Jelliclisms on a Jellicle Blog
Confessions of a Former Jellicle Cat
Heterophonic Dada this Saturday!
Feb 11th
HeterophonicDada
‘HeterophonicDada’ CHIE ONO and SATOKO SHIDAHARA will conduct a “JAPANESE INSHU WASHI COSTUME-HAIR & MAKE UP workshop & exhibit come February 15, 2014 at The Atrium of SM AURA Premier, McKinley Parkway at 6 p.m. in collaboration with Sinag Arts , Japan Foundation, SM Aura and The Block SM North Edsa.
In the 1st Viva Vigan World Costume Festival held in Vigan City in April 2013, one of the highly appreciated and well-attended activities of the festival was the Costume Assemblage Workshop conducted by “HeterophonicDada” CHIE ONO and SATOKO SHIDAHARA, because of its innovative way of designing and creating costume and make up.
Workshop on February 20-22 is open to enthusiasts and designers who would like to enhance their creativity in theater costume design, hair and makeup. For inquiries you may contact Mobile (63 0906) 3522 146 or call 531-3491 or email sinag_arts@ymail.com
Rak-rakan Na!
Jan 27th
PETA’s Rak of Aegis
The music of the legendary pop-rock band Aegis conquers the local theater scene as the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) closes its 46th Theater Season with “Rak of Aegis”, a Pinoy rock comedy-musical featuring the songs of Aegis. Opening January 31 at The PETA Theater Center, “Rak of Aegis” will run for 6 weeks, Fridays to Sundays until March 9, 2014.
The highly anticipated new musical will feature chart-topping songs of the 90s Pinoy rock band Aegis, such as “Luha,” “Halik,” “Sundot,” “Christmas Bonus,” and “Basang-basa sa Ulan” performed by a mix of talented theater artists led by Isay Alvarez-Seña, Robert Seña, Aicelle Santos, and Joan Bugcat.
Cast members include Kalila Aguilos, Ron Alfonso, Jet Barrun, Kakai Bautista, Poppert Bernadas, Gimbey Dela Cruz, Nor Domingo, Neomi Gonzales, Pepe Herrera, Carlon Matobato, Julienne Mendoza, John Moran, Jerald Napoles, Gie Onida, Phillip Palmos, Myke Salomon, Paeng Sudayan, and Gold Villar.
A story of love, fame and resilience, the narrative revolves around the residents of the flooded village of Villa Venizia. At the center of the story is Aileen (Aicelle Santos alternating with Joan Bugcat) a young mall promodizer caught in the web of finding love and seeking fame to support her family.
Aileen’s family like the other residents are greatly affected by the flood. Her father Kiel is in the brink of losing his job as baranggay captain Mary Jane (Isay Alvarez-Seña) plans to close her failing shoe factory. Knowing that her income will never be enough to make ends meet, Aileen decides to make a video of herself in the hopes of becoming the next YouTube sensation. Aileen’s suitor Tolits (Jerald Napoles alternating with Pepe Herrera) posts the video online, unaware that it will put Villa Venizia under the spotlight and change their lives forever.
“Rak of Aegis” is a musical filled with visual spectacle showcasing the Pinoy’s natural love for music and innate resilience in the face of calamity. The musical is created by the same women behind PETA’s hit comedy musical “Care Divas,” PETA Artistic Director Maribel Legarda and Palanca Award-winning writer Liza Magtoto, with musical arrangement and musical direction by actor-musician Myke Salomon.
“Rak of Aegis” also consists of a talented artistic team which includes Gio Gahol (choreography), Jonjon Villareal (lighting design), Mio Infante (production design), Carlo Pagunaling (costume design), Maco Custodio (shoe design), and Joan Pamintuan (accessory design).
The play runs from January 31 to March 9, 2014 at The PETA Theater Center located at No.5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City. Shows are on weekends, Fridays to Sundays, Friday and Saturday at 3:00 P.M. and 8:00 P.M. and Sundays at 10:00 A.M. and 3:00 P.M., except Feb 23 with shows at 10:00A.M and 8:00 P.M., Mar 2 at 3:00 P.M. and 8:00PM. Two special Thursday evening shows are scheduled on Feb 27, 8:00 P.M. and Mar 6, 8:00 P.M.
Tickets are now available via www.ticketworld.com.ph, 891-9999. For more information contact PETA at 725-6244 or 0917-5765400, petatheater@gmail.com or visit www.petatheater.com.
The Mahabharata Goes Pinoy
Jan 23rd
Dulaang UP’s ANG NAWALANG KAPATID
A musical adaptation of India’s greatest epic closes Dulaang UP’s 38th season, Ang Nawalang Kapatid, adapted from The Mahabharata by acclaimed playwright Floy Quintos, with original score by Ceejay Javier, directed and choreographed by Dexter M. Santos, is a re-telling of the epic battle between the Kaurava and Pandava families. The story focuses on the anti-hero Karna, a brave young man who must choose between loyalty to his family or to the state which made him a prince.
ANG NAWALANG KAPATID was originally written as a children’s play for the Ateneo Children’s Theater and was first produced for their 2011 season. This new version allows for many more of the complexities of the original material to be dramatized. New arrangements of the original songs were created by Ceejay Javier, whose original works include “Isang Panaginip na Fili”, “Astig”, “Alex in Wonderland”, “Break Away Antigone”. He is best known as Musical Director for Atlantis Productions’ “Next To Normal”, Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”, “Carrie”, “Addams Family”. As expected, the new staging will showcase Dexter Santos’ flair for images and movement as seen in his previous works “Maxie the Musical”, “Collection”, “Orosman at Zafira”.
In adapting the Indian epic, Floy Quintos has chosen to highlight the story of family and blood ties, and the conflicts that these bring about. Karna, who in Indian literature is traditionally the anti-hero, is now a young man searching for his dharma, his truth and destiny, while unaware of his true blood ties. The young and energetic cast is made up of the Dulaang UP Ensemble, with a live band and Krina Cayabyab as the vocal director.
Through this production, Dulaang UP seeks to bring the timeless story of The Mahabharata to a wider audience. By filtering the epic through the sensibilities of Filipino artists, the production shows us our Indian roots and its enduring impact on our culture. The production highlights how this timeless epic has shaped strong values like loyalty to family which is so much a part of South East Asian culture.
The artistic staff includes Gino Gonzales for the Costume Design, John Batalla for Lighting Direction, with a Set Design by Ohm David. Musical arranger Louise Ybañez gives a thrilling attack to a modern adaptation of the classic, coupled with the stunning choreography by Al Garcia, Jeffrey Hernandez, Stephen Viñas, and Vincent Pajara.
Ang Nawalang Kapatid will run from February 5 to February 23, 2014 at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, 2nd floor Palma Hall, University of the Philippines Diliman.
For tickets, sponsorships and showbuying inquiries, call Samanta Hannah Clarin or Camille Guevara at 9261349, 4337840, 9818500 loc 2449 or you can email dulaangupmarketing@gmail.com.
Fernanda’s Finest
Dec 23rd
A couple of friends had me watch their most favorite foreign films, and the past few days were solitary marathons in my room amidst those great works. But I couldn’t have a better finale without seeing my most adored foreign film; one that I will never get tired of watching; one that still never fails to make me cry and silently whisper, “thank you,” just before the final credits roll.
Yes, it’s been more than a decade, since I first saw it with a friend, and I still sigh at every scene.
It is the story of Dora (played magnificently by Fernanda Montenegro) – a letter writer for the illiterate at Rio de Jainero’s central train station, and her unlikely friendship with Josue (Vinicius de Oliveira) – a young boy who just lost her mother. The two forms an unusual bond, as Dora accompanies Josue to a remote area in Brazil to find his father. It is a long journey, and the heat and dust just wouldn’t stop until the two arrive at the end of the road.
Walter Salles’ CENTRAL STATION (1998) is probably one of the best foreign films that I can recommend to my friends. His camera captures a real Brazil, and moulds Montenegro into a character that extends countless embraces beyond the screen.
It is a story about how compassion can transform even the most jaded of hearts. It is a journey to crispy sunrises and a bus trip of unsuspecting hearts and enduring hope, that even after countless times of watching it, I still can’t say thank you enough.
Watch it! Watch it! It’s worth every minute!
5 STARS!
Choose Your Own Horror
Nov 6th
SAPI (2013)
I once read a fable about the seven blind men who caught a white elephant and grabbed its different body parts. One declared that it was a palm leaf after touching its ears. One said it was a python, upon touching its nose. The other argued that it was magnificent statue, while holding it’s hind leg, and so on. Finally they sat down together and discussed what they have. They decided that they caught a black elephant.
Horror novelist, Stephen King says that: “fear makes us blind, and we touch it with all the avid curiosity of self-interest, trying to make a whole out of a hundred parts.” Like the seven blind men, we look at horror by its parts, and we finally construct a collective thought of what fear is. We may not still get it right, but our own interpretations are enough to keep us awake at night.
I think this is what Brillante Ma. Mendoza presents in his SAPI (2013). It is commentary far related to what we take regularly as horror, but it is as horrifying as that cold hand under your hair. It may not be your run-of-the-mill ghost story. But if there’s something that exceeds the supernatural, it is the human psyche that’s the most horrifying of all.
TV news reporter Dennis (Dennis Trillo) and his producer Meryll (Meryll Soriano) is working on a documentary about demonic possessions. In a desperate need to get an actual footage, they make a back room deal with Baron (Baron Geisler), a cameraman from a rival network who had the chance to capture an actual exorcism. Everything was doing well until Ma’am Ruby (Ruby Ruiz), the possessed subject, gets televised on national television. Apparently, the footages are not supposed to be aired, and if so, should abide to Ruby’s legal requests to be anonymous.
The film juxtaposes different layers of horrors, that the audience can choose from: the far, unreliable, grotesque and the relevant, the everyday, the familiar.
On the one hand, Brillante provides what the audience wants: the snake crawling out of your vagina, the androgynous zombie with a sewed mouth giving you a blow job, or your doppelgänger looking at you before jumping off a bridge. Though psycho-Freudian and Marxist in their interpretations, the film moves to a more relevant and familiar form of fear. It presents the common themes of shock and macabre, but it intentionally diverts itself, as if saying, “haven’t you had enough, already?”
On the other hand, Brillante presents other carnal truths in the network wars that we are so familiar with, and explores the trickeries of these systems that we are supposed to trust. Beyond the paranormal, the film investigates the critical areas of news writing and examines the bureaucratic machine in all its hypocrisy and commercialism. It delves on one story of a country that is about to go under (the monsoon floods), and the rich still gets richer, and the poor gets free groceries so they’d shut the f*ck up. All at the expense of the truth.
At first, you question the system. Second, you question your trust.
If that is not horrifying, I don’t what is.
I am not a Brillante fan, nor have I ever been a Brillante fan. But this is one of his works that I’d gladly recommend to my friends . It is a critical analysis of what horror is, and how we can make it relevant. In the final analysis, it takes a critical eye to understand that Brillante is presenting to us the elephant. Like the seven blind men, we construct our own interpretations of what it is that we should fear the most.
4.5 Stars out of 5.00
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