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Reviews of VIRGIN LABFEST XVI STAGED READINGS Set 1: BAGAHE, DOMINADOR...
June 20, 2020BAGAHEWritten by Nicko de GuzmanDirected by Joel SarachoChe (Lui Manansala) and Caloy (Ward Luarca) are a senior Filipino couple who had lived in California, USA since they got married...
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Reviews of VIRGIN LABFEST XVI STAGED READINGS Set 2: CASA DE PUN, MATIRA ANG...
June 26, 2020MONGOLOIDA'S CASA DE PUNWritten by Claro de los ReyesDirected by Guelan Luarca and Zoe de OcampoEnrica (Kakki Teodoro) was the daughter of a dark-skinned African-American man and a...
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Reviews of VIRGIN LABFEST 2020 Writing Fellowship Program Showcase Sets A and B
June 28, 2020Since 2012, the Writing Fellowship Program had been a 2-week program about writing plays which was held in conjuction with the Virgin Labfest. I had never seen any showcase live before,...
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Recap and Winners List GAWAD BUHAY AWARDS for 2019: "LAM-ANG,""EVERY...
October 8, 2020Because of the pandemic this year, the presentation of the Gawad Buhay awards this year were pushed back six months, from its usual date in April to today. The awarding ceremony was a...
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Recap of MAP OF THE SOUL ON:E: BTS ONLINE CONCERT DAY 2
October 12, 2020BTS is currently the most popular South Korean boy band in the US, and probably the whole world. Their debut single album "2 Cool 4 Skool" was released in 2013 in Korea, and from that...
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BILLBOARD HOT 100 SONGS OF 2020
December 4, 2020Here are the Hot 100 Singles of 2020 as ranked by Billboard Magazine. This year-end recap is based on Billboard Hot 100 chart performance during between the weeks from Nov. 23, 2019...
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Tanghalang Ateneo: Review of PASSWORD: 03d1pu5_R3x: Fathered by Fate
February 18, 2021For the first offering of their 42nd season with the theme of "Pagbabanyuhay: Mga Bagong Anyo ng Buhay," Tanghalang Ateneo chose to stage a modernized version of a classic Greek...
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KTX: Review of Trumpets' FIRST NAME ANEW: Sacred Stories in Songs
February 27, 2021The original Filipino Christian gospel musical "First Name" was the brainchild of the late theater and concert director Freddie Santos (1956-2020). While Santos wrote all the lyrics,...
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Book Review: Celia Diaz Laurel's MY LIVES BEHIND THE PROSCENIUM
May 9, 2021In 2014, Ms. Celia Diaz-Laurel published an autobiographical coffee-table book about her career as a painter, entitled "The Colors of My Life". That book chronicled her growth as a visual...
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Review of Blue Rep's "f(r)iction": A Mind-boggling Musical
May 26, 2021The last show I watched from Ateneo Blue Repertory was their triumphant staging of Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's "Next to Normal" which was the finale of their 28th season. This was right...
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KTX: Review of I WILL: THE MUSICAL: The Spark to Serve
October 18, 2021"I Will: The Musical" is a new inspirational musical theater production with 24 original songs based on the life and times of doctor of the masses and aspiring politician Dr. Willie...
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Review of LAPULAPU, ANG DATU NG MACTAN: Heroism in Harmony
October 24, 2021After being closed down 25 years ago, the Metropolitan Theater was restored, renovated and reopened this year. Its first major stage production is "Lapulapu, Ang Datu ng Mactan" with...
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REP: Review of THE GREAT CHRISTMAS COOKIE BAKE-OFF!: Delectable and Delightful
November 16, 2021This year, the Repertory Philippines (REP) Theatre for Young Audiences (RTYA) comes back after a year-long hiatus secondary to the Covid pandemic with a holiday musical "The Great...
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KTX: Review of Areté and TA's "²BAYANI": Bullet Becomes Bonifacio
April 13, 2022The controversial story of Andres Bonifacio versus Emilio Aguinaldo had been told and retold in various films. There had been movies that took Bonifacio's side, like "Ang Paglilitis ni...
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Ticket2Me: Review of TP's DOC RESURECCION, GAGAMUTIN NG BAYAN: Noxious Nuisance
April 18, 2022Because of his intelligence and perseverance, Jess Resureccion (Marco Viana) has overcome extreme poverty to become a doctor. He now wants to run as mayor in their poor fishing village,...
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Ticket2Me: Mini-Reviews of VIRGIN LABFEST 17 Sets A-D: Breathing Better
July 5, 2022The Virgin Labfest is an annual festival of "untried, untested, and unstaged" one-act plays by Filipino playwrights that started since 2005. It had always been held at the CCP Tanghalang...
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Review of DOC ANNA ... LET'S KILL THIS LAB!: Political Pressure, Scientific...
August 1, 2022Dr. Anna de los Santos (Jana Isabel La Victoria) was a chemist who heads the nanotechnology laboratory in the Colegio de Salvados. She gained prominence by developing a evaporation...
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Review of MULA SA BUWAN: A Congenial and Charming Cyrano
August 27, 2022"Cyrano de Bergerac" is a classic French play by Edmond Rostand written in 1987. Since then, the play had been translated into and performed in English and other languages, and adapted...
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TP: Review of ANAK DATU: Fresh, Frank and Fearless
September 17, 2022It all started with a short story written for young readers by National Artist for Visual Arts Abdulmari Imao in 1968. It was only about a kidnapping incident that happened in...
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DUP: Review of THE RECONCILIATION DINNER: Unhinged by "Unity"
November 19, 2022Dina (Stella Canete-Mendoza) and Susan (Frances Makil-Ignacio) had been the best of friends since their college days. When they had their respective families, they remained close. Dina...
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