Gian Magdangal News

BroadwayWorld.com recently got a hold of Spotlight Artists Centre's brand new publicity photos of its revival production of Filipino landmark musical "Katy!," directed by Nestor U. Torre, which runs at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino from tonight, January 17 to Sunday, January 27, 2013.

Spotlight Artists Centre will open its revival production of Filipino landmark musical "Katy!" in two weeks; and BroadwayWorld would like you to meet the rest of the production's hard-working cast - while everyone else shopped and partied during the Christmas season, "Katy!'s" triple-threat cast spent the holidays polishing their tap-dancing skills, and sitting through a sitzprobe with the show's musical director, Mel Villena, and his AMP big band.

BroadwayWorld.com just got a hold of Spotlight Artists Centre's brand new publicity photos of its revival production of Filipino landmark musical "Katy!," directed by Nestor U. Torre, which runs at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino from Thursday, January 17 to Sunday, January 27, 2013.

Fresh off their successful auditions for the still unclear London revival production of Cameron Mackintosh's mega-musical "Miss Saigon," Rachelle Ann Go (Disney's "The Little Mermaid"), Frencheska Farr ("Emir"), and Aicelle Santos, who made it to the very final audition phase, conducted by Mackintosh's creative team - Trevor Jackson, Laurence Connor, Stephen Brooker, Geoffrey Garratt - that travelled to Manila last week, performed a medley of songs from 'Miss Saigon' in GMA's noontime musical variety show "Party Pilipinas" early today.

Spotlight Artists Centre brings back the landmark Pinoy musical KATY! at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino in January 2013 with MISS SAIGON original London cast alumna Isay Alvarez as the main lead, Katy de la Cruz, the legendary bodabil star, who was one of the most illustrious, internationally-acclaimed, and highest-paid performers of her time.

The star-studded cast of the long-awaited revival of original Filipino landmark musical "Katy!," featuring Isay Alvarez, Dulce, Tirso Cruz III, Epy Quizon, Gian Magdangal, and Tricia Amper Jimenez, among others, presented excerpts from the show at the SM Malls' The Podium in Ortigas Center, Quezon City in the early evening, today.

MISS SAIGON alumnus-turned-musical theater producer, director Robert Seña just confirmed with THE MANILA BULLETIN that Isay Alvarez, MISS SAIGON original London production's Gigi Van Tranh, Epy Quizon, award-winning film actor and son of the late comedian Dolphy; and Tirso Cruz III, seasoned film actor, will play the 'Queen of Philippine Jazz' Katy de la Cruz, Golay (Dolphy's first stage name), and Katy's father, respectively, in the upcoming revival of KATY!, a landmark Filipino musical, at the Cultural Center of the Philippines's Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino on January 10 to 27, 2013.

Live performances from Philippine Educational Theater Association's WILLIAM, CARE DIVAS, Tanghalang Pilipino's NOLI ME TANGERE, and Repertory Philippines' PETER PAN beefed up the 2011 Philstage Gawad Buhay!, line produced by theater advocates Audie Gemora and Alvin Trono's Stages Production Specialists Inc., at the Cultural Center of the Philippines' main lobby on Sunday.

The first-ever BroadwayWorld (BWW) Philippines Awards, an audience initiative project that encourages BWW readers from the Philippines to nominate and vote for their favorite plays, musicals, and theater personalities of the past year, revealed its list of nominees two weeks ago to an overwhelming response. Related web pages on my blog and BWW have around 2,000 hits, 100 comments, 2,000 likes, and 100 shares to date.

Congratulations to BroadwayWorld.com (BWW) Philippines Awards' nominees, whose names are below, and were shortlisted from around 500 nomination entries sent from October 6 to 31.

Jonathan Larson's ground breaking rock musical 'Rent' has arguably developed a life of its own. And 9 Works Theatrical's third endeavour of mounting the show is one tangible proof -- 'Rent' runs anew at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati City in Manila from Saturday, February 12 to Sunday, March 6, 2011.

Real-life couple Gian Magdangal ('The Wedding Singer', 'West Side Story') and Sheree Bautista ('Little Mermaid') lead the cast in Power Plant Cinema and 9 Works Theatrical's limited run of Jonathan Larson's most popular work 'Rent' at Rockwell Center's Power Plant Cinema 2 from Wednesday, December 8 to Sunday, December 12, 2010.

Real-life couple Gian Magdangal ('The Wedding Singer', 'West Side Story') and Sheree Bautista ('Little Mermaid') lead the cast in Power Plant Cinema and 9 Works Theatrical's limited run of Jonathan Larson's most popular work 'Rent' at Rockwell Center's Power Plant Cinema 2 from Wednesday, December 8 to Sunday, December 12, 2010.

2006 Tony award-nominated 'The Wedding Singer', starring mainstream television and recording stars Gian Magdangal and Iya Villana, opens at the Meralco Theatre in Manila on Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 8 p.m. The proceeds from the opening night will directly benefit the medical outreach and feeding program of The Orange Project, a nonprofit educational foundation that helps needy and hungry Filipino children.

2006 Tony award-nominated 'The Wedding Singer', starring mainstream television and recording stars Gian Magdangal and Iya Villana, opens at the Meralco Theatre in Manila on Saturday, October 23, 2010 at 8 p.m. The proceeds from the opening night will directly benefit the medical outreach and feeding program of The Orange Project, a nonprofit educational foundation that helps needy and hungry Filipino children.

New productions of Jonathan Larson's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning musical RENT are about to open in Manila, the San Francisco East Bay and New Jersey. And all these productions happen to feature Filipino and Filipino-American actors in their roster of young and hip cast members.

RENT Manila February 6, 2010 show owner, Our Awesome Planet (www.OurAwesomePlanet.com), paid a visit to the rehearsals on December 17 and took a video clip that shows stage director Robbie Guevara presenting his cast and the 'Finale B' number.

Over 300 'Rentheads' showed up when 9 Works Theatrical, Manila's newly organized professional theatre group, held open auditions for its second major production - Jonathan Larson's groundbreaking, and multi-awarded rock musical RENT. This new project, together with Lunchbox Theatrical's much awaited touring production of CATS and Atlantis' upcoming productions of LEGALLY BLONDE and XANADU, is set to make Manila's theatrescape truly bustling, and exciting in 2010.