David Hwang in the Philippines for M Butterfly

Sat with Theatre people, members of the press and the cast of M Butterfly. This time they are hosting a luncheon for the author of M Butterfly, playwright David Henry Hwang. Yes he is in the country and he saw the Manila staging of M Butterfly.

Grammy and Tony Award winner Jhett Tolentino (the producer) says “I remember our first presscon and in the afternoon we had our rehearsal, we are now almost at the end. It’s all so sudden. Now we have given you David’s bio but I am gonna say something else. I first saw him in Chinglish and wanted to do production ever since. He’s the only Asian American playwright in Broadway that has a Tony Award, I asked him to come and this is the third country he’s visiting. He’s very in demand. The Broadway League (which i am a member of) and American Theatre Wing (which David Hwang heads) manage the Tony Awards, so he’s half of that. The key is finding the right partner and I found that in Frontrow, I wanted to see if you would be able to see that. It took me three trips to complete the cast. We had technical issues and fixed it, we were given what we were supposed to but doing this, I wouldn’t change anything.”

David Hwang says “I have been fortunate that there are so many productions of it, I don’t see it outside New York but I did on this one. The Philippines has a special place in my heart. I have an old Chinoy Family in Cebu so this was always asking for reasons to come back here. It was a legendary performance for RS Francisco, it was a fun secret. It brings together a lot of things, the opera singer, Galemar, his being French, the theatrical elements were combined seamlessly and a montage of different characters flashing through his head becomes this man who is struggling but has this passion and emotion beautifully conveyed, you can’t take your eyes off of him. For most of the play he is dressed as a woman, then third act got to be a man. It was wonderful as I have ever seen of M Butterfly in the past 30 years. Thanks to these cast and this wonderful country, I love you all.”

During the interview he said “I came to an arrangement with them and shared profits, Shi Pei Fu has already passed away. You’re fortunate to have a show that has a long life, you just feel grateful. It has gender fluidity, conversation between East and the West and it encompasses time. I did some substantial changes in Broadway to reflect the things we know about gender, this production is the old version but tweaked. What is nice is that I do see there are ways the old version anticipates the things we are talking about today. The ambiguities are inherent in the classic version. I don’t know the exact details yet but we will kick off a tour. Right now we are partnering with SM cinema. It will be in different cities, Iloilo, Davao, Cebu, Dumaguete and Baguio, hopefully on sale in October and November. Over the course of 30 years, my fundamental thoughts of the characters have changed. I thought about them more but I do think I am proud of, I understood there are a lot there are different aspects of them now.”

RS says “Hearing it from him just blew my mind. I wanted David Henry Hwang to see it, it was in his mind so that I could see if I did succeeded. If not for M Butterfly I wouldn’t be where I am now. People that I meet even recognise me as such, thank you to David for bringing it to life. Years even before M Butterfly, about 85-87 I played around, in school had my crushes but wouldn’t talk to me because they hate gays. I used to call them incognito practicing, learned their fantasies of three different people while I played a woman. M Butterfly came into my consciousness and I auditioned for that in 89, but it was scrapped. I met a guy and did an audition in UP with lines memorised. Tony met me after Alkalde ng Zalamea, they introduced me as the star of M Butterfly, the last few pages was missing the nudity part. From then on, I took it to heart. I used things to anchor as a straight guy in the show. Before, I was just doing it as lines and getting it now that I didn’t believe that because I wasn’t age appropriate. Now I think I have gone through much, I’ve been through a lot as a person, it hones you. So many emotions I can pull now as Song Li Ling, she’s ripe and textured. I told Jhett I wanted it to be different from the 90’s, I stripped myself off of it. I would definitely forgive someone like Song Li Ling. As an actor I went far preparing doing Song Li Ling, it would be better to ask Jhett since he is seated there, characters are in a state of trance when they are on stage so I didn’t know.”

There will be only a few days left for M Butterfly at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater. They say they’ll bring more shows now that they have good partners like Frontrow Entertainment. Good or bad reviews, this needs to be watched by more people. I love that they will take this around the Philippines. Go get tickets for the last few nights. They only are going to do this til the 30th.

KUMAGCOW

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M Butterfly Staging in Manila and The Chrysalis Charity Auction

A play by David Henry Hwang, staged around the world since the 80’s, a story that has been told in other countries. Now it will be shown again in Manila through Frontrow Entertainment’s efforts, a good material full of promise, this is M Butterfly.

A broadway producer who hailed from Bacolod, Jett Tolentino (who is part of this project) says “The best gift to give someone is your time. This is my second time back in the Philippines and I am still looking for ways to help the Filipino artists. We will take the story into the global stage, I am excited about this partnership with Frontrow.”

RS Francisco says “In the play I have a line thay says you must make your fantasies and this is why we are launching The Chrysalis, a line of work that has tasked the country’s 7 greatest photographers, some of the best of the world, and proceeds of these shots will go fully to charity. The actual photos are here. Bidding starts at 50,000 and will be on silent auction. The beneficiary organisations will be chosen by the photographers themselves. We can’t wait for you to see these limited edition shots, as we will only be releasing three prints each.”

He adds “When we were choosing these photographers, I was so confused in choosing who would do my billboard so we all thought of choosing them all and having this as a passion project for charity. When they heard it was for charity they all said YES and got to have 99 percent control for the creative. They also were given just one line from the play and the task of introducing Sing Liling as a female, in their views. True enough they all are masterpieces!”

The photographers include Mandy Navasero, Raymund Isaac, Manny Librodo, Jun De Leon, BJ Pascual, Wig Tysman and Patrick Uy. Watch the video!

The bidding ends September 29 at 12PM and they will announce winners on the social media accounts of M Butterfly. You may start bidding through those channels too and their announced mobile number.

KUMAGCOW

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Interview With The Cast of MATILDA The Musical

I am so happy that Roald Dahl's MATILDA The Musical is having it's Manila staging at the Meralco Theater this November 10. We've got very talented kids and I'm sure it was a breeze to actually see talent in the country fit for a Broadway musical. I love the movie so much that up to this day I still look forward to the HBO reruns for the movie version. It would be quite interesting to see how they would be able to translate that and tell the story through music. 

This book by Dennis Kelly has gone and taught a lot of kids around the world about being good, about hope, friendship and love and for sure Tim Minchin already proved how his music and lyrics would encompass age as this will also be entertaining for adults. It will run from November 10 to December 10 and if you haven't planned anything to do this Christmas, wouldn't it be a good thing to have an early gift for a change?

Esang, Uma and Kyle will be alternating in Matilda's role. The kids uttered:

"Yes actually I've watched the broadway musical, this is a dream role for me. It teaches us to never give up if we have our dreams!" 

"I've watched the movie and also adore the book. I am dreaming because this just feels surreal for us. Even if you're little you can do a lot. I have always wished to become someone like Lea Salonga."

"If you want something, you can do it and never give up!"

It's one of the most exciting musicals this year and Atlantis Theatrical Productions have done a really great job choosing the kids and the rest of the cast. We talked to them right after a short press conference at Marco Polo this evening.

We sat down with Joaquin Valdez who's playing the character of Harry Wormwood who is the father of Matilda. He says "It was a character that was completely out of our personal image so in a way it's a bit difficult. I play an escapologist, Matilda likes books and I go between that and a fantasy story, like a dual role of a slimy abusive father and that perfect one she wishes for. It's an interesting take because it's not done in the broadway version, a personal touch of Direk Bobby. Matilda can move things, because her mind is that strong. He sent me a message a couple of months back and this was really a stretch, I just jumped in. People who know me were really surprised. 

This is the first time I'm playing this  character and I think it's a test, it's a nice dynamic. We get to discover a lot of new things especially with the kids. I started out in theater when I was 11 and when puberty hit, I couldn't play roles. I signed up with a pop vocal group, I studied film making, but I still go back to theater. Until recently I made a decision to do this full time. I went into advertising, but this was really something that I looked for. You'll really go back to theater. I am more comfortable with English, it's nice to do an original but my training has been really there."

Jamie Wilson (whom  I loved in Kinky Boots by the way) plays Agatha Trunchbull the evil head mistress. In broadway and west end, they require to actually have the man play the part because of the physical requirements they have to have like throwing kids and stuff around. He says "I play the principal of the school, the antagonist, I get to scream at kids, provide horror. It's a female character which initially I didn't know was actually commonly played by men in different stagings. I'm going to be in an outfit. It may have been played by a female one in the movie but there's a lot of magic on stage that happens, she's an olympic hammer throw champion. I was shocked initially because they made me learn Ms. Trunchbull's part. I may or may not have a harness, but there's a lot of theater tricks because it's really exciting. It's a matter of building trust, of safety, of guidance, even if it's repetitive, it's a nice opportunity for professionals. They're like midgets, like adults in small bodies. 

My whole family has been in theater, and I have been doing this for 37 years. My father is Johnny Wilson but he discouraged us, I was one of the first MTV VJ's, even before Donita Rose. I did a few movies, but the process of theater was just so good. I was really bit by the theater bug. We had 2 months of rehearsals, you've seen Atlantis do productions and they invest in this heavily because they have international standards. Theater has been here quite long, but it never became as big as this. Now you have shows every week, people can choose, from Shakespear, to activist shows. Internet made it easy to market everything. They are attracted to something live, to sing big songs, the risks, the tensions and it's not practiced. So you'll see a lot of that in this project."

Mrs. Zinnia Wormwood is played by Carla Guevara Laforteza, a star magic artist. She says "She's a neglectful mother, always with her DI and only wanted money from her husband. She had hate for Matilda, but these kids are so much of my babies. These children, they are like the future of international theater but they are such naturals. They can teach get the international actresses a run for their money. I'm not a dancer but I had to study for this one. I have three children at home, but here it's a gazillion. They run crazy, but I always go early so I can prepare myself. I have been in the industry for about 25 years. I've worked with children before but not this many. I did Hansel and Gretel, I played a Nun, but this was a real mother to child thing. 

They are very disciplined when they passed the auditions, they briefed them and had child wranglers while we are at work. They are kept busy, sometimes have too much fun but they are controlled. I watched the movie, I watch adaptations but I watch it because I want to make sure I don't duplicate them and just bring out a personality that is natural or similar to me so I can play it like my own interpretation. If you watch it here, it's got more heart. It's not mechanical, that's the difference. It has more heart and that's what make it special. In this one, it's going to be a woman that doesn't care what her husband does, but I'll try to be more lovable. That's what I was trying to do in this case." 

Ms. Emeline Celis Guinid plays Ms. Phelps the librarian. She's on one of the most pivotal scenes because she's the librarian who's going to make Matilda's mind soar high. She says "This musical is much like a gold mine, if you see the kids perform, dance, even if I don't have songs I have to interact with her storytelling. I have to listen to it all. Esang can pick up lines easily, I think that's what is good with the kids because they can absorb fast. They might be three kids, but they have their own strengths and they really tell the story legibly. You naturally just pay attention. I did one day of audition for this and waited for their call. This is a great experience all in all!"

The soft spoken and pushover Ms. Honey will be played by Cris Villonco. She utters "Oh my god, having 20 kids around, I'm not really used to that. It's a lot of fun watching them focus, and enjoy the music and choreography like it's not work for them. They sang the songs with so much gusto, so much energy. They knew what exactly what to do, even know the script better than me at times. They were singing, I was crying at times because in my time it wasn't like this. Their parents must be really proud. It was hard to keep them quiet at times, but man, they get all the choreography without dumbing it down. They had 4 hours to do it and it wasn't a challenge for them at all. You'll see the songs come alive, I hope even in Meralco you get to see their heart in the show. I think the adults learned more from them, we get to teach them accents but they know their music and lines. I come in one day and they even know OUR parts. They are good, even if they are tired from school takes discipline to do a show. Their grades are monitored too, I applaud the parents for trusting the handlers because these kids are so good. 

This play isn't about us, it's about them. Every child is different, they could learn a thing or two about them not being alone. It was Matilda who pushes Ms. Honey to have more courage. Kids handle bullies, adults handle bullies, all in live theater. Whether mistakes are made, you'll love the magic and I hope children see this in schools. I hope they enjoy it as much as we do. I auditioned when I was 9 for Les Miserables, but I wasn't as talented as compared to these children. It's simply overwhelming seeing them dance, sing and you wonder where it comes from. They do it with love. I guess the exposure to different talent shows, to Youtube, they're learning a lot and knowing there are talented kids around the world too. The Philippines should be recognize as a hub for talent. There's no talk about that yet in putting them in international staging, but some of the boys in the cast are already part of Lion King. My character is more pushed around in this show, some little stunts will happen. Let's see when we do technical rehearsals because we are moving there on Sunday for the first time. It will be magical, I promise you that!"

Oh and for a great parting shot, let me share with you this performance earlier. If you're impressed, remember to buy a ticket eh?

Again, MATILDA The Musical will start on November 10 until December 10, 2017. If you're interested in making your kids watch the show, make sure they are around 7 and up as we don't want to make kids bother other theater watchers okay? It's a great way to bond with your family over a great story, great songs and show. You may purchase tickets at Ticketworld.com.ph or call 8919999. I'm watching too, hopefully on the actual opening date!