Monday, August 29, 2022

PPO Concert for the Youth premieres online edition


The Cultural Center of the Philippines brings back the Philippine Philharmonic Orchestra's music appreciation program, PPO Concert for the Youth, with an online edition premiering on August 31, 2022, 3:00 PM at the Facebook pages of the CCP and the PPO.

Created for the young and also for the newbies, this lecture-demo format concert aims to introduce audiences to the orchestra and the various instruments in it. This year welcomes sisters Alexa and Calista Kaufman who will serving as the program's narrators.

The concert will feature the PPO, conducted by Herminigildo Ranera, performaning symphonic arrangements of tunes from musicals such as Roger's and Hammerstein's The Sound of Music and Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady to name a few.

Monday, August 22, 2022

Cinemalaya 18 goes to Cinema '76


After the successful return of the 18th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival to the big screens at the Cultural Center of the Philippines and its partner cinemas, the films in competition make their way to Cinema '76 Anonas for an extended run happening this August 24-30, 2022.

To be shown in this week long run are the 11 full length films in competition led by The Baseball Player by Carlo Obispo which won Best Film.

Also in the lineup are 12 Weeks by Anna Isabelle Matutina; Angkas by Rain Yamson; Bakit ‘Di Mo Sabihin? by Real S. Florido; Batsoy by Ronald Espinosa Batallones; Blue Room by Ma-an L. Asuncion-Dagñalan; Bula Sa Langit by Sheenly Gener; Ginhawa by Christian Paolo Lat; Kaluskos by Roman S. Perez, Jr.; Kargo by TM Malones; and Retirada by Milo Alto Paz and Cynthia Cruz-Paz.


To be shown also are the 12 short films namely Ampangabagat Nin Talakba Ha Likol (It’s Raining Frogs Outside) by Maria Estela Paiso; Black Rainbow by Zig Dulay; City of Flowers by Xeph Suarez; Dikit by Gabriela Serrano; Distance by Dexter Paul de Jesus; Duwa-Duwa by Nena Jane Achacoso; Mga Handum Nga Nasulat Sa Baras (The Dreams That Are Written in the Sand) by Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay and Richard Jeroui Salvadico; Mata Kang Busay (Vision of the Falls) by Nino Maldecir and Cyphor John Gayorgor; Kwits by Raz de la Torre; Roundtrip to Happiness by Claudia Fernando; See You, George! by Mark Moneda; and Si Oddie by Maria Kydylee Torato. The shorts are grouped into Shorts A and Shorts B.

Cinema ’76 Film Society is honored to be a cinema partner in this year’s Cinemalaya Festival. It’s been two years since the festival had in-person screenings and as Cinemalaya fans ourselves, we’re excited to welcome indie fans, looking to catch some of the best films of the year,” said Daphne O. Chiu, Executive Vice President and General Manager of TBA Studios and Cinema ’76.

Here is the schedule of the Cinema '76 run of the 18th Cinemalaya.

August 24, 2022
12:10 PM Kargo
2:00 PM Batsoy
8:05 PM 12 Weeks

August 25, 2022
2:10 PM Angkas
4:10 PM Bula sa Langit
6:00 PM Bakit 'Di Mo Sabihin?
8:00 PM Blue Room

August 26, 2022
2:00 PM Ginhawa
4:15 PM Retirada
6:20 PM Kaluskos
8:30 PM The Baseball Player

August 27, 2022
12:30 Blue Room
8:00 Ginhawa

August 28, 2022
2:20 PM The Baseball Player
4:05 PM Retirada
6:10 PM Shorts A
8:20 PM Shorts B

August 30, 2022
12:15 PM Shorts A
2:25 PM Shorts B
4:25 PM 12 Weeks
6:40 PM Bula sa Langit
8:30 PM Kargo

Tickets per screening are priced at P250.

Cinema ‘76 is located on the third floor of Anonas LRT City Center along Aurora Boulevard. It can also be accessed via a bridgeway from the Anonas LRT-2 Station. For booking inquiries, email cinema76filmsociety@gmail.com or 0977-705-4276.

Friday, August 19, 2022

Newly renovated Aliw Theater reopens, Ballet Manila previews comeback season

Lisa Macuja-Elizalde at the newly renovated Aliw Theater stage

When Ballet Manila launched its 24th performance season back in July 2019, the company's CEO and then Co-Artistic Director Lisa Macuja-Elizalde announced that her choreographic take on Giuseppe Verdi's opera La Traviata would serve as the finale for that season. Initial plans included a live orchestra to be conducted by longtime collaborator Alexander Vikulov and Andrew Fernando with the artists of the Klassical Music Foundation taking on the singing roles. And then the fire that gutted Star City, Star Theater, and damaged Aliw Theater happened.

Ibong Adarna ballerinas before the ribbon cutting

With a  downscaled production utilizing pre-recorded music, La Traviata, double billed with Rudy de Dios' Carmina Burana, was still staged in March 2020, the weekend before everything came to a halt because of the pandemic.

A scene from La Traviata

More than two years later, La Traviata is set to stage a comeback at the newly renovated Aliw Theater in Rise, happening on October 7 & 9, 2022.

Double billed with Ballet and Ballads, this production of La Traviata will be closer to what Lisa Macuja-Elizalde has initially envisioned. There will be live orchestra music, utilizing the Aliw Theater orchestra pit, to be conducted by Gerard Salonga who also serves as music director. Baritone Andrew Fernando leads the lineup of opera singers that also include soprano Jade Riccio and tenor Ivan Nery.

Rise will mark Ballet Manila's first live public performance at the newly renovated Aliw Theater. And it is not just the theater that has gotten upgrades but the entire building as well, now christened as the Elizalde Complex.

Reb Atadero, Lisa Macuja-Elizalde, and Mitch Valdez

New amenities in the complex make the building more versatile than just being a venue for ballets, concerts, and other performances. At the ground level, the 370 square meter area Elizalde Hall includes a lobby and two meeting rooms that can house small conferences, business meetings, forums, and symposiums.

Intimate recitals, rehearsals, gallery exhibits, and even banquets and receptions can now be accommodated at the Custom Spaces, a 500 square meter area, located at the upper level of the complex.

The balcony scene from Romeo and Juliet

And probably a huge relief to all is the presence of numerous rest rooms throughout the complex guaranteed to lessen the long lines during intermissions.

All these changes, especially the Custom Space, meant that the audience capacity of the Aliw Theater has been trimmed to 1,275 from the 2,300+ seats it had before. But the theater boasts of a new, flexible LED screen on stage and top of the line lights and speakers. The interior now sport new seats, air filters, as well as carpeted floors and modified walls that improve upon the theater's acoustics.

A scene from Lisa Macuja-Elizalde's Cinderella

Ballet Manila's comeback performance Rise happening on October 7 & 9, 2022 coinciding with Lisa's birthday, will be a showcase of Aliw Theater's improved technical specifications. The company is also set to stage Lisa Macuja-Elizalde's Cinderella to inaugurate its Holiday Cheer Series on December 25-30, 2022.

The 25th Performance Season, billed as Of Hope and Homecoming begins with Martin Lawrance's Romeo and Juliet on February 18-19, 2023. It will be followed by Don Quixote with guest artists from San Francisco Ballet on May 27-28, 2023. Gerardo Francisco's Ang Ibong Adarna wraps up the season on August 19-20, 2023. The shift in the performance schedule of the season to 2023 was made in order not to clash with other ballet companies' respective seasons.

Tuesday, August 16, 2022

A home run for The Baseball Player, Tommy Alejandrino at the 18th Cinemalaya Awards

Carlo Obispo

Carlo Obispo's The Baseball Player edged out Ma-an Asuncion-Dagñalan's Blue Room to win Best Film at the 18th Cinemalaya Philippine Independent Film Festival during the Awards Ceremony at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

Tommy Alejandrino

The Baseball Player, cited for "its sheer poignance and quiet power, for its subtle but trenchant storytelling, and for its penetrating take on the Mindanao conflict and the sad wreckage it has made of young innocent lives", also won Obispo the Best Screenplay award. The film lead's actor, Tommy Alejandrino, bagged the Best Actor Balanghai Trophy in his portrayal of a Moro child soldier who dreams of becoming a baseball player. The film also won Best Editing for Zig Dulay.

Blue Room, on the other hand, clinched the Special Jury Prize as well as the Best Direction trophy for Asuncion-Dagñalan. Other awards the film won include Best Supporting Actor for Soliman Cruz, Best Cinematography for Neil Daza, and Best Production Design for Marxie Maolen Fadul.

Max Eigenmann

The Best Actress trophy went to Max Eigenmann for
12 Weeks while Best Supporting Actress was won by Ruby Ruiz for Ginhawa. Ruiz has previously won Best Supporting Actress in 2013 for Ekstra and Best Actress in 2019 for Iska.

Other awards handed out for the Full Length category were Best Sound for Pepe Manikan (Bula Sa Langit), and Best Musical Score for Isha Abubakar (Retirada).

Zig Dulay

For the short film category, Zig Dulay was the man of the moment with his Black Rainbow bagging Best Film and Best Screenplay. Gabriella Serrano, on the other hand, won Best Direction and the Special Jury Prize for her silent film Dikit.

The NETPAC award went to 12 Weeks (Full Length) and Black Rainbow (Short). The award is given by the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema to promote Asian cinema and discover and recognize exceptional films and talents.

The Audience Choice awards went to Kargo by TM Malones (Full Length) and to Mga Handum nga Nasulat sa Baras (The Dreams That Are Written On The Sand) by Arlie Sweet Sumagaysay and Richard Jeroui Salvadico (Short).

Ma-an Asuncion-Dagñalan and Gabriella Serrano

The wins by Ma-an Asuncion-Dagñalan and Gabriella Serrano marks only the second time that the best director awards for the both the short and full length films went to female directors. The first time was during Cinemalaya's maiden year in 2005 with Rica Arevalo for ICU Bed #7 (Full Length) and Sigrid Andrea Bernardo for Babae (Short) emerging as the best directors.

Cinemalaya 18 Full Length Film Directors

The 18th Cinemalaya saw the return of the full length feature films in competition and onsite screenings at the CCP and select SM and Ayala cinemas after two years of online editions with only short films in competition.

The competing films are being shown in select partner cinemas nationwide until August 16, 2022. Cinemalaya then heads to Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte on September 9 to 15, 2022. Finally, the festival will have an online run in October 2022 via the CCP Vimeo channel.