An Asian university older than UST

[Relax, USTe friends--the quadricentennial-celebrating school along Espana still has a lock on the title as the oldest extant university in Asia. Congratulations! As a colleague said, “Ikaw lang, UST, ikaw lang ang may 400th year!” Nga naman. But as I qualified in a travel piece I filed for the Inquirer in 2004, “UST was a Western-style ecclesiastical school... The 'Western-style' qualifier is an important distinction, because in Asia, a far older university rooted in Confucian history and tradition was already functioning by 1076 A.D.” However, while UST survived the centuries, that school didn't. Here's the rest of the story.]


SHRINE TO ANCIENT WISDOM

When we think of the oldest university in Asia, older even than Harvard in the United States, the distinction automatically goes to the Pontifical University of Santo Tomas, founded in 1611 by the third Archbishop of Manila, the Dominican Msgr. Miguel de Benavides.

UST was a Western-style ecclesiastical school, built along the lines of the mighty European seats of learning that began with the establishment of the University of Bologna in 1088 A.D.

The “Western-style” qualifier is an important distinction, because in Asia, a far older university rooted in Confucian history and tradition was already functioning by 1076 A.D. This was the Van Mieu-Quoc Tu Giam (The Temple of Literature-School for the Sons of the Nation) in the ancient city of Hanoi, Vietnam.

Today, the Temple of Literature still stands, a well-preserved oasis of serenity and contemplation in a busy part of the country's modern-day capital.

And while it has ceased being a university, it still draws many scholars, thinkers and artists who seek wisdom and kinship in its monuments that celebrate nearly a thousand years of the quest for higher education among the early Vietnamese.

Royal school
The temple itself was established in 1070 A.D. as a shrine to Confucius. Six years later, the reigning monarch, Ly Nhan Tong, opened the country's first university inside the temple grounds. Members of the royal family made up the first students, followed by the sons of the aristocracy.

Eventually, the school was opened to commoners who passed regional examinations, allowing for the possibility of social mobility through scholastic merit.

The students, from 15 years old and above, studied literature and ethics derived from the Confucian canon, principally the four classical texts (The Great Study, The Golden Mean, The Analects: Conversations between Confucius and his Disciples, and The Works of Mencius) and the five pre-Confucian classics (The Odes, The Annals, The Book of Change, Rites and Ceremonies, and The Spring and Autumn Annals).

Meeting four times a month (two for those in advanced classes), the students were taught how to write poetry and produce commentaries on the sacred texts, which were marked “excellent” or "good” by the teachers.

Education in this university prepared students for the royal examinations, an event of great import in the social and cultural life of the country. Those who passed the exams earned doctorates that could give them a berth as a mandarin scholar--an adviser in the royal court--or as an official of high standing in the provinces.

Those who didn't pass were still accorded respect as men of higher education, members of the country's learned class who often went back to their towns to become educators and school masters themselves.

Four stages
Vietnamese art today still immortalizes these long-ago royal examinations, when young men from the provinces headed for the capital with their sleeping mats, brushes and ink-stones to sit for the grueling four-tiered exams.

Those who passed all four stages were given the title of doctor laureate (tien si) and invited to the palace for an audience and banquet with the king. They were then sent home with great fanfare to their villages, where they were received with much pride.

In a given year, some 450 to 6,000 candidates would vie for the doctorates. The last royal examinations were given in 1779, and by that time, 2,313 examinees had been awarded laureates.

Around 1,300 of these names (and the villages where they came from) are recorded in 82 surviving stone slabs called stelae in a garden of the present-day temple.

The Garden of the Stelae is found in the third courtyard of the Temple of Literature. At its center is a square pond called the Well of Heavenly Clarity. Arrayed around this pond are pavilions that shelter the stelae from the elements.

The pavilions themselves, while hewing close to the complex's ancient architecture, are restored versions of the original structures that had withered away with the centuries or were damaged by war.

These stelae and the entire temple area have been designated as among Vietnam's most important historic and cultural treasures. Yet ordinary visitors are still allowed to go up to the stelae, touch the slabs and read the inscriptions on them, to learn from the preserved wisdom of the country's forebears.

Stylized spaces
All five temple courtyards (Entrance to the Way, the Great Middle Courtyard, Garden of the Stelae, Courtyard of the Sages, and the school grounds in the fifth courtyard) are stylized spaces with pavilions, gardens, ponds, doors and walkways reflecting Confucianism's ideal number and its dedication to the pursuit of yin-yang--balance and harmony in the universe--as expressed through indigenous Vietnamese art and design.

Each gate or doorway in the temple symbolized entry to a higher plane of knowledge and consciousness, until one came to the inner sanctum of the temple, where an elaborate dragon-red altar to Confucius stood.

The altar, still extant today, is the heart of the temple, and it is reached by passing through the lantern-decorated Courtyard of the Sages, where the king and the new doctor laureates would gather before paying their respects to images of the great teacher and his disciples.

Vietnam has done away with its monarchy and the royal examinations, but the courtyard is still used for ceremonial dances during the Tet (lunar new year) holidays, and even for live chess games.

Looming over the entrance to the third courtyard is perhaps the temple's most striking piece of architecture, the two-story Khue Van Cac, or Pavilion of the Constellation of Literature.

Its base has four brick pillars engraved with cloud designs that support a second floor made of wooden frames. The round open windows on this floor are adorned with sun-like rays and face all four directions--like a jewel radiating light or a vessel open to the four winds.

Built in 1805 under the Nguyen Dynasty, it is--like the rest of timeless Van Mieu--an ode to the all-encompassing, illuminating value of knowledge and literature in human affairs.

Furious in pink

The protesters who filled the streets of Sana, the Yemeni capital, on Thursday demanding the resignation of the country’s authoritarian leader claimed inspiration from similar large antigovernment protests that have rattled Egypt and toppled the government in Tunisia this month.

But among the details distinguishing these marchers--including a higher degree of organization and, at least for now, no major clashes--was the preponderance of pink. Headbands, sashes, banners of cloth or paper, even the ink of the blaring slogans were a delicate pastel pink...

Opposition lawmakers began by wearing purple hats and scarves during sessions of Parliament. They moved, as planned, to pink for Thursday’s protest, choosing the color to represent love and to serve as a signal that the protests were peaceful, according to Shawki al-Qadi, a lawmaker and opposition figure.

-- Yemen’s Opposition Goes to Code Pink, in the NYTimes

[Photo: Gamal Noman/Agence France-Presse—Getty Images]

Duh, or the art of the ellipsis

Masterful use of the dot-dot-dot, agree? The suspense of the pause is unbearable. Meron din kayang “EUROTEL--Check-in to experience... POLYNESIA?”

Call for entries to Virgin Labfest Year 7

The Virgin Labfest year 7 is now open for submissions of both one-act and full-length play scripts. The Virgin Labfest is an annual festival of unpublished, unstaged, untried and untested works for the theater held in the middle of the year (June to July) at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. This festival is a partnership project of the Writer's Bloc, Inc., Tanghalang Pilipino, Inc. and the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

The Virgin Labfest is open to submissions of the following written works:

1. One-act plays, (maximum running time: 40 minutes)

2. Full-length plays, (minimum running time: 1 hour 20 minutes; maximum running time: 2 hours)

3. All submitted works must NOT have previously been published in book form; staged commercially for more than two performances (staged readings, one-time workshop productions are allowed); won any literary or drama award in national competitions

4. Works may be in Filipino or English.

This year the Virgin Labfest will choose only 1 full-length play for full production in the festival. (Other full length play submissions may be considered for staged readings during the two-week-event.)

The festival has been open to various themes and genres and has never restricted submissions favoring any specific category. While we continue to uphold this principle, this year, however, the Virgin Labfest hopes to include works that fall into these categories:

1. Regional-language plays: plays written in Hiligaynon, Cebuano and/or Ilocano.

2. Plays for children (special venue)

3. Plays that tackle or are related to Jose Rizal's 150th anniversary commemoration.

Submission Deadline: March 31, 2011. Official entries will be announced first week of May 2011.

Submissions should indicate name and contact address of the playwright. You may submit your entries to the following email addresses: rodyvera@gmail.com

Or you may deliver at least two hard-copies of the manuscript to:

DRAMATIC ARTS DIVISION
Performing Arts Department
Upper Basement, Cultural Center of the Philippines
Roxas Boulevard, Pasay City

For more inquiries, please contact:

RODY VERA
rodyvera@gmail.com
551-0823
0917-5408441

Or CLOTTIE LUCERO or NIKKI TORRES
drama_ccp@yahoo.com
8321125 local 1606-1607

ZsaZsa Zaturnnah--the Bed Bar presscon

(Seated, from left): Prince Stefan, Red Anderson, Pinky Amador, Rocky Salumbides, Eula Valdes, Tuxqs Rutaquio, Gabe Mercado, Kalila Aguilos, Wilma Doesnt, Nar Cabico, Kakki Teodoro.

Holding it at the city's premiere (and newly reopened) gay dance club was, of course, one of those moves that made you slap your forehead and exclaim, “Of course! Why didn't they think of it before?” Better late than never, though. So, for Zaturnnah's sixth (or is it seventh?) run in four years, Tanghalang Pilipino chucked the usual staid restaurant presscon set-up for a thumping, energetic media presentation at the famed Malate nightspot--at high noon.

Some more changes to the cast line-up: Arnold Reyes and Lauren Novero are officially out as Dodong due to schedule conflicts; alternating in the role are Red Anderson and Rocky Salumbides, and, in a couple of performances, GMA-7 Starstruck alumnus Prince Stefan, who said he wants to shed his goody-boy image by trying theater and specifically this rather naughty part.

Joey Paras, slated to reprise Didi, has also begged off, so Gabe Mercado will have a returning Nar Cabico as alternate in the role. The wisecracking Wilma Doesnt is also back as one of the Amazonistas.

The principals--Tuxqs Rutaquio (as Ada), Mercado, Cabico, Anderson and Salumbides, Kalila Aguilos and Pinky Amador as the two Queen Feminas, and Eula Valdes as Zaturnnah--along with the Tanghalang Pilipino Actors' Company, were on hand to render excerpts from the musical (music and lyrics by the redoubtable Vince de Jesus), as well as to submit to questions from the media crowd.

Frankly, I couldn't take some of the nonsensical questions/comments lobbed at them--and the smug, showboating antics of a few among the so-called members of the press--that I hightailed it out of there as soon as I could. We find it easy to heap abuse on show-biz figures for their facile “show-biz” answers; but their interrogators are often, if not more so, guilty of the same shallowness, made worse by their self-aggrandizing high-handedness. Boo.

There, that felt good. Anyway--enough about what I felt. Here, more pictures:

The videos:


Pinky Amador and Kalila Aguilos singing Queen Femina's showdown song with Zaturnnah. She doesn't sing as often these days, so what a pleasant jolt to hear Pinky's powerful belt, and be reminded that she did cut her teeth in both musicals and straight dramas with Repertory Philippines. She's very excited, she said, not only because she's a babaeng bakla, but also because this is only her second Filipino musical--after Raul Manglapuz's musical parody Yankee Panky many, many moons ago. “Wag na nating ibalik ang nakaraan!”, she quipped.


Gabe Mercado (director Chris Millado called him “the first openly straight guy” to do the role), Tuxqs Rutaquio and the two Dodongs in Siya Lang ang Panaginip Ko, in which each of the characters sing of their dream love. Our first look at Gabe singing the part, and he more than acquits himself. Note Red Anderson and Rocky Salumbides up in the dance cages--brilliant use of Bed's props. It's clear, though, the two hunks still need extensive voice coaching to render their reedy voices ready for opening night.


Finally, Eula Valdes bringing the house down with Victoria! Winner! Tagumpay!, the victory cheer that closes Act 1 of the musical. My earlier take on this number, based on the cast recording: The adventurous music--segueing effortlessly from a slow beat to a frenetic churchy vibe, the lyrics (“Pati ako'y nagulat sa lakas ng lola niyo/ Mayroon pa bang kokontra, sa'kin na ang korona/ Ang tarush! Panalo na ako!”) and the great vocal work by the ensemble make this the perfect carrier single for the musical. That's Nar Cabico supplying the vocal filigree in the choral parts.


“ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal… Vack With A Vengeance!” opens on February 18 and runs until March 13 at CCP Little Theater. Tickets are now available at the CCP Box Office (8323704) and TicketWorld outlets nationwide (8919999). For inquiries, call TANGHALANG PILIPINO (632)8323661 or 8321125 local 1620/1621.

9 Works Theatrical's Rent back at RCBC Theater Feb. 12

Starting February 12, 2011, 9 Works Theatrical is staging a “newer,” “fresher” and “bolder” “RENT,” at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati.

Winner of the Tony Award for Best Musical and the Pulitzer Prize, the revolutionary rock musical “RENT,” with book, music and lyrics by the late Jonathan Larson, has made a lasting impact on Broadway with its iconic score that includes the crowd favorite “Seasons of Love.”

For this restaging (previously staged by 9 Works Theatrical in Feb. 2010 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium and Dec. 2010 at the Rockwell Power Plant Cinema 2), singer/TV host Gian Magdangal returns as songwriter Roger Davis. Gian recently starred in 9 Works Theatrical’s hit musical “The Wedding Singer” and also regularly appears in GMA-7’s Party Pilipinas.

Sheree Bautista, TV personality/singer and Magdangal’s real-life girlfriend, will reprise her role as Mimi Marquez, the AIDS-afflicted dancer. Alternating with Sheree and joining the cast for the first time is another singer/TV personality, Ciara Sotto. Ciara recently appeared in the local theater production of “Magsimula Ka!”

Also returning are Fredison Lo as Mark Cohen; OJ Mariano as Tom Collins; Job Bautista as Angel Dummott Schunard; Jenny Villegas as Joanne Jefferson; and Lorenz Martinez as Benjamin Coffin III.

Theater veteran and “Miss Saigon” alumna Ms. Carla Guevara-Laforteza rejoins the cast as Maureen Johnson, the larger-than-life performance artist who sings “Over the Moon.” Alternating with her is exciting newcomer Mian Dimacali from the December run.

The rest of the ensemble is composed of Peachy Atilano, Harold Cruz, Johann dela Fuente, Pam Imperial, Gary Junsay, Anna Santamaria, Alys Serdenia and Mark Tayag. Al Gatmaitan also joins the ensemble and will play the role of Roger in certain performances.

The artistic team of “RENT” is led by Director Robbie Guevara, with Jojo Malferrari as musical director–band; Onyl Torres as musical director–vocals; Mio Infante as scenographer; Martin Esteva as lighting designer; Chuck Ledesma as sound designer; Bek Soriano as costume stylist; and Francis Matheu as choreographer for certain scenes.

The production team is composed of Santi Santamaria, executive producer; Anna Santamaria, company manager; Toff de Venecia, marketing & PR director; Toots Tolentino, PR consultant; Jonjon Martin, PR manager; Carlos Canlas, HR manager; Shelyn Tayanes, marketing manager; and Jojo Amboy as stage manager.

Show dates are February 12, 13, 18, 19, 20, 25, 26, 27, March 4, 5 and 6. Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 3:30 p.m. and Sundays at 4:30 p.m., Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Ayala Corner Sen. Gil Puyat Avenues, Makati City.

For tickets, call 5575860, 5867105, or 0917-5545560, or visit www.9workstheatrical.com, or call TicketWorld 8919999.

“RENT” is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI) 421 West 54th Street, New York, New York 10019 Tel.: (212) 5414684, www.mtishows.com

Theater 2010: Fresh faces and (re)discoveries

I'm not letting go of 2010 without a recap of the new names and fresh faces on the local boards that made theater-going last year such a jaunt of discovery, surprise and revelation. For, while it was largely a year of reruns and musicals, it was also a year of many newbies making their mark--or, in a few cases, of perennial featured actors finally seizing the moment to shine and be recognized. The advent of bright new talents--and being there to witness their rise--is always a thrilling moment, and a hopeful one. It gives the assurance that local theater is far from breathing its last; that, a few years down the road, perhaps sooner than we know, these young performers would be the new stalwarts and headliners, the pillars of a theater of the future that's both a reflection of and an evolution from the best parts of the present.

That sounds pompous, and it is. So just this: These people did well last year--or showed promise, at the very least. Most of them are rookies, so their efforts deserve to be remembered and encouraged all the more. To use an earlier explanation-caveat: These are my personal favorites--those that reached out to me, grabbed me from across the footlights with their truth, power, honesty, wit, style. They're singular to me, in other words--preferences borne out of the unique mindset, disposition and belief system I had brought to that very moment in the dark when these performances were playing out before my eyes. They're the ones that connected the most with me, sometimes despite the inadequacies of the material.

[In alphabetical order]:

• Nicole Aldiosa. Sprightly turn marked by fresh-as-a-daisy soprano voice in Tanghalang Ateneo's Walang Sugat, followed by a touching Maria Clara in Dulaang UP's Isang Panaginip na Fili.

• Cara Barredo. She's racked up quite a number of Rep plays, but in Little Women, she came into her own with a performance of heartbreaking sweetness and quiet strength as the dying Beth.

• Caisa Borromeo. What else have I not said about her breakthrough, star-making performance in Little Women? Only that that kind of talent on the upswing needs to have a worthy follow-up.

• Delphine Buencamino. As the indomitable Amazonian princess in DUP's rerun of Orosman at Zafira, the daughter of acting royals Nonie and Shamaine Buencamino showed she is her parents' daughter to the hilt, acting, singing and dancing up a storm.

• Cai Cortez. Rather rigid, one-note turn in the Virgin Labfest's Ondoy, but hers is an undeniably forceful presence, later reaffirmed and used to great effect in DUP's Shock Value.

• Jules de la Paz. One of those young character actors who can carve out their brief moment onstage with arresting uniqueness and fearlessness, as with his gorgon of a showbiz stalwart in Shock Value.

• Martin de los Santos. All of 10 years old, his precociously nimble performance lent PETA's Ang Post Office its heart, soul and gravity.

• Mian Dimacali. Fresh off college (Ateneo), she made for a terrific, tornado-force Maureen in 9 Works Theatrical's second run of Rent.

• Arman Ferrer. The male vocal find of the year, his commanding baritone simultaneously anchoring and letting soar TA's Walang Sugat.

• Nikki Gil. Effervescent, infectiously joyful turn as Elle Woods in Atlantis Productions' Legally Blonde. She wasn't right for the role (too smart by half), but she gave it her all.

• Kierwin Larena. He didn't have much to work on in VLF6's Isagani, and neither in the long-running Enzo Santo by the Philippine Stagers Foundation, but even in those, he exuded promise and made you wonder what he could do given the right material.

• Kelly Lati. After You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown (at the UA&P two years ago--she was a hoot as Sally), then Rep's Little Women--and in between a lackluster turn in Atlantis Productions' Spring Awakening--it's clear this 20-year-old has a bright comic vein waiting to be tapped fully.

• Fredison Lo. Callow in Rent's first run and underutilized in Spotlight Artists Centre's Magsimula Ka!, he nevertheless seems on the path to the big leagues with his clarion voice and leading-man presence. Good news: at the recent rerun of Rent at Rockwell, he was markedly better as Mark.

• Marco Mañalac. Playing Alan Strang in Rep's Equus was a gutsy choice for anyone's theater debut; it took a while, but Mañalac grew into the arduous role and, in his best moments, was affecting and illuminating.

• Mara Marasigan. Directing a streamlined Medea starring her celebrated mother (Irma Adlawan), Marasigan unveiled a show characterized by stylistic daring and compelling emotional clarity. A very encouraging directing debut.

• OJ Mariano. As Collins, the best thing in Rent, period. He was also fierce in Isang Panaginip sa Fili, which means he can be as versatile as they come.

• Inno Martin. His dreamy take on Basilio in Isang Panaginip na Fili led the veteran theater-watcher Amadis Ma. Guerrero to declare him an “exciting new discovery.” Right on.

• Jerald Napoles. Not a newbie by any stretch, but where Napoles previously had to appear in mostly second-string roles, in Magsimula Ka! he was given the prime comic spotlight, and he made the most of it, uproariously. That should make 2010 his big year.

• Lora Nicolas. While she's had considerable musical-theater exposure abroad, Little Women was her first appearance on a Philippine stage, and she captivated with her lovely voice and regal bearing.

• Paul Jake Paule. As I noted after VLF6--two strong turns in Balunbalunan, Bingi-bingihan and Carmi Martin, playing essentially the same character with appealing naturalism and self-assurance.

• Mica Pineda. It was only a bare-bones thesis production, but a full-length They're Playing Our Song at UP provided a showcase for her triple-threat skills. Another musical leading lady in the making.

• Myke Salomon. First major musical-theater role, and he got to sing--nay, own--the warhorse Magsimula Ka. And why not, with all that energy and vocal versatility?

• Janine Santos. The vocal find of the year on the distaff side--a lustrous, shimmering soprano that, when heard (in Walang Sugat and Isang Panaginip na Fili), often occasioned those shows' shiver-inducing moments.

• Alys Serdenia. The Miller's Son became the perfect 11 o'clock showstopper in Atlantis' A Little Night Music with Serdenia performing it with winning poise and brio. Consider her for Aida, please.

• Sheree. Don't laugh--the former Viva Hot Babe played Mimi in Rent's second run, and was surprisingly more than adequate in it--tender and fragile and authentically sexy. If she goes for it, she can have a future on the musical stage.

• Floyd Tena. Fine voice, handsome presence as the alternate Basilio in Isang Panaginip na Fili. There's a dearth of leading men in local musical theater; here's a viable candidate.

• Kakki Teodoro. Another not-quite-new performer, though mostly in featured roles; this time, by taking on a daunting variety of character parts in Magsimula Ka!, she demonstrated her ample vocal and comic abilities to the fullest.

• Pat Valera. He still seems to be finding his footing, voice and style as a director, but as a dramaturg, Valera is leading the way among his peers, from his work on Orosman at Zafira to the thoughtful, thorough effort he put into adapting Rostand's Cyrano de Bergerac to the Philippine milieu circa 1940s (at UA&P). The show itself needed pulling together, but the material was ambitious enough and plausible enough--one of the best new adaptations I came across last year.

• Dawn Zulueta. The part of Desiree was her first major sally into musicals (she had a minor part in Rolando Tinio's Larawan a full decade ago), but you wouldn't know it from the natural authority and ravishing fullness she brought to Atlantis' A Little Night Music. For a theater newbie, she conquered.

Did I forget anyone? Feel free to remind me. Your turn--who were the fresh faces in theater that made you sit up last year?

'A lovely thing, perhaps the loveliest of things'

I held my breath unable to speak in the face of so much beauty... this is a beauty that enters the soul. -- Eleanor Roosevelt

The building itself left my scepticism in shreds... insisting with absolute force on its sovereign authority, it simply obliterated the million counterfeits of it and glowingly filled, once and forever, the place in the mind previously occupied by its simulacra and this, finally, is why the Taj Mahal must be seen; to remind us that the world is real, that the sound is truer than the echo, the original more forceful than its image in a mirror. The beauty of beautiful things is still able, in these image-saturated times, to transcend imitations. And the Taj Mahal is beyond the power of words to say it, a lovely thing, perhaps the loveliest of things. -- Salman Rushdie

The Taj Mahal's architect is not known for certain, but this much-debated figure produced a design of flawless symmetry and exquisite elegance, a synthesis of Muslim and Hindu styles executed in rose sandstone and milk-white marble. Despite its massive size--the main dome rises more than 240 feet and throws a load of some twelve thousand tons on its supports--the Taj Mahal seems to float almost weightless above its surrounding courtyards, mirrorlike watercourses and vivid green gardens. Its mythic fragile beauty rarely fails to captivate even the most cynical...

[But] standing together beside the flower-inlaid cenotaphs of Shah Jahan and Mumtaz lying side by side, we understood that the Taj Mahal was, above all, the product of deep emotion. At the heart of all the grandeur and magnificence lie two human beings who loved each other. -- Taj Mahal: Passion and Genius at the Heart of the Moghul Empire, by Diana and Michael Preston

New faces in new Zaturnnah run, part 2--plus new showdates

In part 1 (here), I reported that Gabe Mercado has been signed up for the role of Didi, while Rocky Salumbides will alternate as one of the Dodongs. Ayen Munji-Laurel was slated to play Queen Femina along with Kalila Aguilos, but her TV schedule got in the way.

So Tanghalang Pilipino, for its newest run of ZsaZsa Zaturnnah beginning February 4 (at CCP Little Theater), has conscripted another seasoned, all-around actress to play Femina: Pinky Amador.

Pinky is no stranger to musicals, of course--she was in the original London cast of Miss Saigon. Her resume also includes Aliw Awards for the lead roles in plays such as Agnes of God and The Foreigner for Repertory Philippines. A graduate of the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in London with a Master’s Degree in Acting, she has “over 70 plays and musicals to her credit, plus 300+ television appearances and 60 films to date.” (More here.)

While she's been busy with TV work, Pinky hasn't been seen much lately in stage musicals. It's exciting to contemplate what she'd bring to the kick-ass role of Queen Femina Suarestellar Baroux, a most worthy (not to mention screamingly glamorous) opponent to Carlo Vergara's superheroine. The part has been played previously by Agot Isidro, Meliza Reyes (another Miss Saigon alumna) and Kalila (back to alternate with Pinky in the role).

[Update: Pinky says, via e-mail, “Am really excited to start rehearsals for 'Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah!' I try to do at least 1 theatrical piece a year; last year it was 'Love Letters' in Cebu, so this something new for me.”]

Another major name coming on board Zaturnnah for the first time is first-rate scenographer Gino Gonzales, who will be tasked to revamp the original production design Tuxqs Rutaquio created for the show, and that has served it in good stead in all its incarnations from the Batute to PETA to the CCP Little Theater stages. The fresh look and the fresh faces should help reinvigorate this by-now perennial musical.

The show's schedule has been moved by a couple of weeks, by the way--it now opens Feb. 18 and runs until March 13. And it sports a new tagline--ZsaZsa Zaturnnah... Vack With A Vengeance!

PLUS: What's in store for Pinky as Queen Femina? A fab wardrobe, some tough songs and scenes of killer physical comedy--all in all, one big challenging package. Here's how Agot Isidro and Kalila Aguilos performed Femina's introductory number--the first track from the commercially released double-disc album, the second from the limited-edition cast recording CD released during the original run in 2006. Transmorphication complete! (Thanks again to composer-lyricist-musical director Vince de Jesus for the tracks.)

Agot Isidro (that's her in the blue suit)

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Kalila Aguilos

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“ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal… Vack With A Vengeance” runs February 18-March 13. Tickets are now available at the CCP Box Office (8323704) and TicketWorld outlets nationwide (8919999). For inquiries, call Tanghalang Pilipino 632-8323661 or 8321125 local 1620/1621.

Dulaang UP mounts rerun of Amphitryon

Celebrating its 35th Theater Season, Dulaang UP brings back “Amphitryon,” a Roman comedy by Heinrich von Kleist with Filipino tranlation by Jerry Respeto and direction by Jose Estrella, first staged in September 2009 at Guerrero Theater, Palma Hall, UP Diliman. The rerun will be at the same venue.

“Amphitryon” is a tale of love, infidelity and deception. It tells the tale of Alcmene, a loving and faithful wife whose husband, King Amphitryon, goes to battle. Falling in love with Alcmene, the god Jupiter disguises himself as her long-lost husband. After a night of exceptional happiness between the supposed “husband” and wife, King Amphitryon of Thebes returns victorious from battle, and Jupiter suddenly disappears. Would Alcmene recognize the difference? Would Amphitryon discover the game played on them by the gods?

The cast includes Neil Sese, Lex Marcos, Diana Malahay, Wenah Nagales, George de Jesus, Paolo O'Hara, Lucky de Mesa and Natasha Cabrera. Comprising the artistic team are set designer Lex Marcos, light designer John Batalla, costume designer Raven Ong and sounds designer TJ Ramos.

“Amphitryon” will run February 16-March 6, 2011 at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater, 2nd floor Palma Hall, UP Diliman, Quezon City, from Wednesdays to Fridays, 7 p.m. and 10 a.m., and 3 p.m. during weekends.

For tickets, please contact Cherry at 0917-7500107, or the Dulaang UP Office 9261349, 9818500 local 2449 or 4337840.

Rediscovering Rizal--in Madrid

This should have come out last December 30, Rizal Day, but the holiday revelry sidelined my blogging mojo. It's back. Anyway... In Madrid, Spain in 2009, we couldn't pass up the chance to go on a tour of the spots and places frequented by Rizal and his fellow Filipino propagandists in the historic city. Retracing their steps, walking on the streets they once walked on, entering the century-old cafes and hotels where they once congregated, helped us reimagine in a powerful, visceral way how our heroes lived and survived in the Madrid of the 19th century. What set our patriotic hearts aflutter even more was seeing that the capital of the colonial empire that tried and executed Rizal as a filibustero now hosted a proud monument to him and his world-changing ideas.

This is the Rizal monument in Madrid. A replica of the one in the Luneta showing the National Hero in a European overcoat and holding a book, it is located at a busy street intersection; the bisecting avenue in front of the monument is called Avenida de Filipinas. We visited the spot early in the day, around 8 a.m., when the streets were still deserted and the Iberian sun not out in full yet.

The monument was erected and inaugurated in 1996 to mark the centennial of Rizal's birth. A report in November last year said the monument had been vandalized, the words “Mason de mierda (Mason shit)!” scrawled on its base. (Rizal was a Mason.) The Philippine Embassy subsequently reported that, upon its request, the Ayuntamiento de Madrid (the agency responsible for maintaining all such cultural structures in Madrid) cleaned the monument the following day.

At the base of the monument is a slab of stone and brass inscribed with Rizal's Mi Ultimo Adios on one side and its Filipino translation on the other.

Avenida de Filipinas, which directly faces the Rizal monument and follows the gaze of the Rizal statue. Nearby is a subway station called Islas de Filipinas.

Viva Madrid is the cafe where Rizal and his compatriots in the Reform movement often repaired to for coffee and company. The plaque on the facade says (my rough translation), “This is the place where Philippine National Hero Dr. Jose Rizal got together with his compatriots to plan activities for the libertarian movement in the Philippines.” The cafe-pub is still in use, open from late afternoon until early morning of the following day. Its staircase wall is lined with newspaper clippings presumably mentioning the now-historic import of the cafe. The interior--colorful tiled walls, intricate ceiling woodwork, vintage furniture--is well preserved. Lounging in this space brings you back to those cold, smoky, perhaps warmed-by-rhum (or absinthe!) evenings when Rizal, Marcelo H. Del Pilar, Juan Luna et al strategized and argued and plotted for their beloved homeland half a world away.

Rizal was supposed to have stayed in one of the rooms in this apartment building. Unfortunately, he failed to mention the room number, so tour guides in Madrid can only point to the entire preserved building (No. 8), also still in use as dwellings, as the place where Rizal had his lodgings in the city.

The Hotel Ingles, site of the frenzied celebration of the Filipino expatriate community in Madrid after Luna and Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo's twin triumphs at the Exposición Nacional de Bellas Artes in 1884. Luna won first place for Spoliarium, Hidalgo for Christian Virgins Exposed to the Populace. The hotel, still existing, more boutique than five-star, is located along a narrow, rather nondescript street. Its lobby carries a plaque in Spanish commemorating the historic banquet where Rizal and company lauded Luna and Hidalgo. That banquet wasn't held inside the current hotel premises, but in a restaurant that is now, unhappily, a garage.

The following is from an earlier blog entry on the intersecting destinies of Rizal and Juan Luna's Spoliarium, now the crown jewel of the Philippine National Museum:

Rizal's famous toast to Luna and Hidalgo was held at the Hotel Ingles in Madrid on June 25, 1884. It became famous because Rizal, then only 23, used the occasion not only to deliver a soaring, eloquent speech--“Genius has no country, genius blossoms everywhere, genius is like the light, the air, it is the heritage of all”--but also to link his two compatriots' staggering triumph at the world's then-premiere arts competition to the Filipinos' general longing for greater freedom and enlightenment under Spanish rule.

As John Silva [of the National Museum] put it, Rizal had seized on a life-changing idea: “If Filipinos can now equal the Spaniards in the arts, why couldn’t we be equal in political rights? It was a turning point for young Rizal. He had made a declaration. Several months later, he was involved in campus demonstrations and began to write the first sentences to his anti-colonial novel, 'Noli Me Tangere.' The medical student’s career path was irrevocably altered, and he dedicated the rest of his life and even gave up his life for his country. It all started with a painting.”

PLUS: Ivan Henares' indispensable guide to “Following the Rizal Heritage Trail around the Philippines”