Relive high school with Carrie: The Musical
MANILA, Philippines - Carrie is the cautionary tale for bullies who taunt the “weird girls†in school. In Stephen King’s first novel, the weird Carrie White gets her revenge: she is in fact telekinetic and burns everyone in her school, and kills her bullies by willing their car to explode. It’s the revenge bible for everyone who ever felt alienated and teased for being different. Imagination takes on a realistic turn with an adaptation of Carrie: The Musical, which premiered on Broadway in 1988. Filipino audiences will get to enjoy the story of Carrie White, told through the music of Michael Gore with lyrics by Dean Pitchford, who between them were part of Fame, Terms of Endearment and Footloose. The musical is written by Lawrence D. Cohen, who also wrote the screenplay for the 1976 Brian de Palma adaptation. Carrie will be played by Mikkie Bradshaw, and she will be joined by Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Markki Stroem, Yanah Laurel, and Sheila Valderrama-Martinez, and will be directed by Bobby Garcia. Carrie: The Musical will run from Sept. 20 to Oct. 6 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza. Watch out for the pig’s blood scene!
Catch some tunes at the 2nd CCP International Jazz Festival
Music lovers wanting to expand their horizons should check out the CCP International Jazz Festival, the second gathering of over a hundred jazz musicians and 15 bands from the Philippines, the US, Europe, and Asia. The festival will feature simultaneous performances that cover all subgenres of jazz, from blues, fusion, to experimental, at different venues within the center. The large Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo will showcase bands with bigger productions, while the Silangan Hall will be smaller to create a more intimate setup. In a way, this will encourage people, especially newbies, to go around and explore their jazz preferences. The festival will be held from Sept. 17 to 22.
After being postponed under mysterious circumstances, the CineFilipino Film Festival is set to open this week with a series of independent films starring some of the brightest jewels in Philippine showbiz. This is the first year of the festival, and is sponsored by the PLDT-Smart Foundation, MediaQuest, TV5, and Unitel Entertainment. The festival is composed of eight films, but the ones we’re looking forward to seeing are Mes de Guzman’s Ang Kwento ni Mabuti starring Ama Quiambao, and Nora Aunor as Mabuti, who finds a bag full of money that could save her financial woes; Randolph Longjas’ Ang Turkey Man ay Pabo Rin starring Tuesday Vargas, Travis Kraft, Julia Clarete, and JM de Guzman, and deals with the comedic cross-cultural troubles a Filipina faces when marrying a foreigner; and Sari and Kiri Dalena’s The Guerrilla is a Poet, starring Karl Medina and Angeli Bayani, and spotlights on an activist’s journey throughout Martial Law and his nine months’ imprisonment that led to him being a poet. The other films are: Ang Huling Cha-Cha ni Anita, Bingoleras, Mga Alaala ng Tag-ulan, Puti, and The Muses. The CineFilipino Film Festival will be screened at Newport Cinemas, Lucky Chinatown Cinemas, Gateway Cinemas, and Shang Cineplex until Sept. 24.
Be local and channel global with Proudrace
Filipino streetwear brand Proudrace has made a name for itself in the international scene, making its rounds in California, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia, and yet they still proudly bear the label “Handmade in the Philippines.†This is one of the reasons why the design duo Pat Bondoc and Rik Rasos endeared themselves to fashionable Manila. That and of course their edgy and rebellious designs loved by both mainstream and alternative audiences. Today, the Ayala Museum is hosting the duo for the museum’s DesignTalks, a lecture on how Proudrace became a global label without forgetting its roots. The talk will be held at the Ground Floor Lobby, and will start at 3 p.m.