stuff, and callback auditions

What I like about having a really busy day like today is that it keeps me from thinking about other things that I don't really want to worry about.

Yesterday I met up with an old flame after his meeting with my boss, which was the same time I got off work. We both had nothing to do by then, so we decided to just hang out and talk somewhere. Of course he opted for a place where he can smoke, so I led the way to Gloria Jeans. When we were nearing exit of Glorietta 3 that was nearest to GJ, I found a familiar person's back right in front of us. Sure enough, it was Nyoy, hahaha. He was with Tita Helen, Nyay, and a friend of Nyay's. So of course, I couldn't pass by without saying hi to them. Ooh, I love Chiquita's new phone (bought the day before, hahaha). After a few hellos, back to our route to GJ.

Our chitchat basically revolved around theatre, beginning with his meeting earlier regarding a delicate scene. Interesting. Then he mentioned all that crazy stuff that had happened to him on that night at Penguin and more so, when he got held up during the wee hours of Friday morning. I swear, when he told that last story, I wanted to hug him just to assure myself that he was alright, but I restrained myself because I don't think it's proper to do so anymore. We talked and talked, but it was obvious that we were avoiding one particular topic. Though he made the mistake of mentioning something without meaning to. Plus that bad move at the bus stop. Oh well.

Callback auditions for Avenue Q today. It was quieter, because there were fewer people, and I was the only one at the registration table. Though all throughout the day, the callback auditionees were just hanging around the waiting area, talking, and even using these crazy voices. I can still hear Jenny's voice in my head as well as Felix's Gollum voice!

I've been struggling with this monologue I had my heart set on, but it keeps getting flat at my every attempt, so I had to ask my acting teacher for advice.

"You have to trust the material and not play it for laughs. Funny kasi lines nya...

Then she said that the other character from the same play suited me better. Hmmm... That's a thought. I'll read that too later.

High School Musical

Went to see High School Musical with Peachy and Tin this afternoon. What was so funny was that we bought our tickets ages ago, back when it had just gone on sale for about a couple of weeks, and we never actually got to use it.

After lunch at Pizza Hut to satiate our craving for a cheesy volcano pizza, we went up to the cinemas early. Too early. I think they had a break after an earlier show for kids because quite a handful of cast members were outside. Found Tricia, and even Tin, still decked out in their costumes. The most hilarious was when I found a former classmate from a previous workshop. I said a hearty hello, complete with a hug and a bus on the cheek, and then after that, I turned to Peach and Tin and said in a totally different tone, "At ayan, mga darling, ang isang example ng pagiging plastic doon, kasi we never really liked that person, ahehe."

Anyway, we found Hendri and he took us inside, where the entire cast was going crazy, singing and dancing to all these songs from musicals that they had done in the past. We settled ourselves on the front row, and I had a nice chat with Hendri and Mahar. And one thing I can't believe is how Hendri had found out about something personal about me! And to think that it's already old news! Holy kamote. Anyway, while we were sitting there, some people would come up to say or just pass by, and most of them were familiar faces to me. Hahaha, Hendri even quipped that I was famous because I knew a lot of them, nyak.

Because Tin, Peachy and I were already inside the theater, we were too lazy to leave our seats and just took our places in our respective section. So we never got to use our tickets, hahahaha! We even got to watch the cast run through a few numbers.

The first thing I noticed was that it seemed that the stage looked a little too crowded sometimes, usually when the entire cast, complete with ensemble, is onstage. But on the whole, I have to say that the musical was better than the movie. There were new songs added, and the arrangements were different. Karel was still Karel, back from when I saw her twice every weekend in Beauty and the Beast. Shark was pretty interesting to watch. I had only watched him once, in Sweet Charity, but that didn't show much of what he can do. So he was quite the Troy Bolton I had expected. As for his brother Altair, it was very refreshing. He had really grown a lot since our Dreamcoat days. Imagine, after a 3-year hiatus from theater, he comes back... as a skater-dude-cum-cellist, hahahaha! I haven't heard his singing voice in ages, and it had improved a lot. Then there was my favorite song in the musical. "When There Was Me and You." I had already liked the song before, but never when Gabriella was singing it in the movie, because it looked too cheesy. But it was turned into a duet in the play, and I loved it, hahaha.

Congrats to everyone involved in High School Musical! Chari, sorry I didn't tell you beforehand that I had bought a ticket. My friends wanted to watch it with me. My apologies also for not saying hi after the matinee show. Thanks for a good show!

Philippine Bedtime Stories

Once again, thanks to BFF Carlo (hahaha!), I got to watch Philippine Bedtime Stories at CCP's Tanghalang Huseng Batute last night. Rawr, we missed you, Z!

So anyway, after a visit to Sundee's house in the morning, a visit from Ate Maui from noon til early afternoon, and a crazy Y!M conference with Z and Carlo, I headed for CCP. First familiar face that I saw was Ian, hahaha. Apparently he had a busy day. He went to PETA in the morning to watch Belong Puti, then CCP to watch the matinee show of The Pretenders, and we were both about to watch the evening show of Philipiine Bedtime Stories.

When Carlo and Micah arrived, we had nowhere to go so we just stood in the lobby and talked. Hahaha, first in line. While we were standing there, we were reading the playbill, already curious about what to expect from the show. Because the event was a tie-up with the Rink Ko Gun theater company, half the playbill was written in Japanese. Oh no, does this mean that the show won't be in Filipino or English because half the cast is also Japanese? I remember watching a couple of plays--'Yun Na Nga, Kung 'Yun Na Nga (performed in Filipino and subtitled in English) and Bakeretta (performed in Bisaya and subtitled in English)--that had subtitles projected on a wall. Oh well, we'll see. It did say in the flyer that it will have subtitles anyway. Aside from that, I saw familiar titles of the one-act plays. This should be interesting.

Sure enough, for all 5 one-act plays, there were subtitles. If they were speaking in Filipino, there were Japaneses subtitles, and if they were speaking in Japanese, English subtitles were shown.

I've read Isang Libong Tula para sa Dibdib ni Dulce before, when I had purchased this book that Rody Vera was selling during the Virgin Labfest 2. Like I always say, every play is subject to interpretation, be it when you just read it, and when it's performed. When I had read it, it was funny, but when Rody, Mailes and Jojit had executed it, the play was hiliarious.

Single Brown Female was another play I was familiar with because it came from another book I have. One difference was that in the one I had read, there were lots of different foreigners. This version only had Asians (duh). Funny, but still touching. I had even considered using Lara's lines as a monologue, but vetoed it after a while.

I had seen Ang Unang Aswang performed by PHSA students in last year's Virgin Labfest 2, and in this show, the play was split into 2. One was a Japanese aswang with the Filipino lover, and the 2nd one had a Filipino aswang with the Japanese guy. I found Yuko, the Japanese aswang, as the epitome of kawaii. Never mind that she played some creepy Filipino folk character. I found her cute and animated the whole time.

Walang Iwanan was about a man and a woman's affair. Once again, I had read this play, and compared to the other 4, I found this the most dragging. But not because it was draggy, it's just that the other plays were more fast-paced compared to this one.

Of course, my favorite would have to be the last, Ligaya sa Isang Pinoy Bar. Totally hilarious, I was on the edge of my seat waiting for the next punch line every time. At first I didn't get it when Yuko kept calling Mailes her "brother", but after a couple of lines, there goes another punchline, hahahaha! Que funny talaga. I have to find a copy of that play.

Darn, after the show, the cast had stayed in the dressing room and didn't have the usual meet-and-greet. I wanted to meet the cute Yuko. Ahehehe, no, I haven't turned lezzie. I was just amused at the way she moved. Totally cute.

Shout out to Luis, who had found my blog. Hahahaha, kakahiya naman that you found it.

To the ironman, take care, pare.

an art gallery opening

Came from Betty's event, the opening of the ALAB Art Space, about an hour ago. I was supposed to go with Nikki to the event, knowing that I'd really be alone if I went there by myself, because Betty will be all over the place. But plans fell through because Nikki wasn't feeling well.

Of course, despite the fact that I was going alone to a place where a lot of people knew everyone else except me, I still went to support Betty. After killing time in Powerbooks by finishing this book I started reading yesterday, I boarded a jeep that went in the direction of the venue.

The event began at 7, and I arrived about half an hour past. People mingling, looking at the artworks, and I went inside to look for Betty. Hahaha, she had me sign in under the "artist" list, so I got a green nametag that was meant for the artists. She let me mingle, and kept introducing me as a "theater artist," ahehehe.

I met a couple of visual artists through Betty, and one of them named Luis kept talking to me. Heck, I was alone, so I welcomed his company. After attacking the cocktails and a glass of wine, we just kept talking. And I got one of the best compliments I've heard in my entire life. Totally flattering comment about my eyes, one feature that I wasn't really proud of unless someone would rarely comment about it.

We got into a pretty interesting conversation about his being a visual artist, my passion for theater, the local art scene, oil painting, and even studied one of his friends' works that was part of the exhibit. Then after one comment sent as a text message to someone, and I suddenly hear some news. Oh my. Nice timing. And because I couldn't turn down all the glasses of wine that was offered to me, I thought I had one drink to many. And I'm not even a social drinker. I don't drink at all! After a quick goodbye to Betty, Luis walked me to the intersection where I easily boarded a jeep to Landmark, and headed home.

"Mali pala ang sinabi ko sa iyo earlier this week na pag-ingatan mo mukha mo. Pag-ingatan mo talaga sarili mo, pare, maski alam ko na sasabihin mo lang ulit sa akin na 'ganyan talaga ang buhay'."

Time to sleep. G'night world! Take care, y'all!

post-auditions

One of my favorite parts of an audition that I'm involved in is the day after, or whenever we get the chance to open the files of everything that happened during the audition proper. The first time I had experienced this was about 3 years ago, when Rain and I were casting our thesis.

Yes, it's fun going through everyone's audition form, resume and photo. Hahahaha. Plus we get to watch or even just listen to anyone's audition whenever we want. Every time Ate Sally and I hear something interesting going on in the audition venue, we would always jump up from our chairs at the registration table and peek inside to see what was going on.

Hahaha, for those who didn't get to go to the auditions last Tuesday, I just had to laugh at Bobby's system. It was organized and fast, but it was so "American Idol"-ish, like when they flash that darn "golden ticket". So when auditionees exit the room with a callback card with an Avenue Q character's name, they get called back the next week. All they have to do is surrender the card to us, I schedule their callback and they get a study pack which includes a CD of the character they were given, a score, and some sides.

Yesterday, when Bobby had given me the task to input the contact details of everyone who got called back and email ALL the people who had auditioned, Ate Sally and I started flipping through everyone's files. Hahahaha, it was fun learning about how people came from different backgrounds, training, school of acting, that sort of thing. And of course, all the effort put into some of the photos. Some just submitted 2x2 ID photos, while others submitted full color studio photos. I remember someone handing an 8 by10 once. Heck, Tara and Joel's photos even came from the same pictorial, ahehehe. Someone else had put these photos from his last 3 shows. Another even submitted a set card.

More auditions are coming up. Callbacks, singer and dancer auditions, plus that other one. Break a leg to all of us.

the search for the denizens of Avenue Q

It's been ages since I last went to an open call audition under Atlantis. I've only been to a couple of them, but I mostly just hung around and watched the people. I never had enough guts to actually try out. In other words, pampagulo lang ako , hahaha.

This year is different. It was a pretty long day, but I had a blast just working at the registration table.

I started the day by going to Oppen building early to check the venue, just in case some last minute changes would fall through. Thank goodness that didn't happen. After having the place swept clean, I returned to the office and Ate Sally and I gathered everything that we needed for the audition. Made sure we had everything, and we were off to the venue.

There was already a number of auditionees waiting for us by the time we arrived. We quickly set up, and soon after, we were joined by Bobby, Chari, Miss Berns, and Wowie. Lambert (armed with his crutches) and Chie arrived later in the day.

All throughout the day, it was nice to see a lot (and I mean a LOT) of familiar faces. Mostly friends, other actors I have worked with in past productions, friends of friends, and even online friends!

I'm kinda too tired to blog about the whole thing, but thanks to bullet points, let me give the random highlights.

• Avenue Q T-shirts! GA had them printed yesterday.


• Bobby calling me "Pogi" every once in a while whenever he calls me into the room. (This is all Pepe's fault, but I can't really blame that adorable kid.)


• Miss Bernice ready to strangle me.


• Jorel arriving with his Nicky puppet!


• Hearing "My New Philosophy" 3 consecutive times.


• Tara's "gago kasi to si Joel" message in my phone that I didn't get to reply to.


• Rony's visit!


• No lunch break, hahaha. But I don't mind. At least we still got to eat.


• Robbie singing "I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today" and getting the same material for next week.


• Marvin bringing a bald head of a puppet (that looked like Kate Monster).


• Harold spending over half an hour hanging out outside the registration room before finally deciding to try out.


• Raul arriving, all dressed up looking like a senator, and being the one to bring in a couple of resumes to the panel.


• Miss Berns telling everyone the story of how Pepe started calling me "Pogi".


• Bito dropping by to pick up her audition material, right after she went to Atlantis office due to our miscommunication.


• Hearing someone do Cookie Monster's voice as I came into the room.


• Gian getting a callback card that read "Christmas Eve," hahaha!


• Me not recognizing Red, while he was standing next to me for a full 10 minutes!


• Someone singing "Waiting For Life" from Once On This Island and Wowie and Chie alternately dancing to it and complaining about it.


• Miss Berns and Ate Sally's loud but tactful voices talking to me while someone was waiting to audition.


• Punching Jerald for the second time in a row, hahaha. Pag-ingatan mo na ang mukha mo, baka mapasali ka nanaman sa sapakan.


• Always wanting to close the registration, hahaha.

After the auditions, Ate Sally and I got to hitch a ride with Manman (thank you!) back to the office. Long day, hahaha.

Stopped by Betty's office (which is actually next to Oppen building!) for a visit and check out the Art Space before its launch on Friday. Talked up a storm until she had to go back to work, then I headed back home.

I've become an impulsive shopper every time I see Book Sale. Hahaha. There was a Book Sale in Glorietta 2 yesterday and impulsively bought 2 books because I thought the gist that was on the back of the books seemed interesting, hahaha. One was a book about acting techniques, and the other simply reminded me of Peachy because the title was "Princess: you Know Who You Are" by Francesca Castagnoli.

Oh well, I'm tired. Tomorrow's a new day. G'night world.

song stuck in my head

This song kept running in my head the whole day. Tin, this is all your fault, hahaha!

TO YOU, SWEETHEART, ALOHA
by Harry Owens

To you, sweetheart, Aloha,
Aloha, from the bottom of my heart,
Keep the smile on your lips,
Brush the tear from your eye,
One more Aloha, then it's time for goodbye,
To you, sweetheart, Aloha
In dreams I'll be with you, dear, tonight,
and I'll pray for that day
When we two will meet again,
Until then, sweetheart, Aloha

Sound familiar? Hahaha, yep, it's that Hawaiian song that Wenah sings in The Pretenders. It seems that half the people I know who came to watch that play gets this song stuck in their head, or that Spanish song that the cast dances to. Hahaha, Carlo's guilty of that one, up to the point of asking me what the title is so he can download the darn song. HAHAHAHA! Why oh why did I agree to watch the play again when I already know that those songs will stick to my head?

I'm sorry, but I don't need anything else right now. I may have found lots of good reasons to smile and be happy, but maybe not in that department again for now, please.

The Pretenders... again??

Thanks to Carlo, I got to watch The Pretenders for the 3rd time. Because Nikki hadn't seen it yet, I managed to get her to join me.

I had to pass by Kuya Roger's place in Malate (which is actually just a block away from Penguin, hahaha) to have some pants refitted, then off I went to CCP. Nix was coming all the way from Espana then, but to my surprise, she had arrived in CCP (in the ladies room) before I did.

But before I found Nikki, I just had to get annoyed with the guards at the entrance. I stopped at the inspection check point, and then one of them had asked me where I was going.

"Little Theater," I said.
"Manonood po kayo ng show?" the guard behind the table asked.
Malamang, I almost said, but said yes instead.
"May ticket na po kayo?" he asked.
"Kukunin pa lang," I replied.
"Mamaya na po kayo pumasok, ma'am. Sarado pa ang box office."
"Teka, hindi, nasa kasama ko yung ticket. Nasa loob na sya."
"Sino po? Sa artista ba po? May contact na kayo sa loob?"
Why the hell won't these guards let me in? Jeez. "Hindi po. Nasa loob na nga yung kasama ko." Leche, ang kulit nyo," I wanted to add. But instead, I insisted and took a couple of steps inside. Then the other guard just had to inspect my bag a little too much. Hello, I didn't bring a camera, but if I did, I wouldn't be dumb enough to show it and leave it there with those two. Anyway, after that, they finally let me in. And just in time for the box office to open, so I said, "Niloloko naman ako eh, bukas na ang box office eh, leche," loud enough for them to hear.

I don't know what was up with those two guards. Or they might be new.

So anyway, found Nikki at the ladies room, and because Tin was at Harbour Square, she joined us as well. We soon found Carlo and his sister Micah, along with Micah's classmate Pam(?) in the lobby. Because we were early, we just hung around, and Tin even deliberated with herself whether she was going to watch the play again using her subscriber's pass. She ended up watching with us.

Hehehe, close na daw kami ni Paolo. When they overheard that I was working with Atlantis and he wanted to try out for Avenue Q, friends na daw kami, hahaha! What a switch! And to think that I'm planning to try out for Tanghalang Pilipino, ahehehe.

Having seen the play at least once before, we couldn't help but notice all the changes, hahaha. That's the funny part when we watch. Sometimes we get too involved with technicals, that we end up not paying close attention to everything else. My golly, those songs that Wenah sings. I can't seem to get them out of my head, hahaha.

I've been way too lazy to critique everything I've seen lately. Rawr.

awards night of Gawad CCP

So this entire week, there was the 19th Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video. The event was capped by an awards ceremony that was held in front of the PDC building this evening. I went there along with Irene and a bunch of her friends from school.

I got to CCP a little early, so I hung around in Starbucks to kill time. Found out that Aris and some of his office mates were about to watch The Pretenders, so I met up with them at the LT lobby first. Then a little after seven, I went to the PDC building.

Oh well, our film didn't get anything, but the rest did, so support pa rin, woohoo! Hahaha... Tonet even bagged about 3 awards, huwaw. Well, mostly I went to the event for the food, ahehehe. The moment we had sat down, I could already see the chocolate fountain inside the PDC building that I couldn't wait for the awards to end, HAHAHA! So once the awards were over and we all went inside, I hovered near the chocolate fountain, waiting for someone else to get something from that table so I could follow suit, ahehe. Of course, Sir Ed was one of the first.

We each filled our plates then returned outside to the seats so we can sit, eat and watch the winning entries. Little chitchat with Irene as well, ahehehe.

Oh yeah, Quark Henares was one of the judges of the short film category. I knew that Quark's one of Jaypi's very good friends, so I texted him to tell him that Quark was there. So after a while, they were texting each other, with Jaypi telling Quark about the film I was in. When the whole event was finally over, I got a call from Jaypi, and his phone call really made my night. He had forwarded his friend's messages to me... and I don't know if this was really true, but it came out as if Quark had liked my work!

"uy super galing th girl who played th maid in that film! Was that yr friend?"
"She did great :-)"

Oh my oh my oh my... Thank you for this, Jaypi!

So anyway, after that, I waited outside the LT lobby for the audience of The Pretenders for Aris, Joff, Sheryll and Jeric. It was easy to spot Aris because he's always the one in the bright blue shirt. Said hello to a bunch of people first, and found myself face to face with Bito, hahahaha. She was there to watch her sister, of course.

Anyway, the five of us then left the venue and headed to Starbucks for coffee. Hahaha, teased Sheryll about her photo with Romnick, hahaha! Hello! The names were so apt! Plus I think I spilled a bit of trivia about the business because apparently, these guys aren't really into the theater thing. They just went to watch because Ledi and her boyfriend Paolo got them free tickets, hahaha.

Lately I catch myself finding these good reasons to smile. I feel much better now, thank you.

amnesia is real, hahaha

I've always thought that amnesia only happens in cheesy soap operas, just to add another twist to the story or keep the story moving. I mean, yeah, people do tend to forget, and some people even have these short memory lapses. Heck, I'm a forgetful person myself.

I guess it's because I had never met someone who actually had a case of amnesia.

A couple of weeks ago, the boyfriend of a friend of mine had gotten into a pretty scary accident. He works abroad while she stays here. She felt so helpless, always stressed out from thinking about the guy. In fact, she's been crying practically every day during that first week, because her boyfriend was in the hospital, unable to move, just staring into space.

Then late last week, he finally managed to speak... But he couldn't remember a thing. Literally. Not only couldn't remember where he was, or how he had gotten there, but he had lost memory of everyone, even his family. Waterworks galore again for my friend, because once again, she felt so helpless, not being able to do anything to help him.

Last night he was flown back to his family. But before he got on the plane, he got to talk to my friend. He couldn't remember who she was as they talked, but he was told by his friends that he knew her well, very well, so that was what he told her. I was already touched enough by this story as she told it to me today, but there was more to that. Right after they had talked, the guy's friend (who had brought him to the airport) had texted my friend, saying that her boyfriend had told him, "I've heard that voice before." Vague as it was, it all gave us hope that he has the slightest glimmer of a memory at last.

Yes, I'm blogging not of myself, but of someone else's story.

Oh my, I just got an email about auditions for Tanghalang Pilipino Actors' Company, and listed the requirements for the audition. What if I try out and don't have a fighting chance because of one particular requirement? Rawr.

a phone call... and independent films

Getting a phone call from one of my best friends last night was quite a nice surprise. I answered the phone not expecting anyone to call me. When I heard the voice on the other line, it felt like stepping into a waterfall on a hot summer day. Or to be more realistic, it felt like wearing freshly ironed shirts on a rainy day. Ahehehe. Thanks dear. It was the best conversation I had in ages.

Oh yeah, thanks to Bryan as well for giving me another point of view.

The 19th Gawad CCP Para sa Alternatibong Pelikula at Video begins tomorrow at CCP's Dream Theater.

And get this...
ADMISSION IS FREE!

Here's the schedule...

February 13, Tuesday
1:00 PM
Short Feature Entries 1
Doghouse / Jose / Litanya
Saling Pusa / Lapis at Papel
Impen / Malas / Bestfriends
Carpool / Pagbugtaw (Waking Up)
Kariton / Ang Kapalaran ni Virgin Mario
Ikasiyam na Palapag (Ninth Floor)
Kung ang Tula ay Pwedeng Pambili ng
Lalaki
Tatlong Piso / Ang Pagbabalik

4:00 PM
Documentary Entries 1
Ramblings from the Sea
Piso at Monumento / Buhay sa Patay
Bunker O:Sumirib Plus
Ciao Gian Luca! / Making Group Sex
Ruta ni Ka Roda / Buhay Bangkero
Graveyard Shift / Medalawna
Sinulog for Beginners
Batang Ballroom

7:00 PM
Opening Film:
BEHIND IMAHE NASYON
By Jon Red

February 14, Wednesday
10:00 AM
Short Feature Entries 2
Takipsilim / Klepto
Pinakamagandang Pelikula
One-Man Show
Adam's Family
Eros / Manyika (Doll) / Yayay
Mysteryo ng Hapis (Sorrowful Mystery)
Lababo (Kitchen Sink)

1:00 PM
Documentary Entries 2
Ossie: A Sinulog Photographer
Musika at Bulag
Boxingera
Mama/San
Portrait: Rediscovering A Filipino
Film Classic
Sa Pusod ng Bundok
Sa Villa Cristo Rey
Sa Kanlungan ni Ina

4:00 PM
Short Feature Entries 3
Tagapagligtas
Inertia
Lakaran

7:00 PM
Animation Entries
Target / Spider's Thread
Dok / Egg-O / Ang Pagkaplag
Row your Boat / Dream Systems
A Day In The Life Of Gloria Arrovo
Buhay Bato
d/w
New Animation from Indonesia from hellofest (jakarta)

February 15, Thursday
10AM
Documentary Entries 3
Bantay Riles
Kunyang
Sa Patay, sa buhay (In Death, In life)
Da Dou Sai Mau (WTO, Ibasura!; Junk WTO!)
Lukso

1:00 PM
Short Feature Entries 4
Wish Ko Lang
Gabon (Cloud)
Sikolohikal na Armas ni Juan dela Cruz
OFW - Bagong Bayani o Baliw na Bayani
Dead Letter
Geegee at Waterina
Hinagap

4:00 PM
Documentary Entries 4
Memories of the Sea
Walai
Syokoy

7:00 PM
Experimental Entries
Sakdal Laya / Lang
It Feels Good To Be Alive
Cuatro / WWIII
Makibaka Wag Matakot
Transcendental Progression
Simula / Mga Bagay na may Pakpak
Sa Pagdating sa Bawat Sandali ng Mga Bangungot / Doble Vista
Mr. Holiday Wants To Die
Spill / Attack Rate / Revolt of the Hymen

February 16, Friday
10AM
Short Feature Entries 5
Maria Milagros Barbarosa --> featuring me! HAHAHAHA! (Yak, kapal)
Alagwa (Breaking Free)
Ang Obrang 'Di Tapos
Murphy's Law

7:00 PM
Awards Ceremony

Rawr, I won't be able to watch MMB on Friday with the rest of the crowd again. I don't mind that at all, really. I might cringe the whole time at the sight of myself being watched by other people. But count on it, I will be at the awards ceremony. Heck, I was told that there will be cocktails. I never say no to food, hahaha!

How appropo. Almost exactly a year ago, I had to go to this house in Fairview to shoot Maria Milagros Barbarosa. That was when I had first breathed life into "Barbie". Which also means... huwait, is it Tito Ariel's birthday today? Happy birthday! Ahehehe.

Valentine's Day in a couple of days. Hahaha, last year, I was pondering about singledom with my adopted baby bro. Now, I'm not really pondering over it again. I mean, it would've been nice to have someone on that day, but once again, the occasion is pretty overrated, as a whole bunch of us had said last year and even the year before, hahaha. I mean, why do couples act all lovey-dovey on that one day when they can do it the whole year?

I was looking through this book earlier in Powerbooks about what was in during the 90s. Hahaha, I can't believe I was so into that decade. I even thought of sporting the grunge look again once this week, maybe either on Wednesday or Friday. Of course, I have to look for that flannel shirt that I have that still fits me perfectly, hahaha.

Ew, I can't believe I actually want to pull that off. Oh well, just something to do, I guess, hahaha.

My aunt just gave me a huge bar of Hershey's chocolate. Yay, happy food. Even though I still prefer Meiji's black chocolate, I never say no to chocolate given to me. Or other free food, for that matter, hahaha!

that's it?

"Salamat... sorry... at keep in touch..."

That's all you can say?

quoting a quote

I was reading my LJ friends' blogs and came across one of Ala Paredes' entries. She was quoting these lines from a book called "No Tattoos Before You're Thirty" by Sam de Brito.

One quote that she said had made her laugh was "Don't ever date a professional athlete, actor, or musician. If they're successful, they'll cheat on you, and if they're not, they'll be broke forever."

After reading that, I laughed out loud myself.

I learned that little lesson little by little, time and again.

I think some of you may have known a little incident a few years back when I went out with a musician. No, he wasn't cheating on me. But it turned out that he already had a girlfriend and didn't even bother telling me until after we had already gone out.

And then the most recent. No, he wasn't my boyfriend, even though we were dating for quite a long time, but yeah, there it was. I guess he got tired of me. But I refuse to let that get me down.

Kulang na lang yung athelete, hahahaha!

reading a script

Spent this afternoon at PETA's theater center for the Dogeaters script reading. I was actually kinda excited about getting to go to the reading, because I've always wanted to hear the play out loud. I've read the entire play out loud once in the office while we were spellchecking the script that I had retyped, but of course, that wasn't the same. Listening to a group of actors read the lines was totally different.

So off we went. Watched as the actors trickled into the room one by one, being greeted by our dear director once they arrived at the door. While I was checking to see if we were all complete, I was asked the same thing and almost heard that late daw ang mga taga-TP, ahehehe. Tama ba naman yun? And this one guy who claims that he's just a "hampaslupang aktor" just had to make quite the entrance by coming in last, late pa.

Anyway, what I noticed as they went around the circle introducing themselves along with what roles they were reading was that all these people came from different groups, different theater companies. Such a diverse crowd. Very interesting. I like it.

So on with the reading. I followed the script along with them, and I noticed lines that were actually funny when they're interpreted by the other actors. Sometimes I'd just sit there and listen in awe, or in admiration, or in amusement.

Hehehe, shoutout to Bea. Ayan ha, wahahahaha.

I can't wait for the final casting and the actual show itself. The material's already pretty good.

So OK, it was weird. Things are different. Actions were different. Everything. I pretended that things were OK. I looked fine, right? Except for that brief moment in Studio A, ahahaha. I was still smiling, but inside, I wanted to do something. I have no idea what, but I don't want to pretend that I was alright. Argh.

over

I got this prayer from Iam's blog before.

Lord, as I put my trust in You, grant me the Wisdom to know when to hold on, when to let go, and when to move out in faith. Amen.

How appropo.

I've been having this feeling since last month. I even joked about it with myself. Then I saw a little something earlier this week. Then someone confirmed it.

What hurts the most?

Not finding out from the source. Nagmukha pa akong tanga kasi alam na ng iba tapos ngayon ko lang nalaman.

It's partly my fault, really. Nanggugulo kasi ako eh. Mas lalo tuloy naging mahirap pag-isipan.

What hurts even more? Sa text ko pa nalaman nung nanggaling na mismo sa kanya. Hirap daw kasi bweluhan. Meaning to talk to me for quite some time now, but couldn't get around as to how to do it.

So we talked. Just half an hour ago. I didn't care how much it costs, I used my mobile phone. There, he told me everything. Oh did he? I have no idea. The conversation led to another thing, so as to distract me, and I welcomed it. Ended the conversation on a good note. But I can't say that I'm fine.

Masakit pa rin. Alam ko na magkakaroon pa ito ng aftershock bukas. Mas lalo na sa Huwebes. Pero di naman pwedeng magmukmok lang ng magmukmok, diba?

I'm in denial, really. But at least he still made me laugh right down to the very last minute.

the week that was

It seems that I haven't blogged since I last posted that weird entry, ahehehe. Well, one reason is that my computer was kinda whacked since last week, so I couldn't really do much, and I'm too lazy to go to internet cafes.

So time for some highlights from the week that was.

Sunday, January 28

It was the last day of ZsaZsa Zaturnnah at CCP's Tanghalang Huseng Batute, and Tin, Peachy and Mish and I had all gotten tickets for it (thanks to Carlo!). Met up early with Peach and Tin, and went downstairs to the buffeteria to grab a bite to eat. Sure enough, some of the show's cast was already there. Got to talk to Lao about Dogeaters, yay. I sure hope he gets in it. Dedma yung isa, ahehehe. Gantihan lang.

Went back up to the lobby and fell in line for the show. Mish had finally arrived then, and we mingled a bit with Carlo, Zshali and her friends.

Per usual, the show was hilarious and amazing at the same time. Agot was that afternoon's Queen Femina, and had a different accent and attack for the role. Wenah played Dina B and was just as funny. BUT... Tuxqs' voice was going. Heard he was sick that day, and you can hear it in his voice. Waaaahhh... Tin and I both said, "Nahihirapan ako para kay Tuxqs." Aw. Vince ended up playing Ada for the evening show.

There wasn't the usual meet-and-greet by the cast after the matinee show, and Minette has said that they were already running late. By the time we were all standing in the lobby, only Joey was there, clad in his beauty queen attire. So what Tin, Peach, Mish and I decided to do was head over to the buff, ahehehe. Knowing I was with the clones, they won't give up unless they have a photo op with the cast. When we got through the double doors, there was this group of girls still surrounding Joey, and Arnold lurking in the corner talking to a couple of others. I managed to catch Arnold's eye, and got him to talk about how Jerald and Lao were invited to the Dogeaters script reading. As it turned out, he was the one who recommended them to Bobby. After a bit of small talk, I dragged him to where my friends were standing and introduced him to them. They finally got their photo op, but I persisted with my usual deal. They get their photo op as a group while I take the picture, but I get my solo with them, HAHAHA!

Didn't get to hang around much at the buff after that. We sat around with Zshali and her friends for a while, with a bit of chitchat with Joey. Jerald finally came by, but it was purely small talk about Dogeaters. Oh well. Peach and Mish suddenly had to leave by then, so Tin and I went up to the fourth floor to say hello to Betty, who was trying out for Cinemalaya. We waited until her turn was done, then we were off to Harbour Square. After they had their fill at Mang Inasal (I wasn't really in the mood to eat then), we went back to look for Zshali. She and her friends were at the artists entrance with Joey. We even managed to nab Arnold as well, who tried to persuade me to borrow a video of Rent from the office. Sorry dear, I can't do that without permission.

Wednesday, January 31

Met up with Nikki in Glorietta after work. Hahaha, found her shopping alone since the day before, and because it was the end of the month, I couldn't resist doing a little shopping myself. When we were done, we ended up with this whole conversation about friends in general. Nikki had this whole monologue for herself. It was amusing. I managed to learn a few more things I didn't know about Nix.

Thursday, February 1

I had no plans whatsoever that evening, until Anna messaged me about the open DTR of The Pretenders that very night. So off I went to the area as soon as I got off work, and killed some time in Starbucks. When it was a few minutes before open house, I made an exit from Starbucks.

I had no idea what I looked like while I was walking in Harbour Square back to CCP by my lonesome, but one annoying thing happened. This one Fil-Am guy stopped me and was trying to pick me up, using lines like "I'm hanging out with my friends, but I want to hang out with you," and "I saw you walking alone, and you looked pretty cute that I really wanted to meet you." Igh. I copied his accent and tried every excuse I could think off just to shake him off. So my last words before he could ask for my mobile number was "I really have to go somewhere. I'm sorry, you caught me at a bad time, and besides, I have a boyfriend." And exit, hahahaha.

The DTR, well, it was OK. One of the very first things that Sir Jethro had said was that the stage manager was new, and so I noticed that there were a whole bunch of late cues that I even caught Cris snapping while waiting for it during the show. But I have to say, Kalila is always spectacular. Never mind that it was just a DTR, she was still amazing in whatever role that she gets.

Saturday, February 3

Tad managed to put Tin and I on his guest list for the matinee show of The Pretenders that day because he was doing Roeder's roles, so the two of us were off to CCP again in the afternoon. Got to sit with Shing, Max and Chrome, and high school students were all around us. Rawr, the crowd was noisy, and there were lots of hecklers, specially in the row behind us. Que annoying.

Back to the buff for Tin and me with Shing, Max, Chrome and Lao, and Tad and Joel joined us as well. Talked about DOT, AC, and Lao telling me to go back to school so I can finally try out for AC. Hahaha.

After that, we all dispersed. Tin and I settled at Starbucks and I just had to share a bit of my story that I hadn't told her before. Her reaction was priceless, hahahaha!

Sunday, February 4

Pasinaya! It was the day of the CCP Open House Festival. Zshali, Carlo and I had agreed to meet by 11 in the morning, but Carlo ended up sleeping in, and Zshali didn't arrive until about an hour later. Anyway, by the time I arrived at CCP, the place was crowded, and that was only at the entrance. There were more crowds by the time I reached the lobby. Mingled with Dominique for a while, then I got so frustrated by the crowd that I went directly to the Conference Hall early to catch the first show of Nicco, Nar and Leo as the Balangaw Ensemble. I got there a little too early and managed to catch a lady perform a beautiful piece on the piano. I forgot her name, Dr. something. Rawr. My apologies.

We were asked to leave the venue for a while then were let in a few minutes afterwards for the Balangaw Ensemble's show. Those boys were hilarious as always. Ever since I first saw them perform together in Bakeretta, I've been quite the fan. What were their names again? Donald, Daffy and Dicky/Dickies? Labo naman kasi magpakilala ni Nicco ng names nila eh!

After the show, I left CCP for a while and met up with Zshali and her sister Joyce/Dupsie at Starbucks. Carlo arrived a few minutes after I did, along with his sister Micah. As it turned out, he had also already seen The Pretenders, and we suddenly wrecked this whole surprise for Zshali, hahaha! Then we went back to CCP together for Balangaw's 2nd show. Managed to find Nikki in the totally crowded LT lobby, and I brought her along with me. Wheee, we were quite the happy bunch while waiting in line (we were the first!) for the show.

We didn't really have a plan as to what to do next, so we went back up to the LT lobby. Remus joined our happy bunch, and then we decided to head back to the Conference Hall for this monologue called Puso ng Bading by Lawrence Cruz. He was funny! I loved him because of how animated he was. I wish I could pull off a funny monologue like that.

Our happy group then got separated after that. Zshali and Joyce had finally decided to watch The Pretenders at 3pm, Carlo and Micah suddenly disappeared, and Nikki, Remus and I were starving so our trio headed for Teriyaki Boy for food. Tin managed to catch up, and by the time we were done, we returned to CCP and decided to watch this ventriloquist called Ony Carcamo. With him was his monkey puppet named Ding-Dong. Ang kulit! I specially loved how Ony "threw" his voice into a glass. After throwing the word "hello" about a couple of times, he then said "Severe acute respiratory syndrome" into it, when he removed his hand from the glass, it just said "SARS" in a small voice, HAHAHAHAHA! He also did that ping-pong thing that Myke always does in gigs, so it wasn't all that new to me. Hehe, Remus even figured out with consonants Ony used as substitutes for others.

We filed out of the venue and lined up again for Reuben Laurente's show. Nar was in line ahead of us, so all five of us sat together. Nyahaha, when Reuben was giving out posters near the end of his set, Nar suddenly asked for free CDs, and the lucky duck managed to nab one, hahahaha!

Nikki and Remus had to leave after the show, but Tin and I stayed in the LT lobby to wait for Zshali and Joyce. Hehe, we had planned to wait for the LT audience and join the cast in line when they do the meet-and-greet thing. The moment the cast had filed out of the theater, Tin and I stood next to Wenah and did the whole "thank you for watching" as well, wahahahahaha!

Ay, eto lang. May nagsabi ang isa na pupunta ng Pasinaya. Nagpaalam pa talaga na may kasama. "Gusto ko lang malaman mo baka kasi makita mo ako if ever nasa Pasinaya ka." Aba, bakit parang guilty agad? Tapos nung nagpakita nga, dedma pa rin. Tapos biglang naglaho ng walang paalam? Ang rude naman nun.

Anyway, by then Zshali and Joyce had to go home, so after saying hello to some of the cast of Pretenders at the artists entrance, we dispersed once again. Tin and I ended up back in Starbucks for a while, just talking. I was in denial of something, nyahahaha. But of course, I couldn't keep anything from Tin. Thanks loads for everything, Tin.

This post is long enough, hahaha. I guess I made up for all that lost internet time, ahehehe.