Oliver Oliveros News

The first-ever international touring production of the Broadway hit musical Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast,' based on the 1991 Oscar-winning full-length animated feature film, and now--after 20 years--has reunited its original 1994 Broadway collaborators: director Robert Jess Roth, choreographer Matt West, scenic designer Stan Meyer, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, lighting designer Natasha Katz, bookwriter Linda Woolverton, composer Alan Menken, and lyricists Tim Rice (and the late Howard Ashman), is extending its run at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) until Sunday, February 1. (The show was originally announced to close Sunday, January 25.)

Theater and film actress Cherie Gil ('Master Class,' 'Full Gallop') makes her Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) debut via theater director-scenic designer Loy Arcenas ('Corpus Christi,' 'Love! Valour! Compassion!') and playwright Rody Vera's ('The Merchant of Venice,' 'D' Wonder Twins of Boac') reimagining of Anton Chekhov's masterwork 'The Cherry Orchard,' now titled 'Arbol de Fuego,' a flowering tree that bears no fruit, which frames the main entrance to the nearly bankrupt estate Balay Dako in Negros Occidental, Southern Philippines, during the '70s.

Manila, Philippines--The first-ever international touring production of the Broadway hit musical Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast,' based on the 1991 Oscar-nominated full-length animated feature film, and now--after 20 years--has reunited its original 1994 Broadway collaborators: director Robert Jess Roth, choreographer Matt West, scenic designer Stan Meyer, costume designer Ann Hould-Ward, lighting designer Natasha Katz, bookwriter Linda Woolverton, composer Alan Menken, and lyricists Tim Rice (and the late Howard Ashman), is currently playing at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) until Sunday, January 25.

For some people, it may take just one special song to change their lives forever. Take for instance Tony winner, Disney Legend Lea Salonga and BroadwayWorld.com (BWW) UK's 2014 Best Featured Actress Rachelle Ann Go's personal revelations on the endless impact that MISS SAIGON has had on their personal and professional lives.

Suave and swanky, smooth-talking Billy Flynn is personified--almost but not quite that seemingly devoid of heart--in Broadway veteran Jeff McCarthy ('Side Show,' Disney's 'Beauty and the Beast'), who plays CHICAGO's resident ladykiller and criminal lawyer in its strictly limited Manila run, which closes today, December 21, at The Theatre at Solaire Resort and Casino.

The much-anticipated Manila premiere of Broadway's longest-running American musical, CHICAGO, razzle-dazzled audiences with its hard-hitting numbers (All That Jazz, Cell Block Tango, Razzle Dazzle), which speak of passion, treachery, murder, and glossed-over celebrity, on opening night. Leading the pack of an all-American cast of Broadway veterans is Bianca Marroquin who rocked Solaire Resort and Casino's The Theatre with her multi-faceted portrayal of accused murderess Roxie Hart. The strong ensemble, while writhing, gyrating, and exploding to John Kander's music, provided the backdrop to Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse's dark satirical commentary of the 1920s Prohibition-era Chicago. When the audience rose to a standing ovation at the end of the show, it was palpable that even in these modern days, it is impossible to convict good looking murderesses.

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, November 30, 2014 - Sunday, November 30, 2014.

On the day BroadwayWorld.com was scheduled to sit down with Broadway actor Jacob Keith Watson ('Violet'), who is on tour with 'Chicago'--bound for Manila next--New Orleans' The Times-Picayune has just showered him with praises for his latest stage role: Amos Hart, Roxie Hart's gullible, negligible husband.

9 Works Theatrical ('The Last 5 Years,' 'Sweet Charity') brings back one of its hit productions last year, GREASE, to relive the teenage '50s at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, in Makati City until Sunday, December 7.

Broadway stalwart Jeff McCarthy joins the all-American cast of the Broadway musical CHICAGO, which is set to play Solaire Resort and Casino's The Theatre from next Wednesday, December 3, to Sunday, December 21. McCarthy will play the role of criminal lawyer Billy Flynn, alongside Bianca Marroquin's Roxie Hart, Terra C. MacLeod's Velma Kelly, Jacob Keith Watson's Amos Hart, Roz Ryan's Matron 'Mama' Morton, and C. Newcomer.

The day after the opening night (October 7) of the 16th National Tour of Broadway smash CHICAGO, Rick Pessagno (Broadway's 'Sophisticated Ladies,' '42nd Street'), who also starred as Roxie Hart's unscrupulous lover, Fred Casely, in CHICAGO's First National Tour in 1997, and now dabbling in backstage work as one of the touring production's three stage managers, generously gave us--BroadwayWorld.com and a small group of Filipino journalists--a glimpse of CHICAGO's rather simple backstage setup at the Saenger Theatre, New Orleans' famed atmospheric theatre.

The fall season official began, but it felt like summer in the lower 80s °F, when BroadwayWorld.com, alongside a small group of Filipino journalists, huddled around Tony Award-winning sound designer Scott Lehrer ('Chicago,' 'Honeymoon In Vegas') at the dim-lit main floor of the famed Saenger Theatre early October.

PETA Theater Center (No.5 Eymard Drive, New Manila) hosts the two-weekend run of Off-Broadway's family-friendly magic show WALLY WATTHEAD AND HIS LOST GLOW, which kicked off yesterday, November 14, and will run until Sunday, November 23.

9 Works Theatrical ('The Last 5 Years,' 'Sweet Charity') brings back one of its hit productions last year, GREASE, to relive the teenage '50s at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, in Makati City from this Saturday, November 15, to Sunday, December 7.

There doesn't seem to be enough of 13-year-old Filipino-Canadian singer Darren Espanto to go around these days, especially since he has made headlines in what could only be described by his legions of fans as a run of charismatic, breakthrough performances on 'The Voice Kids' Philippine edition, under the tutelage of Coach Sarah Geronimo (other coaches were Tony winner Lea Salonga and rock star Bamboo Manalac).

CHICAGO on Broadway's Terrra C. MacLeod and Bianca Marroquin are back on the road as the accused celebrity killers and reluctant vaudeville partners Velma Kelly and Roxie Hart, respectively, whose combination delivers equally strong lead performances.

Tony Award winners Bobby Lopez ('The Book of Mormon,' 'Avenue Q') and Jhett Tolentino ('Here Lies Love,' 'A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder'), among others, receive Filipino American community honors.

THE VOICE of the Philippines Season One coaches Lea Salonga, Sarah Geronimo, apl.de.ap, and Bamboo Manalac are back for the reality singing competition's highly anticipated second season, whose premiere episode, which leads up to the contest's trademark blind auditions, will air Sunday, October 26, on ABS CBN, one the Philippines' major commercial television networks.

Stage actor Morgan Reynolds, who is currently reaping rave reviews for his portrayal of Carmen Ghia, the flamboyant assistant of untalented director Roger De Bris in Arizona Broadway Theatre's production of 'The Producers,' has recently released on YouTube his very own tribute to Broadway Musicals, titled 'Live YOUR Musical.'