Looking for something to do this Valentine’s weekend? Then why not catch Repertory Philippines’ play, Boeing Boeing, showing this saturday (February 16) at Onstage Greenbelt 1?
Boeing Boeing is a French classic written by Marc Camoletti and was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as the most performed French play throughout the world! Well, it’s now in the Philippines!
Directed by Miguel Faustmann, Boeing Boeing tells the story of playboy Bernard who is engaged to three international flight attendants for different airlines. He juggles their timetable so that he can spend time with all three beautiful & sexy stewardess. Bernard is supported by Bernard’s faithful housekeeper, Bertha who has to change decor and food menu to suit the tastes of the German, Italian and American beauties.
However, as a faster Boeing jet is introduced and with Bernard’s friend, Robert, visiting, Bernard now has a big problem. The ladies’ timetables became unpredictable! Now, that’s a story I would want to watch live!
I read several reviews online and I must say, it piqued my interest more. It seems that the cast are effective and perfect in their respective roles. One of them is Baby Barredo who’s multi-awarded and is actually the co-founder and artistic director of Repertory Philippines, wow!
David Bianco – Bernard Whitford, a Parisian architect
Topper Fabregas – Robert, Bernard’s old school chum
Carla Dunareanu – Lufthansa’s Gretchen, German fiancée
Giannina Ocampo – Alitalia’s Gabriella, the Italian fiancée
Jennifer Bianco – TWA’s Gloria, the American fiancée
Baby Barredo (alternate: Joy Virata) -Bertha, Bernard’s Housekeeper
I’m going to watch Boeing Boeing this saturday. I cannot wait to enjoy and laugh myself out while doing so! See you at the theatre!
UPDATE:
I just got home from watching Boeing Boeing. It wasn’t as long as other plays but I enjoyed every minute watching it! It was too funny! The play was 2 hours long with a 15-minute break in between.
The set was simple. They rarely changed any props. Boeing Boeing was mainly concentrated on the six characters of the play. Every single person has his/her own personality. I was totally blown away as to how they effectively portrayed their characters. I was laughing 95% of the time! It was a light and entertaining experience.
While I see many lovers watched the play, I kinda have a theory in my mind that some of the guys would be able to relate to playboy Bernard LOL! Anyway, I won’t share more about the story as it would be best to watch it with an element of surprise.
There’s one more day left! Catch Boeing Boeing, you’ll leave the theater smiling!
——————– Boeing Boeing February 16, 2013, 8PM Ticket Prices: Php 1,000, Php 800 & Php 500 Contact: +639328885688 Onstage, 2/F, Greenbelt 1, Paseo de Roxas cor. Legazpi St., Makati City, Philippines
I was so ecstatic when I got an invite to watch The Phantom of the Opera as one of the TweetSeaters! We were tasked to tweet the famous play while we were watching. I enjoyed the play so much that I couldn’t hide my excitement and awe. I was tweeting how I admired the actors, the props, the effects and the sound system! It was just too awesome/too good! It would be such a shame if I don’t share it to everyone in the Twitterverse.
I brought along sioti Mark to #PhantomInManila. He told me that it was his 1st time to watch a musical. Wow! FIRST time! Considering we were watching Phantom of the Opera, which is one of the best musicals of all time that should be an experience in itself. I then asked sioti Mark if he could guestblog in HeaRty’s Haven, I know he’s the best person who could describe the whole Phantom of the Opera experience.
I shall give this space to Mark, known as geekbubble in the online world. Thanks sioti! I feel honored that you agreed to share your wonderful experience in this blog 🙂
Whenever I come across High School Musical and Glee on TV, my eyeballs involuntarily roll themselves to the back of my head. I admit, musicals are just not my thing.
So when I was invited to be a part of Ticketworld’s Tweetseat program for the Phantom of the Opera, I immediately googled if it was worth my time. It was the longest running Broadway show, with more than 10,000 performances, and grossed $845 million USD to date. It piqued my curiousity, to say the least. This was my first live musical. I was excited. Kind of.
The storyline is nothing to write home about. It is tragic and romantic, but it has been unchanged since Gaston Leroux published his novel titled Le Fantôme de l’Opéra in 1910, which the original musical production was based on.
A synopsis from www.thephantomoftheopera.com:
Far beneath the majesty and splendor of the Paris Opera House, hides the Phantom in a shadowy existence. Shamed by his physical appearance and feared by all, the love he holds for his beautiful protégée Christine Daaé is so strong that even her heart cannot resist.
I came in a skeptic, but came out a fan. Let me tell you why.
Props and Costumes
Top notch. I almost cannot believe this level of creative brilliance can be pulled off on a local stage. From the costumes of the casts, to backdrops, to the intricate construction of partitions and furnitures, to the chandelier. Every props gave each cast and each scene its character to further draw you into the story.
Lighting, Effects and Sounds
Lighting does a lot more than just illuminating the set, it puts focus and depth to the scene and accentuates the props. Floating candles. Stars in the sky. Lighting of torches. The bluish green light combined with smoke effects gave that Gondola scene in the subterranean lake its magic. It was really a spectacle to behold.
The surround sound was also excellently utilized, giving Phantom’s echo that eerie and mysterious and elusive feel.
The technicality and synchronicity of everything is perfect. It is impossible to count the number of times i uttered the word “wow” under my breath – and i’m not easily awed.
Transitions
Seamless. A set transforms to another one in just a couple of seconds, all right before my eyes. The secret? Multiple layer of curtains and lighting. The action was brought to the front while the space behind the second curtain was being prepped for the next scene. Amazing! Everything was smooth and efficient. There were no dead air nor uncomfortable pauses spent waiting for the next set to be ready.
Music and the Play
I guarantee you, you will get hooked with Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music. The melody is catchy and the lyrics are heartfelt. The orchestra were amazing! Perfectly layering different musical instruments to achieve an excellent aural experience. I have been listening to the Phantom of the Opera soundtracks for 6 days already – straight. It even managed to replace “Call Me Maybe” that has been stuck in my head for weeks. Ha!
Some of the popular songs are:
Think of Me
Angel of Music
Phantom of the Opera
Music of the Night
All I Ask of You
Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again
The casts were fantastic. The chemistry between Raoul and Christine was evident in their acting. The Phantom exuded fear and terror but his duets with Christine were very passionate and emotional. Everybody was incredible. I never clapped so hard and so long in my entire life.
The list of principal casts are as follows:
The Phantom – Jonathan Roxmouth
Christine Daaé – Claire Lyon
Raoul de Chagny – Anthony Downing
Monsieur Richard Firmin – James Borthwick
Monsieur Gilles Andre – Jason Ralph
Carlotta Giudicelli – Andrea Creighton
Ubaldo Piangi – Dondi Ong
Madame Giry – Rebecca Spencer
Meg Giry – Cat Lane
——————–
Everything was executed exceptionally. It was a total feast of the senses. After the most stimulating two and half hours I spent inside the theater, I came out with a stupid grin on my face, with a newfound love for theatrics. It immediately diminished all my prejudices about musicals. It was indeed an unforgetable theater experience.
If you think that all this post did was praise everything about the Phantom of the Opera, it is because it really is THAT excellent. If you’re on the fence about watching, just go for it. It will be worth your time and money, trust me.
Season is extended until October 14, 2012, and seats are running out fast. Hurry and book your tickets now on http://ticketworld.com.ph.
Discounts:
Student discount for Balcony 1 and 2 seats. Just show your ID!
Family package, buy 4 tickets and get 40% off on the 3rd and 4th ticket.
The Art of Drum show is an innovative, one of a kind show that features contemporary choreography, costumes and stage props based on the culture of the Samurai combined with taiko drumming. The 2-hour show will feature a mix of dance and martial arts as the Japanese performers beat their ancient Wadaiko Drums. Those drums weighs a massive 400kg with a 1.7 meter circumference and are made from wood and cowskin which produces loud sounds but naturally harmless to the human ear.
Established in 1993, Drum Tao brings traditional Japanese taiko drumming to the audiences of today. This elite company of Japanese drummers was created by Ikuo Fujitaka. The talented drummers practice and create their rhythms and numbers at the Aso-Kuju National Park which they call home. The place has no commercial establishments but only beauty of nature.
The music and choreography are totally original and composed by Drum Tao’s very own members.
Drum Tao has been performing worldwide in 400 cities in 17 countries with audiences of more than 5 million in total. Switzerland, Denmark, Israel, USA, Australia, Spain, Belgium, UK and Germany were among the countries who were lucky enough to have watched them perform. I’m just glad that 2012 is finally the year where we here in Manila, can see the critically-acclaimed Drum Tao perform on stage!
The show will be held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila (my favorite performing theater) on July 12-22, 2012 for 10 shows only.
The description from the press release described Drum Tao as follows:
While their skilful drumming is thrilling, Drum Tao also leap around the stage performing intricate choreography with their split-second timing, dressed in flowing red and black robes.
The end result is mind-blowing martial arts married with mesmerising music, coupled with the musicians’ physical fitness, dynamism and extraordinary synchronicity, make them human rarities.
The incomparable quality and pure unadulterated power and spectacle of their performance perfectly blends the ancient traditions of the Taiko Drumming and martial arts mastery with the innovative and flawlessly choreographed production values of contemporary Japanese excellence.
Drum Tao is adored across the world with their unprecedented and timeless drumming performance and bringing a brand new genre to the stage.
Audiences will be captivated by an evening of rhythm, beats, melody and extraordinary precision which is inspiring, uplifting and theatrical.
Reading the press release and after browsing through several websites about Drum Tao made me want to watch them even more! I had to embed this video to give you an idea what Drum Tao can do. Aren’t they too awesome?
Amazing isn’t it? I was so impressed while watching the video that I can’t wait to watch the show live on July! I’m set to watch the show on July 13, 2012. How about you?
Tickets are available at the ff. locations:
Selected major National Book Store branches in Metro Manila
Selected major Robinsons Department Stores in Metro Manila & in major Cities
Ayala Malls – Greenbelt 1 and Trinoma Cinema Box Office
Here are the prices & seat plan for your reference:
VIP – Php 4,500
Premiere Center – Php 4,000
Premiere Left & Right – Php 3,000
Deluxe Left & Right & Balcony Center – Php 2,500
Balcony Left & Right & last four rows Balcony Center – Php 1,500
Upper Balcony – Php 1,000
Drum Tao – Art of Drum will only run for 10 shows in Manila from July 12 to 22, 2012. There’s an ongoing early bird promotion wherein you can get 15% off on all ticket categories until June 8, 2012. I suggest you buy your tickets now while they are discounted. Don’t miss Drum Tao! I surely won’t! I’m excited already! 🙂
UPDATE:
I was giddy the whole day last friday because I was excited to watch Drum Tao. I knew it would be good! When I did my research about the group, I felt that the performance would be outstanding.
I was right!
Drum Tao was more than good, they were exceptional! I feel so honored being able to watch them perform live.
Drum Tao is not something you can see everyday. You don’t see those kinds of performances on TV shows or just anywhere per se. And now that they came to the Philippines for the 1st time to show us their tremendous talent & heartfelt performance. People shouldn’t miss that! Really! Drum Tao is a show that you won’t forget.
I have a special fondness for drums. I used to want to learn playing drums. Even until now, it’s still part of my bucket list. I know it would be a hard one to achieve as I didn’t have enough space in my home for drums. I’m still not crossing it off in my list of goals especially after seeing the excellent performance by Drum Tao. Drum Tao has my respect for being able to learn the art of drumming. Their training is very serious considering the number of years and hard work they put into it. Their skills are inevitable! I can truly say everyone in the audience were so amazed! We were clapping nonstop and rose to our seats quite a few times to show our appreciation and awe!
I was surprised when in between epic performances, the Drum Tao folks would play games with us (the audience!). I also find their english too cute! They engaged the audience pretty successfully. I enjoyed each and every performance and even their jokes and sense of humor!
Drum Tao was a different kind of musical show. It wasn’t just banging at drums. They performed drum beating, martial arts, musical instruments, Japanese humor and dance.
The show blew me away!! They definitely deserve the standing ovation we gave them! If you haven’t watched Drum Tao last weekend, I strongly suggest you buy your tickets now. Believe me, you won’t regret it! Drum Tao is a must-see!
——————– Drum Tao – The Art of Drum 2012 July 12-22, 2012 Newport Performing Arts Theatre, Resorts World Manila, Newport Boulevard, Newport City Cybertourism Zone, Pasay City Resorts World Manila Tourist/Visitor Hotline at +63-2-836-6333 TicketWorld at +63-2-891-9999
We travel to discover different cultures and watch local shows to enjoy each country’s unique performances. If you don’t have much time to travel, you’re in luck as world-renowned Cirque Mother Africa will be performing for the first time in Manila!
We’ll get to enjoy African music and dance through a series of 2-hour performances from April 19-22, 2012 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater, Resorts World Manila (which BTW is my favorite events venue).
The unique show combined the talents of 40 famous artists from African countries Ethiopia, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ivory Coast, Benin, Zimbabwe, and Guinea. Expect to see items spun through the air, bodies contorted into mind-boggling shapes, and performers balance on other performers, percussionists beat up a storm of sound, tap-dancing and traditional dancers tell their own stories.
Cirque Mother Africa will be a refreshing show to see that will make us appreciate the modern, fresh and dynamic culture of the new Africa. With sold out shows in Germany, Italy, Romania, Russia, Netherlands, Australia, Belgium and Spain, we are assured of great entertainment!
Dancers, percussionists, singers, acrobats and contortionists will take the stage in a celebration of the culture of the traditional and modern African continent. I can’t wait for next week to watch this!
Cirque MOTHER AFRICA
A joyous adventure into the wonderful
& magical world of an African human circus.
Tickets are available at Resorts World Manila Box Office and TicketWorld outlets. Here are the prices & seat plan for your reference:
VIP – Php 6,095
Category 1 (Premiere Left & Right) – Php 5,090
Category 2 (Deluxe Left, Right & Center) – Php 4,065
Category 3 (Balcony Left, Right & Center) – Php 3,025
Category 4 (Upper Balcony) – Php 1,500
Schedule (April 19-22, 2012):
Thursday/Friday/Sunday – 8 PM
Saturday – 3 PM / 8PM
Do catch Cirque Mother Africa as they only have 5 shows here in Manila! I surely won’t miss one of them! See you there! 🙂
UDPATE:
I caught the evening show yesterday and I must say I was totally blown away! The show started exactly 8PM with the clown host convincingly making us be more energetic. He repeated his welcome with us pumped up and with smiles on our faces! 🙂
Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures during the show as I was apprehended when I took a picture of the funny African host. I sat back and just enjoyed the rest of the show.
One by one, we got to see different circus acts. We also got to experience African music and dances in between the heart-stopping circus performances. I must admit my jaw dropped in every circus act, my golly, they were so dangerous!!! I was extremely worried that if one of them makes a mistake, they’ll surely hurt themselves. It’s nice that Cirque Mother Africa made a nice line up wherein songs & dances were injected in between the stunts, or else, I might have had a heart attack hahaha!
Here are some of the acts we saw during the beautiful show:
Hula Hoop – I can’t even hula hoop well but the performer did tons of it while standing and yes, walking while on top of a ball! While I was impressed with the act, I was really, really worried that she might fall off. Of course, she didn’t! It was great!
Unicycle – this was one of my favorite acts. The performer was very animated! He was cracking jokes through his facial expressions while doing those dangerous acts! Imagine riding on different kinds of unicycle, balancing on it, and smiling his way through it. Do catch his cute little act on the mini unicycle. It was hilarious and impressive!
Balancing on Top of Multiple Chairs – imagine putting multiple chairs on top of one another and standing on it. The performer did it and more!
Ramadhani Brothers – these guys were huge! They were able to do multiple stunts using only their bodies and most especially, their hands.
Rolla Bolla – this must be the act that I had my mouth completely opened. It was just too scary to look at. The guy was wobbled on a balance board, placed on top a stack of four rolling cans. My most unforgettable act on Mother Africa show.
Contortionist – it’s like watching an out of this world performance. This guy is FLEXIBLE (in the truest sense of the word). Catch him lighting up a cigarette in a most unusual mind-boggling way!
Icarus Foot-Juggling Act – 51 back flips while being tossed up into the air by another acrobat’s feet. A must-watch!!! 🙂
Having watched Cirque Mother Africa felt like I was transported to Africa. I got to experience their culture through beautiful traditional African music, dances and outstanding circus performances. They will have their last show tonight at 8PM. I strongly suggest you get your tickets now and catch Cirque Mother Africa tonight at Newport Performance Theater in Resorts World.
——————– Cirque Mother Africa in Manila April 19-22, 2012 Newport Performing Arts Theatre, Resorts World Manila, Newport Boulevard, Newport City Cybertourism Zone, Pasay City Resorts World Manila Tourist/Visitor Hotline at +63-2-836-6333 TicketWorld at +63-2-891-9999
Who would ever thought that a girl like me would appreciate the sexiest women party in the Philippines? Mostly guys look forward to the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011 and indeed, the World Trade Center where the event was held was full of guys!
I’m just fortunate that I was one of the few bloggers given by PLDT myDSL Watchpad tickets to the party!
If you weren’t lucky enough to win tickets to the FHM 100 Sexiest Women party, I hope you were able to catch the live streaming from PLDT myDSL Watchpad earlier.
The place was really jampacked. We were the first ones to enter the venue and we can see several booths set-up. Brands like Belo, Premium condoms, Citizen watch, San Miguel Light, RRJ clothing line and of course, PLDT myDSL were there. All guests can take pictures with their models.
However, the highlight with regards to the sponsors, were their segment in the FHM 100 Sexiest Women show. Each sponsor had their models walk the ramp and dance while on it. I can feel how silent the men were. Are men that silent when they see enormous number of sexy women?
After the sponsors segment, there was an announcement that we’d have such a treat as we’d be able to see some of the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World finally! Eula Valdez (#46) opened the main part of the FHM 100 Sexiest Women show by dancing her way in the stage. Eula really just proved that age doesn’t matter. If you’re sexy, you are sexy!
Then we started to see the rest of the FHM 100 Sexiest Women do their own dance numbers! I was in total awe. I can’t help but admire those women!
Last, but definitely not the least, the host introduced the women who are part of the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011!
I was rooting for Sam Pinto (#1) this year and I’m glad she won. BUT(!) when I saw Wendy Valdez (#53), I was like sooooo surprised as to how sexy she is! I shall say, you guys should vote for Wendy Valdez next year! She deserve to be at least in the top 5! Seriously, I never thought she has a perfectly toned body.
Here are the ladies that caught my eye at the party:
This was my first ever experience to watch the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World party. I shall say it was a great experience and I hope to watch it again next year. I really wish I can get lucky again like this year. It was a sexy party indeed! Well done, FHM!
P.S. Before the show started, Daiana Menezes (#44) was in the VIP area interviewing guests. I was one of the lucky ones chosen to be interviewed. Because of that, I was able to have a photo op with her 🙂
