REPERTORY PHILIPPINES' INITIAL OFFERING FOR 2016.....

Aggie Wheeler And Simon Bright..... A Mysterious Letter.....
The Seance..... Daria Confronts Martha..... William Gillette, Inspector Goring And Felix Geisel..... It's 2016 and Repertory Philippines has opened its new season with the hilarious play "The Game's Afoot" by Ken Ludwig

The setting is the 1930s and the main character William Gillette is an actor who is best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes. He invites the cast of his latest play to his house to celebrate Christmas when all hell breaks loose and someone dies. He now has to channel his alter ego as he tries to solve the real life mystery. Ms Joy Virata heads the impressive cast as she plays Martha Gillette. She shares the same role with Jay Valencia Glorioso. Pinky Amador is Daria Chase while Paul Holme is William Gillette. Jeremy Domingo is Gillette's best friend Felix Geisel while Christine Flores is Felix's wife Madge. Natalie Everett portrays Inspector Goring. Hans Eckstein and Mica Pineda are the scheming couple Simon Bright and Aggie Wheeler. Miguel Faustmann directs the production. The play runs from January 15 to February 7, 2016 at Onstage Greenbelt 1.

I actually like the play. If I wasn't busy with taking pictures, I would have sat back on my chair, watched the play and laughed so hard at the scenes as it unfolds. Eventually, I couldn't control my laughter any longer and just let go. It does surprise me though that I understand and like British farce.

WELCOME TO THE SECRET GARDEN.....

The Colors Of The Secret Garden.....

I received a text message from my good friend and fellow photographer John about the schedule of the photo shoot for Repertory Philippines Christmas presentation, "The Secret Garden". It was scheduled on the third weekend of November. But the 14th and 15th came and I didn't hear from John so I asked him about it. Finally, he said that Rep had a scheduled rehearsal on the 16th but the costumes were not yet finished nor was the lighting plan set up. I reasoned I won't be going to shoot since I anticipated the difficulty of using public transport because of the closure of the entire stretch of Roxas Boulevard because of the APEC meeting being held here and the unfinished costumes and lighting. John, Boboy, Boyet, Lian and I provide the photos that Repertory uses in their souvenir programs. So to shoot the actors without their costumes and the lighting pattern rather defeats the purpose of the pictures.

Thank you God! I made the right call! Traffic was terrible and unbearable during that day. I went to Alabang Town Center in the afternoon and a 15 to 30 minute ride became an hour because of the traffic. Some public utility vehicles even cut their trips, stopping their trips at Casimiro while those that travel to Zapote had to contend with the traffic at the RFC area. I guess I have to stay at home for the duration of the APEC Summit since I can't basically get out of Las Pinas. Having your own car may get you out of the city but be prepared to have a full tank of gas. The worse that can happen to a car owner is to be stuck in traffic for hours and with the car running out of gas in the process.

Last Wednesday, the 18th was declared a nonworking holiday. And John informed me of the shoot for Repertory on that night. So even if I vowed not to leave the house during this week, I took a chance and decided to go. I went to Alabang, rode on a bus headed for the north but instead of passing through the normal route of Edsa, it plied the C5 road instead. The whole stretch of Magallanes was closed too. I ended up at Rockwell and then took a cab going to Greenbelt 1. The rehearsal went ahead as scheduled and I was 45 minutes late. No worries though, I was able to get some pictures.

I have no idea what "The Secret Garden" is all about. From the moment I raised my camera to my eye and started to shoot, I noticed the slightly bizarre lighting pattern and the direction of the play. I can't decipher it since I wasn't able to watch the first 45 minutes. The lights were so dark but colorful hues were predominant. These initially caused me problems with my exposures but then I realized the colors were intentional. If I photographed a man in blue light, he was meant to be washed in blue tones. So I had to work with it rather than against it.

"The Secret Garden" will be staged from November 20 to December 20, 2015 at the Onstage Theater in Greenbelt 1, Makati City. It is based on the novel of Frances Hodgson Burnett and adapted as a musical production by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon and directed by Anton Juan. For ticket reservations and schedule of performances can be seen here.

WHEN FAIRIES BECOME FILMSTARS.....

Hans Eckstein as Oberon.....






Red Concepcion as Puck.....






Miguel Faustmann (Willie Hayes, Left) And Robbie Zialcita (Max Reinhardt, Right).....








Caisa Borromeo as Olivia.....








Cris Villonco as Lydia.....






Arnel Carrion is Jack Warner.....




Reuben Uy plays Dick Powell (Left), Topper Fabregas as Daryl (Far Right).....






Nick Campos is Joe E. Brown....






Joy Virata plays Louella Parsons (Right).....







I am fascinated with Shakespeare! It is amazing to see his works adapted into movie screenplays then turned into films. The movies make me understand his stories better, as I do find his way of writing dialogues a little complicated for me. I admit, I haven't read a single Shakespearean book and I think that my unfamiliarity with his written works is the reason behind this difficulty.

But I do not like some of these Shakespeare films. I have to check the director of a movie before I decide whether I would watch it or not. Films like "Romeo and Juliet" which had Leo DiCaprio and Claire Danes and directed by Baz Luhrmann was fantastic. So was "Shakespeare in Love" which starred Joseph Fiennes and Gwyneth Paltrow with John Madden as director. But I can not say the same of "Much Ado About Nothing", a film that boasts an all star cast led by Denzel Washington and Keanu Reeves. Its screenplay was written and at the same time directed by well known Shakespearean actor Kenneth Branagh. Branagh's roots made him stick to the conventional treatment of Shakespeare. And this meant sticking to the fast pace cadence when the actors speak their long, rhyming lines.

This is not my first time to watch a live Shakespeare play. Surprisingly, I quite enjoyed it. I guess me keeping an open mind and not letting my bias get the best of me made me appreciate the play more. It also was awesome to watch local actors show their acting chops and adapt to the Shakespeare line delivery that I mentioned before. Some, like Cris Villonco, even portrayed a character out of her box, that of a blonde bimbo who is the movie producer's girlfriend, hence her inclusion in the movie set.

The title of the play is "Shakespeare In Hollywood". Set in 1934, Shakespeare's most famous fairies Oberon and Puck have magically materialized on a Warner Bros. Hollywood set of Max Reinhardt's "A Midsummer Night's Dream". The two get instantly smitten by the glitz and glamor of show business as they are ushered onto the movie to play, who else but themselves!

Oberon unexpectedly falls in love to a mortal, Olivia who is the actress playing Hermia. The villain in this story is Willie Hayes, the motion picture censor who wrote the Hayes Code. Hayes thinks that the script of the movie does not conform to his prudishly restrictive code and threatens to shut down filming of the movie. With his movie career and love in jeopardy, Oberon orders Puck to find the flower that "makes a man/woman madly dote upon the live creature he first sees". The merry go round starts but all is sorted out in the end.

Hans Eckstein plays Oberon with Red Concepcion as Puck. Robbie Zialcita is director Max Reinhardt and Arnel Carrion plays movie producer Jack Warner. Miguel Faustmann is the hilarious Willie Hayes and Reuben Uy is cast as Dick Powell. Topper Fabregas is Daryl, Jack Warner's PA. Nick Campos is Joe E. Brown while Rem Zamora has a cameo as James Cagney. Female leads are Caisa Borromeo as the actress Olivia, Cris Villonco plays blonde bombshell Lydia and Joy Virata is Louella Parsons. The production is directed by Jaime del Mundo.

A quick note. Some of the photos may seem blurred, but this is intentional. The actors are constantly moving and I wanted to show movement in some of the pictures hence the blurry output. Besides, if I wanted a perfect portrait, I could have asked them to pose in their costumes but I do not want to be a nuisance to the actors.

A SESSION WITH THE JOY LUCK CLUB.....

The Mothers Of The Joy Luck Club.....
















And Their Daughters.....















The Moon Lady And Houyi, Her Archer Husband.....






Stealing The Pill Of Immortality.....






Heading Towards The Moon.....







It came as a surprise to me that Repertory Philippines' initial offering for 2011 will be scheduled this February. The stage group normally opens its calendar year with a performance in January and not this month. Checking out their website for the line up and schedule of their performances, it seems like they have another play to stage on March (Alfred Hitchcock's The 39 Steps), a different one on April (Shakespeare in Hollywood) and a musical for August until December (Seussical). All of these are going to be performed at Greenbelt One in Makati. They also are going to perform at the Meralco Theater from September to October as they present Peter Pan.

Back to the present though. For the start of this year, they are presenting The Joy Luck Club. Written by Susan Kim and based on Amy Tan's novel of the same title, The Joy Luck Club is the tale of 4 women who all come from China then moved to the US as immigrants and their 4 American born daughters. In 1949, the elder women meet one time at the First Chinese Baptist Church in a mah jong session and became friends, calling their mah jong group The Joy Luck Club. Each mother recounts her past and the kind of relationship that they have with their daughters and reveals the events that shaped up what they are now.

The play is directed by acclaimed Filipino professor in the theater arts Anton Juan and the cast includes Pinky Marquez, Rebecca Chuaunsu, Jay Glorioso and Frances Makil Ignacio as the mothers with Lily Chu, Ana Abad Santos, Jenny Jamora and Cris Villonco as their daughters. The play runs from February 4 to 20, Fridays and Saturdays, 8 pm, Saturdays and Sundays at 3:30 pm at Onstage Greenbelt One in Makati.

One thing I noticed about the cast is I am not familiar with the 3 elder female leads. Pinky, Ana, Jenny and Cris belong to a stable of Repertory talents who I am quite familiar with. Part of Ms. Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo's thrust is to make the cast more "open". Perhaps being open means employing theater actors outside of Repertory Philippines' pool of actors.

Repertory Philippines is ongoing a sort of transition at present. Ms.Lauchengco-Yulo is the new associate artistic director and has replaced Ms. Joy Virata. Her vision for the theater company is to make it more up to date by presenting newer plays that has never been shown to Philippine audiences and increase the number of stage play performances, reasoning out that Repertory did start as a stage play ensemble.

I am looking forward to these subtle changes that Ms. Lauchengco-Yulo has done for Repertory. And I do hope that more and more Filipinos will come out, will appreciate and will enjoy these performances.

SOME ENCHANTED EVENING.....

Repertory Talents On Stage.....


Jack Salud.....





Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Michael Williams.....





View From Above.....





Orchestra Rehearsal.....





Signalling The Start....





In Action.....





Waiting For My Turn.....





Getting Settled.....






On the day that John was able to arrange for some of us to shoot in Rockwell Power Plant Mall last Christmas season, it coincided with a scheduled performance of Repertory Philippines' main talents Michael Williams, Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo and Jack Salud with Lea Salonga's younger brother Gerard as musical director and conductor of the Filharmonika Orchestra.

Now I have always loved to watch Michael Williams perform live. But the ongoing shoot prevented me from enjoying and listening to his performance. And its different to see him perform as himself and not dressed in some costume like when I see him during dress rehearsals. But even if he has aged a lot, he still is such a fine performer.

THE STORY OF FOUR COUPLES.....

Joy Virata And Miguel Faustmann In Action.....








































I had the chance to go, watch and shoot the dress rehearsal of Repertory Philippines' opening salvo for 2010. The play is called "Duets" which was written by Peter Quilter. What is unique about this play is that the four couples whose stories unfold are portrayed only by two thespians who are the pillars of Rep's stable of actors. They are Joy Virata and Miguel Faustmann. Enjoy this romantic comedy and check out how the actors get in to character as they tell the story. Ana Santos-Bitong directs the play. It runs at Greenbelt 1 theater from January 15-31, 2010. Kindly call the theater for the run times of the show.