So. The reason for the conspicuous lack of posts for the past 10 days is because I’ve been on my days off and didn’t have the energy to write. Haha. Ironically, I rarely get to rest on my days off because of the so much stuff I have to do. Haha. Case in point:
- June 14 – arrive in Manila, pick up shirts from printer, ingress for Toycon 2012
- June 15 – ingress of Toycon 2012, man the Geekerie booth in Toycon until 5:30pm, pack up, rush to Makati for “Rock of Ages” with the Aids and friends
- June 16 – Toycon Day 2, man the booth from 9am to 9pm, drop dead from exhaustion
- June 17 – Toycon Day 3, wear two costumes between 10am to 7pm, gratefully remove high-heeled boots after 9 hours of wearing them, pack up the booth, finally arrive home at 11:30 pm.
- June 18 – recover from Toycon, accept my Mom’s coupon for a free Swedish aromatherapy massage, pass out from sheer bliss after 20 minutes.
But back up a bit. I said “Rock of Ages”. Yes, my friends and I watched the opening night performance of “Rock of Ages” by Atlantis Productions in the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC Plaza in Makati. It stars Nyoy Volante, Vina Morales, Jett Pangan, Jamie Wilson, Aiza Seguerra, and MiG Ayesa and IT IS GLORIOUS.
I have seriously never had so much fun watching a musical before (though “Avenue Q” by Atlantis is a close second). With classic rock songs from the 80’s as its soundtrack, it’s almost impossible not to sing along.
- MiG Ayesa is perfect as Stacee Jaxx, which shouldn’t be a surprise since he played Stacee during the US tour and on Broadway. His part in the “Don’t Stop Believing” finale is both awe-inspiring and hilarious. And yes, he looks really good in his costumes 😀 *fans self*
- I loved Jett Pangan as Lonny! It’s a great departure from the dramatic roles he usually does (I last saw him in “Next to Normal”).
- Aiza Seguerra is queen *bows down* She’s great as Regina and equally great as one of the strippers in the Venus Club. I must admit that it was slightly weird to see her like that since I grew up watching her on TV as a cutie pie child star. Haha.
- Nyoy Volante is still cute. Heehee. His rock star scream is not quite there yet but hopefully he’ll sound better as more shows pass.
- Vina Morales’ dance moves are impressive 😀
- During Jamie Wilson and Jett Pangan’s duet of “Can’t Fight This Feeling”, I suddenly remembered Patrick Reichenbach and Robby Sunico of Clubb Dredd 😛
Something I noticed though. While the individual singers are all very good, they don’t blend very well as an ensemble. I mean, of course the ensemble singing is good, but it’s not great. Their voices don’t seem to reinforce each other.
One bonus of watching on opening night:
Yes, I got a photo with the Lea Salonga. GYAAAAHHHHH *spins around in joy* I also got to share elevator space with her!!! If you don’t know who she is, go Google her and find out why I love her so much. I’ve had the privilege of seeing her in three musicals: “Miss Saigon” (in the CCP), “Baby”, and “They’re Playing Our Song”. Looking forward to watching her in “God of Carnage” this July. I was too tongue-tied to wish her luck with “Allegiance: 🙁
“Rock of Ages” runs from June 15 to July 8, 2012 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in the RCBC Plaza, Makati City.