Oliver Oliveros News

Hottest Articles on BroadwayWorld.com from this weekend Sunday, March 8, 2015 - Sunday, March 8, 2015.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

Cocktails named after some of the show stopping musical numbers from the smash Broadway musical CHICAGO greeted the cast, crew, and guests at a post-performance party at Marti's, a bistro in the French Quarter, late Tuesday night. CHICAGO's current tour cast, headlined by Bianca Marroquin (Roxie Hart), Terra C. MacLeod (Velma Kelly), John O'Hurley (Billy Flynn in select cities), Jacob Keith Watson (Amos Hart), Roz Ryan (Matron 'Mama' Morton), and C. Newcomer (Mary Sunshine), kicked off CHICAGO's 16th U.S. Tour at the newly reopened atmospheric theatre in NOLA, the 2,736-seater Saenger Theatre along Canal Street, with a rapturous standing ovation from a packed audience earlier that evening.

The creators of the international hit parody POTTED POTTER, Daniel Clarkson and Jefferson Turner, are indeed inseparable!

Prior to the sold-out closing weekend of the international touring production of National Artists Felipe De Leon and Guillermo Tolentino's magnum opus 'Noli Me Tangere: The Opera,' which played the Newport Performing Arts Theatre at Resorts World Manila, BroadwayWorld.com was able to sit down with the production's longtime stars Antoni Mendezona (Maria Clara, Sisa) and Sal Malaki (Juan Crisostomo Ibarra), who have been part of the production since its New York premiere in the fall of 2013.

Back by magical demand, POTTED POTTER: The Unauthorized Harry Experience (A Parody by Dan and Jeff) returns to Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza in Makati City from Tuesday, September 30, to Sunday, October 5! And before opening night, #pottedpottermnl and BroadwayWorld.com (BWW) are hosting a trivia challenge, where a you can win a pair of tickets to the show on Friday, October 3, at 5 p.m.

The long awaited return of the country's first full-length grand opera NOLI ME TANGERE (a full stage production of the opera* was last seen in Manila 27 years ago), inspired by Jose Rizal's 1887 classic romantic novel 'Noli Me Tangere' ('Touch Me Not'), featuring music by National Artist Felipe de Leon and libretto by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino, is about to enter its second weekend at Resorts World Manila's Newport Performing Arts Theatre. See what the critics had to say!

So how do you sell a show that was conceived and first staged more than 50 years ago--an opera at that --to a younger audience who probably haven't even heard of Verdi, Puccini, or Maria Callas? The much-awaited return of the Filipino stage classic seems to be tackling just that.

The long awaited return of the country's first full-length grand opera NOLI ME TANGERE (this opera was last seen in Manila 27 years ago), inspired by José Rizal's 1887 classic romantic novel 'Noli Me Tángere' ('Touch Me Not'), featuring music by National Artist Felipe de Leon and libretto by National Artist Guillermo Tolentino, held its gala performance at a nearly packed house of 1,500 theatergoers at Resorts World Manila's Newport Performing Arts Theater last night.

The first time I heard 'Still Hurting,' the first song in the hit Off-Broadway musical THE LAST 5 YEARS, I knew it was going to be one of my favorite heartbreak songs. I also had the chance to listen to the other songs written by Jason Robert Brown for THE LAST 5 YEARS; however, I still felt the strongest connection to 'Still Hurting.' It is a sad song, but once in a while the company of a sad song is well appreciated.

Members of the press got the first glimpse at 9 Works Theatrical's fifth anniversary offering, Jason Robert Brown's hit Off-Broadway musical and two-hander THE LAST 5 YEARS, starring one of the theater company's favorite leading ladies, Nikki Gil, and Joaquin Valdes, last night at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza in Makati City. Directed by Robbie Guevara, the production opens tonight, August 9.

BroadwayWorld.com brings you a first glimpse at the Commission of Higher Education (CHED)-endorsed new original musical in Tagalog FILIPINAS 1941: Isang Dulayawit, produced by the prolific, commercially successful grassroots theater company Philippine Stagers Foundation ('Bonifacio: Isang Sarsuwela,' 'Cory ng EDSA').