Mark Bautista and His Posse Lets It All Hang Out in The Full Monty

Based on the buzz on the local musical staging of the The Full Monty, not many Filipinos remember the Oscar-nominated movie The Full Monty which was shown here a decade ago.  Of course, for me, I remember it very well!  It was a well-crafted movie about guys who were down and out but found something to redeem themselves.

The musical is very faithful to the movie even to the last scene - which, well, all of us were eagerly anticipating.  That anticipation was distracting in a way, because all the guys sang very well - ditto for all the ladies in the cast!  Everyone really made this musical experience very interesting and entertaining! Even if my colds were killing me and my voice  was pretty hoarse - and I was coughing at certain parts of the show - much to my chagrin - inside of me - I was shouting 'Take it off! take it off!" and "Great job guys!!"  I am just glad that the Atlantis group is coming out with entertaining musicals year in year out!

Best Actress - Musical 2011 Nominees: MyFABE Theater Awards

I started watching local theater, seriously again this year.  I saw thirteen different plays and musicals this year and from those, I have come out with my own MyFABE Theater Awards for 2011. 

I have mulled over this list for the past 11 months and in my opinion, these are the five best performances by an actress in a musical for 2011.

BEST ACTRESS MUSICAL

Ima Castro - Aida

Nikki Gil - Sweet Charity

Menchu Lauchengco - Next to Normal

K-la Rivera - In the Heights

Eula Valdez - Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah

The winner will be announced on December 31, 2011.

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Theater Review: If Their Voices were the Costumes, 'Aida' Is Surely Pure Gold!

Ok, ok!  I wanted to watch the musical because I wanted to see the costumes and the sets!  It's set in Egypt after all and Cleopatra and Nefertiti were Egyptian queens known for their beauty and dazzling wardrobe!  But anyhow, since the most expensive ticket would only come to about 30 pounds, I would understand why they could not approximate a West End set or costumes.  Because an Aida in West End would normally cost five times that price for a front seat ticket, so I guess they have more budget for those things. 

Anyhow, the cast dazzled in the area that mattered most, and that is their vocal interpretation of the musical's music - which in itself is so moving already!  The revelation of the night was that cute guy Josh Santana!  I think he stole the show from the three leads - Myke Salomon, Ima Castro and Rachel Alejandro - who were all very good already!  Veteran Hajji Alejandro also gets a role and he still has a strong voice, even after all these years!