Here we are again. I'm down to my last week in New York City and I have to say, this vacation has been pretty much, enlightening. So many realizations came to me of late. I can't say they're the most perfectly timed realizations, but hey, God does work in mysterious ways. All I'm saying is, on a personal level, a lot will change when I get back to Manila. I have to get myself into a routine of doing what I need to do, and not procrastinating and putting things off for another day; lest, they just pile up and I get swallowed by them. There's a lot in store for me in the coming months.
For one, I'm directing again. Two, I'm heading PR now for 9 Works Theatrical and it's very daunting, given that much is expected of me. Three, I have to really work on my writing again and get into the habit of writing all the time. It's time I revived my column in Star. It's been dormant for far too long. And four, I have a lot of streamlining to do with my personal life, career and life goals, and basically putting myself out there and figuring out what I want to do. For sure, I'll be taking it one step at a time. I just have to get into the habit and get my priorities straight. It starts by waking up early and having a little more discipline in my life.
BROADWAY REVIEWS
Day 170 (Tuesday)
8pm: Everyday Rapture
RATING: 2 / 5
I'm kinda confused about this show. I didn't really know what it was about. Apparently, the show is about the star of the show, Sheree Rene Scott. She previously came out as the woman in The Last Five Years and Ursula in The Little Mermaid. I dunno... it was kinda weird. The opening number was Elevation by U2 being sung by three girls. Then she starts talking about Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, and the two Js in her life, Judy Garland and Jesus. I'm like... what the hell? I mean there are funny moments but overall, I didn't get it. She tried to be prolific with the paper metaphors. One one paper in one pocket, you have something that says, "I own the world." And on another, you have, "I am a speck of dust." It's a matter of what paper you pull out during the everyday rapture. I'm like... okay, what the hell!
Day 171 (Wednesday)
2pm: Million Dollar Quartet
RATING: 5 / 5
This was great. The best shows are the ones where you have not a lot of expectations, and then with stroke of pure theater magic, those expectations are thoroughly exceeded. Wow, talk about powerhouse. It's not even so much of the casting since there are not celebrities. It's just that each of the actors really embodied the roles that they were playing. Karl Perkins, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, and Elvis Presley - all four are industry legends. It was spectacular seeing all four greats sort of interact with one another in a studio. And it helps that Hunter Foster was there too - the guy who played the dude in Urinetown and Sutton's brother of course. I kept staring at his face. Boy, does he look like his sister? There was even one moment in the show where he forgot his line, then suddenly remembered it, and the actor playing Elvis was sorta laughing his heart out. That's the beauty of live stage. Each show is different. So anyway, the part where I really got the chills was when it was a real-life photo was projected onstage on how the four legends really got together in a studio one day to record some great piece of music, "Down by the Riverside." I started to cry. and I saw that everyone else was. I mean, wow. This show was fiction at all. It really happened. And they also played the actual clip with all four singer's voices... Spectacular. And in Mamma Mia tradition, there was a concert during the curtain call. I walked away happy and in so much awe. Wow!
8pm: Next Fall
RATING: 5 / 5
What an enchanting play. So the guy fourth from the left is the patient. And he got into an accident. So he doesn't really show up in the play during present time; instead, you see al the other actors interacting in the hospital wing, waiting and praying for a miracle that he'll survive. Then the show flashbacks here and then to the patient's relationship with all five characters. You have his high-strung boyfriend, the fag-hag best friend, the two parents, and the mysterious guy who's relationship to the patient isn't really elucidated until the second act. Apparently, he was the ex-boyfriend. And he was in the hospital wing because the patient wasn't able to update his emergency contact to the new boyfriend. The show is hilarious and it's also compelling. It felt so real and like you didn't really want the show to end. You fall in love with the patient through the flashbacks and hope to God he makes it, but in true drama, well... you can sort of figure that out. Amazing cast of actors. All with comic wit but equal vulnerability to keep you laughing to the edge of your seats and emotionally invested in the characters... and then bam.
Day 172 (Thursday)
8pm: Promises Promises
Rating: 5/5
Saw this last night. Wow, enchanting! Very enchanting! I know for a fact that this was one of the shows in which Fosse, my idol Bob Fosse, rendered the choreography. So that was, in itself, a sight to behold. And then you have actors, generous actors like Sean Hayes and Kristen Chenoweth playing the leads. Wow, I was just smiling the whole time - sans the experience of sitting beside an A.D.D.-stricken lady who might have been under the influence of alcohol at that time since she stank like whiskey. She was annoying the living shit out of me - but thankfully, the performances and the show was enough to create a wall between me and annoying drunk geriatric shithead. Anyway, the show Promises Promises is a show featuring the songs of Burt Bacharach. Say A Little Prayer, Never Fall in Love again... timeless classics and standards that you kind of fall in love with. But more than anything, it was the acting - the acting that carried the show through. Sean Hayes is aaahhhhh-mazing! He is so generous as an actor that I'd hear audiences really say out loud, wow, what a great actor! I know it's rude to talk while the show is ongoing, but everyone seemed to be doing it. And I can't help but also say wow after he delivers a comic spiel. Genius! He is genius! And Kristen is Kristen. Amazing.
WHAT I ATE TODAY:
Day 170
Breakfast:
none
Lunch:
Udon w/ 2 pcs. Tempura
Dinner: Cafe 81
1 Bottle of Red Horse
1 Cup Garlic Rice
Sisig + 6 pcs. Fishballs + Lechon Kawali
Small Pink Berry Yogurt w/ Milk Chocolate Crunch and Almonds
Midnight Snack:
2 Vodka Sevens
French Fries from Bon Chon
6 pcs. Wings from Bon Chon
DAY 171
Breakfast:
none
Lunch:
Pretzel Dog from Auntie Anne's
Lemonade
Merienda:
Small Cold Stone w/ Cookie Dough and Almonds
Early Dinner:
1 Bottled Water
1 Slice of White Cheese Pizza w/ Cilantro and Tomatoes
Late Dinner:
1 Regular Beef Bowl from Yoshinoya
1 Bottled Water
DAY 172:
Breakfast:
none
Lunch: Whole Foods
1 Serving of Vegetable Paella
Spoons of Macaroni and Cheese
5 Fried Chicken Chunks
Mia with her sushi
2nd Lunch / Movie Snack:
Small Buttered Popcorn with an Army of Butter
Merienda:
Small Pink Berry Yogurt w/ Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Watermelon
Early Dinner:
8 pcs. Bon Chon Wings
Strawberry Mojito
1/4 Small French Vanilla Icecream w/ Cookie Dough from Cold Stone
SIGHTS AND SOUNDS:
Beautiful architecture on the way to Union Square
Awesome costume
Hood
Jared holds up his Red Horse
New York Sab!
Awesome Awesome Second Coming Variant Covers
The cast of Promises Promises Takes their bow
- 2000 and Thin
