Before I learned of the musical “Rent”, I already heard of the song “Seasons of Love” (a.k.a. 525600 minutes). It’s almost a staple in events that celebrated love and friendship. In the course of discovering more in this musical (you can click here to read for yourselves), I almost overlooked one fact – that this…
Seems like the race for the musical with the most number of revivals is on. With “Les Miserables” eventually relenting to a revival, the revival of “The Phantom of the Opera” is only appropriate. Buzz surrounding about the first black actor to play the title role was met with initial skepticism. Regardless of who plays…
By this time, everyone may have seen the film version of one of the most popular Broadway musicals today. Otherwise, you will not understand much why there is so much negative feedback surrounding Russell Crowe’s performance. Based on the best-selling novel by Victor Hugo, “Les Miserables” tells the story of Jean Valjean, from his parole…
I first learned about Miss Saigon as a kid after it was reported that Lea Salonga was chosen to play the title role. I did not realize the impact of the story until some years later when Miss Saigon was finally staged in Manila. There was a media backlash regarding “the glorification of prostitution” in…
Watching Chicago for the first time and you realize the immense influence the major characters have on you. Not that you’d pick up the next loose firearm and shoot your lover after discovering his or her infidelity to you (ladies, don’t, no matter how angry you are; some people are not worth the jail term…
When it comes to plugging your play, everyone in the production chips in their contribution to promoting it. You will realize your importance in promoting it the moment people approach you and ask you what you do. For example, you attend a party or an event and you end up having small talk with the…
For a song that was entitled “Let It Go”, kids just can’t let it go. Sorry if I have to bring this up here but chances are kids (and kids at heart) would still be Googling “Let It Go” for the sheer heck of it. Could it be the worst case of last song syndrome…
Would Emma Stone at least hold a candle to the kind of raw sensuality that Liza Minelli brought to the screen character of Sally Bowles? That kind of speculation regarding high-profile Broadway roles usually arises every time a popular Hollywood star takes on an iconic role. So let’s analyze the screen version of one of…
Could purist opera fans really be mean? Or they just don’t mind being direct and honest in providing feedback regarding productions that they see. The word “Eurotrash” still comes up occasionally despite the initial derogatory nature. You must have remembered the word Eurotrash when I wrote a review about stage director Willy Decker’s vision of Verdi’s…
What if I tell you that once in opera, somebody dared to shock the market and rock everyone on their seats with their revolutionary approach on opera? I am referring to Richard Strauss and 2 of his operatic masterpieces changed the opera industry forever. And I will discuss one of them here – Richard Strauss’s…