August 19, 2019

DANI GIRL rerun - more emotional the second time around

The Sandbox Collective brings back the musical about hope, Dani Girl, which I felt more attached and the emotions are more intense despite its injected humor and musical elements in this masterpiece.
I have to commend the cast, Becca Coates (Dani), Lorenz Martinez (Raph), Shiela Valderama-Martinez (Mom), and Luigi Quesada (Marty) for a heartwarming and . Also kudos to Toff De Venecia, who dedicates his directorial talents on this necessary production.

I love the set even better on this rerun. When at the first run it allowed us to imagine na imagery of Dani and Marty's journey in battling cancer, now we are more visual and the journey has materialized. It is even more touching that Becca and Luigi gave more heart to the characters as far as I can remember.
Photo by Gian Nicdao
It's more hurting to feel Shiela Valderama-Martinez's sorrow as a mother as she assists on the fight and even when she accepts Dani's fate. Can't miss a tear with her on Act 2.

Lorenz Martinez as Raph, gives the entertaining angel companion as always. As an angel, or even a friend, it is essential to give hope and uplift the spirit to anyone who needs it. Raph is very comforting, as well as Marty, in Dani's life.
Photo by Gian Nicdao
Dani Girl: A Musical About Hope runs until September 1 2019 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City. You should also stay after the show to listen and participate in the forum in how to spread hope or help cancer victims cope with the disease.

For tickets, call TicketWorld at 891-9999 or visit www.ticketworld.com.ph. #DaniGirlMNL

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Tanghalang Ateneo's DOLOROSA - how a religious image solves mysteries encompassed multiple generations

As Tanghalang Ateneo opens its 41st season with theme Ecriture Feminine that revolves around women, its first production focused on the wonders of a prominent Catholic figure, the Mater Dolorosa in Peter Zaragoza-Mayshle's "Dolorosa." This is directed by Jenny Jamora.
The 3-act play narrative showed generations with a complex history starting from the Spanish colonial period until the current time when the family is already dysfunctional and broken. You won't recognize the length of this 3-hour production as the playwright gave a very interesting development of the characters and also the mystery of the main figure, the Dolorosa.

The first act, starting with the creation of the image puts the imagination to be inspired on how the image would look like. Similar with the stories of history of what our ancestors have endured under the friars and we are greatly influenced of indulgences and spiritual factors.

While on the 2nd act, when the Filipinos still has a young perceptive of the modern world, we are still impacted with the supernatural. The 2nd act is very interesting though, a certain scene wherein the young Pilar (Zoe de Ocampo) has traveled to an unknown dimension where she meets the various titles of the Virgin. Parts of the Litany depicted in a mind-opening scene that was indeed memorable. Whether it's a fictional world or not, this ignites you to think of your belief. A thing that I would have not expected to come from a Catholic-run institution.

The 3rd act presents the drama and the humor of the whole play. It was a roller-coaster machine brought by the collective of the three generations of the family including the grown Pilar (Bibeth Orteza). Here we face some realities and confronts our own judgments and even our own evils. The characters turn into a redeeming stage which leaves you your own judgment and conclusion.
Cast of Tanghalang Ateneo's Dolorosa
Tanghalang Ateneo's Dolorosa runs until August 31, with shows at 2:30PM and 7:30PM at the Doreen Black Box Theater, 3F, Arete, Ateneo De Manila University.
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August 16, 2019

DANCING LESSONS - A love story of moving misconceptions

Twin Bill Theater's new production Dancing Lessons would move you to an emotional level as you will be given another understanding of a person with autism. The show is already playing at the Power Mac Center Spotlight Theater for a limited time, this show should not be missed.
Written by Mark St. Germain, inspired with his encounter with a couple with an autistic child, we can think that they see the world differently and they are very intuitive that's why they act as such. This story is actually a romcom about Ever Montgomery, a science professor with Asperger's syndrome and hypersensitivity, which I only heard about yesterday as they call it that way - and Senga Quinn, a Broadway dancer who has suffered a major leg injury in a car accident. Ever is played by Randy Villarama and Jill Pena stars as Senga.
Randy Villarama (Ever Montgomery) and Jill Pena (Senga Quinn)
Ever lacks social skills but a very important event would require him to have contact with people, he asks for dancing lessons from Senga so that he could deal with handshaking, hugs and dancing. Through the lessons, a relationship slowly develops that has both of them stepping out of their comfort zones.

What is funny about Dancing Lessons is I remember watching The Big Bang Theory with Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) and Penny (Kaley Cuoco). The humor injected with Ever's obsessive-compulsive condition would be very similar to that. Thanks to TBBT and of course our understanding about the Asperger's syndrome, we now should have learned that it should not be treated as an abnormality but rather there is a different spectrum of the world for them. It is the availability of these materials that the world may be more colorful for them than what we see. But at the bottom of it, we all deserve to love and be loved. Who knows they can teach us a new universe of knowledge that we are unaware of, and what the world we are in as "neurotypicals" is what they are trying to discover because of its complexity. Dancing Lessons shows us both perspectives and I'm glad that Randy and Jill has given great performance for the eyes and for the heart. A wonderful material for everyone to witness.
Dancing Lessons shows are August 16, 17, 21-24 at 8:30PM at the PowerMac Center Spotlight Theater. Tickets are available at the venue.

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