Tuesday, July 20, 2010

176-186: MONTAGE

Okay... I haven't been able to blog in weeks. I meant to when I got back from the States last, last Saturday but unfortunately, my net has been down in the house since then and I've had to go to other places to use it. Well, if anything, my trip to US proved to be very useful to me. I got my well-deserved R&R before it's back to reality and back to the real world of Manila.

If I were to sum up where I am at this point in my life, it would have to be that I'm very happy that I'm doing what I love to be doing, and I'm very happy to be accomplishing what I set out to do for myself. It's not stuff that piles up in my things-to-do, and I play catch up to my own procrastination... rather, I am able to actually accomplish things, big things, huge things, and that's one under my belt.

I am definitely seriously about resurrecting my writing career because I put it on hold for the last five months. So now, I'm seriously doing something about it. I will write and write because I am a writer. I know I'm a good writer so I can't allow myself to be rusty. And of course, my duties to 9 Works Theatrical, I will keep at it because we're on a roll... we have momentum, so we have to ride it and play our cards right, and hopefully find and secure a place in the Philippine Entertainment scene.

I also started already with my obligations with Blue Rep. I'm directing the newbie prod and I have the most amazing team behind me. This is the first time I'm directing something... on my own. I'm calling the shots. So it was weird and nerve-wracking at first... but now I'm settling into. I'm more excited now than scared. And I think that's a good thing.

I'm very happy with MY life right now. And I should continuously thank God for all the blessings and graces he continues to shower me. Without him, I am nothing...

BROADWAY REVIEW
Rock of Ages
RATING: 5 / 5

At first, I was like... ummm... okay lang. And then I started to get really into it. The songs are great. The story is great. And it's so friggin' hilarious. I'm so excited for my friend Chari to direct it for Atlantis next year. I got her a shirt fitting for next directorial endeavor after Legally Blonde. Anyway, the musical features songs from the 80s. So think Journey and the token Don't Stop Believing capping everything off in the end.


SIGHTS AND SOUNDS:


IN NEW YORK CITY
Me putting unlimited butter on my popcorn

Last Supper with Jared and EJ in the Big Apple

Dinner with Tita Josie on our last night in town

Mememoy attacking his steak

I love Mia and Joe

BACK HOME
RECENT SM VISIT
Pearl and Sam

Ghed, Pat and Ninoy

SM Family

RECENT DINNER WITH HARVS, CHRIS, AND MICHO


Frank and Harvey

Chris and Micho

WEIGHT UPDATE:
183.5 pounds...


woah... I can't believe. After a month without exercise... and all that In n' Out, Cold Stone, Bonchon, et al... I think it's from all the walking...


- 2000 and Thin ... yey :)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

173-175: Modern Family

I just realized how damn lucky I am to have a family like mine. Our stories are just out of this world. How we are is really out of this world. And I wouldn't really have it any other way. It's funny how I always try to recreate the stories in the dinner table to friends and loved ones but it's not quite the same as when you sit through a bona fide Vera Perez lunch or get together. It's what keeps us afloat all these years - looking back and moving forward. Is there any other way really?

You have family, then you have friends. Here's to hanging out with fellow Pinoys on 4th of July :)
4th of July


BROADWAY REVIEWS
Friday (Day 173)
8pm: La Cage Aux Folles
RATING: 5/5


Wow! Fantastic is all I can say. I'm so happy to have caught this despite my initial hesitations. I was smiling and laughing all throughout. It also has enough emotional punch to take you through a riveting rollercoaster ride. The leads are amazing, especially Kelsey Grammar and that British Shakespearean actor Douglas Hodge who plays one heck of an amazing Zaza. It was a scaled down version where the name of the game was the tackier, the better.  The production meant to deconstruct the glamour and the shimmy of the show's previous incarnations to expose a rather pathetic yet heartfelt and spirited attempt at portraying the inglorious Riviera nightclub where drag queens reign supreme.


Curtain Call


Saturday (Day 174)
2pm: Addams Family
RATING: 3.5 / 5

Okay so I heard nothing but bad reviews about this show. But I just had to check it out. It was an idea that popped up in a sibling lunch that I attended previously. What better way to watch Addams Family than to watch it with the real Addams Family! Hilarious! My siblings and I kept looking at each other everytime a pass was made at being normal, either through dialogue or song. Haha. I loved the moving curtains that framed each scene. I also liked how brilliant the set changes were managed that my brother Ipe and I would stare in awe. Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth seemed hammy for the roles. But maybe that was the intention. Overall, the show didn't change my life. But it makes for good entertainment.


Sunday (Day 175)
3pm: 39 Steps
RATING: 2 / 5

I would've given it a 1 if not for the saving grace of Act 2. And I was actually surprised because this was a huge success on Broadway before it moved to Off-Broadway and it won the Tony Award for Best Play. Sadly, I had half the mind to walk out in the middle of Act 1. And it didn't help that I was sleepy. I dunno. The overacting (that was supposedly the intention of the show) didn't really work for me. I liked how elementary the stage effects were as it illustrated the pre-Wicked way of painting a theatrical picture. Witty. Clever. Especially the shadow play and the bare bones set that actually made for a convincing setting reminiscent of the original film. I also liked that the show was carried through with only four actors playing multiple roles. And there was even one scene where the two sidekicks were playing 2-3 roles each simultaneous within split seconds. Those parts were hilarious. Then again, maybe I should've caught Lend Me a Tenor instead.



WHAT I ATE TODAY:
DAY 173
Breakfast:
None

Lunch:
White Cheese Pizza
Bottled Water




Dinner:
Bacon Cheese Burger w/ Fries
Hot Chocolate
Cheesecake








DAY 174:
Breakfast:
none

Brunch: 44 1/2
Hanger Steak
2 Sunny Side-up Eggs
Fries Galore
Hot Chocolate
2 pcs. cornbread








Merienda:
Coffee Shake
Mac and Cheese w/ Sloppy Joe
Fries





Dinner:
2 pcs. Mad for Chicken Wings
Rice
Bulgogi

DAY 175:
Breakfast:
none

Lunch:
4 Chicken Wings
3 cups of Yang Chow Fried Rice
Fish
Beef w/ Taosi
5 pcs. Sweet and Sour Pork
1/2 Mango Slushie


Merienda:
Chocolate Mouse w/ Cheese Cake


Dinner:
Hotdog on a Bun
2 slices of bread w/ chicken spread
1 glass of milk
Leftover Chinese Food (Yang Chow Fried Rice + Wings + Beef)

EXERCISE:
none


SIGHTS AND SOUNDS:
 Me and Mememoy

Ate Leslie

Bumped into Krista and her cousin at Mad for Chicken

Mom and Tita Bernie

Me and Ate Leslie

Mark and Ate Sandra

Group Shot

Krista and Francis

Jed and EJ

Storytelling

- 2000 and Obese

Saturday, July 3, 2010

170 - 172: Remember Remember the 5th of November

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