Oliver Oliveros News

For a truly gifted musical theater genius, WICKED's composer and lyricist Stephen Schwartz is picture-perfect as the laidback, generous, fun-loving avuncular figure that is the embodiment of all the high-spirited uncles that you've had as a kid growing up. Schwartz, comfortably (and most suitably for the occasion) clad in a black and green sports shirt, dressed-down gray jeans, well-loved sneakers, and seeming much more like the genial 'Wizard of Oz' than the green-skinned 'Elphaba' (which ironically, he admits, he is more like the latter), was the defining image of easy composure. Ready to bigheartedly answer questions from a select few media representatives, he cheerfully made his entrance onto the plush, intimately-set ambience of the conference room prepared by Concertus Manila and co-sponsor Diamond Hotel Tuesday, February 4.

Show partners Repertory Philippines and BroadwayWorld.com are giving away a pair of tickets to WAIT UNTIL DARK's closing performance on Sunday, February 9, 3:30 p.m. at Onstage Theatre, Greenbelt 1, Makati City.

Catch the special run of 'You've Been Facebooked' on Thursday, February 6 and Friday, February 7 (1 p.m., 4 p.m., and 7 p.m.) at USJR Center for Performing Arts in Cebu City. For tickets, call (63)9153464195.

Celebrity socialite and occasional theater actress Tessa Rufino-Prieto Valdes, alongside WICKED Australasian tour stars Jemma Rix (Elphaba), Suzie Mathers (Glinda), Steve Danielsen (Fiyero), and Jay Laga'aia (The Wizard), hosted a live benefit auction at the end of WICKED'S matinee performance on Friday, January 31, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' (CCP) main theatre.

'DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? is a concert celebration of the musical genius of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schonberg. It is an unexpectedly moving tribute to the universal appeal of their collaborations, and shows how LES MISERABLES in particular has impacted people all around the world.' - BroadwayWorld.com

Repertory Philippines (Rep) production of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winning play AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, written by Tracy Letts, will run from Friday, February 21 to Sunday, March 16, 2014 at Onstage Theatre (2/F Greenbelt 1, Paseo de Roxas corner Legazpi St., Makati City).

1. Top East Coast Editor 2013: Marina Kennedy, New Jersey. Our Senior Editor of New Jersey, Marina Kennedy writes articles and reviews for Broadwayworld.com on performance venues in New York and New Jersey. She also has a weekly column in BWWFitnessWorld.com, 'Fit Food Finds,' which discusses healthy eating in the New York City area. Her interest in fitness, dance, and theatre stem from the many years she owned and operated a dance school, 'Dance Unlimited' in New Jersey in the late 70's and 80's. She enjoys an active journalism career and loves writing for BroadwayWorld.com. 2. Top West Coast Editor 2013: Don Grigware, Los Angeles, CA. Our Senior Editor of Los Angels, Don Grigware is an Ovation nominated actor and writer whose contributions to theatre through the years have included 6 years as theatre editor of NoHoLA, a contributor to LA Stage Magazine and currently on his own website: www.grigwaretalkstheatre.com. Don hails from Holyoke, Massachusetts and holds two Masters Degrees from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in Education and Bilingual Studies. Don is a teacher of foreign language and ESL. Don is a member of the prestigious Road Theatre Company in NoHo and is in his fifth year with BWW, currently serving as Senior Editor of the Los Angeles Page. 3. Top Southeast Editor 2013: Jennifer Perry, Washington, D.C. Our Senior Editor of Washington, D.C., Jennifer Perry has been a DC resident since 2001 having moved from Upstate New York to attend graduate school at American University's School of International Service. When not attending countless theatre, concert, and cabaret performances in the area and in New York, she works for the US Federal Government as an analyst. Jennifer previously covered the DC performing arts scene for Maryland Theatre Guide, DC Metro Theater Arts, and DC Theatre Scene. 4. Top Southwest Editor 2013: Jeff Davis, Austin, TX. Jeff Davis is a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television where he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Theater with an emphasis in Directing. 5. Top International Editor 2013: Oliver Oliveros, Philippines. Our Senior Editor of the Philippines, Oliver recently received a master's degree in public relations and corporate communication from New York University while serving as regional director for BroadwayWorld.com. For nearly 20 years, Oliver has been handling public relations and corporate communication for numerous brands (including Pepsi), Broadway shows, Broadway stars, non-profit organizations, and mainstream celebrities. He is also the editor-in-chief for FIL-AM WHO'S WHO, a monthly magazine that tells the real-life success stories of Filipino Americans from the New York Tri-State area. 6. Top New International Editor 2013: Barry Lenny, Adelaide, Australia. Our Senior of Adelaide, born in London, Barry was introduced to theatre as a small boy, through being taken to see traditional Christmas pantomimes, as well as discovering jazz and fine music at a very young age. High school found him loving the works of Shakespeare, as well as many other great playwrights, poets and novelists. Moving to Australia, he became a jazz musician, playing with big bands and his own small groups, then attended the Elder Conservatorium of Music at the University of Adelaide, playing with several orchestras. This led to playing in theatre pits, joining the chorus, playing character roles, playing lead roles (after moving into drama), then directing, set and lighting design, administrative roles on theatre boards and, finally, becoming a critic. After twenty years of writing he has now joined the Broadway World team to represent Adelaide, in South Australia. Barry is also a long time member of the prestigious Adelaide Critics Circle. 7. Top New Editor 2013: Teresa Rodrick, Boise, ID. Senior Editor of Boise, ID, Teresa Rodrick was born in Edmonds, Washington - grew up in Mountlake Terrace (WA), married a man from Everett (WA) and her folks moved to Lake Stevens (WA). She lived in England for 2 years, Germany for 6 years and moved to San Antonio, Texas. In San Antonio, she decided she had put her own career off long enough and started going to Palo Alto Community College. She got my Associates Degree in Drama in May 2005. From San Antonio, she moved back to England for just over 3 years. She did one stint in community theatre then moved to Boise, Idaho where she received her Bachelors in Arts in Theatre Arts with an emphasis in Secondary Education in May 2012 from Boise State University. 8. Most Creative Male Editor 2013: Stephen Hanks, Cabaret. Senior Editor of BWWCabaret. During more than 30 years as a magazine editor/writer, website writer, and book author for a variety of national magazines and websites,Stephen Hanks has written about sports, health and nutrition, parenting, politics, the media, and most recently, musical theater, and cabaret. While by day, Stephen is the Advertising Sales Director forHabitat Magazine (a publication covering life in New York Metro area co-ops and condos), by night he writes reviews and columns about New York City cabaret for BroadwayWorld.com. Stephen also writes feature stories about cabaret for Cabaret Scenes Magazine and CabaretScenes.org. He is also the Board President of Manhattan Musical Theatre Lab, which workshops new musicals in New York City, and he is the founder, producer and director of theBroadway Musical Fantasy Camp, which is a workshop for amateur performers that rehearses and presents staged readings of classic Broadway Musicals. In 2011, Stephen was an Associate Producer for the Off-Broadway show The Fartiste. Stephen most recently staged his debut solo cabaret show, 'Beyond American Pie: The Don McLean Songbook' at the Metropolitan Room in New York. Please contact Stephen with your comments and questions at: stephenhanks41@gmail.com 9. Most Creative Female Editor 2013: Marakay Rogers, Central PA. Senior Editor of Central PA. America's most uncoordinated childhood ballet and tap student before discovering that her talents were music and writing, Marakay Rogers finally traded in her violin for law school when she realized that she might make more money in law than she did performing with the Potomac Symphony and in orchestra pits around the mid-Atlantic. Unfortunately, she forgot to factor in the student loan repayments! She has never recovered from being chewed out by Terrence Mann in public for hanging up her bow. A graduate of Wilson College (PA), Marakay is also a writer, film reviewer and interviewer for the Wilkes-Barre (PA) Independent Gazette, science-fiction publications, and other news outlets. Additionally, as of 2014, she serves as vice-chair of the Advisory Board of the revived Beaux Arts Society, Inc. She's also taught college-level communications, writing, and English literature classes, has received multiple writing awards for several small-press novels, and is listed in Marquis' 'Who's Who in America'. She has done additional post-collegiate coursework with Open University (UK) in drama and literature. Her junior high English teacher was Broadway star Katrina Yaukey's mother, Kay Yaukey. (Her high school math teacher was Ordean Yaukey, Katrina Yaukey's father, but between Marakay's mother, an editor, and Katrina's mother, English won out.) Marakay is senior theatre critic for Central Pennsylvania and a senior editor for BWWBooksWorld as well as a classical music reviewer. In her free time, Marakay practices law and often gets it right. 10. Best Overall Editor 2013: David Clarke, Houston, TX. Senior Editor of Houston, TX and Editor-in-Chief of Broadway Recordings, David Clarke has had a lifelong love and passion for the performing arts, and has been writing about theatre both locally and nationally for years. He joined BroadwayWorld.com running their Houston site in early 2012 and began writing as the site's official theatre recording critic in June of 2013.

BroadwayWorld would be nothing without its team of talented Regional Editors who work tirelessly, offering countless opinions, reviews, interviews, special features and more. It truly takes a village. While all 260+ of our Regional Editors have helped make BroadwayWorld go 'round, this year, we'd like to recognize our Top 10 standouts who have gone above and beyond the call of duty, and who have been an integral part of the success of BroadwayWorld. This was a tough decision that was based on number of articles, traffic, consistency, and other factors. We will also be recognizing several others throughout the year in our 'Meet the BWW Team' series and otherwise, so stay tuned for more!

Approaching its third weekend at Onstage Theatre, Rep's staging of the 2003 London revival version of Frederick Knott's 1966 classic thriller, 'Wait Until Dark,' which was originally set in Greenwich Village, New York (The London revival was set in Notting Hill), has been reaping generally favorable reviews.

The suspected attacker is described as a 20-something Hispanic man, around 160 pounds and 6-feet-tall, police said in media news reports. He has short, cropped black hair and was clothed in black jeans and a black jacket at the time of the attack. He fled the scene in a gray, four door Nissan with Mississippi license plate, KAT-397.

At a press conference, Executive Producer Bernadette Hayes said Broadway icon Stephen Schwartz, WICKED's composer and lyricist, will attend the show's benefit performance for the survivors of super typhoon Haiyan (Yolanda) on Friday, January 31 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING? international concert tour headliner Lea Salonga ("Les Miserables"), sans the show's other two lead stars David Harris ("Legally Blonde") and Marie Zamora ("Les Miserables"), met with the press yesterday, January 22, at Maxims Hotel at Resorts World Manila. Instead, Salonga was joined by the new additions to the cast Jon Joven ("Miss Saigon"), Leo Tavarro Valdez ("Miss Saigon"), Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo ("Miss Saigon"), and Carla Guevara Laforteza ("Miss Saigon") who will perform with Salonga, Harris, and Zamora in the Manila leg of the concert set Wednesday, January 29, and Thursday, January 30, at 8 p.m. at Resorts World Manila's Newport Performing Arts Theatre.

Two local productions have officially opened another busy year for Philippine Theater: One is that of 4th Wall Theater Company's Cultural Center of the Philippines transfer of its original musical, 'Rivalry'; the other is Rep's staging of the 2003 London revival version of Frederick Knott's 1966 classic thriller, 'Wait Until Dark,' which was originally set in Greenwich Village, New York. The London revival was set in Notting Hill.

Veteran theater actor Jamie Wilson, who was originally assigned the role of antagonist Harry Roat, Jr., was badly injured in last week's rehearsal. Fellow Repertory Philippines' (Rep) actor Arnel Carrion, who was rehearsing for the role of Sam Henderson, the husband of the lead protagonist, Susy, has just been announced as the replacement for the injured actor, who is unlikely to return to the show.

Filipino American and Tony Award-winning composer Bobby Lopez, who created and co-wrote 'The Book of Mormon' and 'Avenue Q,' and his wife, Kristen Anderson, were nominated for Best Original Song 'Let It Go' from the Disney animated feature film 'Frozen,' also nominated for Best Animated Feature Film, at the 71st Golden Globe Awards held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Sunday, January 12.

Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA), the group behind recent theatrical hits 'Care Divas' and 'Bona,' is back with a new musical comedy, 'Rak of Aegis,' which features the music catalog of multi-platinum rock band Aegis--musically rearranged for the stage by actor-musician Myke Salomon.

The ornate set piece 'The Clock of the Time Dragon,' which was introduced by American novelist Gregory Maguire in his book 'Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West,' and recreated on stage by Tony Award-winning scenic designer Eugene Lee, has been raised atop the main stage at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) since more than 50 stage crew members--the majority of them are Philippine locals--began the production's ingress Thursday, January 2.

Classic thriller 'Wait Until Dark,' which premiered on Broadway in 1966, will open Repertory Philippines' (Rep) 2014 theater season starting Friday, January 17 at Onstage Theatre, Greenbelt 1 in Makati City. 'Wait Until Dark' is one of the few plays penned by English playwright-screenwriter Frederick Knott, best known for his 1952 television play, 'Dial M for Murder.'

It has been a tough year for us, Filipinos, but we were able to rise above the challenges and showed the world how strong and resilient we are. We wish that for the coming new year our hearts be filled with love and compassion for everyone. BroadwayWorld.com has recently surveyed some of our friends in the Philippine theater industry about their New Year's wishes!

The music of Pinoy pop-rock band Aegis makes its Philippine theater debut as Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) closes its 46th theater season with 'Rak of Aegis,' a rock musical comedy featuring the songs of Aegis. Opening Friday, January 31 at the PETA Theater Center (No.5 Eymard Drive, New Manila, Quezon City), 'Rak of Aegis' will run for six weeks only, Friday to Sunday until Sunday, March 9, 2014.