Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Starbucks solitaire.

Written at 4:55 this afternoon... 

Sitting on a couch at Starbucks Harbour Square, just killing time. I'm also sort of waiting for a couple of friends to finish their class at CCP's conference room, if ever they do have time to just hang out for a while after their class. That, plus I have something to settle as well in another venue.

Just sitting here brings back so many memories that I'm hoping to get over. Not necessarily erase, really, because I don't want to flush whatever things in the past down the drain.

I recall that this was the place where I realized that I was learning to trust people with my thoughts and other issues, a pivotal point of my life when I stopped blogging about my secrets and thoughts that I was afraid to share with everyone. It was also where I always end up staying before one of the shows I worked at, shrugging off thoughts about a certain person that I've grown very close to.


And right now, I wish it was easy as it was back then to shrug off these feelings toward that same person. Most of our vivid moments together had been within this vicinity, from meeting for the first time, to bonding over coffee, to trying to fess up each others' feelings, to finally saying yes, right down until the day the whole thing fell apart in just one day.


After drying my tears and talking to a few friends through phone, I still ran to this exact venue, this exact same set of couches that I'm currently sitting on at this moment. I hid my swollen red eyes behind dark sunglasses until a couple of good friends immediately left their houses to come to my rescue and comfort me. We spent the entire afternoon alternately talking and just being our crazy selves, so it was still a good balance of crying and laughing on my part.

This Starbucks branch had been witness to some of my secrets and heartaches, and is still one of the top places that I would go to whenever I need a place to think, regardless of the memories I've had all over the place. Along with a half-empty cup of Coffee Jelly Frappuccino, I am reminded that it helps to just sit down and tell yourself that eventually, things will be fine. Eventually.

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Updating again after some busy days.

I've been quite the blogging delinquent, haven't I? It's just that I haven't found the time to just sit down and blog the days away since last week.

So Cats will be having its gala opening night, and I'm just sitting here at home instead of manning the merchandise booth. Why? Long story, really. It's just that at first, we weren't being paid well for the work that we were doing, which takes quite a lot of effort plus time that we end up going home when the theater's practically empty. When we brought it up, we decided to quit, so they upped our fee. But when payday came last Sunday night, we realized that we were being paid per day, not per show. It wasn't really fair, because we were getting paid the same rate during the weekends, and to think that half of us work during both shows, and get the same rate as the ones who just work during one show? It was totally unfair, and it wasn't really in the agreement that we were getting paid per day. Pretty disappointing, if you ask me. It wasn't really the company's fault. I just saw it in the lady who hired us, or the local events company that she's under. And to think that we work harder than the ones under that company, and those girls there leave the venue earlier than we do.

Oh well. Never mind.

So for now, we just decided to discontinue the work until the ones who deserve the 2-how fee gets paid right. Even though I'm only supposed to work one show per day during the weekends, it's still not fair for Jan and Mei-Mei.

So anyway, what else has been going on? Nothing much, really, hahaha. Aside from my usual work, I haven't found the time to do anything else.

By the way, I finally went ahead and bought a new phone. My previous phone conks out after a few hours even though it's fully charged, and it can't store as much messages as before anymore. So I went online and went to the site Drei had recommended, found a decent seller, contacted them in the morning, and by early afternoon, I already had it in my hands. I got it brand new, yet I got it pretty cheap. Not a bad deal at all. So now I can happily surf the net as long as there's wifi, hehehe. I took it on a test drive during an Atlantis pictorial at Portfolio the day after I bought it, and was content alternately surfing the net and bugging the people.

I've been missing a lot of people. I've lost touch of some, and I haven't spent time with some of the others. I've declined invites to night outs, pig-outs, movie dates, and even the simple hanging out over coffee. Maybe by this week, my schedule will be better. Heck, now that I shrugged off that one part-time job, I'm happy enough with these 2 others I already have.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

The Jellicle Cats are here!

So after Legally Blonde, what's next?

During one show intermission of the first or second weekend, someone had approached Jan while she was selling souvenir programs in the lobby. She was offered to do the same thing for Cats. It took a while for Lawyn to convince her to go for it, and of course she needed a backup just in case she'd be busy during the weekdays. I was one of the people Lawyn called, ahahaha.

So we had to go to Ticketworld yesterday morning (along with Gigo and Jan's friend Pres) for a briefing about how to use this certain database or program for selling Cats merchandise in the lobby of CCP's Main Theater. Of course, we needed to learn how to use those little machines for taking credit card payments. We were there on time, but the ones we were supposed to meet were late, so we just sat around first. After a while, Sam comes through the door with her mom. Ahaha, I noticed that she was wearing a Cats shirt, and as it turned out, she was given the task to pick up the cast from the airport and bring them to their hotel. Oh my, Sam, I love your job, hahaha.

Eventually, we finally met up with Lana and this other girl (I forgot her name, sorry), and all 6 of us were assigned to the merchandise in the lobby. We were taught how to use the nice, foolproof cashier program and that credit card machine that just looks like a huge phone (ahahaha), and then after each of us had tried it out, we called it a day. We then decided to go to Glorietta to have lunch, and probably watch a movie. While Gigo, Jan, Pres and I were walking along Ayala, Gigo got a phone call from Sam. As it turned out, she needed at least a couple of more people to help her in picking up the cast from the airport, because there are a lot of them. Jan and Pres declined, but both Gigo and I were game. Woohoo!

Met up with Sam and Melissa at the hotel, then we boarded the bus (while Melissa took the van) and we were off to the airport. Melissa got a special pass so she could meet with the cast once they were out, while Gigo, Sam and I just waited in the snack bar, just talking. When we thought it was finally time for their plane to arrive, my goodness, we were told pretty late that their flight got delayed for four hours! Holy kamote. We had no choice but to wait somewhere nearby, so Gigo offered that we have dinner at his mom's restaurant.

After dinner, we headed back to the airport. Holy kamote, it started raining, and so we started hoping that the flight wouldn't get delayed much more. When we checked the monitor for the arrivals...

"Hmm... anong ibig sabihin ng 'Definite'?" (As opposed to other status updates like "Arrived")
"Eh di DEFINITELY coming."
Ahehehe.

Yep, they arrived as rescheduled. Melissa was the first to see them, and Sam went inside as well to help her with all the people. I got tasked with holding up the poster at the arrivals area so they can immediately see where to go, then Gigo would be the one to lead them to the bus in groups. It was quite a relief to see that they were still in a pretty good mood despite the flight delay and the sudden humidity (and to think that it had rained). After loading their bags in the bus and doing a final head count, it was time to head back to the hotel. Sam rode the bus with the cast while Gigo, Melissa and I took the van.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we led them to their check-in area where they can settle for a while. During the ride back, Sam got word that it was one guy's birthday, so she relayed the message to Melissa. We ended up finding a suitable birthday cake in the hotel buffet to surprise him during check-in, hahaha. After everyone had finally checked in, we were finally allowed to go while Sam and Melissa had a meeting.

It was great to be one of the first to meet the cast. Hope there will be more opportunities during the run even though we'll just be stationed in the lobby, hahaha.

After Legally Blonde.

My goodness, I haven't blogged in ages, and Legally Blonde had already closed. I'll miss the free ice cream in the lobby, also being "whipped into shape" inside the theater for going around catching all the delinquents to our cellphone and camera rules, plus jumping rope in the lobby trying to replicate part of the jump rope number, hahaha.

One thing I have to say during one of the closing weekend shows is that you really can't buy breeding, no matter how well-dressed and beautiful you look and how much money there is in your bank accounts. What most people care about is how you carry yourself and how you treat other people.

Last Sunday was the last show, and man, the theater was almost packed, up to the point where Bobby had to give up his seat just so his guests can have good seats, hahaha. The final performance was awesome, right down until the very end of the curtain call, where tons of pink confetti flew from the orchestra pit and lasted for a few minutes. Congratulations to the entire cast and crew of Legally Blonde!

I was already having second thoughts about going to the cast party at Congo Grille in El Pueblo, because hey, Lawyn and the rest would be busy in the theater and the office for the strike. But eventually, I found myself deciding at the last minute, hopping in Nyoy's car with Gigo and craving for Congo Grille, hahaha. Anyway, ended up pigging out on everything that they served, including this sweet vodka mix that Nyoy had thought was orange juice, so he downed it in one gulp. Calvin, Joel, Nyoy and Jett also gave out these wacky awards to some of the cast for their craziest moments, and titling each award after a line or a lyric in the musical. Yes, these people are crazy, but I love them, hahaha.

I went with Claire and Ceejay (hitching with Karen) to the Atlantis office after a while, where she brought all the rest of the food for Ate Sally, Kuya Boni, Ate Janine, and Lawyn. Hahaha, second closing party of the night, this time with the office staff. There was still way too much food, even though I still grabbed a few more bites along with them.

Lawyn got a text from Lambert that he and the rest of the crew were at Isshin, so I went with her to say hi to them.  Yep, the third closing party of the night, ahahahaha. What amused me during all these things was that every group has their own moments during the show. The cast had their onstage and offstage bloopers. The office staff had their own share of crazy, especially when it comes to someone's coordination. And the crew had the most interesting stories of the night, from backstage crazies, to rehearsal moments (especially Marj's performance level stand-in moment), to analyzing certain people's behavior towards other people's positions in the theater. Bakit nga ba ganun sila? Is it because it seems like we don't know much like they do in Broadway? According to a friend, parang pantay lang naman ang mga alam natin eh, mababa lang talaga ang tingin sa mga tao na nasa ganitong trabaho. Oh well. To each his own, I guess.

This book has closed. For Atlantis, Xanadu is up next. Awesome, hehehe.

Monday, July 12, 2010

Lazy Monday.

Another week has begun, and I'm glad that I don't have work this morning (another shift cancellation) so I have at least one whole day to bum around at home.

Legally Blonde is now down to its final 4 shows this coming weekend, and I have to admit that the cast is getting better after every show. There are still some minor glitches and flaws, but that's OK, I guess. Believe it or not, Carlo flew from Singapore to watch the show not once, but twice this past weekend, hahaha! It was great seeing the BFF after goodness knows how long, and to think that I didn't get to see him during his last visit. Thanks for the cookies, Carlowww!

Last Wednesday, when I dropped by Atlantis, Bobby had mentioned Rep's production of Equus, and told me who were in the cast. One short text later, I managed to score preview tickets for Lawyn, Mae and me the following day, hahaha.

So how was the Equus preview? Well, I have to say, I love the material, despite the fact that it was too heavy for me that day (considering I did a chick-flick marathon earlier that day). It's pretty text heavy, so brush up on your listening skills, because most of the essential stuff are in Dysart's monologues. Miguel Faustmann as Martin Dysart was perfect for the role, and no matter how low his voice could go, you couldn't help but listen. Marco Manalac played Alan Strang that night, and hearing that he's a newbie to theater, I didn't have much expectations. But for a newbie, his innocence infused truth into Alan's character, though some of his nuances were kind of inconsistent. And I have to say that listening to his voice got pretty old because he sometimes spoke in a loud monotone. But props to him for handling the character nicely as his maiden major role in a production. Pheona as Jill was brilliant as well as Jill, as she complemented Marco's Alan. And those horsemen, hahaha. Like horses come, they also came in different sizes and colors, hahaha! I love how Joms had put it, yung iba sa kanila daw ay parang abs na tinubuan ng tao. As for me, I like the bods lean and mean, ahehehe.




To you, I miss you. As always.

To you, see you later this week. I'd love a good dinner.

To you, I regret how what could've been didn't happen. Hope to you see back here sometime.

Monday, July 5, 2010

A day off.

I'm so relieved that I have the day off from work today. It was quite the opposite from the beginning of the weekend when I felt that I was crashing already. I had work on Friday morning, then I got to go home to sleep, then off the Meralco for Legally Blonde then back home again to rest for a few hours before I had to go back to work.

Thank goodness for the lounge. I got to get in an hour of sleep (it's not much, but at least I got to rest) before I had to walk to the Atlantis office so I can ride with Lawyn back to Meralco for 2 shows of Legally Blonde. By the time we were on our way home (I usually hitch with Lawyn and Jan), I was already crashing in the backseat and could barely keep my eyes open.

I partly blame Gigo's jump rope. We spent the evening show trying to recreate the "Whipped Into Shape" choreo, plus I did those front crosses that I missed doing, ahahaha. In fairness ha, masakit ang jump rope because it wasn't real rope but PVC instead.

Yesterday was our supposed team building for the Blue Griffins. But unfortunately a lot of people flaked at the last minute. If Jammie hadn't texted, they wouldn't have confirmed. Anyway, there were only about over a handful of us yesterday, and we decided to have lunch at Ebun in Greenbelt 3. Thank goodness they let me indulge in sizzling tuna, ahahaha. My goodness, mahilig pala sila mag-food trip, especially Weng. Anyway, after lunch, we ended up just walking around then settled at Gilligan's. Kamusta naman ang pag-beer in the middle of the afternoon, haha. In fairness, it was nice to just sit there and talk with them. Akala nila quiet person lang ako. Let them wait a week or so, hahaha. And their reactions after I told them how old I was was pretty classic, ahehe. For some reason, no one can't seem to believe I'm this old already. It's really a blessing and a curse.

I'm grateful for that one day last week. The simple offer of coffee made quite a difference, but I hope it's not just because of the coffee. But it really made my day. Thanks for those moments.

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Virgin Labfest 6: SET F - Revisited.

I made a point not to miss the Revisited set of Labfest, even though I had already seen Doc Resurreccion twice last year, because I never got to watch the other 2 plays before.

Isang Araw Sa Karnabal, written by Nick Pichay and directed by Chris Millado, was the first play of the set. Paolo O'Hara and Skyzx Labastilla play a couple who meets up at a local carnival park to just stop thinking about things that had passed and certain things to come. Despite the serious topics that were brought up, the exchanges between Paolo and Sky were still pretty witty as they simulated carnival sights. I've always looked up to these two actors, and they still never failed to disappoint.

Shielfa Alojamiento's Boy-Gel ang Girlfriend ni Mommy is another hilarious piece from last year, directed by Carlo Garcia (the one who wrote the Oberpas play performed by TP Actors Company). I have to say that "kengkoy" is the term I'd use for Che as the mom of two kids that get weirded out that their mom is dating a queer. Despite the fact that the 2 kids' voices sounded kind of shrill, it was successful in achieving the kulit of how kids were suspecting things and trying to find things out. You can't really help but laugh out loud at all the quips and exchanges all throughout the play, which was also updated as they also got to use the term "jejemon" as someone's side comment.

And of course, without bias or lack of it (ahahaha), the best play among the 3 would have to be Doc Resurreccion: Gagamutin ang Bayan, written by Miss Lallie and directed by Tuxqs. Tad as Boy Pogi and Riki as Jess were awesome as ever in this intense play about two cousins both running for mayor. I remember in my blog entry last year, I mentioned that these two gave "riveting performances" along with the rest of the cast consisting of Angeli Bayani, Peewee O'Hara and Crispin Pineda. Even though they had already done this play last year, they kept their performances fresh that I was still left in awe, along with the rest of the audience.

I can't wait to see these plays published in the second Labfest anthology. Ahaha, by the way, when I came to see this play this past Thursday, I noticed that there were only 2 copies available of the anthology, so I nabbed one already.

Today's the last day of Virgin Labfest 6, so by this time, everyone's at the cast party or at least on their way there. Congratulations to everyone who was part of Virgin Labfest 6!

Virgin Labfest 6: SET D - Pink Festival.

I only got to watch Labfest's Set D during its 2nd week, because I had Legally Blonde duties during its first weekend. I honestly didn't know what to expect, especially after talking to Nicco in the lobby a couple of hours (yes, I was that early) before the show.

I caught this set on the day of the TP Actors Company auditions, so I accompanied a couple of friends upstairs at the Silangan Hall as they were auditioning for it. By the time I returned downstairs, there was already a line outside Batute, anticipating open house. I got to sit next to Hendri at my favorite spot, finally, even though it meant sitting next to a girl manning a video camera for documentation purposes.

Miss Lallie's play, Huling Habilin ng Sirena, was directed by Victor this year. Nicco played the lead, Sarah Jane, a gay guy prepping up for an upcoming gay beauty pageant, until he was threatened to be thrown out of his land by his landlord, played by Abner. Sarah Jane's lover, Sid (played by Alex Dorola, who also wrote a play for this year's Labfest) then arrives and tells him to stay, even after a promise of leaving the place. Interesting ensemble of actors, really. Only one person was kinda off for me, and didn't have any chemistry with Nicco. I did hear, though, that they have alternates, so I regret watching at an earlier date to catch the alternate. Oh well.

The 2nd play, A Fistful of Sand, is composed of poetry and series of scenes about people working abroad in the KSA. I don't know if I'm just off, but it reminded me of experimental films because of its dreamlike treatment. I honestly didn't quite get much of it, even though the actors were all so fraught with all those emotions, so I'll give them that.

Carmi Martin
, written by J. Dennis Teodosio and directed by Paul Santiago, was my favorite for this set. A gay professor brings a call boy back to his apartment for some playtime. Ariel Diccion as Gabriel was super hilarious as he delivered punchline after punchline, and had a great tandem with PJ Paule as Adonis. Funny exchanges all throughout the play, and you'd never expect such an ending for this type of material. I have to say, I like PJ's performance in this play better than his performance in Set A's Balunbalunan, Bingibinighan. I love their comedic rapport the whole time that you can't wait for the next quip to come up.

I guess that's the fun risk of watching Labfest. You'll never really know what you're going to get, as you'll either love or hate some plays. All the while, it's great that new material always keeps coming every year.

Virgin Labfest 6: SET B - Pas De Deux.

I still haven't blogged after that last one about the first Labfest set. So I'll be making up for it tonight.

I only got to watch a couple of sets during Labfest's first week, and Set B was the second one I got to catch before I had FOH duties at Legally Blonde The Musical. I was intrigued by the new tandem composed of Tuxqs and Allan Lopez, because I was used to seeing the director-playwright tandem of Tuxqs and Lallie. For this year, they switched directors, hahaha.

Caught the 3pm show of Pas De Deux with Dingdong and Grace. As usual, I wanted to sit at the very back of the bleachers, but they decided to set on the second row so I went along with them.

Allan Lopez's Higit Pa Dito was the first play, directed by Tuxqs and featured Mailes and Cris. Mailes was a mom who just moved into a new apartment, and her elder son (Cris) was helping her move in. As usual, these two were superb onstage, and their exchanges onstage were so natural. Interestingly enough, Mailes' character seemed to be pretty close to her real self, as a mom and an actress. The simple concept of moving into a new home alone brought reluctance and uncertain attachments from moving on in life. I loved how they fleshed out their characters with their lines fraught with meaning, including certain punchlines that were sprinkled here and there throughout the play.

Juliene wrote the 2nd play of the set, Collector's Item, directed by Roobak and featured George and Loy as 2 longtime friends reunited by one's birthday celebration. Loy's character looked like Spelling Bee's Will Barfee once again, ahaha. And it was refreshing to watch George play some sort of perverted macho guy, collecting women that he banged throughout the years, while Loy's character spends most of his time and money on action figures. I like how the plot evolved from simple guy banter, simple revenge from simple pranks, to how obsession and simple pranks and jokes can cross lines, push buttons and alter a friendship in more ways than one. Parang dito babagay ang quip na, "When you have friends like that, who needs enemies?"

Ed had graduated from being the festival stage manager, and moved to actually directing a Labfest play. Remi Velasco's Ondoy was the last play of the set, and the stage had a minimal set design, simulating a tin (yero) rooftop during the craziest typhoon of last year. Jojit Lorenzo and Cai Cortez play husband and very pregnant wife that were stuck on the rooftop, waiting for any means of rescue, and all the while worrying about their offspring staying in a neighbor's house, how to survive with meager supplies, and if Mercy (the wife) could give birth right then and there on the roof. Despite the fact that the couple's arguing practically the whole time got pretty old, I like the actors' consistent energy the whole time onstage. The sound of the tin roof got a little distracting, though.

I got to met Remi through Dingdong and Grace after the show, and she mentioned that one of her play's initial drafts were too dark before this final product. It was interesting, but it was a little too dark even for me, so I'm glad they settled with this version for Labfest.