advert: the wedding singer, the musical

a friend of mine is selling tickets to a local production of THE WEDDING SINGER musical, and i thought i’d help out by posting about it here.

THE WEDDING SINGER, in a nutshell, is about “Robbie Hart, a New Jersey’s favorite wedding singer whose fiancee leaves him at the altar. Heartbroken, he is forced to reexamine the meaning of love and marriage with the help of Julia, a waitress from one of his wedding-singing venues.“

i liked the movie (starring adam sandler and drew barrymore) that spawned the musical, but i have no idea what goes on in the musical: what they kept, what they changed, and what they added. and since previous musicals i’ve watched live are musicals i’m already familiar with, i’m coming in cold with this one.

the 9 works theatrical production of THE WEDDING SINGER opens october 23, and ends its run on november 17. my friend is selling tickets for the november 7 show.

for more information about the local production, check out this blog post from gibbs cadiz.

and i’ll post my thoughts on the musical after watching it on november 7. i do hope it’s better than their production of RENT, which was okay but was cringe-worthy during some parts.

a very potter musical

i’m a pot-head. and by that i mean i’m a big HARRY POTTER fan. and, obviously, i’m not the only one out there.

a month ago, a friend of mine started gushing about this online musical about HARRY POTTER. i’ve seen photos, and i’ve heard stories. but it was only recently that my friend was exposed to the musical. so it was also only recently that i got exposed to it as well. now, i’m passing it on to you.

it’s like paying it forward; you give back by introducing it to more people.

A VERY POTTER MUSICAL was, I think, first called HARRY POTTER, THE MUSICAL. but i think the new title fits it better. the story condenses all seven books into one almost three-hour long musical with numerous pop-culture references. i don’t know if this musical will stand the test of time, but for the time being, it sure is a laugh-out-loud riot.

i don’t actually know how to describe the musical. i think anyone will have a hard time describing the musical. but i’ll do my best. it’s like HARRY POTTER on crack. it’s very tongue-in-cheek, and it has so many innuendos that is definitely going to tickle the pot-heads.

it starts out with harry about to return to hogwarts after a summer with the dursleys, and it quickly jumps to the plot of GOBLET OF FIRE complete with a wizarding tournament, a yule ball, and voldemort’s rebirth. and that’s just the first act. the second act puts together the high energy scenes of books 5 to 7.

when you watch the musical, you’ll definitely be coming in spoiled. but it’s how they twist the material, how they present it, that will make you stay and watch the whole musical one clip after the other. and it certainly helps that the dialogues are witty and memorable–oh, and the songs are great too!

A VERY POTTER MUSICAL is available for viewing at youtube, and the team behind this musical has also uploaded a new one called: A VERY POTTER SEQUEL in which, well that one you’ll have to see for yourself. it happens post-book 7 and that way leads to spoilers.

it’s a definite must watch for everyone, pot-head or no.

diva

i’m not ashamed to admit that i watch a lot of local shows. aside from the fact that my previous job revolved around the local entertainment industry, there’s also a certain joy whenever a local show manages to do something different–if not necessarily good.

when i was a kid, i always watched local sitcoms: from OKEY KA FAIRY KO to OBER DA BAKOD and BAHAY MO BA ‘TO? i loved the situational comedies that didn’t always boil down to slapstick. as for drama series and soap operas, the first one i really enjoyed was the parody MARINARA.

and then ENCANTADIA came. that was an amazing series, not only because it was well thought out–but also because it showed just how much more creative filipinos can get. plus, it also proved that the regular viewing public can embrace something as high-concept as ENCANTADIA. i guess, MULAWIN should get some credit too–after all, that was the soap that started the fantasy trend, and opened the doors for ENCANTADIA.

but i’m not here to talk about that soap. i’m here to talk about my latest guilty pleasure–which doesn’t make me feel guilty at all: DIVA.

it’s a local comedy soap that comes from the same network as ENCANTADIA, and it’s the first to successfully integrate musical numbers into the story. and no, i’m really not counting KAMPANERANG KUBA which aired a few years ago. that was… well, it definitely was something new then. but i think including non-singers anne curtis and luis manzano, and then-non-actor christian bautista really hurt the show’s promise.

DIVA‘s cast, on the other hand, is comprised of mostly singers. not all of whom are great actors–but then the story is not that high-concept. it’s actually a very simple, rags-to-riches story–but with well-loved music and singing accompanying it. a soap opera and popular songs combined together? that’s a regular filipino’s dream come true. acting ability is no longer a requirement here. not that i’m saying the acting is horrible. it’s really not. it’s just that you don’t notice it much amidst the laughing and the singing-along.

DIVA started airing in march of 2010, and from what i hear it will end on the last week of july, or the first week of august. it’s actually longer than the standard soap that it already exceeded the fourth-month mark, but for the most part, you don’t really notice the length of the soap. mostly because of a constantly-changing set of characters, and the already-mentioned singing.

i hear, through the local entertainment rumor mill, that two other networks are thinking of coming up with their own comedy-musical soap opera. but DIVA would’ve been the first to do it–in the philippines. and while it’s not perfect, i don’t think another show would be able to top what it had already accomplished. this is a one-time thing. having a new soap that is very similar to DIVA would only be overkill.

note: image included in post is courtesy of DIVA‘s facebook fan page.