June 30, 2017

a backstage tour of #SisterActinManila



One of my favorite movies from the 90s is Sister Act and its Broadway musical production is touring right now. They are playing at Solaire Resort from June 27 up to July 9 at The Theatre. I was lucky to get a backstage tour with the Production Manager as we looked on the works of staging this great musical.

We enter The Theater and the 16-foot image of the Virgin Mary welcomes us as the background of the Church of the Queen of Angels. She is transported by ship travelling around the world. The hollow material makes it easier to carry and the movable at the base but she is in one piece and rests on a hammock inside a ship.

At the left of the stage is the audio controlling area where the lapels, sound system, and all audio works are controlled. Then beside it is a props box where items can easily be grabbed or a bottle of water is available if the cast needs a little refreshment or to wet their throats.


On the right side of the stage sits the console where the Program Manager oversees all that's what's going onstage whether to give good lighting and to see what's happening when the lights go down during transition scenes.

Then we moved at the back of the stage and found the bright costumes and there are around 300 pieces of costume throughout the show. I wonder how they maintain all clothes when they perform every day?


Here are also some finds in the backstage:

Thank you Ovation Productions for the experience. You can catch Sister Act, the Glorious Broadway Musical at The Theatre in Solaire until July 9. For tickets, you may visit www.ticketworld.com.

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the game has changed in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle


After more than 20 years, a Robin Williams favorite gets an update and now instead of the Jumanji game coming to our world, 4 new players were taken in to the game in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas and Bobby Cannavale.
A group of students facing detention finds the game console while in detention. Choosing different avatars for themselves, they are then transported into the jungle where they are transformed to the bodies of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan.

They are bound to an epic adventure that they should perform all task or they will be stuck in the game forever. See the trailer below:
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opens in the Philippines soon and on Christmas in the US. The film is directed by Jake Kasdan, screenplay by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Jake Kasdan & Scott Rosenberg & Jeff Pinkner. Screen Story by Chris McKenna, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg.

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June 29, 2017

We're glad Hugh Jackman does a musical again


The first trailer of The Greatest Showman has the Moulin Rouge feels and I love that our favorite Aussie gets to do this movie. Hugh Jackman plays the title role as PT Barnum.


Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. Watch the trailer below:



The film also features Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and more. Directed by Michael Gracey and written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon. With Music by John Debney (Jungle Book) with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the writers of the songs from La La Land.

The Greatest Showman shows this Christmas in the US.


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June 28, 2017

Watch an extended sneak peek of Stephen King's The Dark Tower


First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire. From the epic best-selling Stephen King novels, comes Columbia Pictures' The Dark Tower, starring Idris Elba as the Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black.

Check out an exclusive extended sneak peek of The Dark Tower below and watch the film in Philippine cinemas starting August 30, 2017.
In addition to soundbites from Elba and McConaughey, Stephen King himself weighs in on the adaptation and shares his thoughts on seeing Elba bring one of his most famous creations to life.

The Dark Tower is directed by Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair), with a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman & Jeff Pinkner and Anders Thomas Jensen & Nikolaj Arcel, based on King’s novels.

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Knight Warrior, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.


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June 27, 2017

can you celebrate your Death Day?



Would you turn to the day you met death? What would you do?

Jessica Rothe falls victim to a deja vu where all details of her death day is relived every time until she discovers who her killer is. The slashing action and horror is hidden under the mask, follows and haunts her to death. Who will be her suspects?

Blumhouse released the death day cake poster for the film and it already gives me the goosebumps and excitement.

The film also stars Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews, and Charles Aitken. Watch the trailer below.


Happy Death Day opens in Philippine cinemas on Oct. 11, 2017.
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June 26, 2017

Pitches are back! One last time.



Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and the Barden Bellas graduated after the World Championships and face the world as employees in different paths they took. But as the world has been very harsh on them, the Bellas reunite and finds music in the USO tour with some questionable decisions, one last time.
Universal continues the exciting story of the Barden Bellas in Pitch Perfect 3. We suggest to grab your earphones or turn up the volume and see the trailer below:

Pitch Perfect 3 stars Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Chrissie Fit, Kelley Jakle, Shelley Regner, John Lithgow, John Michael Higgins, and Elizabeth Banks.

Opening in Philippine cinemas in 2018, Pitch Perfect 3 is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.
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June 21, 2017

Do we really need another Transformers movie? - my review



Here's what I think about Transformers: The Last Knight.
I saw Transformers: The Last Knight last night and I hope that this would be the last. Shooting it in 98% IMAX cameras just makes it meh. There have been a lot of 3D IMAX movies and the had been better way too much than giving us mere spectacle with Michael Bay's explosives and CGI. I've also got confused of who's really the villain somewhere in the middle and they even added unnecessary characters. Acting is cringe-worthy for Isabela Moner's character who's been so knowing-it-all on the Transformers' nature. The movie didn't establish her as a little heroine. And what happened to the 4 kids at the first half of the movie?
O, Mark Wahlberg was here pala.
It was trying to compose another origin or historical account on the living robots with a short-lived so-called robot-goddess, Quintessa. Great to see Bumblebee to rebuild itself after being torn into pieces. But I am still thankful that they acknowledged the presence of Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) in the movie that might have lighten it up a bit.

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June 20, 2017

EVERYTHING, EVERYTHING movie review


Hunger Games star Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson risk everything for love in WB's new teen romance, Everything, Everything which opens tomorrow, June 21 in theaters.
The movie revolves around Maddy (Stenberg) who has been confined inside her house by her mother because of a rare disease called SCID. She hasn't left her house as she may be exposed to different bacteria which can lead to her death. Then a new neighbor comes in as Olly (Robinson) who was very curious and eager to meet her. The conversations got more intimate that resulted to running away and then meeting the consequences of being exposed to the environment.

As a blooming teenager like Maddy, she was very curious about the world outside the confines of their house. Her eagerness to come out and be with Olly in the world has led her to some very unlikable things for a young woman and running off with a guy she knew so little. This was just all a little girl's fantasy and as adults, I think there's a great responsibility that we have to check about this. I think we're missing the point that she doesn't have any money to start with, getting her own credit card online (which is very dangerous for a girl to give out details to the world), and running away cross-country with who knows what would happen. It may be just me and my pessimistic mind but it is a very dangerous movie for young ones. It encourages young girls to keep secrets from their parents which is not good.
Everything, Everything opens tomorrow. I advise parents that you should talk to your kids if they are watching this.

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June 19, 2017

midnight screenings for Transformers The Last Knight


Here are the cinemas that will hold their midnight screenings for the Michael Bay film, Transformers: The Last Knight on June 21. Watch it first than anyone else in the following movie houses:
The Last Knight shatters the core myths of the Transformers franchise, and redefines what it means to be a hero. Humans and Transformers are at war, Optimus Prime is gone. The key to saving our future lies buried in the secrets of the past, in the hidden history of Transformers on Earth. Saving our world falls upon the shoulders of an unlikely alliance: Cade Yeager (Mark Wahlberg); Bumblebee; an English Lord (Sir Anthony Hopkins); and an Oxford Professor (Laura Haddock).
There comes a moment in everyone’s life when we are called upon to make a difference. In Transformers: The Last Knight, the hunted will become heroes. Heroes will become villains. Only one world will survive: theirs, or ours.

The film also stars Josh Duhamel, Isabella Moner, Stanley Tucci and John Turturro.

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June 14, 2017

DESPICABLE ME 3 movie review


What's not to love about Despicable Me 3? The minions, Lucy and the girls are with Gru redefine his nature as a true villain as he traces his roots meeting the long lost twin brother Dru. Together they will bring down a heist caused by an 80s bad boy Balthazar Bratt. Despicable Me 3 opens in theaters June 14.
Prepare for dated laugh as it was more humorous for the adults than for the kids. Watching it last night had more appeal to the adults with the 80s-themed music and inserts that will transport you through time. Balthazar Bratt (Trey Parker) makes your imaginations into reality with all the gigantic robots that try to destroy entire cities with its laser eyebeams -- just like in the old Japanese shows.
Margo is probably going through puberty. Agnes still dreams of unicorns are true and her adorable cheeks still captures the hearts of every one. Edith is somewhere in between that will support any of her sisters but still has a huge chunk of childhood in her. Good that there's Lucy to watch over them, coping with the whole parenting thing that relates to all first time mothers undergoing the process.

Of couse, we don't forget he minions now led by a new character, Mel, who initiated a union against Gru as they missed being bad and helping Gru in heists. The potatoes found themselves in new experiences and soon they'll discover they can survive without a boss but still returns to him because they just missed him.
Gru and Dru finding each other will just connect it to the feels of having a sibling. An adjustment period was just too short since they still had their villainous blood in them that had bonded them right there and then. Somehow the movie fails to give emotional connection on this aspect as you can only tune in to resolving the problem caused by Balthazar.
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June 11, 2017

BusinessWorld launches SparkUp for young entrepreneurs and investors



BusinessWorld, the country's leading business newspaper, has began embracing the digital age for years now. And in its 30th anniversary, it engages on the young market, in the evolution of the collegiate dialogue BusinessWorld Student Forum to Bworld University and now SparkUp -- an online platform that guides millennials to properly use money and put it to good use with entrepreneurship.
The direction for a digital-first multimedia platform came from Lucien C. Dy Tioco, Executive Vice-President of Philippine Star Media Group, which BusinessWorld is part of. “SparkUp will prove to be a useful platform for business-minded millennials and centennials because it will not only serve as a source of business knowledge, but also a community where they can share ideas and inspire each other to turn business concepts into reality,” he said.
SparkUp also releases a quarterly magazine that features a thorough discussion of topics reflected on the online platform. To further guide you on the content of SparkUp, they also released themes that will make your browsing much easier:
SparkUp desktop
#MoneyMonday – Tips on money management, with the latest news on saving, investing, and spending;
#TrendingTuesday – Insights on the latest trends and their impact on entrepreneurs and consumers;
#WorkingWednesday – Workplace stories and tips for the Gen Y and Gen Z's work ethics and career outlooks;
#TakeoverThursday – An insider tour of a day in the life of the members of the Sparkommunity;
#FreshFriday – Stories on the lighter side of business

Inspiring the young entrepreneurial spirit are Sparkfluencers who discuss money and business matters which give insights for the rising Sparkommunity. In definition, Sparkommunity is both the online and offline group that are lead to the common goal of BW to inform the young ones in the field of business. They also conduct entrepreneurial summits, pocket forums, campus activations, start-up competitions, and case-study activities. These will enable members of the Sparkommunity to learn, meet up, network, and find potential partners.
SparkUp Mobile
To know more about SparkUp, visit www.sparkup.ph and follow @SparkUpPH in Instagram and Facebook. For inquiries, e-mail hello@sparkup.ph

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June 10, 2017

the wonderful kingdom of Wakanda in Black Panther trailer


Marvel is already on Phase 3 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and they will be bringing T'Challa and the advanced hidden world of Wakanda in the released trailer of Black Panther.
T'Challa (Chadwick Boseman) makes his debut in Captain America: Civil War in 2016 and assumes his father's throne. But when a powerful old enemy reappears, T’Challa’s mettle as king—and Black Panther—is tested when he is drawn into a formidable conflict that puts the fate of Wakanda and the entire world at risk. Faced with treachery and danger, the young king must rally his allies and release the full power of Black Panther to defeat his foes and secure the safety of his people and their way of life.


The film is directed by Ryan Coogler and produced by Kevin Feige with Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Nate Moore, Jeffrey Chernov and Stan Lee serving as executive producers. Ryan Coogler & Joe Robert Cole wrote the screenplay.

See Black Panther in theaters, February 2018.

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June 9, 2017

a trip to the Land of the Dead in Disney Pixar's Coco


Disney and Pixar prepares us to be enchanted in to the Land of the Dead in the latest trailer of Coco. This new touching feature opens in theaters November 22 in 3D.
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The animated adventure which follows a young aspiring musician and a charming trickster on an extraordinary journey through the Land of the Dead.

Despite his family’s baffling generations-old ban on music, Miguel (voice of newcomer Anthony Gonzalez) dreams of becoming an accomplished musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz (voice of Benjamin Bratt). Desperate to prove his talent, Miguel finds himself in the stunning and colorful Land of the Dead following a mysterious chain of events. Along the way, he meets charming trickster Hector (voice of Gael García Bernal), and together, they set off on an extraordinary journey to unlock the real story behind Miguel's family history.

Watch the trailer below:


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June 2, 2017

CAREDIVAS pays tribute to OFWs in new run



The Philippine Educational Theater Association or PETA remembers our beloved OFWs in this rerun of the widely-acclaimed musical, CareDivas which will play starting June 24 to July 30 at the PETA Theater Center. It is a big partnership with the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) in spearheading the project once again and in celebration of the International Migrants Day on Jun 8, selected families of OFWs will get the chance to watch this moving musical to give a better understanding of the life of an OFW. Care Divas is one of the productions coming back this year in celebration of PETA's 50th anniversary.

Chelsea, Shai, Kyla, Jonee and Thalia are back to show us the adventures, and help us understand the situation and hardships of the OFWs since they may be our relatives and loved ones. CareDivas includes a powerhouse cast of theater actors: PETA artists Melvin Lee, Vince De Jesus, Ron Alfonso, Dudz Teraña, Jerald Napoles, Jason Barcial, Phil Noble, Buddy Caramat, Gio Gahol, Joan Bugcat, Eric Dela Cruz, Joseph Madriaga, and Gold Villar; plus guest artists Eko Baquial, Ricci Chan, Paul Holme, Sherry Lara, Thou Reyes, Leo Rialp, Dom Miclat-Jansen and Myke Salomon.

Hear the moving songs from Vince De Jesus while we all laugh, cry and love the Care Divas in this spectacular production.


Care Divas is showing from June 24 until July 30 at the PETA Theater Center. For inquiries and ticket reservations, contact PETA Marketing and Public Relations Office at Tel. No. 725-6244, petatheater@gmail.com or Ticket World at 891-9999, www.ticketworld.com.ph.
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