1. Repertory Philippines' The Joy Luck Club
Based on the beloved book by Amy Tan, The Joy Luck Club is a chorus of eight voices telling scores of tightly woven stories. It tells of the lives of four Chinese immigrant women and their four American-born daughters. In 1949, the four immigrants meet at the First Chinese Baptist Church in San Francisco and agree to continue to meet to play mah jong. They call their mah jong group the Joy Luck Club. The stories told in this novel revolve around the Joy Luck Club women and their daughters. These stories come together in a single vision of the rich complexity of family affections, especially those of mothers and daughters.
A sensitive examination of maternal bonds and filial frustrations. Still steeped in the folklore and superstitions of their native land, the older women teetered on the far side of a cultural gap their daughters found difficult to bridge.
A must-see for mothers and daughters (and whole families) of all ethnicities. http://repertory.ph
2. Atlantis Productions' Next to Normal
Tom Kitt (music) and Brian Yorkey (book/lyrics) penned the ground breaking musical about a woman living with bi polar disorder and depression and the struggle to hold on to her family. 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. http://www.atlantisproductionsinc.com/
3. Dulaang UP's Orosman at Zafira
OROSMAN AT ZAFIRA tells the story of three warring tribes in thirst for power. Amid hatred and war where two individuals find love, this contemporary adaptation of Francisco Baltazar's text highlights the strength of the Filipina and celebrates the uniqueness of Philippine culture through original music and dance. But the universality of this play lies in the encompassing love that all of the characters of this play are in constant search for: “Pag-ibig, pag-ibig, at pag-ibig pa rin.” http://orosmanatzafira.com/
4. Blue Repertory's Hair
Hair tells the story of the "tribe", a group of politically active, long-haired hippies of the "Age of Aquarius" living a bohemian life in New York City and fighting against conscription into the Vietnam War. Claude, his good friend Berger, their roommate Sheila and their friends struggle to balance their young lives, loves and the sexual revolution with their rebellion against the war and their conservative parents and society. Ultimately, Claude must decide whether to resist the draft as his friends have done, or to compromise his pacifistic principles and risk his life by serving in Vietnam.
5. Upstart Production's Breakups and Breakdowns
Mark (Joel Trinidad) is a young play wright putting his finishing touches on his play about a bitter sweet retelling of his own failed relationship with Nina (Carla Guevara-Laforteza). Concerned with his friend's emotional condition, Derek (Reuben Uy) convinced Mark to go out and meet girls so that he will stop thriving on his past experience.
One stormy night while Derek is out on a date with Sandy (Emerita Alcid-Trinidad), Mark stays at home still perfecting his play. Suddenly, he is interrupted by a loud knock on the door. Outside the door is Nina, soaking wet after her car stalled on a nearby street because of the storm. As everything is almost going back in to place between Mark and Nina, Derek and Sandy arrived earlier than expected. In an unexpected turn of event, a surprising revelation shocked everybody and complicates the predicament of the four. http://www.upstartproductionsinc.com/
6. Repertory Philippines' The 39 Steps
Mix a Hitchcock masterpiece with a juicy spy novel, add a dash of Monty Python and you have THE 39 STEPS, a fast-paced whodunit for anyone who loves the magic of theatre! This 2-time Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning treat is packed with nonstop laughs, over 150 zany characters (played by a ridiculously talented cast of 4), an on-stage plane crash, handcuffs, missing fingers and some good old-fashioned romance! A fast- paced comedy thriller that’s great fun for ages 9 to 90.
In THE 39 STEPS, a man with a boring life meets a mysterious foreign woman who says she's a spy. When he takes her home, she is murdered. Soon, a mysterious organization called "The 39 Steps" is hot on the man's trail in a nationwide manhunt that climaxes in a death-defying finale! A riotous blend of virtuoso performances and wildly inventive stagecraft, THE 39 STEPS amounts to an unforgettable evening of pure pleasure! http://repertory.ph
7. Atlantis Production's 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. http://www.atlantisproductionsinc.com/
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. http://www.atlantisproductionsinc.com/
9. Atlantis Production's The Little Mermaid
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. http://www.atlantisproductionsinc.com/
The Light in the Piazza is a musical with a book by Craig Lucas and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel. Based on a novella by Elizabeth Spencer, it is set in Florence and Rome in the summer of 1953. A young American tourist, Clara Johnson, meets and falls for young Italian Fabrizio Naccarelli. When Clara's mother Margaret learns of the affair, she opposes it for reasons that only gradually become clear to the audience.
11. Repertory Philippines' Shakespeare in Hollywood
It's 1934, and Shakespeare's most famous fairies, Oberon and Puck, have magically materialized on the Warner Bros. Hollywood set of Max Reinhardt's A Midsummer Night's Dream. Instantly smitten by the glitz and glamour of show biz, the two are ushered onto the silver screen to play (who else?) themselves. With a little help from a feisty flower, blonde bombshells, movie moguls, and arrogant "asses" are tossed into loopy love triangles, with raucous results. The mischievous magic of moviedom sparkles in this hilarious comic romp.
Commissioned by the Royal Shakespeare Company, Shakespeare in Hollywood had its world premier in 2003 at Arena Stage and won the Helen Hayes award for Best New Play of the Year. http://repertory.ph
12. Repertory Philippines' Peter Pan
Sir James Barrie’s timeless tale of the boy who never grew up is reborn as a spectacular musical by Stiles & Drewe and the late Willis Hall.
As the lights over Wendy, John and Michael Darling's beds go out and the nursery of their London townhouse is thrown into darkness, a small light bounces across their nursery. Wendy's dollhouse is mysteriously illuminated and dresser drawers slide open and shut. And then, most mysterious of all, an unseen hand pushes the bedroom windows open and, wonder of wonders, Peter Pan comes soaring through -- and into our hearts.
Peter Pan, a boy who didn't want to grow up and so spent his life in Neverland battling the pirates and Indians, but when he brings the Darling children to Neverland with him, he is finally able to defeat his foe, Captian Hook, and befriend the Indian chief. http://repertory.ph
Photos from: Repertory Philippines, Atlantis Productions, Spot.ph, Upstart Productions, Joriben.com
Hope you can catch all these shows and share our thoughts about them! Always support the theater!
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