But I post it now to archive my experience with a musical that has generated discourse.]

I attended Here Lies Love on Sunday July 2 (earning tickets for B-Roll shifts). I didn’t know if I was going to get Floor (Standing) or Seat tickets. I ended up with Floor.

This information is secondhand, straight from my memory. I’m reading the musical through a non-Filipino Western lens. There’s also a curtain call decision that did not work.

These are rather scattered but I put them in linear order the best I could.

NOTE: These were viewed in PREVIEWS. So this means elements can change by opening night. Notably, the show added its 12 new musicians after my Sunday attendance. The show has its official opening night on July 20th.

- You know how sitting on mezzanine, balcony, or orchestra often changes the POV? In this musical, different seatings alter the psychology of understanding this show and the audience’s reaction. My comp tickets (and upcoming press tickets) are floor tickets where you’re in the action and you’re within the waves of the actors. This show is a study in how the arrangement affects your perception, who’s close to the events and who’s not as close.

-  “Here Lies Love” - The musical very much begins framed as an Imelda Marcos (Arielle Jacobs) story, small-town poor girl who aspires for something better and believes that “love and beauty” is what life is all about.

- “Opposite Attract” - Feels tongue-in-cheek. So Ninoy Aquino (Conrad Ricamore) and Imelda break up because he chose the greater good over her (and I’m aware “good” is a facile way to describe the real historical Aquino). He runs off with a woman with a Filipino flag and Filipino-flag dress (I heard some cheering), symbolizing him choosing the Philippines. It’s basically, “Sorry babe, I love the Philippines more so gotta leave you.”  I’m not kidding; that’s the vibe of that breakup. 

- “The Rose Of Tacloban” - Imelda winning a beauty contest is staged in a very humorous manner where we kinda laugh at how scrappily it’s set up (with gorgeous costumes). Interestingly, the comedic staging also belies the tongue-in-cheek framing of the event. It hints at her ruthless way of deposing of the opposition: “Cutting out their faces and replacing them with my own.” (Imelda tells us that Ninoy apparently left her because she was “too tall” and we find out Ninoy married a rich girl.)

- “A Perfect Hand” - This is Ferdinand Marcos’s (Jose Llana) campaign speech. He does it straight on the level of the dance-audience to court them. A camera-person on the ground captures him and transmits it on a live-feed. Yes, he does gesture toward real audience members. From what I recall at my showing, there was a comical image of him stringing his hand over the shoulder of an old white-presenting woman (audience member or possibly a plant). 

---- Introducing “A Perfect Hand”, it shows a newspaper headline of Ferdinand Marcos being considered a “war hero” against the Japanese. This has long been subjected to scrutiny. I do believe this musical is showing him weaponizing seductive “I care for you” rhetoric. We take him at face-value (or it might feel face-value) because he’s on the floor with us. That said, so far the musical doesn’t explicitly-explicitly indicate that he specifically inflated his wartime “heroism.” 

- After “Eleven Days” (the courtship), “When She Passed By" has this darkly comedic image of Estrella (Melody Butiu), Imelda’s maid and caretaker and so-called best friend, smiling and watching Imelda’s wedding behind the gates. A foreshadowing that once Imelda has married into greatness, she never examined her poor upbringing and separated herself from her background.

- “Dancing” - We see Imelda taking pills in private to deal with stress during parties. In 2017 (when the Seattle Repertory Theatre staged it), actress Sara Porkalob criticized those drug-taking scenes (and the entire production) for simplifying any psychological insight of the real Imelda. 

- "Star and Slave" & “Poor Me” - After it’s revealed that Ferdinand Marcos cheated on Imelda (using real-life audio), there was some cheering for Imelda and she says a girlboss affirmation like “it takes a woman to do a man’s job.” Motivated by vanity, this image is part of what gets deconstructed. She’ll save herself but she doesn’t bother with the women suffering under her regime.

---- Seeing it live, what really struck me were the lyrics “And a crowd of people / They were praying in there for me / And this crowd of people / They were singing their songs for me.” She selectively feeds off the public sympathy to build herself up.

- These extravagant dance numbers are deliberately undercut. For example, “The Fabulous One" cuts into “Dancing Together.” Through headings and satirical projected imagery (of a building rising up with a photoshop cutout of Imelda Marcos), Ninoy Aquino’s “Fabulous One” eviscerates the Marcos for the rushed disastrous art center. “168 workers buried!” During this, Imelda is at the center basking in her furs and champagne, while Aquino looks on with disapproval and racks up the crimes.

- “Please Don’t” is Imelda’s plea to not let the naysayers get to her or to her “supporters” (us the audience). It’s a dance number so dance floor audience would get seduced into dancing along, even if weird imagery (like what I think is a caricature-masked Ronald Reagan) dances with her. If you look at the mezzanine, you’ll see Aquino staring with disapproval and sometimes interrupting the party. Mezzanine seaters would possibly see it through Aquino’s eyes. As an uptempo number, “Please Don’t” comes off as purposefully superficial and flat as a motivational musical number that becomes overshadowed by the impending seriousness.

--- When I think a lot of what’s recently came to Broadway, a lot of musicals dance in the girl-power spectrum (even Diana the Musical) and focuses on powerful women, it’s interesting how Here Lies Love seems to spit out a lot of that “woman power” attitude but then swerves away from it, as if to show that the very seductive “woman power” framing hides a human cost. The image of Imelda begging at the balcony (employing a projected real photo of the real Imelda at a balcony) feels incredibly anti-Evita.

- "Solana Avenue" - Where Imelda threatens Estrella to stop telling “stories” and it’s implied she disappeared her. If the “Fabulous One” didn’t already cut into the tone, this marks the MAJOR shift in the musical. After this, ensemble numbers illustrate the massive human cost to the Marcos regime and spending. 

- For the first half, the musical indulges in pop-dance songs, but then civilian-centered “Riots and Bombs” and “Order 1081” are deadly serious. You can argue that these numbers inject cruel hindsight into Imelda-focused scenes. While she thinks she’s the heroine in her own story (and she tries to persuade you of that), the outside world--that she’s feeding off--is flooding into systemic chaos and despair.

- “Seven Years” - In this very cold duet, Imelda “frees” Ninoy Aquino to send him into exile because her conscience tells her to save him. It really depends on the actress, but Arielle Jacobs to me played it as disingenuous, as if she wants to be back-patted for her generosity. While history is artistically licensed in musicals, I did find this duet perhaps facile when depicting/imagining the historical relationship. Staging it as Imelda and Ninoy on literal “equal footing” on stage (even if Ninoy is caged) felt unwise.

- Before “Gate 37,″ the DJ (Moses Villarama) orders a dance break to “join Ninoy in America.” This was where I knew they were using the dance break to contrast to his eventual assassination.

- “Gate 37” - the mournful number where Ninoy Aquino is assassinated. At one point, Imelda arrives at a balcony on the upper stage to “observe.” And she places her sunglasses and disappears off-stage. We’re meant to understand that as the Marcos is connected to Aquino’s assassination or at least she harbors antipathy to his incoming fate. (But it also was a rather campy look, like Imelda was some comic movie supervillain. I also learned that someone else alleged a different perspective that I didn’t catch, or either it wasn’t in the preview I saw.)

- “Just Ask The Flowers” - Aurora Aquino’s showstopping ballad at Ninoy Aquino funeral. This is the showstopper the dance floor audience have to make space for. Some audience are beckoned to one of the platforms at the back while most stand at the side so Aurora Aquino’s funeral procession goes forward on a moving platform.

--- This is also where I saw some attendees flash the "L" sign (the Laban “fight” gesture).

- “Why Don’t You Love Me” - This is to me the definitive number for Imelda. She’s spitting out all those platitudes and appeals that no longer work on the audience. By this time, there’s silence in the observation. She’s pouting and singing, “It’s for love, it’s for love” to both mezzanine and dance floor. And we’re not buying it. When the helicopter lights strobe upon Arielle Jacobs’s performance (she’s fighting and clawing at the helicopter strobes blinding her), it’s directed in way to show the monster being slayed.

The final number is a mournful and this is where real instruments are brought out. The stage/club artifice lifts to reveal a mural related to the People Power Revolution. The DJ is the one at the center, holding a guitar (the first live instrument seen). He’s no longer jockeying for Imelda’s story.

“It’s so easy to be seduced by shiny things...“ And he notes how Imelda and Ferdinand's son is now the President, and that history is repeating itself.

Thus, it begins “God Draws Straight,” a collective and meditative ballad that the DJ acknowledges it as based on the testimonies by Filipinos who lived through the People Power Revolution. Eventually, other castmembers bring in other instruments. (George Salazar does a rendition here.)

- One person sobbed next to me. One person had both hands raised up with the "L" sign. 

- There are too many lights and it eventually gets covered at the curtain call, but preview videos do show the open space where the mural was.

After “God Draws Straight,” Arielle Jacobs, Conrad Ricamora, Jose Llana come out at the curtain calls in a trio, as themselves and shed out of their politician costumes. The cast does an audience reprise of “Here Lies Love” just to give the audience a finale to dance to. That is a more than questionable decision. I think the intent is that now the song/message/quote belongs to the Filipino castmembers in a way that it has ceased to belong to the Marcos, but it still essentially uses Imelda Marcos’ “here lies love” words.  It’s telling that the musical didn’t want to end on “God Draws Straight” and the mural, the meditative image that defines the show’s trajectory. (I’ve seen shows before that completely omit traditional curtain calls to make a point.)

-- Seeing an early Public Theater staging, Filipino critic Luis H. Francia also criticized the decision for the show to end/curtain-call on an ensemble reprise of “Here Lies Love.”

-- Curiously, there’s at least one later preview that did not do that reprise and did a simple brief dance-clap party. Whether that sticks is up to question.

Stray observations: 

When attending the B-Roll, I overheard Filipino attendees talking about the subject matter.

"My [relative] had me watch the documentary The Kingmaker... They said, 'learn your history'... I have family who's a descendant of the Marcos..."

One attendee (who was entering the B-roll shift and hadn’t seen the show) had a bit to critique about the hallway’s timeline

"Imelda falls in love with Aquino!? Really?" (Miffed at how the history is being framed.)

"Marcos placed blame on the Communist Party... We don't have a Communist Party! Sure we got Communist groups...."

"Imelda released [Aquino] to the US for a bypass operation... Did she really? She wasn't the one in power... She wasn't really the one with the power to do that? .... I'm going to leave it all that behind so I can enjoy this show."

----

A note in the Playbill:

“Jose [Llana, who plays Ferdinand Marcos], his parents, Florante & Regina, and his Ate Patricia came to the US to escape martial law [signed by then-President Marcos]. This performance is dedicated to them and to the thousands of lives lost before the People Power Revolution.”

[kikodora]

Snow White and the Prince: A Production of Repertory Philippines’ Theater for Young Audiences Opens September 16, 2023

Repertory Philippines’ Theater for Young Audiences opens its first production after the COVID-19 pandemic with a new version of a classic fairy tale. Snow White and the Prince is a love story between these two iconic characters. Written by Janet Yates Vogt and Mark Friedman, the same authors of RTYA’s very successful 2017 production Rapunzel, Rapunzel! A Very Hairy Fairy Tale, it is a musical…

[arenakoraine]

THE NEW SOCIETY

The period of the New Society in the Philippines began on September 21, 1972, under the leadership of Ferdinand Marcos. During this time, efforts were made to promote Filipino literature and culture. The Don Carlos Palanca Memorial Awards for Literature continued to recognize outstanding Philippine writers, while attempts were made to discourage pornography and other forms of literature deemed to have negative moral influences. The government played a significant role in reviving traditional plays such as the Tagalog Zarzuela, Cenaculo, and Embayoka of the Muslims. Filipino poetry during this period often focused on themes of patience, cultural traditions, and appreciation for nature. Additionally, radio and television remained popular, and the annual Pista ng mga Pelikulang Pilipino showcased Filipino films. Many performing artists in radio moved over to television because of higher pay. Moreover, organizations such as PETA, Repertory Philippines, UP Repertory, and Teatro Filipino contributed significantly to the development of plays during this time. Meanwhile, newspapers shifted their focus to news on economic progress, culture, and tourism, and bilingual education led to a renewed focus on national identity and resolving societal problems. Overall, the New Society period was marked by a renewed appreciation for Filipino culture and an emphasis on national identity. While efforts were made to promote literature and the arts, the government also sought to maintain moral standards through censorship and regulation. Despite its challenges, this era left a lasting impact on Philippine society and culture.

Reference:

The Period of Activism and the New Society. (2014, November 3). Philippine Literature. https://group4lit1webpage.wordpress.com/period-of-activism-and-the-new-society/

Photo source: https://group4lit1webpage.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/download-3.jpg

[judebautista]

Karylle & Gian are Dazzling in REP’s CAROUSEL

Karylle & Gian are Dazzling in REP’s CAROUSEL

Gian Magdangal (Billy Bigelow) and Karylle (Julie Jordan); Watch hit show REP’s CAROUSEL at Tanghalang Ignacio Gimenez (Blackbox Theater), on its last weekend December 16, 17 and 18, 2022. Photo by Jude Bautista Written and photographed By Jude Bautista There’s nothing like the crystal clear voice of Karylle to breathe life into the role of Julie Jordan. Across from her is the strong tenor of…

[milkyetoile]

!! I finally sent payment for PETA's Under My Skin video on demand on Dec. 5 (PETA here is the Philippine Educational Theater Association). still waiting for confirmation but I'm super excited. I wanted to watch this in person but if I remember right, they were in the middle of their run when lockdown started in 2020 😔

anyway, the friend who referred me to the seller said to prepare to cry so I guess I'm gonna need more tissues 🙃

Repertory Philippines' The Great Christmas Cookie Bake-Off will be running until Dec. 12 so I'll probably reserve a slot to watch next week. if anyone is interested, REP is actually streaming it internationally on Broadway on Demand!! prepare to wish you could eat cookies tho haha their promo photos alone make me want to order 😂

[max-crawford]

“When the red curtain opens

A biography

Act 1. “Draw the Curtains!”

Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga or more famously known as simply “Lea Salonga” was born on the 22nd of February, 1971 in Ermita, Manila. She was born to her father, Feliciano Genuino Salonga and her mother Ligaya Alcantara Imutan and became a sister to her brother, Gerard Salonga. Mr. Feliciano was a naval rear admiral and a shipping company owner. For her first six years in life, she lived in Angeles City before moving to Manila. She was a kid who loved to sing with dreams bigger than the Earth itself.

Her childhood was already part of the opening act of her life’s play as at the early age of seven, she made her professional debut in the musical “The King and I” in 1978 with Repertory Philippines. A Filipino theater company. After “The King in I”, she managed to secure the title role in her next play “Annie” and acted in the play in 1980. By the age of 10, she was able to record her first album “Small voice” in 1981 and it was well received by the masses as it was certified gold here in the Philippines. She also made left and right appearances in various plays such as “The Fantasticks” and “Paper moon” from 1988 and 1983 respectively. Her early childhood was full of acting and theater as that’s what she loved doing. She was a performer at heart.

Throughout the 1980s, Lea Salonga was steadily gaining popularity as she was featured in many television projects from GMA radio television arts. She was a child actress at the time and following her first album’s success, she was given an opportunity to host her own television show and this was named “Love, Lea”. Lea also made appearances as a member of the cast for a teen variety show “That’s entertainment” hosted by the late German Moreno. Because of her amazing acting skills and innate talent for it, Lea received multiple awards from FAMAS (Filipino Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences) and Aliw awards. The latter awarded her three times for three consecutive years for being the “Best Child Performer” of 1980, 1981, and 1982. Talk about consistency! 

By 1988, Lea released her second album simply entitled “Lea” and in that same year, she finished her High School Education) at O.B. Montessori Center located at Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. Lea also attended an extension program by the University of the Philippines College of Music that trains musically talented children and teens in Music and stage acting.

Act 2. “The Opening Act”

At the age of 17 years old, Lea auditioned for the role of the main character in the play “Miss Saigon” named “Kim”. In her audition, Lea chose to sing “Boublil” and “On my Own” by Claude-Michel Schonberg from the play “Les Miserables”. Because of her amazing singing ability, she was asked by the audition panel to sing “Sun and Moon” which impressed them. At the age of 18 in 1989, Lea was picked to play the role of Kim in Miss Saigon’s debut production held in London.

Lea Salonga was able to win the “Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical” in 1990 because of her successful performance as Kim in Miss Saigon. This made her one of the world’s youngest winners of the award which was a feat on its own. Also in the same year, she performed a homecoming concert in Manila named “A Miss Called Lea. In the following year, Lea won multiple awards from Theater World, Outer Critics Circle and Drama Desk from playing the same role in Miss Saigon’s play on Broadway. In the 1992 Disney animated film “Aladdin”, Lea became the singing voice for our beloved Princess Jasmine. In 1993, she achieved yet another feat of becoming the first ever woman of Asian descent to be awarded a “Tony Award”. 

Act 3. “To The Center Stage!”

 “Les Miserables” has been one of the most well known plays worldwide and in 1993, for the broadway production of the play, Salonga played the role of “Eponine”, the daughter of the Thenardiers. When the 65th Annual Academy Awards happened in Los Angeles in the same year, Lea performed as Jasmine in the song “A Whole New World” along with Brad Kane. In the awards show, the song won a deserving, Golden Globe Award! With the help of Atlantic Records, Lea was able to release her self-titled international debut album. In 1994, she was able to partake in multiple musical theater plays in the countries Singapore and Philippines. She took the roles of the witch in “Into the Woods” and Sandy in “Grease” to mention. 

By 1995, Lea Salonga went back to the US to bring to life the role of an 18-year-old Vietnamese American adopted child named “Geri Riordan” in the television film “Redwood Curtain”. She proved herself to be still a busy woman as at the same year, she went back to the Philippines to act in the film “Sana Maulit Muli” along with Ariel Aquino Mulach or more famously known as Aga Mulach. Through this film, she was able to get her second FAMAS nomination as “Best Actress”. 1995 was also the 10th anniversary of Les Miserables and so, Lea flew all the way back to London to play Eponine in “Les Miserables: The dream cast concert” held at the prestigious Royal Albert Hall.

1997 was the year when Lea Salonga started making recordings and she started that off with her album entitled “I’d like to teach the world sing”. This album was well received by the Filipino people as the album reached gold sales in the Philippines. This album was then followed by the 1998 album “Lea…In heart” and the 2000 album “By heart”. These two albums were able to reach Platinum sales multiple times in the Philippines. 

In 1998, she again collaborated with Disney and became the voice of the Disney animated film character “Mulan” and the singing voice of the same character in the film sequel “Mulan II” in 2004. Lea moved to New York City, USA where she purchased her apartment at the age of 28 and owned it until 2013. In the same year, Lea participated and performed at a tribute concert held for Cameron Mackintosh entitled “Hey, Mr. Producer: The musical world of Cameron Mackintosh.” By the years 1999 and 2000, Lea played the role of “Sonia Walsk” in the “They’re playing our song” musical.

Throughout the years of 2000 to 2003, Lea Salonga continued on making multiple appearances in various kinds of platforms from TV shows, musical and nonmusical theaters, and films which led to her appearances in multiple awards shows as well. By the 10th of January, 2004, she married the love of her life Mr. Robert Charles Chien whom she met in “Flower Drum Song”. The same year, she also performed her all-Filipino concerts entitled ”Songs from Home” which made her win the “Entertainer of the year” award from Aliw awards.

Act 4. “The Climax”

2005 was the year when Lea Salonga reached international status as she started to tour the world. She conducted her first US concert tour and in the same year, she managed to perform to a sold-out crowd at Carnegie Hall. Because of her international ventures, Lea was awarded with a “Golden Artist” award from FAMAS. In 2006, she performed for the closing ceremony of the 15th Asian Games held in Doha, Qatar with the song “Triumph of the one” at the Khalifa Stadium.

Lea then proceeded to release her first studio album in 2007 entitled “Inspired” which gained popularity and got platinum sales in the Philippines. She was also awarded by the former president Gloria Arroyo with the “Order of Lakandula” for using her abilities to the benefit of the Philippines and its people. Lea made more appearances on the theater scene with the return of Les Miserables, Broadway on Broadway, Stars in the alley, and more.

By 2008, she became a columnist for the Philippine Daily inquirer. She wrote her column “Introducing: Lea Salonga, writer” and from then on, started writing more and more columns. Lea went on to do singing performances throughout 2009 with her appearance in the 95th anniversary special of Iglesia ni Cristo singing the song “Bayan ko” and the concerts “Lea Salonga…Your songs” for the 20 years of “Miss Saigon”.

Following her singing performances, Lea made an appearance as a celebrity judge for the show “Avon Voices”. Speaking of being a judge, she also became one of the judges to sit on the judges panel of the 60th Miss Universe 2011 held in Sao Paulo, Brazil which happened at the 20th of September, 2011

Lea Salonga continued on making more concert appearances as in 2013, she was part of the Lincoln Center’s American Songbook Concert Series. She also played as a mother in the concert performance of “Ragtime”. In the same year, she started her concert tour in the Philippines “Lea Salonga: Playlist” which was done to celebrate her 35 years of hardwork and dedication in show business. 

By 2014, she went back to making judge appearances to “The Voice” and “The Voice kids”. Throughout 2014, she continued touring around the world with multiple concerts. She made an American television appearance in 2016 with “Crazy-Ex Girlfriend” and another for the international premiere of “Fun Home” as Helen Bechdel in Manila.

Act 5. “The Curtain Call”

Lea Salonga’s career has been going smoothly even until the present. With her steady amount of appearances in the theater scene for the past 4 years, it proves that Lea has made her mark in the theater scene as a whole which she worked hard for since age seven. She’s currently living with her family and has a daughter named Nicole Chien. This year, Lea is planning to embark on another world tour on the 6th of April, 2022 entitled “Dream Again” which will start in North America. 

To many theater kids, Lea Salonga is one of the many theater actors and actresses that these kids can look up to. She’s the perfect example of one who’s passionate about their dreams whatever it may be. Once a small town girl, now one of the big names of show business, Lea Salonga is a woman of passion, pure talent, and dedication to her craft. A true performer.

[coda-cola-39]

A Star Is Born

{A biography on Lea Salonga.}

Renowned for her crystalline voice and perfect pitch, Lea Salonga truly is one of Broadway’s best. An inspiration to aspiring Asian actors and actresses, she is best known for her various roles in musical theatre, as well as being the iconic voice behind Disney princesses, Jasmine and Mulan.

Born Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga, she hails from Ermita, Manila, but spent the first six years of her life in Angeles City before moving there. Her parents were Feliciano Genuino Salonga, a naval rear admiral and shipping company owner, and María Ligaya Alcantara, whose father once served as mayor of the town. Musical talent seemed to run within the Salonga family, as her younger brother, Gerard Salonga, likewise thrived in the industry as an orchestral conductor.

Even in childhood, theatre intertwined with Lea’s life. She debuted at the age of seven in The King and I with Repertory Philippines, and soon played the titular role in Annie two years after. At the age of nine, she also recorded her first album, Small Voice, with her brother, which went on to receive a Gold record in the Philippines. Following the success of her debut album, she hosted her own musical television show, Love, Lea, and appeared in a number of television projects and films.

In 1988, she finished her secondary education at the O. B. Montessori Center in Greenhills, San Juan, Metro Manila. In addition to that, she participated in the University of the Philippines College of Music's extension program, which trained musically talented children in music and stage movement. Later on in life, she studied at Ateneo de Manila University. When she moved to New York, she took on two courses at Fordham University and juggled it in between jobs.

Despite her musical prowess, Salonga originally planned to pursue a medical career, and studied biology throughout her freshman years in Ateneo de Manila University. Her Broadway career was kickstarted by that fateful audition during her college years. Unable to find the right East Asian actress to fill the role as Kim, the producers of Miss Saigon traveled from country to country and eventually settled in the Philippines. For her audition, the then-17-year-old Lea chose to sing On My Own from Les Miserables; to this day, she credits this song as the catalyst for her international career.

And in 1989, the extensive search for Miss Saigon’s Kim draws to a close, with Salonga originating the role. Although the shot to fame daunted her, she would go on to garner multiple awards for her performance, including being the first woman of Asian descent to win the coveted Tony Award. It all comes full circle back to the song that launched her Broadway journey when she stars in Les Miserables as Eponine, returning later on as Fantine.

Salonga officially moves to New York City at age 28, purchasing her own apartment. She returns to the theatre scene in 2002, playing the lead role in a revival of Rodger and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song. Over the course of the musical’s Broadway run, she meets Robert Chien, whose cousin was in the cast. The two take a liking to each other, and after a few years of dating, the couple married in 2004 in Los Angeles. The arrival of their first child, Nicole Beverly Chien, follows shortly after in 2006. The Salonga family appears to have a penchant for perfect pipes, as their daughter follows her mother’s footsteps by starring in a choral performance of Matilda.

Salonga’s talent doesn’t start and stop with just her luscious vocals. Besides theatre, she’s ventured into writing in 2008 and has written numerous columns for the Philippine Daily Inquirer. She has also published a book, Playlist: A Celebration of 35 Years, documenting her experiences in the show business. In October 2010, she was also named a United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization Goodwill Ambassador, and she has pledged to be an advocate for the FAO's Youth and United Nations Global Alliance initiative.

There’s no doubt that Lea Salonga has made quite the name for herself. Over the 43 years of her career, she has performed for countless national leaders: from the Queen Elizabeth herself to Corazon Aquino. She has collaborated with the most popular artists. She has won the most prestigious awards and heralded as a household name in the industry.

But the road to success isn’t a smooth-sailing one, and she’s faced her fair share of difficulties and setbacks. As a person of color working in a foreign country, she’s faced prejudice and has been rejected theatre roles for being Asian. She mentions spending many sleepless nights over the expectations that come with being an Asian playing typically Caucasian roles. Despite this, Lea doesn’t resent any of it. Not if all those trials led to where she’s standing now.

“It was all worth it,” she states in an interview for Sky News. “If it meant making it easier for generations of Asian actors, it was all worth it.”

Through the characters she has played, Lea Salonga has continued to inspire and touch people's hearts. As for me, she has certainly been what sparked my love for theatre. I fondly recall when I heard her sing the iconic On My Own piece in the Les Miserables Dream Cast for the first time through the radio. Her voice told me a story of love, loss and life with such ease, and in a way, it’s what spurred me to tell stories of my own through song. Lea Salonga told me stories I saw myself in – and in return, I did my part in telling hers.

[southeastasianists]

“Philippine theater has never hesitated to go to war,” wrote cultural historian Doreen G. Fernandez. In times of political struggle, Filipino activists have used plays to express their vision for a better world and give the ordeals of the oppressed a place at center stage. To this day, shows like Black Box Productions’ Dekada 70, PETA’s A Game of Trolls, and Dulaang UP’s The Kundiman Party have been staged and restaged, empowering younger audiences to confront social realities.

In honor of Independence day, we revisit the roots of protest theater in Philippine history—how our nation’s storytellers served as harbingers of hope, voices for the voiceless, and the citizens’ conscience, even as censors threatened to stifle them.

1900’s: “Seditious” plays of the Philippine-American War

In 1901, the Sedition Law was enacted under the Taft Commission, criminalizing the advocacy of Philippine independence. Any protest art was considered a rousing threat to American rule. Still, playwrights took their anti-American sentiments onstage, risking not just their own arrests but those of cast, crew, and audience members.

Juan Matapang Cruz’s Hindi Aco Patay was about the love between Karangalan (honor) and Tangulan (the defender) as they resisted the usurper Macamcam (who symbolized the American insular government). During a performance on May 8, 1903 in Malabon, a drunken American soldier hurled a beer bottle at a Katipunan flag prop, proceeding to tear the scenery apart. Cruz and ten of the play’s actors were soon arrested. The renowned playwright Aurelio Tolentino also suffered nine imprisonments in his life, one of which was for a staging of his equally patriotic play, Kahapon, Ngayon at Bukas.

Their works—while labelled ‘seditious’ then—are now recognized as some of the first nationalist plays of the country, marking the advent of revolutionary drama.

1940’s: Secret messages in the Japanese Occupation

The ban on American films in Japanese-occupied Manila allowed live shows to take their place on the stages of movie theaters. This gave rise to what National Artist Daisy Hontiveros-Avellana called ‘The Golden Age of Philippine Theater’, when Filipino plays were much in vogue. The efficient censorship of scripts, however, did not allow for the obvious symbolism seen in the nationalist plays that preceded them.

Instead, stage shows carried subtle messages of hope to those shaken by the war. “Darating si Mang Arturo,” an actor uttered in one skit, alluding to General Douglas MacArthur’s famed promise.

Theaters also reportedly served as message centers for guerrillas, where they could furtively meet with friends and supporters. If the Kempeitai (Japanese police) entered the theater, a vocalist would suddenly go onstage mid-show to perform a signal song, alerting the rebels that they had to bolt.

1960’s: Proletarian theater groups and the tide of nationalism

The return of the American presence in the forties restored the use of English in local theater. Western classics (such as Shakespeare and Broadway) ruled Philippine stages even after independence in 1946, making theater a bourgeois art appreciated only by the fluent, upper-class minority. By the early sixties, many thespians acknowledged this problem, prompting a huge shift: Where at first, the Filipino tongue was called baduy, by the end of the decade, it had become the language of the stage.

Companies like PETA and playwrights like Rolando Tinio started staging more original Filipino works and translations of Western plays. The rise of student activism also led to the formation of cultural groups like Panday Sining, Gintong Silahis, Tanghalang Bayan, and Samahang Kamanyang. They popularized ‘proletarian theater’, devising spectacles from real-life experiences of oppression and exposing the injustices that hounded the era’s political landscape.

Through their ‘dulansangan’ in basketball courts, churchyards, and rice fields, these groups laid the groundwork for theater activism under Marcos’ martial law regime.

1970’s: Camouflaging political intent under martial law

Under Proclamation No. 1081, theater could not be as propagandistic as before. While some commercial theater troupes stuck to ‘harmless’ zarzuelas, comedies, and musicals, activists strove to resist indirectly through their art. They staged plays around history and tradition, depicting past issues that mirrored those of their dark present. Nicanor Tiongson’s Pilipinas Circa 1907, for instance, was a politicizing spectacle disguised in an anti-American Christmas play.

UP Repertory’s Bonifacio Ilagan also used the cover of religion in Pagsambang Bayan. But because of the more blatant criticism it contained against the tyrannical Marcos administration, director Behn Cervantes was arrested after a 1977 staging of the play. Many other cultural workers and political actors simply ‘disappeared’.

“Political will and a keen sense of the power of the medium drove us to learn theater through actual and urgent theater work, like learning warfare through warfare…No rally was complete without activist theater,” Ilagan later wrote. The multi-awarded progressive playwright, filmmaker, and Panday Sining co-founder Bonifacio Ilagan at a 1971 protest in UP Diliman. Photo c/o Boni Ilagan.

1970’s—1980’s: People’s theater in Visayas and Mindanao

As performance activists grew louder with increasing human rights violations and the Aquino assassination, some left Manila to bring people’s theater to outlying regions. Former participants of PETA’s Basic Integrated Theater Arts Workshop (BITAW)—a three-day course that empowered thespians to stage their stories of exploitation—in the early seventies relayed their knowledge in Davao, Lanao del Norte, Negros, Leyte, and Samar.

Playwright and Mindanao Community Theater Network founder Fr. Karl Gaspar was among these BITAW organizers. Although he was arrested twice for the protest plays he produced, he continued to write behind bars and even established a theater program for his fellow detainees in 1983. Meanwhile, members of the police intelligence chased actors around the stage in a Christmas play from Samar’s Makabugwas theater group. This blossoming of regional theater came with such ‘necessary evils’ of thespian harassment. ‘Militant priests’ in Mindanao encouraged church-based community theater in parishes and on religious holidays. This began in the sixties with an alliance between PETA and the church. Photo c/o Karl Gaspar.

Protest theater has gone a long way since colonial years. In every stage, it has proven to be a powerful weapon—an art of resistance and emancipation that flourished when others tried to muzzle it.

With their ingenuity and guts, these pioneering activists remind us to continue making noise on the stage of the nation.

[johnmarkv]

Di Niyo Ba Naririnig?

#MedikalHindiMilitar #FreeMassTestingNow #DefendPressFreedom 

49 voices from theatre and music organisations of the Philippines from the Philippine Stagers Foundation (PSF) to the Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA) to UP Repertory to Ateneo Blue Repertory have come together in a song of protest. We will not be silent. We will sing. We will let our voices be heard.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their videos and to every organisation that partnered with us. I'd like to extend a special thanks to direk Vince Tanada, Shé Maala, Pat Valera, Joel Saracho, Kip Oebanda, Jb Bejarin, Voltaire Avendaño III, Rona Alondra, Dylan Ray Talon, Quiel Quiwa, Nicole Chua, Andy Reysio-Cruz, Andrea Bello, Muy Maglaya, and เจียนคาร์โล การ์เซีย for putting us in contact with their organizations, helping us gather voices, and helping us with the video, as well as sirs Vincent A. DeJesus, Joel Saracho, and Rody Vera for translating this wonderful song and giving us permission to use it. And of course, to my amazing team composed of Ariel Ignacio, Charlize Kirsten, and Raphael Villanueva

This is for the Philippines. This is for democracy. 

This online video protest campaign is brought to you in cooperation with: Sanggunian ng mga Paaralang Loyola ng Ateneo de Manila  Philippine Stagers Foundation  Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA)  Ateneo Blue Repertory  Ateneo ENTABLADO  Tanghalang Ateneo Musikang Sikat ng mga Tomasino (MUSIKAT) The UP Repertory Company Artistang Artlets - UST MEDIARTRIX - UST 

Head Organizer: Jake Consing Editors: Charlize Kirsten Co and Ariel Ignacio Sound Design: Raphael Villanueva 

 “Di Niyo Ba Naririnig?” Translated by Vincent De Jesus, Joel Saracho, and Rody Vera (apologies for the spelling) Musical Arrangement by Vincent De Jesus Based off “Do You Hear the People Sing?” composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg from the musical Les Miserables

#DiNiyoBaNaririnig

[huttson-blog]

‘Anna in the Tropics’: a brave, provocative production audiences won’t get to see — Inquirer Lifestyle

Read more at Inquirer Lifestyle

— by Arturo Hilado: Repertory Philippines’ (Rep) staging of Nilo Cruz’s “Anna in the Tropics” was a theater landmark of sorts: It was the last stage performance, if only in invitational preview mode, before Manila—and its cultural life—was locked down as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic…

Image courtesy of Repertory Philippines/Santy Calalay

[ginuhit]

A Comedy of Tenors in the key of Laughter

#AComedyofTenors in the key of Laughter #Rep2018 This @RepPhils season opener is set to show until 18th Feb. Get your tickets now via @TicketWorldInc

OnStage, Greenbelt 1 – What happens when you put a harassed producer, the producer’s assistant, an aging, temperamental, and sometimes missing Italian opera star, his hot-blooded wife, their daughter, his lover, a Russian opera diva, and a bellhop in a posh hotel suite in Paris mid-1930s? Laughter, for the audience, ensues at every turn of the play. “A Comedy of Tenors” tells the story of…

[bdsrsated]

MEET YOUR CHAMPION TEACHER AT UNIDA CHRISTIAN COLLEGES! BDMS Selfie with MR. DWIGHT ANGELO Y. VITO CRUZ UCC SHS Performing Arts Instructor THEATER CREDITS Miong (2019) Repertory Philippines Rapunzel (2018) Repertory Philippines Beauty & the Beast (2017) Repertory Philippines Hansel & Gretel (2016) Repertory Philippines In the Spotlight (2016) Repertory Philippines Scrooge (2014) Repertory Philippines Pinocchio (2014) Repertory Philippines CORPORATE SHOW CREDITS Singer Dec. 2016 – May 2017) Ibiza Beach Club BGC Actor (June 2018 & March 2019) Solaire Resort COACHING CREDITS Stagedreams’ Summer Musical Workshop (Summer 2016 - 2018) SDM Got Talent (DXC Technologies – Taguig City (November 2018) Repertory Philippines Adult Musical Workshop (Summer 2019) Stagedreams’ Intense Acting Workshop (June 9, 2019) SHOW AND EVENT ORGANIZING/PRODUCER CREDITS Joseph’s Dreams “the musical” (2014, 2015 & 2017) Cos-Con Cavite (Cosplay Convention Cavite) (2016) Our Time To Shine “a musical revue” (May 2018) The Second Last Supper “a new musical” (August 2018) AFFILIATION Founder Stagedreams Performing and Cultural Arts Society Cavite, Philippines Actor/Workshop Mentor Repertory Philippines Foundation Makati City, Metro Manila, Philippines UCC💚 Your Top-Choice School