Songs For A New World press conference.

Attended the press conference of 9 Works Theatrical's Songs For A New World at A.Venue Suites yesterday. Decked out in a T-shirt and cargo pants, I felt like I stuck out like a sore thumb as most of the people were more dressed up, hahaha. Anyway, when I arrived at the entrance, I was greeted by Tricia and Peachy, along with Toots Tolentino, and found that I really was registered as a blogger for the press con. After signing in, Toots gave me a press kit and a goody bag from Hershey's chocolates (which I didn't get to open til much later) and I got to sit at a table up front with Santi, a blogger named Omar, and a couple of people from a leading broadsheet paper.

Of course, after enduring a crazy jeepney ride before arriving at the venue, I immediately attacked the food. I got to talk to Omar about bloggers' events during lunch, and eventually I managed to plug a couple of theater events into the conversation, hahaha.

Pinky Marquez then began the program, introducing herself as host, and after a brief spiel, she then called Santi to speak briefly about 9 Works Theatrical, as he is one of the people behind it.

As an introduction, Santi mentioned a talk with Robbie over coffee, mentioning college theater orgs such as Ateneo Blue Repertory, which got them into thinking, "After graduation, where would these people [or student-actors] go?"

Hence, 9 Works Theatrical's missions:
- To contribute something significant to these actors,
- To showcase their talents,
- To provide more avenues to showcase their talents, and
- To come up with good shows to showcase what Filipino talent is all about.

So yes, it's along the lines of passion, love for theater, and naturally, loving your craft.

Santi then gave the floor to Robbie, who then told us how he chose Songs For A New World as his maiden production for 9 Works Theatrical. Hahaha, it was like a contagious disease that you didn't mind getting. Heck, when I attended just one rehearsal of the show during Peachy's thesis period, I had last song syndromes of almost every song! And I still don't have a copy of every song until now, hahaha!

Robbie then introduced the cast of Songs For A New World (who were hand-picked, by the way, for their vocal ability to sing the songs), and then, along with musical director CJ, they performed a medley of songs. I love love love Jason Robert Brown because of this musical. I remember Paolo kept raving about it before (so Pao, you'd better come watch this time).

After the medley, people were allowed to ask questions for Robbie and the cast to answer. I was already sort of zoning out at this time, just scribbling or doodling on a piece of paper (which happened to be part of the press kit). Heck, one question was even about the characters, and so the cast kept talking about their characters, which sort of became a spoiler for some, hahaha.

So there I was, still sort of doodling on my paper, and briefly heard that there was a raffle. I stopped listening, because, hello, what were the chances of winning in a raffle? But hello again, I heard my name being called. Surprise, I won an overnight stay in A.Venue Suites, hahaha! Yay, thank you! Hahaha, what was even funnier was that the girl from the broadsheet who was also sitting next to Santi won the 3-days stay at Puerto Galera, hahaha! Both of the people sitting next to Santi won? Hmmmm... Hahahaha!

After the formal event was over, we attacked the food again, especially the gelatto (yummy Fiorgelatto). Too bad I couldn't stick around longer, as I had to fly to CSB for class.

But I have to say that it was a very successful press conference. Congrats to 9 Works Theatrical! And break a leg for Songs For A New World this May!