The Old Globe Presents First FREE AXIS Evening Concert: Manila Disco Fever

The Old Globe invites concertgoers, friends, and music and dance lovers to the first-ever evening concert in the free AXIS performing arts series, Manila Disco Fever, on Thursday May 9, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. on the Globe's Copley Plaza in Balboa Park. Doors will open at 5:00 p.m.

Break out the bell-bottoms! This concert will make you get up on your feet, so don't forget to bring your dancing shoes and come on down to this joyous party celebrating the enduring disco hits that are still heard in the Philippines and at Filipino events around the world.

Disco fever wasn't just an American epidemic. In the late 1970s, those lithe, funk-inflected bass lines, slinky keyboards, and punchy horns spread around the globe, finding a particularly receptive audience in the Philippines. Manila Disco Fever celebrates the Manila Sound, a hugely popular movement that blossomed in the late '70s and early '80s with acts like VST & Company, Boyfriends, Hagibis, and Cinderella. This event features special guests Spanky Rigor and Roger Rigor (original members of VST & Company) and is built around The Union, a dynamic show group with a five-piece rhythm section and five vocalists from various show bands of the '80s: Jet Montelibano (Music & Magic), Jessica Casas (Something Special), Nino de Jesus (New Minstrels), Joann Visitacion (The Union), Fulton Montoya (NuClear Projekt).

"San Diego is filled with diverse artistry and cultural traditions that are the inspiration for our AXIS events," said Director of Arts Engagement Freedome Bradley-Ballentine. "We started 2019 with Piwai in concert, celebrating Zimbabwean culture, followed by Shakespeare's birthday party. Now we welcome Manila Disco Fever to our plaza with a journey down memory lane, enjoying Filipino disco songs of the Manila Sound of the late '70s-inspired by The Bee Gees, ABBA, Donna Summer, and Gloria Gaynor. We invite everybody to come to our plaza and have some fun singing, dancing. and enjoying delicious food!"

This event is open to the public, part of the Globe's commitment to making theatre matter to more people as a public good.

Singing along and dancing can create an appetite. Not to worry! Aunty Lynne's Food Truck will be on our plaza selling delicious authentic and fusion cuisine from around the Pacific Rim.

Online reservations are now closed, but you can still see the show! A standby line to attend the concert will form beginning at 5:00 p.m. at the entrance to our plaza. Many people from the standby line will get to attend, so tell your friends and be sure to line up early!

The Old Globe is located in San Diego's Balboa Park at 1363 Old Globe Way. There are numerous free parking lots available throughout the park. Guests may also be dropped off in front of the Mingei International Museum. For additional parking information visit www.BalboaPark.org. For directions and up-to-date information, please visit www.theoldglobe.org/plan-your-visit/directions--parking/detailed-directions.

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