Be part of our world

NEW YORK, NY — I am back in New York City and it is cold.  Very cold. But I don’t mind. It is around this time of the year each year that we begin selecting our shows at Atlantis Productions for two years down the line. Yes, that is how far ahead we plan. For one, it takes a while to acquire the proper rights to shows, especially those that are still running on Broadway, or that have only very recently closed. And also, it takes a full year of pre-production for any of our shows to fully materialize on stage.

Selecting a season of shows is one of the most challenging and exciting aspects of running a theater company. You have so much to think about and consider.

And ultimately, when you decide on the shows, find out you have been given the rights and see your line up come to life, it is incredibly rewarding.

We started planning our upcoming 2011 season of shows back in 2009. And it is truly our most exciting season to date, with a diverse selection of shows that is certain to appeal to everyone.

We start off 2011 with the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize winning musical Next To Normal. Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (book/lyrics) penned the emotional work that puts a woman’s life-long struggle with bi-polar disorder and depression center stage. The two earned the 2009 Tony Award for Best Score and the 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Next To Normal runs from March 11 to 27 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City.

I am thrilled to direct the musical ground-breaking and award-winning musical with the amazing cast of Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Jett Pangan, Jake Macapagal, Felix Rivera, Bea Garcia and, making his professional theater debut, Pilipinas Got Talent finalist Markki Stroem. The writers of Next To Normal have said that the two greatest influences on their work are Stephen Sondheim and Jonathan Larson. They are also the two greatest influences on my work and the reason that musical theater has become my life. 

In June, we open Disney’s pop opera Aida. It is a timeless love story with unforgettable music by Elton John and Tim Rice based on the Verdi opera. It is a musical bursting with contemporary energy that tells the story of a great Egyptian hero Radames, who sends a captured Nubian princess, Aida, as a gift to the Egyptian princess Amneris. As he prepares to marry the vain and shallow Amneris, he falls completely in love with Aida, and is forced to choose between love and life. Aida is an epic tale of love, loyalty, betrayal, and courage, with an exhilarating Tony and Grammy Award-winning score by Elton John and Tim Rice, their first collaboration since writing the music for The Lion King. Aida is a true celebration of love and life. Time Magazine proclaims Aida “a big, bright show with luscious Elton John melodies.”  It is the winner of four Tony Awards and will run at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City from June 24 to July 10. It will be directed by Chari Arespacochaga.

We are thrilled and honored to have acquired the rights to one of the hottest musicals to have opened on Broadway this decade, In the Heights.

In the Heights with its hip-hop, salsa, merengue and soul music infused score by Lin Manuel Miranda, took Broadway by storm when it opened in 2008 garnering an astounding 13 Tony Award nominations and winning four Tony Awards including the Tony Award for Best Musical.

In the Heights tells the universal story of a vibrant community in New York’s Washington Heights neighborhood — a place where the coffee from the corner bodega is light and sweet, the windows are always open and the breeze carries the rhythm of three generations of music. It’s a community on the brink of change, full of hopes, dreams and pressures, where the biggest struggles can be deciding which traditions you take with you, and which ones you leave behind.  I am excited to direct this heart-warming musical which will run from Sept. 2 to 18 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium.

We will be having auditions for singers and dancers for In the Heights in March. Thank you to Simone Genatt-Haft at Broadway Asia Entertainment and the wonderful people at the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization led by Ted Chapin, for licensing this triumphant musical to us.  Both Chari Arespacochaga and I will be at the final performance of In the Heights on Broadway on Jan. 9.

We end our season by taking our audiences (of all ages) under the sea in Disney’s The Little Mermaid. One of the most enchanting Disney classic animations of all time, Disney’s The Little Mermaid takes to the musical theater stage and speaks to the inner princess in all of us.

Based on one of the most beloved Disney films of all time and the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, Disney’s The Little Mermaid is the sparkling new Disney musical that has made a big splash on Broadway. Some of Disney’s most popular songs are featured in show — including Part of Your World, Kiss the Girl, and the Academy Award-winning Best Original Song, Under the Sea by the renowned songwriting team of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman. The stage adaptation also features 10 new songs by Menken and Glenn Slater, plus a book by Tony-winning playwright Doug Wright.

We are, once again, proud to present another Disney musical after the tremendous success we had with Disney’s Beauty & The Beast. We will be creating an unforgettable underwater world that uses various forms of Asian puppetry to contrast a Western above water world. We will return to traditional puppetry and shadow puppetry to create many of the magical moments in the musical. A full cast will be announced soon. It will run at the Meralco Theater from Nov. 18 to Dec. 11, which is the perfect time for families to come together and watch one of the most timeless fairy tales over the holiday season.

No season is possible without the generous support of companies (and people) who believe in what you do and go the extra mile to support you. The Philippine STAR has been there with us creating musical theater magic for 11 years now.

We are grateful and proud to call The STAR our partner in bringing these wonderful musicals to the Philippines. The City of Makati and the City of Pasig have also been great supporters of the arts. Our many corporate sponsors who join us each year have shown how brave they are by supporting a less mainstream form of entertainment. And last, but certainly not least, our loyal show buyers and audience members, who believe in our shows and join us year after year. To you all, we say thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

We can’t wait to welcome you all to our 2011 Season.

For show buying and fundraising opportunities for any of the shows please call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078 or 840-1187.