Did my first full run-through for Tita Baby (Barredo) last night! It was fun. But the best part was that she was happy with my efforts, and so I can breathe a little easier now. Haha. Wasn't it just last Monday when I learned I was going to be in this production? And now I'm running as if I had always been part of it.

It's all good.

Coming in midstream, I have a lot of catching up to do in rehearsals. I've been sitting through the run-throughs in an effort to absorb all I can, and to note my blockings.

I watched Cherie Gil play the Baroness today. I can't believe I'm this divine woman's alternate! She is a goddess, is all I can say. And sophisticated to the core. She wears that role like a second skin, so perfect is her interpretation. No acting required. Boy, do I have some preparing to do.

I'm being measured for my costumes next week. Oooh, I can't wait to look luxurious! Haha. A welcome change from all the plain, townsfolk garb I've had to don in recent productions. The only downside to all this is that for me to be happy about how I'll look onstage, I'll probably have to go on a crash diet. To approximate Cherie's svelte, sophisticated form. Otherwise, I might end up looking like a second rate, trying hard copycat! Haha.

Say It Somehow
from Light In the Piazza


Jennie: Hon...what if I get a chance to play this scene one day?
Rein: (cold silence)

Hehe.

Jeopardy question: A beloved Rogers & Hammerstein musical to be staged by Repertory Philippines in which I will be playing the Baroness Elsa Schraeder for certain performances.

Answer: What is. . . .

You got it!

I know I said no to full-length productions this year, so I'm just as surprised as you are. I didn't even consider auditioning for this one. What I did want to do was to watch it several times just to see how the three different casts would tackle their beloved roles. But fate had other plans, and I am now going to end the year in the hills of Salzburg, Austria after all. Haha.

But what a fun cast: Menchu Yulo, Monique Wilson and Leisl Batucan (Cathy Azanza suddenly took ill) as Maria; Audie Gemora and Michael Williams as Captain Von Trapp; Cherie Gil and Rina Reyes as the Baroness; Miguel Faustmann and Bonggoy Manahan as Max Dettweiler; Nicole Yulo, Vanessa Paolelli and Crisel Consunji as Liezl; JM Rodriguez and Topper Fabregas as Rolf; Pinky Marquez as Mother Abbess, and a slew of other familiar Rep faces.

This is going to be my second production of Sound of Music, the first having been with the Company of Players some 8 years ago, in the role of cranky Sister Berthe. I get to do a very different role this time around, which is exciting. I was thrilled to discover that the Baroness actually sings two songs in the stage version!

And so, here goes....Confitemini!

"A deranged sense of humor weaves its way through "The Departed," from outrageous opening scenes introducing the sulfurous crime boss Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson) to its eye-roller of a final shot." ~ Washington Post

I was trying to find just the right words to describe this movie, and I found them in the Washington Post review quote above. What can I say -- if "The Departed" was a book, it would be a page-turner. My heart sank with every awful twist and turn the plot took (and there were plenty!), but I found myself peeling my hand off my eyes (actually Rein's hand, haha!) from time to time to see what the charismatic ensemble of murderous characters would do next.

I've seen films about the Sicilian Mafia, the Cosa Nostra, the Yakuza, and even the Chinese Triad, but I'd never quite heard of an Irish Mafia before. Particularly the kind that thrives and operates in conservative Massachusetts. That alone made it worth the three or so hours of sitting in the dark--twisting and turning in my seat from watching all that Irish ruthlessness! Haha. It was also worth it to see Martin Scorsese flex his darkly comic muscles (which we've never really seen before) without diluting any of his mean streets grit.

Try your very best to follow the labyrinthian plot, and watch out for equally Oscar-worthy performances from Leo and Matt; Jack's gleeful malice; and yes, that "eye-rolling" end shot.

The catchy, hummable melodies. The clever rhymes. The counterpoints. The assigned lines and character entrances. Segment numbers like "The King & (lower case) i", and "O-klahoma!". My lifelong love and appreciation of Broadway songs can be traced....to David, Bob, Susan, Gordon, Maria, Luis, Mr. Hooper, and all the furry inhabitants of everyone's favorite street!


What's The Name Of That Song?

Finally. After living in the Middle Ages for 5 days, I am now back in the 21st century. I am delirious with joy...and relief.

TRASH: All I know is that this not knowing hurts. I don't get where do you put the pain. Answer me that. Where do you put the pain? Cream, please.

It is 5 days post-Typhoon Milenyo (internationl name: Xangsane). In my neighborhood, that simply means having survived the dark and the heat for the past 120 hours, with no regular water supply, and not a single reliable report as to when the power would come back on. I am actually writing this at an internet cafe at the mall. Good thing Alabang Town Center is already a second home!

In my sister Miren's words, it's been Hell Week. I've been valiantly trying to conserve the last 2 bars of my celfone for several days. We've had to clean out our dank, defrosted fridge and throw every bit of food out. With nothing substantially edible left in the house, we've had to eat out (if there was a food place open at all) or crash at our respective parents' houses. All ATMs have been down and so the last fifty or so pesos in our wallets are like gold to us.

Of course, I can't even begin to imagine what the families of those crushed by fallen billboards are going through. Or of those whose homes were ripped apart by Milenyo's killer winds. Or of those like this one client of ours whose brand new Jaguar and BMW were found completely submerged in murky rainwater. Alright--maybe that last one isn't exactly in the same calamitous league as the other two, but hey, it's still a bummer, right? No, I can't say I am suffering as those people are. But I am suffering, nonetheless, from my own little frustrations and discomforts. Of not being able to work, or enjoy the little day-to-day conveniences we so take for granted. Ok, so the most major clean-up effort Rein and I (ok, just Rein) had to do was to rake the heavy carpet of leaves off our front yard. But still, I had to wake up each morning knowing that as soon as Rein left for work, I'd have to face a day of. . .no music, no lights, no aircon, no celfone, no YM, no YouTube, and no America's Top Model!

Sigh.

But the storm and this inconvenient blackout did usher in some good things. For one thing, I got to read again! My sister Miren has recently been emailing us about how her hectic life as a homemaker, mom to 4 kids, and non-stop family duties had nearly put an end to her voracious appetite for reading. As you know, it is a sad, sad day whenever a Nuyda puts a good book down for other more important activities, great lovers as we are of the written word. It was almost the same way with me. I hadn't really been reading reading the last couple of years. Can't remember the last good book I read cover to cover. But since Milenyo hit, I have rediscovered my passion for reading. I am now into the third story in a collection of plays by women playwrights, one of whose characters is quoted above. 6 plays, by such a diverse range of subject matter and talent! Love it. And so goes the silver lining in the cloud.

And then, even greater news. . .the day Milenyo hit, my newest inaanak (godchild) was born. Good friends Peachy and Allan's second child, and first daughter--Kirsten Soleil Consing Marasigan, better known as "Keira"--was born 7lbs. 10oz. at 3:54am of September 28. Just as her entry into the world was hailed by such powerful, high winds, I believe that this beautiful, perfect little girl will grow up to be high-spirited, passionate, and endowed with gifts that have the power to move mountains (and even billboards!). Welcome Baby Keira! The world is a more wonderful place because you are now in it.