Filipino American ‘cowgirl fights for justice’ at NY playfest

By WALTER ANG 
May 31, 2023 | USA.Inquirer.net 

NEW YORK — Filipino American composer and playwright AJ Layague shines a light on the importance of justice with her new theatrical piece. Her play "Cowgirl Katarungan Is Fixin' to Fight" will be staged at the PanAsian NuWorks Festival. 

Kayla May Paz Suarez (left) and Michaela Jose are in the cast
of AJ Layague's "Cowgirl Katarungan Is Fixin' to Fight."
Photo by Thomas Lynch 

In the play co-directed by Ely Sonny Orquiza and Kayla May Paz Suarez, the title character is a "Filipinx-American cowgirl truth-teller, detective poet" who recounts, in rhyming verse, four vignettes dealing with anti-miscegenation, fraud, misogyny and public rudeness and privilege.

The play's roster of characters comprise imagined figures and real persons from history such as Filipino immigrant Salvador Roldan, who wanted to marry white British woman Marjorie Rogers in 1931 but was denied by the courts.

Ed Gonzalez Moreno is projection designer, Aria Renee Curameng is costume designer and the playwright herself is handling sound design. Cast includes Paz Suarez and Michaela Jose.

Layague's credits as a composer include music for Shakespeare productions at Keck Theater/Occidental College in Los Angeles; film; a Star Trek video game; and chamber music for string quartets and chamber orchestras, among others.

Musicals she has composed include "A Good Boy" (co-composer), "Lucy Larcom," and "The Ilustrados," which features a wide range of Filipino music influences including Visayan folk tunes, kulintang and Fil-Am DJ culture.

Plays include "The Ballad of Timo and Mel" and "Kasparov in 45/Deep Blue in 19" which recounts the famous chess rematch in 1997, from the viewpoint of Billie, a young Filipina chess prodigy.

Family

Layague celebrates and honors her family with this piece, combining the passions they've nurtured in her as she was growing up.

"I grew up in a family of specialized knowledge," she says. "Both my mother and my maternal grandfather emigrated from the Philippines as scholars who specialized in American culture and history. This unique mix of worlds, being brown in a white-centrist world, yet educating Americans on their own histories and policies, became a fascination to me as a writer and composer."

Her grandfather, Aquilino Layague, taught at Silliman University, Dumaguete City and at Buena Vista University, Iowa. Her mother, Elmira Layague Johnson, taught at different universities, including Syracuse University in New York and West Virginia University.

"She was one of the first Asian women deans in the US  at College of the Desert in Palm Desert. She and my dad, Eugene Johnson, met as faculty at Franklin College."

"My strongest memories of childhood are cautiously asking my Filipino grandfather to turn down volume of the television, which was usually blasting `Bonanza' or `Gunsmoke' or some other western. I knew him as an intense professor who specialized in the history of colonization."

"Only after he passed away did I see and fully understand all the newspaper articles that heralded him as a resistance leader in the Philippines during World War II. The hero that I thought only existed in fictionalized, Americanized westerns."

Music and history

Layague says that theater and music is crucial to her "engagement with Filipino and Filipino American history." This is connected to her work as an ethnomusicologist. She'd lived and studied music in Southeast Asia.

 "I am most interested in how music-cultures and cultures can evolve, respond, and even thrive during colonization. And how they sound and re-sound post-colonization.

For example, she says, "When you hear and play kulintang you also hear the sophisticated metallurgical techniques of a gong culture which thrived and survived centuries of colonization."

"So much of my artistic journey is connected to my cultural roots journey. How do I honor my ancestors and my background? How do I do their stories justice? Cowgirl Katarungan has been a way to embody and recognize and connect to those who came before."

"Cowgirl Katarungan is Fixin' to Fight" runs June 6 to 10. Visit Panasianrep.org.

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https://usa.inquirer.net/130194/fil-am-cowgirl-fights-for-justice-at-ny-playfest

Filipino American artist serves Seattle community through dance

By WALTER ANG
May 25, 2023 | USA.Inquirer.net 

SEATTLE — Filipino American choreographer Bennyroyce Royon will premiere his new contemporary dance piece "Begin Again" about letting go, reinvention and finding balance for a post-pandemic future. 

A dancer from Bennyroyce Dance Company rehearsing for "Begin Again." 

The piece will be performed by his dance company Bennyroyce Dance at the Filipino Community of Seattle's (FCS) community center, May 26-27-28. Each performance includes a post-show question-and-answer session.

Royon says, "It is my choreographic response to trauma, loss and moving forward." The 45-minute work includes visual design elements using props and video projections that invite performers and audiences alike to reflect, dialogue and move.

The company currently consists of dancers from Seattle and New York, including Fil-Am Annamarie Doucette.

The dance company has appeared at prominent theaters and dance festivals across the country and has received grants and creative residencies. Bennyroyce Dance has performed in Velocity Dance Center, The Theatre at Meydenbauer Center and the Roxy Theater. In New York, it has performed at Repertory Theater at Hostos Center for the Arts and Culture, Baryshnikov Arts Center, Ailey Studios, and Salvatore Capezio Theater at Peridance, among others.

Dance

Royon moved from the Philippines to Seattle when he was 12. "My first intro to movement was learning Filipino folk dances as a young child growing up in the Philippines. When I moved to the US, I started learning ballet, modern, and jazz at a local ballet school."

Once he was accepted to The Juilliard School in New York, he began to consider choreographing. "My experience at Juilliard opened up a whole new world for me to explore, beyond performance and into realms of dance making, collaboration, and the idea of being a global citizen artist."

As a performer, his credits include "The King and I" (Broadway), "Artist of Light" (Off-Broadway), "Madama Butterfly," "Turandot" (Metropolitan Opera), among others. He has performed with dance companies such as Sidra Bell Dance New York, Carolyn Dorfman Dance, Collective Body Dance Lab and is a founding member of Bad Boys of Dance.

As a choreographer, Royon has received commissions from Atlanta Ballet, Ballet Hispanico, Point Park University, Mason Gross School of the Arts and The Joffrey Academy of Dance, to name a few.

Community

"Begin Again" is partly borne out of Royon's partnership with FCS, where he is the Culture and Arts Program Coordinator as well as its first-ever Artist in Residence.

Founded in 1935, FCS is a nonprofit social service organization providing affordable housing, senior services, youth development and STEM programs, arts and culture programs, and basic needs programs such as food bags and warm meals.

"I'm grateful to FCS Executive Director Agnes Navarro for providing me a creative home during an important juncture of my choreographic career," he says. "My residency involves providing community members access to high-caliber, deeply inspiring, and transformative dance experiences."

For FCS, Royon has helped organize the FCS Kalahi Dance Group, a Filipino folk dance troupe composed of children, teens and adults. He's also involved with programming for seniors, families and the general public. "I've hosted several events so far this year including an open swing dance social."

Last year, he organized a cultural event for Filipino American History Month. "I curated a showcase of Seattle-based Fil-Am talent including musicians, dancers, singers and a drag queen. I shared a short excerpt of my work `Homebound/Alaala' as part of the program."

"All of these events employ my creativity and choreographic talents. It has been overwhelming but deeply rewarding to serve my community in this way."

Discounts are available for students, seniors and military.  Visit Bennyroyce.com.

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https://usa.inquirer.net/129708/fil-am-artist-serves-seattle-community-through-dance

Modern take on ‘Noli Me Tangere’ goes onstage at Hollywood Fringe Fest

By WALTER ANG
May 16, 2023 | USA.Inquirer.net 

LOS ANGELES — A modern adaptation of Jose Rizal's classic novel Noli Me Tangere will be staged June 4-25, at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. 

Casey Estorque (left) as Cris Ibarra and Marco Torres as Don Santiago
in rehearsals for "Don't."

Written and produced by Mike Talplacido and titled "#Don't," the play reverses the gender of the main protagonist and adds characters not found in the book. There are other twists in store to make the story more relatable to the audience, according to the playwright.

The play's producers aim to entice audiences and readers who may be unfamiliar with the book by using the premise that Cris Ibarra, after seven years pursuing higher education in the US, returns home to the Philippines to avenge the death of her father.

Noli Me Tangere was published in 1887 when the Philippines was still under Spanish colonial rule. "After its release, the novel became instrumental in initiating Filipino nationalism that ultimately led to the Philippine Revolution in 1896. Not only did it awaken sleeping Filipino awareness, but it also established the grounds for aspiring to independence," says Talplacido.

The production is a Filipino American endeavor, directed by Randal Kamradt and coproduced by Miralee Menzies with production design by Lawrence Ramirez. Casey Estorque leads the cast as Cris Ibarra. Cynthia San Luis plays Maria Clara, Arianna Basco plays Sisa and Mark Labella plays Damaso.

Awareness and relatability

Talplacido says the intention of developing a modern take on this classic story is to reignite political and social awareness among audiences.

Talplacido says "I have spent a lot of time talking to a lot of younger Filipino Americans on my podcast 'Kiss My Mike' and on the Clubhouse app."

"There's just so much interest from the Fil-Am community to learn more about our history and connect with our culture but not a lot of interesting and exciting new ways to do so."

"Thus, as a screenwriter, I decided that my next project would have a historical component, but I also wanted to present it in a new and fresh way. I picked Rizal's work because to me, it's a staple for understanding Philippine history."

Different take  

Talplacido started writing "#Don't" in 2022 originally as a seven-episode limited TV series. "I soon realized later in the process that it would be much harder and more expensive to produce as a TV show. That's when I decided to convert my script into a play."

Cynthia San Luis rehearsing for her role as Maria Clara in a stage adaptation of Noli Me Tangere. 

"In terms of research, I re-read Noli Me Tangere and immersed myself into re-learning Philippine history."

Nevertheless, he points out that the play is a different take on Rizal's work and has a different story.

Characters he's created for the play include Jessica Ressa, a news reporter who "covers the nefarious world of drug trafficking, graft and corruption, and the unscrupulous politicians involved" and Bulldog (played by Fil-Am celebrity singer-actor Boy Rose)," a cop and an ultimate henchman who will do anything he's told."

"They were added to help convey some of the modern underpinnings of the story."

Bridging gaps

He shares what cast member Camille Aragon, who plays Victorina, wrote on Instagram, "In many ways this creative process is bridging the cultural gap and shining a light on an important story of our beloved Philippines, that I and many other Filipinxs raised outside of their homeland, may otherwise not know."

Talplacido says sparking this of sentiment is "the kind of impact that I am hoping we can achieve through the show."

"Overall, in this adaptation, there's a lot of focus on female empowerment, diversity and inclusion and pop culture. I cannot wait for the audience members to see our play."

"#Don't" runs June 4-25, 2023. Visit Instagram.com/hashtag_dont.

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https://usa.inquirer.net/129125/modern-take-on-noli-me-tangere-goes-onstage-at-hollywood-fringe-fest

Broadway’s George Salazar in stage romcom; gives dating advice

By WALTER ANG
May 9, 2023 | USA.Inquirer.net 

LOS ANGELES — Filipino American Broadway star George Salazar headlines the world premiere of dark romcom "The Bottoming Process."

George Salazar (left) and Rick Cosnett rehearsing for "The Bottoming Process."
Photo by Jeff Lorch

Salazar's credits include "Be More Chill" on Broadway (Lucille Lortel Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical), "The Lighting Thief: The Percy Jackson Musical" on Off-Broadway and "Little Shop of Horrors" at the Pasadena Playhouse.

The play is penned by Nicholas Pilapil and directed by Rodney To. Starring opposite Salazar is television mainstay Rick Cosnett ("The Vampire Diaries," "Quantico" and "The Flash").

The play is a co-production of the IAMA Theatre Company, of which To is associate artistic director, and the Los Angeles LGBT Center.

In the play, fledgling 20-something Fil-Am writer Milo (played by Salazar) and famous middle-aged novelist John mate, date and cohabitate. As Milo's career skyrockets, his rising star soon rivals and outshines John's. They grapple with race, sex, power and stereotypes, all to find out who's really on top.

Pilapil explains that the play's title holds multiple meanings, one of which is the slang term for the receptive role in gay sexual dynamics. "But it also references the power struggle between John and Milo and the ways we all can be our own downfall [in relationships]."

Special

Salazar appreciates the opportunity to perform in a play. "As someone who broke into the business doing musicals, it's often difficult for me to be seen as someone who can 'handle' a play," he says.

"It feels amazing to get to stretch my 'play muscles.' In some ways, I find musicals to be easier than plays because you have an orchestrated score to help tell your story, high notes for the climactic moments and songs to provide the emotional height. You don't have all that to rely on in a play, so it feels more bare. I honestly love that vulnerability."

Salazar feels a kinship with the character he is playing. "I'm telling a story that is so close to mine. I'm playing a Filipino, a well-written gay Filipino, for the first time in my career and it feels like an absolute blessing.

"The first time I read the script, I was a sobbing mess. This play made me feel seen in a way that I rarely get to experience as a person of color, as a Filipino. I felt the weight of what I was working on: someday, queer Filipinos and other Asians who share my experience, who share Milo's experience, will sit in a dark theater and watch a new, original, daring play about them. I'm so looking forward to looking into the [audience] and seeing their faces."

New works

He also relishes the chance to develop a character from scratch. "I've spent the last ten plus years falling in love with developing new work. The process is scary at times as we're creating something new, implementing rewrites daily, but it's thrilling and so rewarding."

Salazar praises his collaborators Pilapil and To. "They listen to actors and build a character around the person playing the part. The actor's DNA [becomes] intertwined with the character's. It's very special. Our rehearsals have been an absolute blast, the room is full of love for each other and the play. The days we do our most emotionally challenging work still brim with joy.

As far as giving dating advice to young Filipino Americans, Salazar has this to share, "Know your worth and know your value. Your 20s are a confusing time of figuring yourself out, making mistakes and having your heart broken. All these things assemble who you are meant to be. Learn from those mistakes and the heartbreaks, put yourself back together and hold yourself to a higher standard.

"We are a resilient people and someday, someone wonderful will come into your life. I dated a bunch of duds and now I share my life with someone who makes me happy, who supports me, and who treats me as an equal. Never settle!"

"The Bottoming Process" runs May 18 to June 12. Visit iamatheatre.com.

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https://usa.inquirer.net/128631/broadways-george-salazar-in-stage-romcom-gives-dating-advice

Los Angeles arts group to host community night for Filipino American musical

By WALTER ANG
May 4, 2023 | USA.Inquirer.net 

LOS ANGELES — Filipino American composer Paolo Tirol's musical "On This Side of the World" will have its world premiere with theater company East West Players on May 13, during a special Filipino Community Night.

Zandi de Jesus and Cassie Simone rehearsing a scene from "On This Side of the World."

This world premiere is produced in association with The Association for the Advancement of Filipino American Arts and Culture (FilAm ARTS), host of the community night, which will include a pre and post-show reception featuring food and drinks.

Created with and directed by Noam Shapiro, the musical gives voices to Filipino immigrants navigating old lives and new beginnings.

A woman flies from the Philippines to America with a one-way ticket and a suitcase full of stories. Each story is collected from immigrants who came before her: tales of overseas workers, young lovers, gossipy church ladies, millennial princesses and first-generation Americans. She replays these stories in her mind as she searches for the courage to embrace her future.

Filipino Americans in the cast include Steven-Adam Agdeppa, Zandi De Jesus, Michael Palma, Cassie Simone, Andrea Somera and Shaun Tuazon. Melvin Biteng and Justine Rafael are understudies.

Other Fil-Ams involved in the production include music director Marc Macalintal and choreographer Anjanette Maraya-Ramey.

Rich Tapestry

Tirol's music directing credits include "Reefer Madness," "Drowsy Chaperone" and "The Wedding Singer."

He handled the orchestrations for Ma-Yi Theater's off-Broadway staging of the musical "Felix Starro," based on Lysley Tenorio's short story. He is working on the music, lyrics and book for "Dear America," adapted from the memoir of journalist and activist Jose Antonio Vargas.

"'On This Side of the World' is one of the most transporting and moving new musicals I have encountered in a long time," said Snehal Desai, East West Players' producing artistic director. "It explores the beautiful ways in which we immigrants contribute to the rich tapestry of what it is to be an Asian American."

Desai added, "We're proud to be able to world premiere this humorous, inventive, and deeply heartfelt new musical in partnership with FilAm ARTS. We hope to pay homage to and honor the countless immigrants before us who took the first, daring steps to leave all that they know behind with just a suitcase and their dreams in hopes of building a better life for themselves and their families."

Unique identity

FilAm ARTS is a resource for Fil-Am artists and culture bearers outside the Philippines to "cultivate a community who are rooted in our collective history and actively striving to represent, celebrate and express Filipino culture and our unique Filipino-American identity."

(From left) Steven-Adam Agdeppa, Shaun Tuazon and Michael Palma in rehearsals.

It also serves as a cultural consultant to other organizations actively looking to further Filipino representation in the global community.

"We have been so fortunate to have Paulo Tirol and Noam Shapiro as part of our FilAm ARTS pamilya," said Giselle Töngi-Walters, FilAm ARTS Executive Director.

"We are honored to have presented highlights from 'On This Side of The World' two years ago. This spring collaboration between East West Players and FilAm ARTS is a testament of our community and cultural partnership. We look forward to seeing you at the theater!"

"On This Side of the World" runs May 11-June 4 at the David Henry Hwang Theater, Union Center of the Arts, 120 Judge John Aiso St., Los Angeles.

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https://usa.inquirer.net/128189/los-angeles-arts-group-to-host-community-night-for-fil-am-musical

Filipino American composer-librettist has musicals on both coasts

By WALTER ANG
May 1, 2023 | USA.Inquirer.net 

SEATTLE — Prolific Filipino American theater composer and librettist Justin Huertas is orchestrating a symphony of his works this year for audiences coast to coast.

Justin Huertas

This May, his musical "Lydia and the Troll" is scheduled to run at Seattle Repertory Theatre.

In June, Huertas will star in the New York premiere of his musical "Lizard Boy" by Prospect Theater Company.

"The Mortification of Fovea Munson," whose music he composed and wrote the lyrics for, just finished its run at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, DC.

Huertas' other credits include "Howl's Moving Castle" with Book-it Repertory Theatre and "The Lamplighter" with 5th Avenue Theatre.

He has been steadfastly and meaningfully incorporating his Filipino American heritage into some of his works. His "The Last World Octopus Wrestling Champion" is a pop-rock musical about a Filipino American family whose matriarch is a wrestler of octopi from the Pacific Ocean and his "We've Battled Monsters Before" with ArtsWest is loosely adapted from the 16th century Filipino epic poem Ibong Adarna.

He also clearly has a love for his hometown, setting "Lizard Boy," "The Last World Octopus ." and "We've Battled Monsters Before" in Seattle, "the Emerald City," filling them with specific neighborhoods and local landmarks.

Troll

In his latest work, co-created Ameenah Kaplan, Huertas has crafted another love letter to the city. This time taking inspiration from the Fremont Troll, also known as the Troll Under the Bridge.

The 18-foot public sculpture in the Fremont neighborhood clutches an actual Volkswagen Beetle and was created by four local artists in the 1990s.

Huertas creates an origin myth for the troll in "Lydia and the Troll." In the musical, singer-songwriter Lydia feels held back by her creative block and her toxic relationship to her boyfriend. A mysterious stranger offers her the chance to change her life and she may end up sacrificing more than she ever imagined.

In a previous interview with Encorespotlight.com, Huertas explained that Lydia becomes cursed and spends the rest of the story trying to reverse the situation. The musical will involve puppets and shadow play.

Lizard Boy

"Lizard Boy" is described as a "comic book adventure and coming-of-age love story." In the musical, Trevor, a young man with green scaly skin, goes on a first date that spirals into a mythic and transformative journey as he confronts villains, monsters and, ultimately, himself.

The musical has appeared at TheatreWorks Silicon Valley, the 2022 Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won six 2021 San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Awards, including Best Entire Production. The show was originally commissioned, developed by and received its world premiere at Seattle Repertory Theatre.

Lizard Boy has been called "ingenious" (San Francisco Chronicle), "phenomenal" (San Jose News), "ferocious and funny" (Seattle Times) and "wildly original" (The Guardian).

The original cast recording, which is available online, has been streamed over three million times on Spotify.

"Lydia and the Troll" runs May 5-June 4 in Seattle. "Lizard Boy" runs June 1-July 1 in New York. Visit Linktr.ee/justinhuertas.

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https://usa.inquirer.net/127817/fil-am-composer-librettist-has-musicals-on-both-coasts