My merry little Christmas with a Philippine Idol

Mau Marcelo, the first-ever Philippine Idol, was my date on Christmas Eve. I'm exaggerating. I was at a Christmas Eve party in Singapore hosted by my good friend Joey, we were about 15 people in the room (all Singapore-based Pinoys except gatecrashing me and a colleague of theirs from Brunei), and Mau was there because she's become one of Joey's closest friends and, in the absence of family, Christmas with good friends is, of course, the next best thing.

After winning the ABC-5 talent show, Mau went on to compete in Asian Idol, held in Singapore. Hometown contestant Hady Mirza eventually won, but Mau, who led in the online voting right up the show's last week, was his closest competitor. In the Philippines, the two guys she bested, Gian Magdangal and Jan Nieto, got regular gigs on GMA-7's SOP. Mau, on the other hand, has relocated to Singapore where she now teaches voice and pop singing and performs regularly with a band.

She came to the party with two of her students, a cutie Fil-Singaporean named Marc (that's him beside Mau on the video) and a Singaporean girl, both of whom were goaded to regale us, their increasingly drunk audience, with songs that never got finished--so rowdy was the drinking. Mau's warbling, though, was received with rapt attention. She sang Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas and Whitney Houston's On My Own (which she turned into a radio hit after her Philippine Idol win), and listening to that voice live was a big highlight of my first Christmas spent abroad.

That she turned out to be an unaffected, spunky woman with no airs and a friendly hug for everyone was an extra-delight. Two days after that party, Mau and Joey would be in the audience of the Singapore Idol finals, where a kababayan, Charice Pempengco, was the star performer. (As usual, she brought the house down with her Whitney medley.) It turned out Mau and Charice are good friends. They go a long way back to their struggling days in the province when the two would often find themselves competing in the same singing tilt.

“Sometimes ako ang nananalo, sometimes si Charice,” recalled Mau. Whatever the outcome, they became friends and would go home together from the town or barrio they had rocked with their knockout voices. At one point, said Mau, they even hitched a ride on a garbage truck because no transportation was available at that late hour. At the Asian Idol show, so Joey told me, Mau, Charice and Charice's mom had a fond huddle backstage, while Joey himself was giddy after a photo-op with the pint-sized dynamo. Philip, his housemate, had had his full at the Christmas Eve party posing endlessly with Mau, whom he had rooted for to bits during the Philippine Idol run. And who could blame him?

Here's Mau wishing you a merry little Christmas as well (taken with my celfone videocam--sorry for the low light):



[Thank you, Joey, Philip and Emman--I had a blast!]

PLUS: The “Soul Idol” in action, tearing into Diamonds are Forever.

Fabcast! From cold Christmas to hopeful New Year

That's the arc of the most recent podcast we did, right before Christmas, when we good-naturedly asked our peanut gallery whether malamig ba talaga ang pasko ng mga single. Goes without saying that most of us are fancy-free and hence are, um, invested in the question. Later on, we segued to everyone's plans, hopes and expectations for the coming year. Dimples is back! And so is AJ. And we've got Jay the frat guy making his first appearance. Why we're on a roll with our Fabcasts--the latest stats show we've had over 72,000 downloads, 20,000 in the last three months alone, and from many parts of the globe. (The podcasts are now available on iTunes.) Unambiguous encouragement, right? Thank you for listening and sharing in the fun!

Part 1: (16 min 16 sec)

Download this fabcast (right click and save-15.6 MB)

Part 2: (22 min 57 sec)

Download this episode (right click and save-22 MB)

PLUS: Pahabol--Part 2 of The Pride and the Power podcast.

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Despite fund lack, the arts thrive

Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12.28.2009

A survey of the 2009 arts and culture scene in quotes and observations

MONEY WOES ARE NO DETERRENT to creativity.

Despite its limited budget, the CCP, which celebrated its 40th anniversary this year, managed to bring together, in this year’s Brave New Works Festivals, “a deluge of provocative new works by poets, playwrights, choreographers, composers, visual artists and independent filmmakers,” as CCP associate artistic director Chris Millado described it.

The festivals included three well-known pillars: the Virgin Labfest (theater), WiFi Body Festival (independent dance) and Cinemalaya (film); along with WordJam! (spoken word), the 13 Artists Awards (visual arts) and Musik Underkonstruktion (new symphonic works).

Now, think how much more creative our artists could get with greater state funding and support.

We take a survey of the 2009 arts and culture scene through remarks by the artists and cultural workers themselves:

“Our motto is ‘Have floor, will dance.’ We’ve even danced on wooden softdrink crates while on tour!” -- Lisa Macuja, who celebrated her 25th anniversary this year in ballet. Macuja’s Ballet Manila has performed in over 45 cities and towns nationwide.

“The situation in Mindanao is a really complex issue. It’s important that we actually care that there is a war there, that we do whatever we can in our capacities to do something about it. In my case, I am doing theater work to create awareness.” -- Shamaine Centenera Buencamino, on playing Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Madonna Brava ng Mindanao,” based on Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children”

“Alternative art spaces are growing, away from shopping malls and back to the suburbs. Former warehouses and ancestral homes are now the preferred spaces. For example, Cubao Expo, a former cluster of shoe stores, is now abuzz with art spaces like galleries, performance spaces, screening rooms, coffee shops with open-mic poetry readings and musical jamming ... In the last five years, there’s been a surge of creativity among young artists. Aside from using paint and canvas to express their ideas, they employ a gamut of other materials. Digital art and photography has opened new avenues. Film is dead, and the gazillion-gigabyte memory chip, which can store a multitude of images and sound bites, replaces it. Web design, animation, mangga, animé and flash animation are all evolving every second.” -- Guillermo “Ige” Ramos, Cocoon magazine art director and a judge in Inquirer Lifestyle-Nokia’s 10 Most Exciting Young Artists, on why he believes the Philippine art scene is in the midst of a renaissance

“Filipino artists are open to new forms. Multimedia is part of this one big play now. Artists today explore different mediums, they don’t use traditional forms. They break, reconstruct or go beyond the form. They explore different techniques and have new output.” -- Visual artist-filmmaker Jaime “Jay” Pacena, curator of Inquirer Lifestyle-Nokia’s 10 Most Exciting Young Artists

“Manila is a flood-prone area, we are a riverine, estuary community. During the Spanish colonial era, Manila, which was constantly flooded, was eased by the presence of the estero system which would flush away the floods. During the American period, this continued to be observed, and many have remarked how this was an efficient way of draining away floodwaters from the city. Sadly, this was not improved by succeeding administrations. In fact, there was over-development by unscrupulous individuals and the local government, resulting in the development of areas that should not have been there in the first place. Estero systems or streams were taken over by buildings and encroachments. Added to this is the urban population growth, particularly the growth of the urban poor who live in danger zones, a major problem in disaster control and management.” -- Manuel Maximo Lopez del Castillo-Noche, architect and professor at the University of Santo Tomas College of Architecture, on the terrible flooding of Sept. 26

“After World War II, the reconstruction of Manila did not follow any urban planning... Ultimately, the flooding problems and water-drainage problems of Manila is an engineering problem... We should also remember that all of us are contributors to this disaster, from the plastic bags we throw into the sewers, to the trash in the streets, to the indiscriminate abuse of unsustainable resources and our reliance on a government that is not working, we all play a part in this disaster. The sewers and drain systems are like the veins in our body. If you feed it junk, it will give you a heart attack! There are only so many bypasses that can be performed.” -- Dan Lichauco, architect and urban planner, on what typhoon “Ondoy” could teach us

“Society imposes an image, and it can be difficult to sustain that image if a man experiences pain. There are expectations to be macho—how men aren’t supposed to cry and all that.” -- Veteran actor Tommy Abuel, on insights he gained from “The Male Voice,” a New Voice Company presentation this year that tackled violence and emotional dysfunction from the point of view of men

“[While] writing English musicals in a Third World country is a challenge, musical theater is [also] a great opportunity to explore stories, to change perceptions, to allow audiences to take an emotional journey.” -- Jaime del Mundo, actor, director and librettist, talking about his 2009 work, Trumpets’ “N.O.A.H. (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat),” a gospel-tinged musical that incorporated an environmental message

“I feel it is important to look back at these ‘landmark’ works of art, to ground us more as artists of the 21st century. My interest is how this drama shows the level of complexity with which we, as Filipinos, create meaning in history, how we readily blur fiction and reality, myth and history... The show can serve as a good preamble in terms of creating an attitude of critical thinking for the coming elections. Our history is one of resistance. What we do today affects our future.” -- Dance artist Myra Beltran, on the challenge of transforming Virgie Moreno’s play “Itim Asu” into a melange of movement, sound design and video. “Itim Asu” touches on the legend of La Loba Negra—how the wife of assassinated Spanish governor-general Bustamante allegedly avenged his death at the hands of friars, an assault immortalized in the Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo painting that now hangs at the National Museum.

“The story shows how all of these things can dehumanize you. You can get caught up in the system. Politics, bureaucracy, abuse of power and big businesses can eat you up. It shows how revenge can consume a person... Killing people and making them into pies is absurd and extreme, so if you pick up on the dark humor, it’s actually funny in a bizarre way.” -- Michael Williams, on what made “Sweeney Todd,” Repertory Philippines’ big musical for 2009, something Filipinos could very well relate to

“Heritage is very important to UST [University of Santo Tomas]. When you speak of heritage, it belongs to everybody; it doesn’t belong to an individual person, so it’s a social responsibility.” -- Fr. Isidro Abano, OP, director of the UST Museum of Arts and Sciences, the oldest museum in the country, on the restoration of the museum’s vast visual arts collection as part of the celebration in the run-up to 2011 when UST turns 400 years old as Asia’s oldest university

“I think President Arroyo should sit through a 24-hour movie marathon of [Carlo J.] Caparas films before naming him National Artist and junking the selection process altogether.” -- Singer-songwriter Jim Paredes, on the controversial proclamation by Malacañang of Caparas as National Artist for Film and Visual Arts

PLUS: A companion piece--Constantino Tejero's “A double-edged year for arts and culture”, the point driven home by its concluding paragraph, Ang Pagdalaw ng Senyora.

Gantimpala Theater's Kapulungan ng mga Diyos on Dec. 30. Free admission.

“Kapulungan ng mga Diyos” is a musical based on “El Consejos Delos Dioses”, a play written in April 1880 by National Hero Jose Rizal. It won first prize in the contest organized by the Liceo Artistico de Manila, or Manila Art Institute.

This musical is set in a fictional place called “Paraisong Kayumanggi,” a paradise in a part of the heavens called “Kaluwalhatian”, where the powerful deities of the old literary world of the Philippines reside, deities who ruled the world of Philippine mythology and folktales during the pre-Spanish era. In the story, the existence of these deities and all other creatures of the old literary world is being threatened by the birth of a new world, so Bathala, together with his loyal messenger Tigmamanukin, calls a council composed of 4 other deities, namely; Amihan the goddess of the wind, Diyan Masalanta the goddess of love, Bulan the goddess of the moon and her brother Apolaki the god of the sun.

Amid much disagreement on how to proceed, the group attempts to find ways to ensure that Filipino literature prevails by immortalizing a book that carries the essence and principles of the old world and enthroning it at the tallest mountain in Kaluwalhatian called Bundok Ng Buhay Na Walang Hanggan.

“Kapulungan ng mga Diyos” intends to open the eyes of its audience to the greatness of the four classic books included in the Philippines’ High School curriculum. Through funny scenes and light storytelling, magical songs and entertaining dances, the play hopes to interest the youth in reading and enjoying the beauty of these four classics written by the greatest Filipino literary artists.

The musical stars Heidi Arima (Amihan); Meliza Reyes (Diyan Masalanta); Bench Bautista (Bulan); Leo Ponseca (Tigmamanukin); Billy Parjan (Bathala); Xeno Alejandro (Apolaki); Pamela Hundana (Katarungan/Ibong Adarna): Raymond Talavera (Katarungan/Ibong Adarna); Ronald Concepcion (Tikbalang/Ibarra/Simoun); Francis Cruz III (Bangun-Bangun/Florante); Hazel Orencio (Inang Bayan/Lakamibini/Laura); Christian Parado (Halamista/Engkantado/Aladin); Gillyza Berdin (Hukluban/Engkantada/Flerida); Darby Dizon (Ermitanyo/Sultan Ali Adab/Pari); and John Paulo Garcia (Kapre/Adolfo/Militar).

Direction and libretto by Jose Jeffrey Camañag, lights design by Andy Villareal, set design by Marianne Sedotes, choreography by Darby Dizon, production management by Alice Borbe, stage management by Glendel Dacumos. Artistic Director is Tony Espejo.

“Kapulungan ng mga Diyos,” a project of Gantimpala Theater in cooperation with the National Parks Development Committee, runs December 30 (Wednesday), 7 p.m., at the Open Air Auditorium, Luneta Park. Free admission!

Okay, fine, I get it.

Signs that midlife is almost here:

1. Our company eye doctor prescribes reading glasses for me. On top of my contact lenses. He says reading glasses are usually needed by people aged 40 and up. I'm ahead by a year. Whenever you see me now perching spectacles on top of my nose when scanning the resto menu or reading the show program before a play--yes, that's not only my chronic bad eyesight on display, but also the onset of senior moments. I really should begin saving up for Lasik.

2. Young guy sits beside me on the front seat of a van heading to the airport. Cute, seems friendly, game for some conversation. The ride's an hour and a half, so we cover a lot of ground, mostly about his schooling and OFW family. We trade digits afterwards. Couple of days of small talk via text follows. Then he asks: Kuya, ilang taon ka nga pala? (Guy's 18, or so he says). 39, I text back. Hehehe, he replies, tatay ko 37 pa lang. OMG.

3. I ask the lone staff at the music store: Meron ba kayo ng CD ni Raymond Lauchengco? (Backgrounder: His recent album of '80s hits such as Together in Electric Dreams and You To Me Are Everything improbably reworked big-band style is worth a listen. I lost my copy somewhere, so here I am looking for a replacement, with Limewire no help.) The teen looks at me blankly and says, Sino yun, yung bokalista ng Sandwich? Whaa--

On that note: Merry Christmas again, folks. I'm really gone this time, poof, until the new year. Be safe.

Fabcast:: the pride and the power, part 1

Recorded a couple of weeks ago with a fairly frisky and opinionated peanut gallery, who trade thoughts and ideas with us on the then just-ended Pride March and the earlier outrageous Comelec decision disqualifying Ang Ladlad for party-list accreditation on grounds of “immorality.” The opinions run the gamut--from those who think marching and seeking a place in Congress isn't needed anymore (or at least not what they can relate to for now), to those who think it's the next crucial step toward further acceptance, and not merely toleration (more often condescension), by society. I lay down my position quite early, with much sardonic laughter but also every word meant: Kung moralidad lang naman ang pag-uusapan, wala na sigurong matitira sa Kongreso. At sa Comelec. Change “wala na” to “konti na lang”, and I'd also include the Church. Whee. Do join the hearty huddle.

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Season to be merry and gay

Merry Christmas, folks! Enjoy the holidays. I'll enjoy mine with a brief blog break. Easy on the ham now, will ya?

Rent in rehearsals: sneak peek

9 Works Theatrical recently presented to media and bloggers a sneak peek of the on-going rehearsals of its upcoming production of Jonathan Larson's “Rent,” at the Rockwell Dance Studio 1, Rockwell Club, Makati City. “Rent” is the winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize and ranks as one of Broadway's longest-running musicals.

Two production numbers, “La Vie Boheme” and “Finale B” [see video below] were performed by the cast with very basic props. “La Vie Boheme” is the finale number of Act 1, while “Finale B” is the closing number of the entire show.

Director Robbie Guevara, choreographer Charles Thompson and vocal coach Onyl Torres were on hand to guide the rehearsals and performances. Earlier, Guevara, who also handles the acting workshop before each rehearsal session, made use of various theatre exercises to help the cast formulate their own thoughts and decisions about their characters. The exercises also included activities designed to ensure the cast was working as a unified ensemble.

Thompson emphasized the body movement as an effective tool to reflect not only the lyrics of each song, but the melodies the composer wrote to convey the true feelings and thoughts of each character. He started by giving the cast dance classes to provide a uniform sense of body movement, then proceeded to the specific choreography of each individual number.

Torres studied the voice qualities of each member of the cast and ran them through warm-up techniques. Power and strength are two key elements needed to sustain the vocal requirements of the musical. In teaching the songs, he further refined the notes by emphasizing their nuances.

The cast of “Rent” includes Gian Magdangal as Roger Davis, Fredison Lo as Mark Cohen, Nicole Asensio as Mimi Márquez (Cara Barredo alternates at certain performances), OJ Mariano as Tom Collins, Carla Guevara-Laforteza as Maureen Johnson, Noel Rayos as Benjamin 'Benny' Coffin III, Job Bautista as Angel Dumott Schunard and Jenny Villegas as Joanne Jefferson.

Ensemble members include Ring Antonio, Peachy Atilano, Johann Dela Fuente, Harold Cruz, Gary Junsay, Raul Montesa, Anna Santamaria and Mark Tayag.

The production team is composed of executive producer Santi Santamaria, director Robbie Guevara, production manager Weng Lopez, musical director Ceejay Javier, vocal coach Onyl Torres, vocal consultant Lionel Guico, scenographer Mio Infante, lighting designer Martin Esteva, sound designer Rards Corpuz, PR/publicity director Toots O. Tolentino and PR manager Jonjon Martin, marketing manager Shelyn Tayanes and stage manager Jojo Amboy. Cast photography by Jojit Lorenzo and production photography by Sandee Guevara.

“Rent” is presented by special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI), 421 West 54th Street, New York, New York 10019. Tel. (212) 541-4684. Visit www.mtishows.com

Show dates are February 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 19, 20, 21, 26, 27 and 28. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. and Sundays at 4:30 p.m. at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Corner Sen. Gil Puyat Avenues, Makati City 1200.

For tickets, call 5575860 or TicketWorld 8919999. Visit www.ticketworld.com.ph or www.9workstheatrical.com


Video courtesy of Anton Diaz

Invitation to a Fabcast!

Migs is back from the US for the holidays, so this Sunday, 7:30 pm in Makati, we're doing some sort of Christmas/yearend podcast focusing on "connections," natch. We've decided to open up the podcast recording to bloggers/readers who might be interested to join our (always) fun kuro-kuro. But since too big a crowd would result in a cluttered podcast, I'm limiting the invitation from my end to three bloggers. Send me an e-mail at gibbs_c@yahoo.com and I'll send you the details. Masaya itu!

Exclusive video: the ageless music of Ernani Cuenco

One of the few things Erap did right during his presidency--make Ernani Cuenco a National Artist for Music. Here's a rare video of Rachel Alejandro, Nolyn Cabahug, Josephine Roces and Edward Granadosin singing five immortal Ernani Cuenco songs: Bato Sa Buhangin, Nahan, Diligin Mo Ng Hamog Ang Uhaw Na Lupa, Kahit Na Magtiis and his most enduring hit, Gaano Ko Ikaw Kamahal.

All four singers are first-rate, but Mr. Granadosin, in my view, impresses the most with a vaulting Kahit Na Magtiis (the beautiful lyrics, incidentally, contributed by Mr. Estrada). This medley, arranged by Ryan Cayabyab, was performed at the Kulturang Handog sa Bayan concert in 1999, a joint production by ABS-CBN and the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Enjoy great Pinoy music.

For Good--for friends

The current “It” song of friendship, originally sung by the fabulous Kristin-Idina tandem but now with a dash of extra resonance with two guys singing it--Lee Lessack and composer Stephen Schwartz (who wrote the song for his smash Broadway musical Wicked). The number is from Mr. Lessack's all-duets album, In Good Company.

Dedication time--because it's 8 days to Christmas and even I, who hate the frenzy, am feeling a bit fuzzy. This goes to all friends, loved ones and intimates who, to rip from that Sondheim song, “need me too much, know me too well, pull me up short, put me through hell and give me support...” You know who you are. Faithful readers of this blog very much included, by the way. Thank you for the goading. Here's to us, buddies.

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'Crash as best picture? What the fuck.'

Provocative read: Jezebel's interview with the outspoken New York Times film critic Manohla Dargis, on the state of the Oscars, Hollywood sexism, the lack of viable women directors and Judd Apatow as the lodestar of contemporary romantic comedy. Excerpts:

On the success of director Kathryn Bigelow's war movie “The Hurt Locker”: Something like a woman winning best director for directing an action movie and not a romantic comedy is symbolically important. Whether it then leads to a lot of women doing things outside of the pathetic comfort zone of romantic comedy--and I say that as someone who loves romantic comedy--we'll see. We know that because women are allowed to make romantic comedies that they can make romantic comedies. That's in everyone's comfort zone. The idea that a woman can be a great action director is not is everyone's comfort zone. That's [Bigelow's] exceptionalism.

On the Oscars: Let's acknowledge that the Oscars are bullshit and we hate them. But they are important commercially... I've learned to never underestimate the academy's bad taste. “Crash” as best picture? What the fuck.

On male and female directors being held to different standards (e.g., Bigelow and Michael Mann): Do you think that a woman would have been able to get forty million dollars to make a puppet movie the way that Wes Anderson has been able to make, bringing to bear all the publicity and advertising budget of Fox? After two movies that didn't make a lot of money? I think this is true for a lot of black filmmakers too--they're held to a higher standard. And an unfair standard. You can be a male filmmaker and if you're perceived as a genius--a boy genius or a fully-formed adult genius--that you are allowed to fail in a way that a woman is not allowed to fail.

On why so many romantic comedies are so terrible: One, the people making them have no fucking taste, two, they're morons, three they're insulting panderers who think they're making movies for the great unwashed and that's what they want. I love romantic movies. I absolutely do. But I literally don't know what's happening. I think it's depressing that Judd Apatow makes the best romantic comedies and they're about men. All power to Apatow, but he's taken and repurposed one of the few genres historically made for women... We had so few [genres] that were made specifically for the female audience and now the best of them are being made by Judd Apatow. But what are his movies supposed to be about? Nominally about the relationship between a man and a woman, but they're really buddy flicks. “Funny People” was supposed to have an important role for a woman, but she was uninteresting and an afterthought.

Piqued? More of the penetrating stuff here.

Go watch The Hurt Locker on DVD. And boo to the Golden Globes for snubbing Jeremy Renner as Best Actor.

Books na naman! DVDs na naman!

Joan Crawford--Hollywood's first case of syphilis. -- Bette Davis

That's it, I thought, suppressing a scream; I have to get this book. Book in question was Boze Hadleigh's Hollywood Babble On: Stars Gossip About Other Stars, which I found at Book Sale Cash & Carry last night after dinner. For only P45.

Argh, and I was resolved when I came in to just look around. Twenty minutes later, resolve completely gone, I had five titles under my arm: Hadleigh's Hollywood compendium (Another classic Bette Davis zinger: You were very good in it, Olivia. When you weren't in a scene with me, you managed to keep the audience's attention.--Spoken to Olivia De Havilland. her co-star in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte. Rawr.); two screenplays (Woody Allen's Hannah and Her Sisters and Patricia Rozema's adaptation of Jane Austen's Mansfield Park); and two plays (A Fair Country by Jon Robin Baitz and Burn This by Lanford Wilson).

All at P45 each. Total: P225.

I've got nowhere to stash them for now (my room is near-bursting) except at my office desk--already buckling as it is under piles of papers and playbills and notebooks and souvenir programs and bad PR write-ups and more books. That's my desk in the picture. Hardly the glamorous newspaper work area some of you may think. We work in Lifestyle, but our corner is actually one drab, workaday place, which suits our lives of everyday harried efficiency just fine.

In fact, I've not seen any strikingly neat, organized, elegant or glamorous newsroom--not in the three newspapers and one magazine office I've worked at, and that one even published fashion and home decorating rags. Movies that capture the world of the newsroom convincingly: Alan Pakula's All the President's Men, Ron Howard's The Paper. Locally, that would have to be Mike De Leon's Sister Stella L., especially the all-too-authentic back-and-forth between Jay Ilagan as the hot-blooded reporter and Liza Lorena as the sympathetic editor hamstrung by government censorship (hello, Panorama circa '80s.)

When I was helping edit Entrepreneur Philippines magazine, we published so many inspiring stories of ordinary men and women who prospered by putting up their own businesses, no matter how small at first. Chief among the lessons they often shared was to focus on a field that was close to your heart, that occupied your passion and time and perhaps skill, and that could then begin earning for you.

I wrote and read and watched movies--that was my passion. A bookstore-cum-DVD shop was the most logical step for me. Having been a faithful customer of Book Sale for years, I first inquired about its franchising options (this was in 2003). The fee was P20,000, I was told; I had to find my own space and pay for my own rent. It should be in traffic-heavy places like a mall or a supermarket corner. The books would come in by consignment every week or so.

Now, I didn't want an ordinary bargain bookshop. I thought my familiarity with titles and my own preferences could somehow be converted into something extra--an edge that would make my Book Sale (I would call it Book Sale Plus!) a cut above the rest.

I would spend time segregating the stocks that came in: "serious" literary titles (Salman Rushdie, Toni Morrison, Iris Murdoch, A.S. Byatt, etc.) would not be mixed up with potboilers and bestsellers by Danielle Stelle and John Grisham. Good non-fiction titles would have their own spot, separate from The Celestine Prophecy and the Left Behind series.

This wasn't being snobbish, I thought, since I would still carry all titles. It was merely a way to help different customers find what they needed more easily, without having to dig through bins that contained everything in a big jumble.

As for movies, with DVDs rapidly replacing cumbersome laser discs at the time, I imagined allotting a corner of my bookshop for a DVD-rental business--but also with a twist. My collection, too, wouldn't be like what other video-rental stores had, with their reliance on Stallone-Seagal-Van Damme and whatever other (mostly commercial) titles the Videogram Regulatory Board deigned to approve for release locally. No, I would import Region 1 DVDs of classics, arthouse hits, festival titles, cult favorites, foreign films--titles that weren't easily available in the country. My store would be a haven for cinephiles and cineastes and anyone who liked good films. Already, I had a name in mind for it: Cine Arte. And a tagline: Not your usual DVD movies.

O di ba.

My dream book shop remains a dream, while my DVD-rental idea ran aground with the explosion of bootleg DVDs of astounding variety, which bred brand-new cineastes out to build their own personal film hoard. So nowadays I'm the proud owner of a decent library of rare, must-see movies which, aside from bragging rights, gains me not a single penny. So much for Cine Arte and my clever tagline.

But ayos lang--I think of my DVD library as a form of continuing education. Without having spent effort (and money--leche) acquiring all these movies, how could I have come across, say, Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte? As for Joan Crawford embodying syphilis, I'd have to revisit Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? to see for myself. Perhaps tonight, after I'm done with the book and its Bette Davis putdowns.

More theater citations

By the Inquirer's Amadis Ma. Guerrero this time, part of his “4th Quarter Report Card” on the performing arts. The venerable Amadis, who's been covering the scene far longer than I have, is a good friend, but we differ often enough on our preferences when it comes to theater. Which only makes the Arts section livelier, in my view, with our dissimilar opinions published side by side, or in the the same issue (see yesterday).

On Tanghalang Pilipino's Madonna Brava ng Mindanao: Tanghalang Pilipino had another winner in “Madonna Brava ng Mindanao,” an adaptation by Don Pagusara of Brecht’s “Mother Courage and Her Children,” transplanted to the war in Mindanao during the Marcos and Estrada regimes, and directed by Nestor Horfilla (at CCP’s Tanghalang Huseng Batute).

There were intense performances from the cast, led by Shamaine Centenera as Madonna; Bong Cabrera as a runaway priest; Kathlyn Castillo as the mute daughter and an array of Mindanao talents speaking in authentic Visayan and Muslim accents.

The production was enhanced by neo-ethnic music from the Davao-based Mebuyan Band, appropriate songs and martial arts-ceremonial choreography.

On Atlantis Productions’ Spring Awakening:... An intense, melodramatic and at times shocking musical about flaming German youth during the late 19th century, with parents and schoolmasters depicted as insensitive and unenlightened.

The emoting (Joaqui Valdes, Kelly Lati, et al.), singing and dancing (choreography by Dexter Santos) met one’s expectations.

The music was gripping and lyrical by turns, but not the kind that would produce standards. It was not something you could bring home, to paraphrase what music lover Eggie D. Apostol once said (about another production years ago).

On Tanghalang Pilipino’s Flores para los Muertos: Sparks flew between Eula Valdes and Neil Ryan Sese as Blanche Dubois and Stanley Kowalski, respectively, in Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Flores para los Muertos” (at CCP’s Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino, directed by Floy Quintos).

Valdes and Sese did justice to their emotionally wrenching roles, with able support from the ensemble, notably Meryll Soriano as Stella, the gutsy wife; and Jonathan Tadioan as Blanche’s “mama’s boy” suitor, Mitch.

Seen once again after 30 years, this Filipino translation (by the late Orlando Nadres) of Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire” remains an experience, a showcase for acting.

The complete write-up here.

Any blogger/s out there with his or her own theater round-up? (The farther from my choices, the better!) Buzz me up, I'll repost it here--with your permission, of course.

BRAVO! BEST OF THEATER 2009: Season of ‘sturm und drang’

Philippine Daily Inquirer, 12.14.2009

Actresses Ana Abad Santos and Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino dominate the year of ‘Ondoy’ and ‘Pepeng’


“ROYAL CATFIGHT caps uncommon year of German drama in Manila.” That’s an efficient if rather glib way of summing up the year about to close, weaving as it does the three main imprints that marked local theater in 2008.

First, the German connection: By some serendipitous alignment of vision, various theater companies blanketed the city with a glut of Teutonic plays: two Brechts (Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Madonna Brava ng Mindanao,” a reworking of “Mother Courage and Her Children,” and World Theater Project’s “The Threepenny Opera”); two Wedekinds (Dulaang UP’s “Lulu” and Atlantis Productions’ “Spring Awakening,” the Duncan Sheik musical based on the Wedekind play); one Kleist (“Amphitryon”) and one Schiller (“Mary Stuart”), both by Dulaang UP, which must have prompted the wave with its season devoted to German drama.

One more is in the offing--Brecht’s “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” set to open in February.

Next, the abundance of powerhouse roles for actresses and the curiously barren scene at the other end of the gender spectrum.

Unlike last year when actors, especially show-stopping veterans, ruled the roost with male-dominant plays such as Gantimpala Theater’s “Hiblang Abo” and TP’s “Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street,” this year’s theatrical pantheon consisted mostly of iconic women: Candida and Paula in Nick Joaquin’s “A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino”; Blanche Dubois in Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”; Elizabeth I and her royal nemesis in “Mary Stuart”; Atang de la Rama in the rerun of Floy Quintos’ paean to the late sarsuwela queen, along with Queen Yolanda in his “Ang Kalungkutan ng Mga Reyna”; Victoria, the hapless matriarch in Israeli playwright Savyon Liebrecht’s “Apples From the Desert”; and, not the least, Mrs. Lovett in Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.”

To the extent that an actress would be able to reign over such an inviting landscape, two actually did.

Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino continued to rule the boards with her Atang, Queen Yolanda, Madonna Brava and Elizabeth I. But 2009 was as much Ana Abad Santos’ year as hers, with a string of exceptional appearances from Candida to Julia (in “Dead Stars,” Anton Juan’s adaptation of the seminal 1925 Paz Marquez Benitez short story) to Mary Stuart and Blanche Dubois—a run quite hard to top.

Crushingly, her Blanche played for only one weekend, right after tropical storm “Ondoy.” Reliable watchers swear she was excellent. We failed to catch that production, however, so it is not included in this round-up, the absence not a judgment on its merits either way.

(A side pattern, if you will: Three plays with sexually explicit themes--“Lulu,” “Spring Awakening” and “Flores para los Muertos,” the Filipino version of “Streetcar,” which we caught, both iterations directed by Quintos--failed to quicken pulses or arouse much heat. Are frank sex and high-minded Pinoy theater incompatible?)

Finally, who would have thought Centenera-Buencamino’s and Abad Santos’ parallel tracks would converge in an actual face-off courtesy of “Mary Stuart?”

That putative royal row was also the last straight play to close in Manila this year. Fireworks, indeed, to cap the parade. Here are what we propose as the best of Manila theater in 2009:

Best Play (One-Act)
“Doc Resureccion, Gagamutin ang Bayan” (Layeta Bucoy, writer; Tuxqs Rutaquio, director). The personal is powerfully political in this savage exploration of family grievances spawned by all-too-familiar economic disparities and social ambitions. “Energy and originality are the two vital forces of any new good play,” said the playwright Romulus Linney. This one has both in spades.

Honorable mentions: “Isang Araw sa Karnabal” (Nicolas Pichay; Chris Millado, dir.); “Boy-Gel ang Gelpren ni Mommy” (Sheilfa Alojamiento; Carlo Pacolor Garcia, dir.); “Maliw” (Reuel Molina Aguila; Edna Vida Froilan, dir.); “Art” (Yasmina Reza, Filipino translation [correction: adaptation] by William Manzano; Pat Valera, dir.)

Best Play (Full-Length)
“Mary Stuart” (Friedrich von Schiller, Filipino translation by Allan Palileo; Tony Mabesa, dir.). Minor distractions aside (the superfluous videographics, the wildly uneven acting styles of the supporting cast, glaringly in the English version), Mabesa’s staging of the titanic clash of two formidable women in history made for a rich, engrossing spectacle of wits and ideas, rendered more memorable by the career-best performances unleashed by its principals.

Honorable mentions: “A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino” (Nick Joaquin; José Mari Avellana, dir.); “Amphitryon” (Heinrich von Kleist, Filipino translation by Jerry Respeto; Jose Estrella, dir.); “Apples from the Desert” (Savyon Liebrecht, Filipino translation by Liza Magtoto; Tess Jamias, dir.); “Ismail at Isabel” (Rody Vera; Maribel Legarda, dir.); “Kung Paano Maghiwalay” (George de Jesus III, writer/director)

Best Actor-Play
Jonathan Tadioan (“Doc Resureccion, Gagamutin ang Bayan”). Underlining the dearth of commanding parts for lead actors in full-length productions this year (or, at least, commanding parts adequately played) is Tadioan’s turn as the murderous backwoods cousin--at only 45 minutes, a breakthrough part the young actor scaled to blackly impressive dimensions.

Honorable mentions: Riki Benedicto (“Doc Resureccion, Gagamutin ang Bayan”); Paolo O’Hara (“Isang Araw sa Karnabal”); Bembol Roco (“Kung Paano Maghiwalay”); Leo Rialp (“Apples from the Desert”); Jules de la Paz (“Art”)

Best Actress-Play
Ana Abad Santos (“Mary Stuart”). Fiery in her wrath and icy in her stillness, Abad Santos’ hypnotic, mystic-like Mary Stuart is, quite simply, one of the finest, most lucid pieces of acting work we’ve seen in many a theatergoing season. That it came in the same year she played Candida in Rep’s “Portrait” and Blanche Dubois in TP’s “Streetcar” is all the more astonishing.

Honorable mentions: Stella Cañete, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino and Banaue Miclat (“Mary Stuart”); Ana Abad Santos, Irma Adlawan and Liesl Batucan (“A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino”); Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino (“Madonna Brava ng Mindanao”); Sherry Lara (“Apples from the Desert”); Diana Malahay (“Amphitryon”); Skyzx Labastilla (“Isang Araw sa Karnabal”); Mayen Estañero (“Ang Mamanugangin ni Rez”)

Best Featured Actor-Play
Dido de la Paz (“A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino”). How pointed was De la Paz’s delineation of Don Perico in this Joaquin warhorse? Simply, that right after his glorious “Contra mundum” monologue, you could actually feel the play shifting gears toward a different resolution, gaining new traction from the benediction it has received.

Honorable mentions: No citations

Best Featured Actress-Play
Peewee O’Hara (“Apples from the Desert”). A Jewish spinster--a hunchback to boot--with a bottomless basket of wisecracks and schemes? O’Hara’s take on this colorful caricature was altogether wise and endearing, the rampart of cheerful common sense in a Jewish Orthodox household being rent apart by winds of change.

Honorable mentions: Angeli Bayani (“Doc Resureccion, Gagamutin ang Bayan”); Kathlyn Castillo (“Madonna Brava ng Mindanao”)

Best Musical
“The Threepenny Opera” (play by Bertolt Brecht, music by Kurt Weill; Anton Juan, dir.). To Brecht scholar Eric Bentley, “to breathe life into [a revival] you must either recapture the spirit of the original or by new insight create life.” By this benchmark, Juan’s “Threepenny Opera” was a triumph--topical in its sharp local flavor, yet magnanimous in its fidelity to the play’s humane, incendiary impulses. Sung and acted by a topnotch cast, this scrappy musical blessed its audience with something other than plain enthrallment. Rep’s “Sweeney Todd,” a worthy candidate in this category, left you entertained; “The Threepenny Opera” left you enlightened.

Honorable mentions: “Sweeney Todd” (music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, book by Hugh Wheeler; Baby Barredo and Michael Williams, dirs.); “Si Juan Tamad, ang Diyablo at ang Limang Milyong Boto” (music and lyrics by Vince de Jesus; Phil Noble, dir.); “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee” (music and lyrics by William Finn, book by Rachel Sheinkin; Bobby Garcia, dir.); “N.O.A.H (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat)” (music by Rony Fortich; book, lyrics and direction by Jaime del Mundo)

Best Actor-Musical
Audie Gemora (“Sweeney Todd”). We would’ve preferred a darker, more tragic Sweeney on top of the basic gifts Gemora brought to this arduous role--his authoritative presence, the robust vocals, his obvious ease with Sondheim. Still, with few, if any, front-running performances this year, his qualifies as already the most accomplished.

Honorable mentions: Joaquin Valdes (“Spring Awakening”); Bibo Reyes (“Bare”); Jon Joven (“Song of Joseph”); Teroy Guzman (“The Threepenny Opera”); Vince de Jesus and Victor Robinson III (“Si Juan Tamad, ang Diyablo at ang Limang Milyong Boto”); Vince Tañada (“Ako si Ninoy”)

Best Actress-Musical
Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (“Sweeney Todd”). “What becomes of ‘Sweeney Todd’ in which the spotlight burns more brightly not for the titular demon barber of Fleet Street but for his sidekick, Mrs. Lovett?,” we asked in our review of the play. Well, first and last, you get the sheer delight of watching Lauchengco-Yulo create a crackerjack Mrs. Lovett that honors its lineage while being entirely her own.

Honorable mentions: Kalila Aguilos (“The Threepenny Opera”); Carla Guevara-Laforteza and Thea Tadiar (“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”); Tricia Amper-Jimenez (“Song of Joseph”)

Best Featured Actor-Musical
Marvin Ong (“Sweeney Todd”). Surprising self-possession and moving sensitivity marked Ong’s portrayal of the young orphan Tobias, in only his second professional appearance on stage (he played Edmund in Trumpets’ original musical, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe” in 1998, at 10 years old). His rendition of “Not While I’m Around” was an unequivocal high point in the musical.

Honorable mentions: Ricci Chan (“The Threepenny Opera”); Nicco Manalo (“Spring Awakening”); Ikey Canoy (“You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown”)

Best Featured Actress-Musical
Bituin Escalante (“The Threepenny Opera”). The “walking presence,” as the theater connoisseurs behind the blog Proletartist aptly called her. Escalante simply had to saunter across the stage as Pirate Jenny to charge the scene. But then, she had to sing, too, and when she did, no one else was better.

Honorable mentions: Liesl Batucan (“Sweeney Todd”); Sheila Francisco (“N.O.A.H”); Pinky Marquez (“Songs for a New World”); Frances Makil-Ignacio (“The Threepenny Opera”); Bea Garcia (“Spring Awakening”); Mian Dimacali (“Tick... Tick... Boom!”); Joann Co (“Si Juan Tamad, ang Diyablo at ang Limang Milyong Boto”)

PLUS: Best of Theater 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005.

Out now--Audie Gemora's Broadway album

By way of Oliver Oliveros of Broadwayworld.com:

Philippine musical theatre lead player Audie Gemora (Sweeney Todd, Man of La Mancha) releases his much-awaited Broadway album just in time for the holidays. Entitled "Playlist," the album is independently produced and distributed by STAGES Production Specialists, Inc.

Gemora's "Playlist" contains 14 tracks of show tunes from Broadway, the West End and original Filipino musicals: (1) "Try To Remember" from "The Fantasticks", (2) "Alone In The Universe" from "Seussical", (3) "Shall We Dance" from "The King and I", (4) "I Loved You Once in Silence" from "Camelot", (5) "With You" from "Pippin", (6) "This Is The Moment" from "Jekyll & Hyde", (7) "Lawin" from "Noli Mi Tangere", (8) "Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered" from "Pal Joey", (9) "For Good" (featuring Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo) from "Wicked", (10) "Luck Be A Lady" (featuring vocal group The CompanY) from "Guys and Dolls", (11) "Love Look Away" from "Flower Drum Song", (12) "If Ever I Would Leave You" from "Camelot", (13) "Someone To Fall Back On" by Jason Robert Brown and (14) "I Was Here" from "The Glorious Ones".

More here.

Teaser

“ROYAL CATFIGHT caps uncommon year of German drama in Manila.” That’s an efficient if rather glib way of summing up the year about to close, weaving as it does the three main imprints that marked local theater in 2008.

First, the German connection: By some serendipitous alignment of vision, various theater companies blanketed the city with a glut of Teutonic plays: two Brechts (Tanghalang Pilipino’s “Madonna Brava ng Mindanao,” a reworking of “Mother Courage and Her Children,” and World Theater Project’s “The Threepenny Opera”); two Wedekinds (Dulaang UP’s “Lulu” and Atlantis Productions’ “Spring Awakening,” the Duncan Sheik musical based on the Wedekind play); one Kleist (“Amphitryon”) and one Schiller (“Mary Stuart”), both by Dulaang UP, which must have prompted the wave with its season devoted to German drama.

One more is in the offing—Brecht’s “The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui,” set to open in February.

Next, the abundance of powerhouse roles for actresses and the curiously barren scene at the other end of the gender spectrum.

Unlike last year when actors, especially show-stopping veterans, ruled the roost with male-dominant plays such as Gantimpala Theater’s “Hiblang Abo” and TP’s “Mga Gerilya sa Powell Street,” this year’s theatrical pantheon consisted mostly of iconic women: Candida and Paula in Nick Joaquin’s “A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino”; Blanche Dubois in Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire”; Elizabeth I and her royal nemesis in “Mary Stuart”; Atang de la Rama in the rerun of Floy Quintos’ paean to the late sarsuwela queen, along with Queen Yolanda in his “Ang Kalungkutan ng Mga Reyna”; Victoria, the hapless matriarch in Israeli playwright Savyon Liebrecht’s “Apples From the Desert”; and, not the least, Mrs. Lovett in Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.”

My Bravo! Best of Theater 2009 round-up in the Monday issue of the Inquirer. Stay tuned.

2 Filipino theater artists make it to World Stage Design 2009 Awards

Congratulations to sound designers Jed Balsamo and Jethro Joaquin, who are among the names listed as award winners in the World Stage Design 2009 (WSD2009). Jude's cited work was Amihan, while Jethro's was the 2008 Repertory Philippines production of Hamlet.

From the WSD2009 website:

The award winners at World Stage Design 2009 (WSD2009) were announced recently. There were 247 entrants from 26 countries included in the celebration of design for the performing arts in set, costume, lighting, and sound. Ninety-nine participating designers from 19 countries went to Seoul, Korea to exhibit artworks in the SangMyung Gallery and the Zeroone Design Gallery along with Rien Bekker’s Costume Exhibition in the Lock Museum.

Awards were given out for Outstanding Scenographer (won by Monica Raya of Mexico); gold, silver and honorable mention places for Set Design, Costume Design and Light Design; and citations for country showcases. For Sound Design: The Awards Jury was unable to come to a unanimous decision so it decided to divide the prize money among all contributors in the category.

* Jude Edgard C Balsamo (Philippines), Amihan
* Curtis Craig (USA), Pentecost
* Igor Drevalev (Russia), The Black Monk
* Gregg R Fisher (UK), Sarajevo Story
* Elisheba Itoop (USA), Bent
* Jethro Joaquin (Philippines), Hamlet
* Karen Lauke (UK), The Odyssey
* Richard Malone (USA), Female Transport
* Matthew Suttor (USA), The Trial of the Cannibal Dog Opera
* Richard K Thomas (USA), Henry V
* Bradlee Ward (USA), The Methuselah Tree
* Claire Windsor (UK), Palace of the End
* Chien Feng Wu (Taiwan), Love Letters

Congrats again, Jed and Jethro! (Waltz, thanks for the link.)

Grand book sale at Anvil Publishing

Have you heard about this? (Thanks, JBCC, for the tip-off!) Some books--paperback bestsellers by Michael Crichton, Danielle Steele, Barbara Taylor Bradford--can be had for P10-P20. The Oxford Edition world literature classics go for P99. Those bearing the Anvil imprint constitute the bulk of the merchandise on sale, ranging from P30 to P100 or so (the banner outside the office/store says prices go as low as P2).

Quite a number are not in mint condition, by the way--these books are clearly from non-moving stocks, so you get the occasional creases, brown edges, dents and nicks on the spine, etc. But, with some patient browsing, the bins yield good finds.

Anvil's bestsellers such as Jessica Zafra's Twisted series and Danton Remoto's books are here, along with fiction and poetry by a host of Filipino authors, from Nick Joaquin and Ninotchka Rosca to more contemporary names; anthologies by the likes of Rene Villanueva, Bienvenido Lumbera, Virgilio Almario, Butch Dalisay, Joey Javier Reyes (his award-winning collection of essays, Porn Again, is a recommended read); cookbooks and travel books and memoirs and dictionaries and children's titles; even Pinoy horror and ghost stories, such as the multi-volume Spirit Questors tales by Tony Perez.

One or more of these books might just make the ideal Christmas gift for your loved ones. In my case, since I've read, or at least have a copy of, many of the must-have titles, my haul amounted to only five choices--for a grand total of P170:

Invented Eden: The Elusive, Disputed History of the Tasaday by Robin Hemley, P30
Culture and History by Nick Joaquin, P30
The No-Sweat Exercise Plan by Dr. Harvey Simon, P50
The National Artists of the Philippines 1999-2003, P30
The National Artists of the Philippines Vol. 1, P30

Not bad, especially the valuable National Artists round-up. Recently published titles, displayed more prominently on shelves near the entrance (including the Cory Aquino memoriam collection Cory: An Intimate Portrait, edited by Margie Juico, and a raft of new recipe books--apparently they're a hit nowadays in the age of celebrity chefs), are also on sale at 20-percent off.

(Update: Jessica has just announced that her new book, Twisted 8 1/2, will be in stores soon, for P100. It sells for P80 at Anvil now.)

The sale is only until this Saturday, December 12. Anvil Publishing is at 8007-B Pioneer St., Barangay Kapitolyo, Pasig City. From EDSA going to Shaw, the warehouse-type building is on your right, before reaching Pioneer Center. Tricyles at Robinsons Pioneer can bring you there.

You going? Happy hunting!

[Photos taken with a Sony Ericsson W995]

'The mass murder in Maguindanao has come to define our generation as journalists'

A rare sight--Conrado De Quiros in the flesh reading the Inquirer's stand against the Maguindanao massacre [video below], especially the mind-boggling murder of 27 fellow journalists in one fell swoop. That horrific crime has vaulted the Philippines beyond Iraq as the most dangerous place in the world for journalists these days.

Last Friday, December 4, the paper held its own indignation rally and moment of remembrance on the front steps of the office. How grave the present circumstances are--not only for Filipino journalists but for the general civil order--was underscored by the early sight of our veteran newsman-publisher, Isagani Yambot, breaking into tears in deep anger and sadness during his brief remarks. The gentlemanly Mr. Yambot never once cried during the Marcoses' Martial Law; he did now.

For his part, Mr. De Quiros--arguably the fiercest, most fearless and piercingly prescient critic of the Arroyo regime (everything he has foretold about the woman in the Palace has come true)--lent his own outraged voice by reading the ringing Inquirer editorial of November 29, 2009, which paid tribute to our 27 slain colleagues by committing us their peers to bearing witness to their murders--and to the call for truth and justice, under a shameless, brazen government hell-bent on denying the nation both.

Yes, We will keep asking the terrible question: How could this have happened?

[Apologies for the skewed view at the start of the vid--I was wielding a phone camera the normal way while watching Mr. De Quiros and didn't realize I should have switched to landscape mode. The view rights itself after a minute or so.]



WE WILL BE THEIR WITNESS.

We will retrace their steps, those early hours before their shocking extinction, when they, at least 27 journalists, set out for a day’s work. We will piece together the bloody shards of the crime--the point in the highway in Ampatuan country where the convoy in which they were part was waylaid, the guns that snuffed them out, the grassy field where they, along with the rest of the unfortunate lot, breathed their last.

We will approximate the horror, mindful of the limitations of words but galvanized by the same calling that ultimately led them to their doom.

We will keep asking the terrible question: How could this have happened?

The mass murder in Maguindanao on Nov. 23 has come to define our generation as journalists. Nowhere in our history as an endangered breed has a similar occurrence approached such a degree of enormity or the body count been so outrageously high. Yet a more significant aspect casts a large shadow on the crime--the climate of impunity that served as fertile ground for it to happen. Let not the staggering dimensions of the killings take the edge off that fact.

We will be their witness. Removed as we are from the arena of their toil, we will acknowledge the peculiar nature of their daily terrain as shaped by the unbridled, unabashed power that holds sway. We will presume that getting into the vehicles that made up the convoy heading to the Commission on Elections office in Shariff Aguak, thence to witness and record a process that would have made official Esmael Mangudadatu’s gubernatorial candidacy, they pushed trepidation aside and sought comfort in the idea, hitherto unshakable, that journalism is a power unto itself, sufficient to stand up to fear itself.

That they are dead now is heart-wrenching, and we will mourn their--our--having been proven wrong. Yet, despite having been crudely disabused of the idea that reporting on an event, for the benefit of the public that we are sworn to inform, is no longer a guarantee of even safe passage, we will persevere. For too long have we lived gripped by a particular tension as Gordimer had defined it: that of being participant and recorder of events--a necessary burden of writers and, by extension, journalists. And we will continue to record our times and the evil that men and women do even as we rail at oppression and injustice.

We will not lose sight of the fact that as many as 68 journalists, not counting the 27 murdered in Maguindanao, have been killed since 2001, when Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took power. (Once upon a time, her husband, addressing a group of journalists in Negros, said no journalist on the island had been killed because “journalists here are responsible reporters.") To Camus’ requirements of "courage in one’s life and talent in one’s work” we will add strength and commitment.

There will be justice for the 27 journalists (and the women and other civilians) who perished in the badlands of Maguindanao.

We will be their witness. Though we may be under the gun, we will endure.


[Photos and video taken with a Sony Ericsson W995]

About that Clowns song

“It’s not a torch song, it’s not a stand-and-deliver. It’s a song very much in context, and you have to be truthful with it. What you mustn’t do is say to yourself, ‘I’ve got to knock people’s socks off, bring the house down.’”

That's how director Trevor Nunn describes the Stephen Sondheim ditty Send in the Clowns, from the 1973 musical A Little Night Music. The occasion for Mr. Nunn's appraisal of the song is the revival of the musical, which opens on Broadway on December 13. Catherine Zeta-Jones reprises the role she first played in London--Desiree, the actress at a crossroads who gets to sing Send in the Clowns at a pivotal moment in Act 2.

Sondheim wrote the song in 2 days--“one of the quickest I've ever written,” he said. On first or even second hearing, it can also be his most enigmatic. What does the title, and those lyrics, mean? I became familiar with the song in grade school via a version sung by the Ray Conniff Singers. Ugh--but then, as the NYTimes' Charles McGrath puts it, the song “happens to be the only one that has escaped from the orbit of the show” and become a pop standard. It remains the most recognizable song in the Sondheim repertory, though not many people humming it may know it's actually by Sondheim.

The lyrics, he would reveal, were meant to be in service to the character of Desiree, who is from the theater world. “I wanted to use theatrical imagery in the song because she's an actress. But it's not supposed to be a circus; it's supposed to have that circus reference--but a theater reference, meaning, if the show is not going well, let's send in the clowns. In other words, let's do the jokes.”

Hence the theatrical patois: Making my entrance again with my usual flair / Sure of my lines. Or, Losing my timing this late / In my career?. “It's not meant to be a soaring song but a song of regret and anger, and therefore fits in with short, brief phrases,” said Sondheim.

He offered more details about the song and the story behind it in another interview before an adoring British audience (which isn't available on YouTube, so I'll rely on my memory here). He said that while he was writing the song, the voice of Glynis Johns, the original Desiree in the first Broadway production, was already playing in his ear. Johns, 49 at the time, had a thin, silvery voice that couldn't sustain long notes; Sondheim then phrased the song accordingly, viz., Isn't it rich? [beat, beat], Are we a pair? [beat, beat], and so on.

In context, explained Sondheim, “It's the song of a lady who is too angry and too upset to speak, meaning to sing...” In other words, the song cannot be pretty--it's the cry of a woman receiving the full wallop of a breakup from her lover. In this YouTube clip, the Broadway conductor Paul Gemignani is shown rehearsing Sally Anne Howes, who reflexively begins singing Send in the Clowns in a bravura, mellifluous way, only to be told to “approach it from no singing at all.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones got the same stark advice from Sondheim himself: “Just speak it.”

Judi Dench did precisely that, cracked voice and all, in her shattering performance of the song in the 1998 concert Hey, Mr. Producer:



For the 1993 Sondheim anthology concert at Carnegie Hall, Glenn Close, then already recognized as a brilliant actress but still years away from her definitive Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, offered a quietly intense, ironic reading of Send in the Clowns:



And in her 1986 One Voice concert, Barbra Streisand, true to diva form, dared to deconstruct the song by bringing it out of the theater hall and into an urban, contemporary context. She asked Sondheim to re-arrange the verses and write additional lyrics for her own interpretation, now marked by striking emotional directness and rueful feeling. Then, willing herself to interpretive stillness on top of a stool, she had the camera zoom in on her face and stay there while she acted out the drama of a Send in the Clowns quite unlike any that had been heard before. It's a virtuoso performance--a reinvention that can stand side by side with the original.