'Emma the Musical' debuts in Edmonton

By WALTER ANG
June 27, 2018
USA and Canada Section, Inquirer.net
http://usa.inquirer.net/13412/emma-musical-debuts-edmonton

EDMONTON, Alberta — A musical based on a real Filipino elementary school teacher's struggles during World War II will be performed at the Myer Horowitz Theatre on July 7.

Danielle Yu (left) as Emma and Julius Ylagan as Pruding in "Emma the Musical."

"Emma the Musical" was only supposed to be a mini-presentation for composer Erica Cawagas' great grandmother Emma Floresca's 95th birthday. Unfortunately, Floresca passed away in 2015, before her birthday.

To honor their matriarch, Cawagas and her aunt, the musical's playwright Chie Floresca, pushed the presentation further and developed it into a full-length production.

Set in a rural town near Baguio City during the Japanese occupation, the musical follows Emma's difficult choice of going into hiding or risking her safety to protect her community members; of struggling between the love of her devoted husband and the protective advances of a Japanese official.

The musical will be presented by the Filipino-Canadian Saranay Association of Alberta.

Music

An Edmonton native, Cawagas was raised in a musically inclined family-her mother is a piano and rondalla teacher.

Composer Erica Cawagas. 

After graduating from Grant MacEwan University where she took up music composition, Cawagas briefly worked in Manila with organizations such as UNICEF and Knowledge Channel Foundation.

Chie Floresca is a writer for television station ABS-CBN in the Philippines. Credits include drama program

"Ipaglaban Mo" "Pasion de Amor," "A Beautiful Affair" and "Engkwentro." In 2004, she wrote and directed the musical "Dula at Kwerdas" staged at the Citadel in Edmonton.

Shepherding the production along, Cawagas was able to win a Cultural Diversity in the Arts project grant from the Edmonton Arts Council last year to fund the logistics for the show.

Direction

While Cawagas will handle music direction for the show, she has approached Ida Beltran to direct and her spouse Jojo Lucila to choreograph.

Cast rehearsing for "Emma the Musical."

Beltran was a Ballet Philippines principal dancer and associate artistic director of Philippine Ballet Theater (PBT) while Lucila has choreographed for PBT and Hong Kong Ballet.

In Manila, both were cofounders of the Chameleon Dance Company and Teatro Silencio, a dance company of hearing impaired dancers.

After they moved to Canada in 2005, they created Chameleon Dance Edmonton, a dance group, and both currently head The Lucila Project, their performing arts organization.

Beltran also founded and is the executive director of the Philippine Arts Council, which handles the Edmonton Filipino Fiesta, among other programs.

Earlier this year, she was one of the ten recipients of the Edmonton Arts Council's 2017 Edmonton Artists Trust Fund.

Complex

"While the lyrics and dialogue are in English, the musical features music and conversation reflecting Filipino values and influences," says Beltran. "The creators also emphasize the universality of the themes of complex human and social relationships even to present times and in other places."

From left: Erica Cawagas, Ida Beltran-Lucila and Jojo Lucila.

"The cast is a mixture of seasoned performers, emerging artists and newbies. They were all very open, hard workers, and mature. In the end, it was such a joy to work with all of them."

Danielle Yu plays Emma. The rest of the cast includes Hannah Adamson, Jo-Ann Aguilar, Cassandra Baltazar, Simonette Brigola, Jimmy Buena, Marjorie Galido, Veronica Knodel, Mark Laraya, Catherine Lelis, Lauren Lizada, Micah Macatangay, Jeanine Naboye, Gerald Penaco, Raphael Tolentino, Riana Torrejon, Julius Ylagan and Joshua Zoleta.

"Emma the Musical" runs on July 7 at Myer Horowitz Theatre, 8900 114 St. NW, Edmonton. Visit Fb.com/mimayemma.

Ray Tagavilla: Private eye, cowboy, playboy in Seattle

By WALTER ANG
June 21, 2018
USA and Canada Section, Inquirer.net
http://usa.inquirer.net/13261/ray-tagavilla-private-eye-cowboy-playboy-seattle

SEATTLE — Ray Tagavilla gets to play cowboys and playboys on stage. All because he had to repay a favor to a friend back in high school.

Ray Tagavilla in plays a stranger who arrives in town in "Smoked!"

When his friend collected on the favor, Tagavilla was asked to audition-though he had never acted before-for a production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream." The experience led him to eventually take up drama at University of Washington.

He has since worked with Seattle theater companies such as Northwest Asian American Theatre, Seattle Shakespeare Company, Sound Theater Company and A Contemporary Theater, among others.

Café Nordo

Tagavilla is currently in Café Nordo's "Smoked!," a spin on Spaghetti Westerns where he plays "an enigmatic stranger who comes to the town of Sauget to stir up some tumbleweeds."

Tagavilla (seated) in "Persimmon Nights" with Filipino American actors
Mara Elissa Palma (second from left) and Sara Porkalob (second from right).

Founded in 2009, Café Nordo began as a hybrid of pop-up restaurant and underground theater, staging productions and serving meals in venues in different parts of Seattle. It opened its permanent space, Culinarium, in Pioneer Square in 2015.

Tagavilla was an early collaborator of the group, becoming involved in 2010. "My first show with Cafe Nordo was `Sauced.' It was a noir show where I played a bartender who is secretly a private eye. Every show with Nordo has been an absolute blast, they work hard, they play hard."

It helps that the work environment-the actors perform in the dining area-allows for some occasional fun (and funny) surprises. In `Smoked,' there is a scene where his character asks the Sheriff if there's a barber in town.

"A lady that was seated near me shot her hand out and gave me a business card detailing her son's barber shop. She whispered, `You might want to try this.' I took her card, continued the scene with my co-actor and thanked the lady as I continued towards the bar for the next scene!"

Against type

"Smoked!" runs until July 1. Immediately after, he will be part of the cast of Café Nordo's next production, "Persimmon Nights," which runs July 12 to 29.

Written by Seayoung Yim, the play is a sultry tale about the rise and fall of a young, brash, handsome, reckless Korean immigrant who owns The Persimmon Grove, a lurid nightclub in the '60s and '70s, as he balances two lovers and many debts.

Playing private eyes, cowboys and playboys that are not simply negative stereotypes or inconsequential extras-but fully realized lead or support characters-are opportunities that are not taken for granted by Tagavilla.

"Playing against type has always been something I relish, especially as a Filipino American," he says. Born in the Philippines, Tagavilla moved to the US with his family when he was seven years old.

More

He recalls the early years of his career in the city. "When I started here, I didn't see a lot of other Asian actors. Especially Filipinos, the only other person I would see often was actor Jojo Abaoag."

Ray Tagavilla relishes playing roles that are against type.

"While I had and still do have a lot to learn, I soon had it in my head to show folks that Asians could play anywhere and not always be relegated to what people would call `Asian-centric' or `ethnic' shows."

"I've been incredibly lucky here in Seattle in that I've had many opportunities to play roles that aren't necessarily geared towards people who look like me."

For "Persimmon Nights" at least, he can enjoy the company of other Asian actors, including two Filipino Americans: Mara Elissa Palma and Sara Porkalob (who is also directing the show).

"The amount of actors-of-color I see nowadays compared to 2001 is absolutely mind blowing and it makes me want to cry, I'm so happy," he says.

Solo shows, new musicals

Sara Porkalob is also currently performing "Dragon Mama," a one-person show (which she also wrote) about her mother's "queer love in a barren land (Alaska) with a dope '90s R&B soundtrack."

In Café Nordo's "Smoked!" Tagavilla (left) plays a stranger,
seen here in an encounter with the sheriff.

This show is the second of her "Dragon Cycle" trilogy. The first installment was "Dragon Lady," about her gangster Filipino grandmother who immigrated to the US. The show runs at art venue 18th & Union until June 24.

She is also involved with "The Lamplighter," a musical she is co-creating with Kirsten Helland and Fil-Am composer Justin Huertas about "mothers, daughters, the painful truths of fairy- tales in an ever frightening world, and what would happen if the fate of the world rested in the hands of a little girl."

The developmental work will be performed as a concert and staged reading at 18th & Union from June 28 to July 1.

"Dragon Mama" runs until June 24. "The Lamplighter" runs June 28-July 1. 18th & Union, 1406 18th Ave., Seattle. Visit 18thandunion.org.

"Smoked!" runs until July 1. "Persimmon Nights" runs July 12-29. Café Nordo, 109 S. Main St., Seattle. Visit Cafenordo.com.

Ryan Cayabyab’s 'Noli Me Tangere' goes onstage in Honolulu

By WALTER ANG
June 12, 2018
USA and Canada Section, Inquirer.net
http://usa.inquirer.net/13021/ryan-cayabyabs-noli-tangere-goes-onstage-honolulu

HONOLULU — Ryan Cayabyab's musical adaptation of "Noli Me Tangere" will be staged as a concert at the New Life Theater from June 14 to 16.

Cast of Honolulu staging of musical adaptation of "Noli Me Tangere."

The show will be sung in Tagalog but will include English narration and supertitles. Its title is Latin for "touch me not" and its plot is based on the novel by Jose Rizal of the same title.

The story is set in Spanish-colonial era Philippines and involves the lovers Crisostomo Ibarra and Maria Clara and the dark secrets and corruption that threaten their relationship.

The musical's libretto is by National Artist for Literature Bienvenido Lumbera. Cayabyab also composed the music for the musical "Ang Larawan," an adaptation of Nick Joaquin's "A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino" which was recently made into a film directed by former Broadway set designer Loy Arcenas.

Cast

Monique Wilson played Maria Clara in the original cast at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) in the 1990s. This musical version of "Noli Me Tangere" was most recently staged in Los Angeles in 2014, directed by Olga Natividad.

Mark Bautista played Crisostomo Ibarra in a 2011 staging in Manila. He was most recently seen onstage in the US in the Seattle run of "Here Lies Love," a musical about the life of Imelda Marcos.

In this Honolulu staging, Kristian Lei will essay the role of Maria Clara and Evan D'Angeles will play Crisostomo Ibarra.

Other cast members include Anna Davide as Sisa, Jay Flores as Padre Damaso and Julius Mina as Padre Salvi.

Honolulu

Aside from performing in the show, Lei is also the director and a coproducer. She was approached by Lorna Imperial-Seidel, president of Mid-Atlantic Foundation For Asian Artists (MAFFAA), to mount the production. MAFFAA had previously presented stagings of an opera version of "Noli" in Washington, DC; Richmond, Virginia; and Boston.

From left: MAFFAA vice president Ramon Sumibcay
and president Lorna Imperial-Seidel
at Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) office to acquire permission to stage "Noli Me Tangere."
With TP officers Carmela Manuel and artistic director Fernando "Nanding" Josef.

Imperial-Seidel acquired the rights to stage the Cayabyab-Lumbera musical from Tanghalang Pilipino, resident theater company at the CCP (not to be confused with Washington, DC-based performing arts group Tanghalang Pilipino ng DC).

Imperial-Seidel says, "`Noli Me Tangere' is a unique way to showcase Filipinos' rich cultural heritage through the arts."

MAFFAA vice president Ramon Sumibcay will play Maria Clara's father Kapitan Tiago.

Headliners

Evan D'Angeles was most recently in Mosaic Theater Company of DC's staging of "Paper Dolls," a musical about Filipino caregivers working in Israel.

He has performed on Broadway ("Miss Saigon" and "Pacific Overtures"), in national tours ("Rent," "Cats," and "The 25th Annual Spelling Bee"), and regional theaters ("Hunchback of Notre Dame" and others).

Kristian Lei was born in Cebu and moved to Hawaii with her family when she was still a baby.

After high school, she joined the cast of "Miss Saigon" in Germany. Other theater credits include Ti Moune in "Once on This Island" in Manila, Princess Nala in "Festival of The Lion King" in Hong Kong Disneyland, and Tuptim in "The King and I" in Honolulu.

Aside from her acting career, Lei also teaches voice in Oahu and Hilo.

She is also the founder of Honolulu Broadway Babies and the Joshua Earl Tanjuakio Hegwood Continuing Education and Performing Arts School, a production company that provides performing arts education and programs for developmentally and intellectually disabled members.

Lei says, "The music and voices will touch the hearts of all who experience this concert."

"Noli Me Tangere" runs June 14-16 at New Life Theater, 1190 Nuuanu Ave., Honolulu. Discounted tickets available for students, veterans and seniors. Call 808-223-6075 or 808-489-7148.

READ about the 2014 staging of Cayabyab's "Noli Me Tangere" in Los Angeles here.

READ about screening of "Ang Larawan" in San Francisco here.

READ about Evan D'Angeles in "Paper Dolls" here.

READ about Mark Bautista in "Here Lies Love" here.

Ma-Yi wins Obie Award for innovative theater

By WALTER ANG
June 6, 2018
USA and Canada Section, Inquirer.net
http://usa.inquirer.net/12806/ma-yi-wins-obie-award-innovative-theater

NEW YORK — Ma-Yi Theater Company has won the Ross Wetzsteon Award from the 63rd annual Obie Awards.

Ma-Yi Theater artistic director Ralph Peña accepts the Ross Wetzsteon Award at the 2018 Obie Awards.

The group was recognized at a ceremony held at Terminal 5, a music venue in Hell's Kitchen, along with this year's other winners for excellence in Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway theater work.

Ma-Yi's artistic director and co-founder, Filipino American director, playwright and actor Ralph Peña, accepted the award.

The Wetzsteon Award is given to a theater company that demonstrates exceptional enterprise in its approach to classics or nurtures innovative new work. The award comes with a grant, with this year's amount at $3,000. The award is named after the Village Voice's former theater editor who helped create the Obies.

Costume designer William Ivey Long presented the award, noting that the Obie judges chose Ma-Yi because of its "mission to open up the theater to new forms and new voices. It has produced plays and musicals in every shape and form, many emerging from its Writers Lab, which claims to be `the largest resident company of Asian American playwrights ever assembled'" and that the Obies "salute this company's daring and spirit of enterprise."

Thanks

Peña thanked Fil-Am Jorge Ortoll, previously Ma-Yi's executive director and currently a board member. Peña also personally dedicated the award to his departed life partner and best friend Damien Bona.

"The Romance of Magno Rubio" earned Special Citations 
from the Obie Awards for Ma-Yi in 2003.

He later wrote in a Facebook post, "Thank you for all the well wishes . the honor belongs to all the artists, friends, and loved ones who subsidized our work over the years by working for little or no money, donating their hard-earned cash, and giving up precious time with family to help us make theater. And to our funding partners who continue to believe in our mission."

Ma-Yi was founded in 1989 and began as a Filipino American theater group before broadening its focus into Asian American theater.

This is not the first recognition for Ma-Yi from the Obies.

In 2003, for its production of "The Romance of Magno Rubio," Ma-Yi received Special Citations for Lonnie Carter (playwright), Loy Arcenas (director), and the entire cast, which consisted of Arthur Acuña, Ramon de Ocampo, Ron Domingo, Jojo Gonzalez, Orlando Pabotoy, and Peña.

The play, based on a short story by Carlos Bulosan, went on to be staged across the US and in Manila.

KPOP wins

Ma-Yi's Obie win comes at the heels of the sold-out 2017 run of the musical "KPOP," which it coproduced.

The musical "KPOP," coproduced by Ma-Yi, has won a slew of awards.

Produced by Ars Nova in association with Ma-Yi and Woodshed Collective, the musical has won a slew of awards: the Lucille Lortel Awards for Best Musical, Outstanding Lead Actress and Outstanding Featured Actor; the Off Broadway Alliance Award for Best Unique Theatrical Experience; and the American Academy of Arts and Letters' Richard Rodgers Award for Musical Theater.

Conceived by Woodshed Collective theater company and Ma-Yi Writers Lab member Jason Kim, the musical is about K-pop performers attempting to break into the American music industry.

Audiences are divided into groups and given a "backstage tour" of the K-pop singers' "training studios" in different rooms (across two floors in the show's 2017 venue). Each audience group follows the story of either a K-pop girl group or boy band (i.e., several storylines are performed simultaneously for different sets of audiences). The audience members are reunited when the storylines of the characters converge in a final concert.

Ma-Yi had been involved with the development of "KPOP" as early as 2012-in its earliest stages of inception. Fil-Am actress Julia Abueva was part of the cast.

Previous Obie winners

Ching Valdes-Aran, who won an Obie for Performance in 1996 for her work in Ma-Yi's "Flipzoids," was part of the judges panel this year.

Previous Fil-Am Obie winners in the Performance category include Ernest Abuba in 1983 for his work in Pan Asian Repertory Theatre's "Yellow Fever" and Mia Katigbak in 2016 for National Asian American Theatre Company's (NAATCO) "Awake and Sing!"

Katigbak is artistic director and cofounder of NAATCO, which won the Ross Wetzsteon Award in 2015.

Obies for Sustained Excellence have been awarded to Loy Arcenas for Set Design in 1993 and Clint Ramos for Costume Design in 2013.

Upcoming

Ma-Yi's next production is "Teenage Dick" (June to July), a reimagining of Shakespeare's "Richard III" set in a high school. Filipino Americans involved in the production include actress Tiffany Villarin and sound designer Fabian Obispo.

Later in the year, Ralph Peña will direct "The Chinese Lady" at the Sydelle and Lee Blatt Performing Arts Centerin Pittsfield, Massachusetts for Ma-yi's coproduction with Barrington Stage Company. Scheduled to run July to August, the play is about Afong Moy, the "Chinese Lady" brought to the US in 1834 and put on display to the public for 45 years.

Visit Ma-yitheatre.org.