Rachel does an Olivia Newton-John

Pop singer and theater artist Rachel Alejandro is gearing up for the most demanding performance of her life — roller skating to Olivia Newton-John and Electric Light Orchestra songs in Atlantis Productions’ upcoming Broadway musical comedy Xanadu which opens at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City on Sept. 3.

Xanadu follows the journey of a magical and beautiful Greek muse, Kira, who descends from the heavens of Mt. Olympus to Venice Beach, California in 1980 on a quest to inspire a struggling artist, Sonny, to achieve the greatest artistic creation of all time — the first Roller Disco…hey, it’s 1980! But, when Kira falls into forbidden love with the mortal Sonny, her jealous sisters take advantage of the situation and chaos abounds.

This hilarious, roller skating, musical adventure about following your dreams despite the limitations others set for you, 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.

Rachel captured audience’s hearts in the dual role of Kate Monster/Lucy The Slut in Avenue Q and now takes on the lead role in Xanadu.  She has started her skating classes and is supervised by choreographer Cecile Martinez and skating supervisor Anthony Ong, who studied skating in New York with the Broadway production’s skating instructor Lezly Zeiring. Rachel says, “The biggest challenge here is the roller skating by far. I’m not as well-coordinated as some of you might imagine. But I am quite excited as it is such a fun musical people of all ages can enjoy!”

Bobby Garcia, who will direct Xanadu says, “I’m thrilled to be directing Xanadu. It is a musical I was instantly smitten with when I saw it in New York in 2007.  I suspect it will be one of the zaniest rehearsal periods I have had and I look forward to the fun with this amazing cast!”

She will also be returning to the recording studio to record tracks from Olivia Newton-John’s catalog which Sony BMG will release as a five-track CD available at the theater.

For details, call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078 or 840-1187.

A day of bayanihan

A few weeks back, I witnessed a truly inspiring bayanihan effort by people close and dear to me, and it was all for a good cause. My dear friend Kris Aquino and myself were scheduled to distribute donations of Mongol Pencils and school supplies in Cebu. Owing to a very tight schedule, sending it by ship would have taken too long and it was imperative that the school supplies be transported posthaste.

Luckily, through the kind assistance of friends, Sunny Ku of Masterminds Worldwide, Leveric Ng and Deo Jovellano of Zest Air who readily donated their air freight service, the school kids were not disappointed on the appointed day of distribution.

As someone who had to struggle for an education, I can empathize and feel for the kids. I saw their young eyes brighten and their lips broke into cute smiles as they were handed their bags of pencils, pad papers, notebooks and other school paraphernalia. I could not help but feel in my heart how truly awesome the bayanihan spirit exhibited by all the people involved.

To all the people at Star Paper Corporation, who stayed up far into the wee hours of the night as they diligently packed each individual parcel for the children, our many thanks.

To our friends at Masterminds and Zest Air who readily answered our call for assistance and who offered their time and service to such a worthy cause, I salute your efforts. Lastly to my good friend Kris Aquino who keeps on finding ways to use her celebrity in a most positive manner, bongga ka! Mabuhay kayong lahat!