Of popular live shows... and yes, more randomness.

I remember way back in 2001, when Miss Saigon came to Manila, I declined all offers of watching the production. OK, so you may ask, why would I do that? Hahaha, it was in silent protest because it had seemed that the masses wanted to watch the show just for Lea. So yes, I was also a fan back then, but how about we give credit to all the other Filipinos in the show? Oh well, hahaha. Even with that, I got to go backstage with my STAGCRI class and saw how everything was put together, sans the cast. I think I even left a fingerprint on that pretty pink Cadillac, ahehe.

So whenever people keep ask me if I was planning to watch Cinderella, I reply with a brief no. Because I wasn't really counting on watching.

But, as it had turned out, I guess I'll still be watching anyway, hahaha!

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In line with this, I can't help but mention the entire Eraserheads reunion craze.

I was a fan of this group because my brother was a fan. We both grew up listening to the same kind of music. Whatever he listened to, I listened to it as well. When our cousin got a video camera and my brother learned how to play the guitar, they made home music videos using the songs of the Eraserheads. I was their groupie. But when the band had a concert near our place, only my brother got to go because I was still too young.

So I do believe that it's appropriate that I should be at the reunion concert, since my brother won't be able to go, HAHAHA!

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And then there's how some stuff become way overrated once it reaches mainstream, or whatever you call it.

Remember the times when Rent was truly appreciated? Hahaha, when it became a film, everyone wanted to be "Rentheads," quoting stuff like "No day but today" until it got totally worn out.

It also happened with Dreamgirls. Haha, I've been listening to Dreamgirls since I worked on a production on it 5 years ago. When the movie came out, everyone started listening to several renditions of "And I'm Telling You."

Hahaha. Oh well.

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Haven't gotten around to posting these particular snippets.

From Labfest:

"May blocking ba yung mga stage readings?"
"Depende sa doktor."

Uhm, gutom pa yata si Opa when she answered that, hahaha.


In the elevator, 2 girls were talking. One was thinking of running for student council. One of the girls said, "Think about it, if you do something good for them, will they do something good for you?"

Uhm, isn't that a little selfish?

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The crochet project I started last May lay forgotten when I started juggling with school and Virgin Labfest. I only got to pick it up again last week. Well, I'm almost finished with it,yay. By tomorrow morning, it's going to be done. It took 5 balls of blue and black yarn and calloused fingers, hahaha. But it's worth it. It's supposed to be a present for Tad a couple of months ago, but I guess I put it off for a while.

But as I look at it now, I wish I wrote down the pattern (even though I really hardly follow patterns) for the first 9-12 rounds. Because I want to make another one, this time for myself, hahaha!

Sick. But still updating.

I had a feeling that I was going to be sick last Friday, that I was afraid of acting cranky during class and rehearsals. Thank goodness my sore throat only evolved into cold when I got home. But when I tried to sleep, I suddenly developed a cough, arg.

In class yesterday morning, I wasn't really feeling up to doing anything, so I was really glad we didn't break into groups for any discussion whatsoever. I was feeling really sick by the time I got to rehearsal at noon, and I really felt that I was also having a fever. But because we were told that we had to be there that day to be measured for costumes, I figured I'd stay a while, get measured, then ask if I could go home and get some rest. After a quick lunch so I could take the medicine I brought with me, I literally fell asleep on the floor while waiting for everything to start.

When I woke up, most of the cast were already there, and Jojo and Joey were reading lines with our two Valeres, Darwin and Toby. I was still lying on the floor, listened to them for a few minutes before I finally stood up. Because I finally got some rest, even though I was still feeling lightheaded, I decided to help Jojo with Toby's lines. Afterwards, we ran through the first two acts and blocked the scenes that wasn't blocked yet. It was 5 in the afternoon when we reached the beginning of the 4th act, and I had noticed that there was no sign of anyone who will measure the actors for costumes. When Jojo was about to start the 2nd scene of Act 4, that's when I asked when we will be measured for the costumes. She stopped and looked at me, and that's when we all found out that Cam didn't text us the night before that the one who will measure us wouldn't be coming in that day. Arg. That was the prime reason I came to the rehearsal even though I was sick and was already having chills.

I thought our thesis had screw-ups. But I guess there are most groups that still have these. No offense.

So after a quick goodbye, I headed out the door and caught the first bus I saw. Went straight to bed and woke up to catch Eksena Manila on Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho.

Okay, so I was amused that Eksena Manila got their fifteen minutes of fame (and gave publicity to our site and forum). The shot of the senior members running inside the MRT was classic, haha. But I felt a little off after they had shown a bit of me when I had said that I got to use part of my acting skills for the slow-mo mission. They then showed some psych expert claiming that these people were frustrated actors, "kulang sa pansin" and "sira ulo". Why did they have to say that? I consider myself an actor. Heck, everyone's an actor in their own right. Just because they got a full interview with Pao who had admitted that he did plays in grade school/high school doesn't mean he's a frustrated actor, and we're all the same as well.

Oh well, to each his own.

Still wasn't feeling well today, so the ticket I bought in advance to a film in Cinemalaya that was to be shown today had gone to waste. Tad came for a visit, though, so that made up for it, yay. Thanks, lovey!

Mission remakes with Eksena Manila.

Yesterday was the first time I joined one of Eksena Manila's missions. Well, two, actually. As it turned out, Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho wanted to feature a couple of the group's previous missions. I jumped at this chance because it would be an opportunity to finally do the LRT chorale and the Slow-Mo, hahaha.

Off to Gateway after lunch (and yes, I had confessed to Opa, it was my first time to ride the LRT 2 alone, hahaha), and by the time I got there, I think I was one of the two agents who had arrived promptly on time. I had to look for RS and his girlfriend, and had to rely on the description that Agent Rob had sent me via text. Finally found them near Taco Bell with fellow newbie agent Karin (sp?), and it didn't take long until other agents had joined us--Denise with friend Lynell, Mikey, Bleue. A little later, after realizing that we had been standing around for so long, we finally decided to grab some tables so we can sit down.

After an hour, we had an uber-long table, consisting of both old and new agents. Basically we were just sitting around as we waited for Pao to arrive with the GMA crew, just talking, how we're going to divide ourselves in groups for each LRT station, and who were going to participate in the Slow-Mo. Nightowl (Joy, our group's videographer/photographer) had her camera handy for photo ops and documentation.

By the time we all got ourselves something to eat, Gwen from GMA finally arrived at 4pm. She broke the news that the train permit they got was for the MRT, not the LRT 2. Oh well. We then boarded the 2 L300 vans that were waiting for us outside the mall, and we set off for Manila City Hall, where our first mission (Slow-Mo) was going to be.

Pao was already at City Hall with 3 others when we had arrived. A quick brief with everyone, then we looked for positions to be at when the Slow-Mo began, and agreed on a signal. Haha, I started a slow walk, crossing the entire space right in front of that KKK statue. Being accident-prone, I walked in fear of the slippery marble parts of the ground, because I had almost slipped when I tried to jump off a step earlier while looking for a position. Suddenly I found Bleue crossing my path, and pretended to slip as I tried to wave to Karin and Thrish. Arg, Thrish had opened her umbrella, blocking her view of me waving to them. Oh well, I kept walking and as I passed Minari who was sitting on the steps, I suddenly heard the signal from Pat, so I broke free from slow-mo and walked towards Karin and Thrish.

We were asked to do another slow-mo, this time we broke into two groups--one coming from SM Manila, and one coming from where we were standing. We were to walk up and down the sidewalk and cross paths, still in slow-mo. I was in the group coming from SM Manila. Hahaha, when we started walking, I could feel more stares than we got from the previous slow-mo. I even felt a woman poking me, trying to push past me, ahehe. I think I even managed to block a couple of college girls when they tried to sidestep Karin and Thrish, who had managed to overtake me even while in slow motion. When we had finally ran into the other group, I bumped into Mikey so I slowly ducked out of his way, only to also bump into Pao, and we made a slow-mo of quite an impact before I started walking normally again, hahaha.

Back to the parking area and began the brief for the chorale. Because we were going to use the MRT instead of the LRT, we divided ourselves up again into 2 groups--one to board at North Avenue Station and another to board the Quezon Avenue Station--instead of the 5, because it was going to be pretty crowded by then, considering it was already rush hour. We ran through the song ("Maling Akala" by the Eraserheads) once, then off we went in our respective vans for both MRT stations.

It took a while before we were permitted to board the platform, and the GMA crew also filmed a bunch of us going up the stairs, waiting around, and waiting for the train. Finally, the train arrived and we all scrambled for seats. Some who hadn't memorized the lyrics had slipped it in their books as kodigo. I had put mine in my phone so I can just text the whole way. It wasn't until after Cubao station (I think) when Pao had began the song. By the 2nd stanza and refrain, everyone started singing along. We were already receiving stares at the beginning of the 2nd stanza, and someone near some group had started complaining. I guess those people were pretty tired after getting off work. When we finally finished the song, the gay guy sitting next to me started looking around, surprised by the sudden silence, so he said "No more?" Hahaha. Pao started singing another song and Minari joined in, until we all got up and got off at Buendia station.

As they always say in Improv Everywhere, mission accomplished.

Watching Hubad at Cinemalaya.

Spent this evening in CCP for the premiere of Hubad at Cinemalaya. Tad went with me to CCP after our afternoon out, but because he had already seen the film's very first premiere (the rough cut, I think) a couple of months ago, he let me watch it while he had to photocopy a script in the TP office for their acting class.

Found Peachy and Robbie in the lobby. As it turned out, there were a whole bunch of them who came to watch Rob in the film, hahaha! With those two were Sundee, Anna, Santi, Jonjon, Francis, Carlos, Stefan, Bench, and Harold. Oh, and Noel was also there, someone I haven't seen since he was shipped off to Hongkong Disney ages ago, hahaha. Joined them and we found a row and a half for us right smack in the middle of the theater.

I liked how the film also integrated video clips from the actual play, when it was shown for Virgin Labfest 2 back in 2006. I really enjoyed watching all these actors I admire in this one film (yes, including you, Rob, hahaha!). Several familiar venues were used, from Batute theater, MKP (the Jade Emperor headpiece had a cameo, haha!) and LT backstage, Jorhe's gorgeous pad (chandelier included), and of course, Penguin cafe. My favorite part was the montage of the 2 couples on the mattresses. Props to Ms. Denisa on that one. When we heard the conversation about talents of Hongkong Disneyland being associated with prostitutes, our entire group cracked up, referring to Noel, hahaha!

Chaos sort of ensued at the lobby after the show. Haha, I'm exaggerating. It was the regular Cinemalaya crowd that occurs in between film screenings. I honestly loathe crowds, but today, I guess I didn't really mind much. Found Bart in the lobby, and he mentioned that he owes us a cast party of our own. Yahoo, a pending Las Mentiras cast party! Hopefully before Tuxqs leaves for New Zealand, please.

When I found Peachy again in the crowd, she was looking for Rob so she can take a photo of him with Peque Gallaga. Of course, because this is the Peque Gallaga, I couldn't help but follow, and once Rob had their photo taken, I immediately requested for a photo with the big guy. Hahaha, pathetic starstruck moment. Thanks for the photo op!

Off to Rai-Rai Ken for dinner, where everyone went on talking about the film, raving mostly about Mr. Koh (Rob's character in the film), HAHAHA!

Brief update after Labfest.

Haven't blogged much lately, even about Labfest, specially since it had closed last Sunday.

After the first week of Labfest, I returned to school mode for a bit then returned the following weekend for our 2 remaining shows. Of course, I made sure to watch all the plays during the first week so I don't have to contend with paying audiences on the 2nd week. I was also working on our post-production requirements as well, so I can just submit everything that was needed for the production book after all shows closed.

Didn't even get to go to the Labfest cast party at Penguin. My legs were ready to give way, so after watching Pamantasang Hirang's final show during the evening, I headed straight home to my bed. Spent the following couple of days finalizing my production book (goodbye, yucky jar of "umbilical cords"), and Tartuffe mode began as well.

After Tartuffe rehearsals this afternoon (where I didn't really do much because Jojo had focused more on the scenes with Dorine, Valere and Mariane; only came because there was free lunch, haha), Lara, Toby and I headed to CCP to watch Baby Angelo, an entry in this year's Cinemalaya. Apparently, Lara was in it, so we were dying to see it before she gets to show it to her family and boyfriend tomorrow, hahaha! Holy kamote, it was only the 2nd day and lines at the box office windows were already long. I was already regretting that I missed the opening yesterday. Anyway, thanks to being a student again, I took advantage of the 50% discount to a ticket to Baby Angelo, and also bought a ticket to tomorrow night's Hubad. I didn't really get to watch its premiere a couple of months ago at the Dream Theater because of Nemesis.

Baby Angelo... Hmmm... interesting plot, and those 1-F girls (Lara included, hahaha!) gave quite a comic relief for us, hehe. When it came to the conclusion of who owned that baby fetus, it wasn't implied as much and turned out sort of anti-climatic. Or maybe I wasn't too focused on that? Maybe, maybe not.

Sunday tomorrow, yay. A good day, I hope. I'm beginning to enjoy Sundays as much as Tuxqs does, hahaha. Minus the driving, of course, and even though CCP will still have tons of people milling about.

A new world calls across the ocean...

Sprint Productions and 9Works Theatrical Present:

SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD

Featuring:
Anna Santamaria
Felix Rivera
Carla Guevara
Harold Cruz
Caisa Borromeo

DIRECTED BY ROBBIE GUEVARA

For Inquiries please contact Peachy or Janina through 707.3739 / 0906.3315961 / 0915.786.6996


This is Peachy's and Janina's thesis, y'all! Please support them and make us all happy, hahaha. =)

Looking for that techie toy for me.

"Ano ba ang hilig mo?"

Not really an odd question. What made it odd was the person who had asked me that particular question.

After at least a week-long debate with himself, Tad finally went ahead and purchased that Apple iTouch he's been longing to buy. I think the last straw was when he saw that Jerald had bought himself an iPhone, hahaha. So anyway, every time Tad was thinking about getting a new player, he would ask me about all the differences between the iTouch and the iPod Video. Every time we have this conversation, I would always have the same answer: "Depends on the lifestyle of the person who will own it." So there, he got an iTouch instead of the iPod Video, because we both knew that he wouldn't be able to fill the player with all the videos in the world considering he just wants a music player that's capable of WiFi.

Which brings us back to the first sentence of this entry. We were talking about all the stuff Tad had just put into his new toy, and then I admitted that even though I was such a music lover way way back. But now, I have no clue when it came to music trends and, well, music in general. It didn't really surprise him, as he knew that I mostly listened to Broadway until I couldn't keep up with the new stuff anymore. I then concluded that a portable music player isn't really for me for now. That's when he asked me that particular question. I just shrugged and said that I like blogging.

Then I suddenly remembered the clickety-clacking sounds behind me during class this afternoon. I found Kaye hunched over this uber-small laptop, literally just the size of my spiral notebook. A "cutie laptop," I called it, hahaha. I never realized that the Asus Eee PC was that small and designed specially for Internet-related activities. Now that was for me like Tad's new toy was for him. Hahaha. It's just for something small to carry around while I'm out and my own computer's out of reach, anyway.

Hahaha, now that's pretty small and compact.

Another project's about to start this week. But my goodness, talk about professionalism. No one even bothered to inform me today about rehearsals not pushing through tonight. Oh well, fine, I'll cut them some slack for now.