October 2007 Archives

THE COLORFUL, versatile actor Bernardo Bernardo was so quotable in my Q and A w ith him via e-mail that my recent column on him ran in two parts. Despite the two-part space devoted to BB, who just finished the LA premiere engagement of the play âThe Romance of Magno Rubi oâ (with a wonderful cast that includes Ramon de Ocampo, Paolo Montalban, Arthu r Acuña and Jojo Gonzalez), we still have some quotable quotes left from our i nterview. So we are sharing some of the Q and A segments which did not get prin ted due to space constraints. And here's a photo of Bernardo Bernardo (standing) with Ramon de Ocampo in "The Romance of Magno Rubio" courtesy of Matt Zugale. A lot of Filipinos in the US remember you fondly from the period when t hey were still living back home. They saw you in the movies, TV shows and plays . Most people smile when they recognize you. But some have probably mistaken yo u for someone else or have forgotten your name. What have been your humorous ex periences in this regard? With or without Alzheimerâs, people do tend to forget. So, I either understand. Or, forget. The elitist theater life gave me my creative chops and credibility, but it was the mass-targeted TV sitcom that made me a household name for a while, through âHome Along Da Riles,â and the reflected unsurpassable star magnetism of the li ving legend, Dolphy. My arched eyebrows and whisker-capped Bardot pout were familiar emblems of Kevi n Cosmeâs swishy, snarky arch-nemesis Steve Carpio for 10 years (with regular r eplays on TFC global cable up to now). Still, people would mistake me for: Pasa y Cityâs Councilor Du Jour Justo C. Justo (gay, moustache, double name -- Bingo !... âKonsehal!!!â). Worse, in a very public setting in the US, like a church, maybe; someone would say, very LOUD, without any malice (with a resounding slap on my shoulder): âHo oooy!!! Kilala kita! Ikaw yung BAKLA!!!... sa TV! Ano ngaâng pangalan mo?!â What have been the most memorable incidents so far, on and off the stag e in your performances of âThe Romance of Magno Rubioâ? Actors get to be very territorial. When I did the Chicago Victory Gardens Theat re run, I auditioned and was given solos for both Mike Velardeâs âIkawâ and Fab ian Obispoâs âYouâre Not From,â and did obligatory chorus parts for âAko Poây P ilipino.â The winds shifted. For the Off-Broadway revival, Paolo was given âIkawâ and Ramon did âYouâre Not From.â I was designated chorus and assigned to sing falsetto (which I hated!) a nd I had to learn to play the freakinâ mandolin! You can say, I was not a very happy camper. It was a damp late spring in New Yo rk and I was living in a friendâs hallway in Elmhurst (grappling with noise, co ckroaches and mice) and had to walk, take a bus and a train, transfer, then wal k again, to and from rehearsals lugging my rehearsal bag and the mandolin. Every day. So, there I was during crash mandolin sessions with Fabian Obispo, gingerly hol ding this stringed instrument, saying, âAlright, Iâll take it home but Iâm not going to learn it.â In the meantime, Paolo was learning to play the harmonica b eautifully and improvising with virtuosic skill on the mandolin while Ramon was channeling his inner Andres Segovia, evoking wondrous sounds from his guitar! And I couldnât even get a decent note out of the plucking mandolin! Finally, with dogged determination, I triumphantly learned to play my mandolin part. We were all happy and surprised. End of story? Not quite. During the tech nical run, I realized that I was positioned in a dark spot where, without my ey eglasses, I could not see the strings! The saga continued. The unintentionally funny incidents? Donât tell anyone. Ramon de Ocampo is a health buff to the extreme. At one time during the run, Ramon had a high colonic prior to a show. Uh-uh. And somehow i t made him air-headed. For the first time ever, he was delivering his memorable monologues with a touc h of Alzheimerâs! And in a shadow scene highlight of the play where I mouth his lines (lip-synch), offstage people were stifling their laughter at my hopeless ly rattled expression, my blabbering lips chasing in a tremulous twist after Ra monâs on-the-spot monologue changes! Now, I know why they call it a HIGH colonic! In fairness to Ramon, he is known for his razor sharp memory. He knows everybod yâs lines. Out of the corner of my eye, during line rehearsals, I would see him mouthing the lines being delivered and I pretend not to notice. He gets really , really impatient when people flub their lines. At one time, during a show, he delivered my lines to me! The expression on his face when he realized what he was doing was priceless. Photo by Matt Zugale

IT'S not every day that we come across a show in LA that speaks to our "Filipin o-ness" in such a touching, excellent manner. "The Romance of Magno Rubio" is one such play. While it tells the story of migr ant Filipino workers in California in the 1930s, âMagno Rubioâ does not feel da ted or old-fashioned in a boring way. Bravo to the cast of âThe Romance of Magno Rubioâ (from left), shown during the after-performance party at the Los Angeles Theatre Center in downtown LA: Ramo n de Ocampo, Jojo Gonzalez, Bernardo Bernardo, Arthur Acuña, playwright Lonnie Carter (described as an honorary Filipino because of his insightful, nuanced a daptation of Bulosanâs story) and Paolo Montalban. The play is exciting, moving yet very funny (sometimes both at the same time), lively and very entertaining. All Filipino-Americans will enjoy this play engag ingly directed by Loy Arcenas and written by Lonnie Carter based on a short sto ry by Carlos Bulosan, one of the Philippinesâ greatest writers. Watching the ac tors bring to life manongs is a joy in itself: Paolo Montalban, Bernar do Bernardo, Ramon de Ocampo, Arthur Acuña and Jojo Gonzalez. With such a wonderful production (the play did not win eight Obie Awards and ra ve reviews from theater critics for nothing), it bothered us that during the op ening night last Thursday, there were many empty seats in Theater Two of the ne wly renovated Los Angeles Theatre Center (LATC). A play like this should be pac ked to the rafters with Fil-Ams. So come on, kababayans in Southern California, let's pack the remainin g nights of "Magno Rubio" in downtown LA! The play ends its four-night run on S unday. I promise that you will not be disappointed. The audience last Thursday evening cheered, laughed and screamed its appreciation. The play starts at 8 each night except on Sunday when it begins at 3 p.m. The n ew LATC is located on 514 S. Spring Street, Los Angeles. More information is av ailable at (323) 461-3673 or online at www.thenewlatc.com. Editor's note: Photo by Ruben V. Nepales

"MOST Wanted," a musical about Filipino-American Andrew Cunanan who murdered de signer Gianni Versace, just ended its workshop run at the La Jolla Playhouse in La Jolla, California. Fil-Am Jessica Hagedorn ("Dogeaters"), director Michael Greif and Mark Bennett have been creating and fine-tuning the play for six years. The musical's book i s by Jessica, music is by Mark and the lyrics are by both co-creators. We've been following the saga of the making of this project with a subject matt er that one would think would be the last thing to inspire a musical. But with the impressive credentials of this trio (Greif, for one, was the original direc tor of the Tony Award-winning "Rent"), they might just make the musical work. T he name of the protagonist has been changed to Danny Reyes but the play still h ews closely to Cunanan's life story. There were no reviews since this was only a workshop production but to give you an idea about "Most Wanted," here are excerpts from Gary Warth's piece on the play in Time magazine: "In structure, the play darts back and forth in time, a device that keeps the pace unpredictable. The props on stage at times seemingly move on their own; folding chairs and a handheld fan are transformed into a mo ving car; a transvestite lounge seamlessly becomes an opera house. "As Reyes, Daniel Torres can be child-like, cunning, loving and manipulative. D onning a baseball cap and leather jacket, he also appears maniacal. The songs c an be catchy and kitschy -- 'San Diego' and 'Miami' both sung in three-part har mony by The Daddyos stood out in that way. Adding color to the dark storyline, Tony-Award winner Ken Page plays the flamboyant drag queen (and Greek chorus) M iss Stormy Weather, the larger-than-life master of ceremonies at Uncle Buck's c abaret, where Reyes is an habitué. "Speaking to the audience after the Oct. 3 performance, [La Jolla Playhouse Art istic Director Christopher] Ashley asked how they felt about a five-time murder er now that they know him a little better. 'Did you feel yourself compelled or repulsed by him?' Some audience members said they felt empathy for the goal-obs essed Reyes who could never live up to his father's or his own expectations. 'I think this is a shocking morality play,' an elderly woman said. Others saw the play as about the space people in live in, celebrity, life, deat h and the consequences of not being able to find oneself. At least one audience member had a personal connection to the Cunanan story and admitted to being an xious about seeing the production. 'I lived through this story very personally, and when I heard about it a couple of years ago, I wondered how ridiculous it would be as a musical,' she said. 'I think you've done an incredible job.' This version, however, will still undergo revisions. Said Ashley, 'This piece is st ill in the process of discovery.'" We'd like to hear feedback about "Most Wanted," especially from San Diegans who saw the workshop production. What did you think of the musical-in-progress?

JOAQUIN PHOENIX, one of the finest actors of his generation, has always marched to a different drummer. But it still came as a bit of surprise to hear him tell us in a recent intervie w that he checks his e-mail only once a month. In this day and age, that's a sh ocker to most people who virtually sleep with their BlackBerry. But this is pro bably why Joaquin has stayed refreshingly different from his colleagues. The actor, who stars in the drama, "Reservation Road," admitted in a talk at th e Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York: "I'm pretty computer illiterate. I do e-ma il but only occasionally, like once a month. But of course, the Internet is a g reat tool for research. I don't know what actors did 15 years ago. I don't know if I could go to a library and spend that much time researching. Iâm very fort unate to be in this time as an actor because we have the Internet as a great re search tool." Joaquin revealed that he's "not a big reader" in general. "I read scripts and o n whatever research I have to do," he explained. "I have this problem -- I supp ose it's why I'm an actor. When I start reading a book, I end up just going off on these fantasies where I take the character somewhere completely different. I have to go back three pages because I was inventing this other fantasy. I get stimulated by a book but reading doesn't let me focus on staying with the book . I just start wanting to invent other things."

PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's recent photo with two Fil-Am talents and Le a Salonga made us rush and watch for the nth time "Les Miserables" on our trip to New York this past weekend. It was good to see Fil-Am talents like Adam Jacobs and Ali Ewoldt (in photo, co urtesy of Carissa Villacorta) following in the footsteps of Lea. Watching and listening to Adam and Ali by themselves on a Broadway stage at a c ertain point in the very popular musical thrilled us. We are glad to see that r ace-blind casting is taking hold in Broadway. Editor's note: Photo courtesy of Carissa Villacorta

THANKS to all for your comments -- keep them coming! And while we are on this âDesperate Housewivesâ topic (read the latest development on the story by clicking here), and as we feel energized by this lively discussion, let me bring up a related matter. Most Filipinos know that in many US hospitals, you can't turn a corner without bumping into a Filipino health care professional -- doctor, nurse, therapist, n urse aide and so on. So have you, like me, wondered why there are no Filipino c haracters in the main cast of these hospital drama shows? And to think there ar e dozens of these shows on American television.

A READER, Joy Franje, forwarded an e-mail that has been circulating in cyberspa ce. The e-mail, with the subject line, "Desperate Housewives -- Insulting Remark on Philippine Medical Schools," came with an attached MP3 clip of the dialogue. C lick here for the MP3 clip. The e-mail also came with a transcription of the dialogue (read below) from the popular TV series. As we write this, we are trying to get a statement from the folks behind "Desperate Housewives.â From the e-mail:

Susan Mayer Delfino, played by Teri Hatcher, was talking with her O B/Gyn in the scene. Her doctor told her that she might be hitting menopause (wi th her saying that she's too young for that). Here's what she said: "Okay, before we go any further, can I check those diplom as? Coz I would just like to make sure they are not from some med school in the Philippines."