Atlantis Productions' The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee Review

A few years ago, I received the OBCR (Original Broadway Cast Recording) of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. If you see my Top 25 Most Played songs, you'll know I'm obsessed. Almost all the songs in the show are played over 50 times.

Many say it's similar to Avenue Q when they use simple and kid-friendly things and turn them into dirty and mature jokes. Actually, I think ... Spelling Bee is better than Avenue Q. Don't hate me Avenue Q fans. First of all, I have strong feelings against Avenue Q because they won the Tony instead of Wicked. Also, I didn't really like the content at first. Don't get me wrong, I love the music and lyrics now but I still like ...Spelling Bee more.

I mean, it's rare and very original to see a musical covering topics such as puberty, political awareness, overachieving and spelling (TAKE THAT Avenue Q!). And when my cousin and her boyfriend (Thanks again by the way!) invited me to watch Atlantis Productions' version, I instantly said YES without thinking. All this around an hour before the March 19 show.

I had high expectations for this show. And they were definitely fulfilled. I couldn't help but compare the Manila cast to the many snippets I've heard/seen of the Broadway cast. It was hard, however, as the cast gave excellent performances.Everyone stayed in total character mode, even the pianist! Pheona Baranda as Logainne Schwartzandgrubenniere (Ha! I spelled that without looking at the cast list. Maybe I should be a speller...) was adorable and funny while making her fake lisp sound bearable (unlike most other actressess performing this role). Joel Trinidad and Cathy Azanza-Dy (as V.P. Douglas Panch and Rona Lisa Peretti respectively) were great improv comedians as they made side-splitting sentences and descriptions up. Noel Rayos, Rycharde Everley and Felix Rivera (Mitch Mahoney, William Barfee, Chip Tolentino) were great as always, especially when Felix Rivera sang Chip's Lament. You have to watch out for his interpretation! Thea Tadiar-Everley provided many laughs as the overachiever Marcy Park. I Speak Six Languages is one of my favorite songs in the show and she sings it without being nasal (unlike in the recording) and gives a surprise twist to the choreography. Johan Dela Fuente was likeable as Leaf Coneybear. He effectively played a child lacking attention and made the audience support him. For me, Carla Guevara-Laforteza was the standout as Olive Ostrovsky. She played the role with more emotion than Celia Keenan-Bolger (the original Olive). Her rendition of the I Love You Song moved me and made me just want to give her a hug. Although, I couldn't really appreciate the song as much because I kept thinking PLEASE reach the F sharp!, and she did.

The didn't really need much in terms of set. Even the Broadway show had a pretty bare set. Much of the show relied on lighting. I do admire the lighting design as it really gave different atmospheres to the show. It made the audience feel what the characters were feeling. The costumes were fitting and hilarious to an extent. The sound system was consistently clear except for one part in the I Love You Song where everything just died. Shame, it was the most moving number of the show.

Overall, a simple show proved that it could still move audiences and send them home with smiles on their faces.

ORIGINAL POST HERE (click)

West Side Story Revival

I haven't posted for quite a long time...

I recently received videos and audios of the new revival of West Side Story from a source which I am keeping secret for now.

I’m absolutely stunned by the choreography of the show. It’s very tightly-knit/ The set looks great too and the costumes are very appropriate. Karen Olivo (In the Heights) is an amazing Anita and Josefina Scaglione (Hairspray - Argentina) is innocent and charming as Maria. Matt Cavenaugh (Grey Gardens, Urban Cowboy) is good as Tony but sometimes he seems to be focusing on his blocking more than emotion. But then again, I’m only judging from these files I’ve seen/heard. I can’t compare it to the recent STAGES production either.

Well, anyway, you can find some clips of the songs from the new production AND even hear the new Spanish translations done by Lin Manuel-Miranda (In the Heights) at my YOUTUBE ACCOUNT: ateneodude

Everyone's favorite ogre IN A MUSICAL

I was looking around Broadway.com once last year for theater news when I came across an article about the auditions for Shrek: the Musical. I had to wait at least a year to finally receive news from the show. I read that the cast would include Brian D'Arcy James as Shrek, Sutton Foster as Princess Fiona and much more.

Around two months ago, I found leaked songs from the show on Youtube. Here's one of them. It's called "I Know It's Today". In this song, young, teenage and adult Fiona are counting the days until they are rescued from their tower by their Prince Charming.



I also saw a video "behind the scenes" of the production which started previews in Seattle last month. I really like the Gingerbread Man (played by Haven Burton) puppet and the Three Blind Mice.



Lastly, I found a picture of the set. It looks amazing yet reminiscent of the flop musical, Tarzan.




Well that's all for now. The show looks great and seems very hilarious.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

The Ateneo Men's Senior Basketball Team won the 2008 UAAP Championship against La Salle. I'm so proud! And happy that we get a victory holiday!!!

West Side Syndrome

Last Friday (September 19), I watched STAGES' production of 'West Side Story'.

Ever since the first ad was released, I was highly anticipating the production. I saw the movie when I was 8 and immediately fell in love with the memorable songs. I had unending searches for videos of different performances.

First of all, I was in a very good mood during the show because of the ushers. They were really attentive and kind to me. Probably because I was pretty much the only kid there and I entered alone. I sat patiently, admiring the set. A few minutes later, it was announced that the role of Maria would be played by Joanna Ampil. The whole crowd actually cheered.

The show skipped the (really long) "Overture" started right away with the "Prologue". James Laforteza's choreography was well performed by the cast but they sometimes lacked in unity. The rest of the show was dazzling. Powerful vocals from Joanna Ampil and Pam G (Anita), especially in the duet "A Boy Like That/ I Have A Love", left the audience in awe. Christian Bautista's portrayal of Tony was good overall but a bit weak in some numbers. Gian Magdangal was great as Riff. The only problem was that he didn't really maintain the New Yorker accent. Finally, Jeff Singson as the Sharks leader Bernardo was strong and convincing.

I actually noticed that many of the numbers followed the movie, rather than the 1957 version. "America", which was originally sung by Anita, Rosalia and the other Shark girls, included all the Puerto Ricans. The song "Somewhere", was sung in the show as a duet, while the original was sung by Consuelo, one of the Shark girls.

I applaud the creativity of the production crew. Resources are very limited for Filipino theatrical productions compared to the large glitzy sets on Broadway. However, they used all their resources to the fullest. The set was amazing. The buildings were rotated for the different scenes. The costumes, while somehow exaggerated, were colorful and really showed the difference between the Sharks and the Jets.

'West Side Story" has a very tragic ending, which brings me to my last point. Audience reactions. The audience was very appreciative of the musical. But unfortunately, the shocking and utterly LOUD gunshot made the tragic ending into a funny scene.

Overall, this production of "West Side Story" was one of the best musicals I have seen in Manila for a very long time, and it was a brilliant directorial debut for Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.