Clik here to view.
Review of VIRGIN LABFEST XIV - SET B: Of Flowers, Fantasy and Fiction
June 28, 2018I have been watching the Virgin Labfest at the CCP for five years in a row now. The fresh one-act plays chosen for this festival had been exceptional theater pieces, and this year is...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of VIRGIN LABFEST XIV - SET D: Of Disputes, Decisions and Debauchery
July 1, 20171. MARAWI MUSICALEWritten by: Tyron CasumpangDirected by: Ariel YonzonThe play was set in a feeding center where a group of Christian and Muslim volunteers prepare food for the evacuees,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of BINONDO: A TSINOY MUSICAL: Celebrating the Chinese-Filipino Connection
July 2, 2018In 1986, a Chinese professor related to Ms. Rebecca Shangkuan Chuaunsu his personal love story. The poignant drama of his story stuck with her from that time on. More than 30 years...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of VIRGIN LABFEST XIV - SET C: The Shrill. The Shocking. The Sweet.
July 8, 2018Set C of VLF XIV is composed of three strong, well-written one-act plays. Any one or more of them can be in the running for the Revisited Set for next year.1. LABOR ROOMWritten by: Ma....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Recap and Videos: CELINE DION MANILA LIVE 2018: Bombastic Belter, Dramatic Diva
July 20, 2018I first knew of Celine Dion back in the early 1990s when she reached the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100 with the song "Where Does My Heart Beat Now". She would then follow that up with...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of Globe Live/9 Works' ETO NA! MUSIKAL nAPO: Birth of a Band
August 3, 2018It was 1975 at a university campus, where a group of close musician friends get together for the first day of school. They were very excited about a news article that a local record...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of Full House/RWM's ANG HULING EL BIMBO: Failing as Friends
August 11, 2018There are three jukebox musicals concurrently running in Metro Manila this month. I had already seen two: "Rak of Aegis" Season 6 (featuring the songs of Aegis) and "Eto Na! Musikal...
View ArticleTNT BOYS: Their 16 "Your Face Sounds Familiar Kids 2" Performances
August 19, 2018The TNT Boys is a vocal group composed of three boys who were runners-up in the "Tawag ng Tanghalan Kids" Season 2 in 2017 on the ABS-CBN TV noontime program "Showtime". The three...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of PhilStagers' SUPREMO REDUX: Facts in Fantasy
August 25, 2018Back in 2013, the PhilStagers staged "Bonifacio: Isang Sarswela" about the life and death of Andres Bonifacio. This year, they revisited the same basic material and repackaged it into a...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of Atlantis' SIDE SHOW: Adjoined Aspirations
September 1, 2018Daisy and Violet Hilton were a pair of twins conjoined at the hip. They were the star attractions of Sir's sideshow of freaks, which also included the Bearded Lady, the Dog Boy, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of TP's BALAG AT ANGUD: Anthemic Artistry
September 1, 2018"Balag" was a bamboo formation adorned with activist sentiments set in front of the Oblation in UP Diliman in 1970 to protest against Martial Law. "Angud: A Forest Once" was an...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of DUP's ANIM NA TAUHANG NAGHAHANAP NG MAY-AKDA: A Play About A Play
September 8, 2018For its 43rd Theater Season, Dulaang UP embraces the theme of "Hudyat: Pagkilala, Pag-alaala, Pagpapahalaga." Their new artistic director, Ms. Banaue Miclat-Janssen, believes that this...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of BP's CARMINA BURANA: Graceful Grandiloquence
September 9, 2018I recognize the title "Carmina Burana" as a piece of classical music. It was a cantata written by German composer Carl Orff back in 1936 based on Goliardic verses from the 13th...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of M. BUTTERFLY: Cross-Cultural Collisions
September 12, 2018David Henry Hwang's "M. Butterfly" won the 1988 Tony Award for Best Play (for Hwang), Best Director (for John Dexter) and Best Featured Actor in a Play (for BD Wong in his Broadway...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of Red Turnips' A DOLL'S HOUSE PART 2: Fiery Feminist Frankness
September 16, 2018The last time the Red Turnips produced a play was March of 2017 with the disturbing "The Nether," a thought-provoking, even disturbing, play that the Turnips aimed to tell us. Since...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of Sandbox and 9Works' LUNGS: Conversations of a Confused Couple
September 22, 2018The Sandbox Collective, along with their partners 9 Works Theatrical, started the year with Vincent de Jesus'"Himala," an epic musical with a big cast of 40 actors. For their second...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of GUADALUPE THE MUSICAL: Miraculous Memento
October 6, 2018The image of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a rare miraculous reminder of one of the most famous Marian apparitions in history. The colors of this image which appeared on the apron of Aztec...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of ALL OUT OF LOVE THE MUSICAL: Binging on Ballads
October 21, 2018Air Supply is a band from Australia composed of Russell Hitchcock and Graham Russell, whose entire discography was a treasure trove of soft rock love songs. With the trend successfully...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Review of Rep's RAPUNZEL! RAPUNZEL!: Hairy But Happy
October 24, 2018Rapunzel is one of the more popular fairy tales published by the Brothers Grimm in the early 19th century. The story about a long-haired girl trapped in a tower had origins from earlier...
View Article