Women of the Year

MANILA, Philippines - For Atlantis Productions, our 2010 season promises to be the year of four unforgettable women (well, one of them is a puppet, but still very much a woman). They are (in order of appearance) Kate Monster, the progressive monster school teacher in Avenue Q with big dreams and a small bank account; Elle Woods, the famous blonde, who conquers the hallowed halls of Harvard in Legally Blonde; Kira, the Greek muse, who finds true love with a mortal in Xanadu; and Desiree Armfeldt, the actress of a certain age, who, at a crux in her life plans a madcap weekend in the country, in Stephen Sondheim’s classic A Little Night Music. It is, perhaps, our biggest season to date!

We celebrated our 10th anniversary this year with four runs of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (with one run at Singapore’s Victoria Theatre last August) and a sold-out run of the groundbreaking rock musical Spring Awakening that introduced a new generation of musical theater talent. Our 10th anniversary was also an opportunity for us to look back and thank the people who have supported us over the last 10 years. On top of that list is The Philippine STAR along with Ricky Lo and Millet Mananquil. The STAR has championed our shows from the very beginning. Thank you for 10 years of irreplaceable partnership.   We could never have done it without you. And we look forward to the next 10 years together. Raymund Isaac and Backroom, Inc. have also been there with us from the start. And to our loyal showbuyers and all those who have joined us along this journey, we thank you from the bottom of our heart.

When we were programming our upcoming season tour office staff said that to this day they have been receiving lots of calls asking for an Avenue Q repeat. We first premiered Avenue Q over two years ago and it went on to have five sold-out runs, including a three week run at Singapore’s Esplanade Theatre presented by The Singapore Repertory Theatre. We seriously thought that would be a fantastic way to end the wonderful journey of people and puppets trying to find their purpose in life. We even advertised the last run in 2008 as the farewell run.   Well, famous last words! I guess you can never keep a good thing down.   Like the Broadway production that announced it was closing, only to move to an Off-Broadway house because there was still a demand for it, we are thrilled to bring back this wonderfully funny and touching Tony Award musical. I guess Avenue Q holds a special place in people’s hearts. It certainly does in ours. Avenue Q will run from March 12 to 27 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City. The upcoming fifth run of Avenue Q will also welcome back original Kate Monster/Lucy The Slut Rachel Alejandro, who went on to win an Aliw Award for her dual performances in the musical.

In June/July we bring the fun family musical Legally Blonde to Manila. Legally Blonde is the Broadway musical based on the hit Reese Witherspoon movie.   It played on Broadway until 2008 and is currently on a sold-out US National Tour and in London’s West End. Legally Blonde will star TV and recording artist Nikki Gil as Elle Woods, who proves that being true to yourself never goes out of style. Legally Blonde runs from June 25 to July 18 at the Meralco Theatre.

In September, we are very excited to bring one of Broadway’s funniest and zaniest musicals — Xanadu. Xanadu is the roller skating, musical adventure about following your dreams despite the limitations others set for you. It rolls along to the original hit score composed by pop-rock legends Jeff Lynne and John Farrar, and includes, Magic, All Over The World, Suddenly, I’m Alive, Evil Woman, Have You Never Been Mellow and Xanadu, to name a few, and is based on the Universal Pictures’ cult classic movie of the same title, which starred Olivia Newton-John and Gene Kelly. Xanadu was nominated for several Tony Awards including Best Musical. Rachel Alejandro will put on legwarmers and rollerskates as she takes on the lead role of Kira. Xanadu runs from Sept. 3 to 19 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City.

Every musical theater company in the world today is indebted to and inspired in some way by the work of Stephen Sondheim, who is, in my opinion, the greatest living musical theater composer.   This year, the maestro celebrates his 80th birthday. In trying to find an appropriate way to celebrate the milestone we realized that the answer was staring at us right in the face. Catherine Zeta-Jones is currently starring in the first Broadway revival of Sondheim’s magical masterpiece A Little Night Music, which has always been one of the shows on my bucket list of “to-do” shows. Could we find an actress of breathtaking beauty with the acting chops to match? The answer was a text message away. Dawn Zulueta, one of the country’s most awarded and most respected film actresses, will take on the role of fading actress Desiree Armfeldt who has yet to find the meaning of life when A Little Night Music premieres in Manila in October. It will mark her return to the musical stage after many years, her last performance being in Larawan. As we send in the clowns and salute Mr. Sondheim on his 80th year, we look forward to producing more of his work in the future.   But for now we will give A Little Night Music our all and with an iconic actress such as Dawn bringing Desiree to life, it will be bliss indeed.

We hope you will join us next year for these four wonderful musicals! Meanwhile, we wish you all the happiest and healthiest new year!

For details, call 892-7078 or 840-1187.