The Sound of Music in Manila! - The Hills are Defo Alive!

- March 7, 2023, Tuesday.

- The hills are alive once more in Manila with The Sound of Music!! The stage production of The Sound of Music is here in Manila from March 7 to 26 at Samsung Performing Arts Theater in Ayala Malls Circuit. It was brought to Manila by GMG Productions, which also brought Matilda, the Lion King, Cats, and other big productions to Manila and the Asia-Pacific region. Though mainly an international cast, local artists Karylle and Markki Stroem appear in the musical as Baroness Schraeder and Rolf respectively. Tickets are still very much available in the official Ticketworld website (click here).  

I feel more like Godzilla than Maria.

Yay! I also tried to wear something trachten-inspired although I have a lederhosen and trachten suit at home. In hindsight, I should've gone all out! ("Tracht" or "trachten" refers to the traditional clothes of Southern Germany, Austria, and other related regions.) 

- For those who probably have never heard of "The Sound of Music," it is a semi-fictionalized story of the Von Trapp Family singers, who lived during the eve of the German annexation of Austria. The family is headed by Captain Von Trapp, a highly-decorated navy officer. He hired a governess named Maria Rainer who eventually taught the Von Trapp children how to sing. This stage production was originally done in the 1950s, although its most famous version is the 1965 film, starring Julie Andres and the late Christopher Plummer.

Edelweiss.

You'll see this once you go up the escalator to the main lobby.

- I've watched the movie over and over and over again throughout the years but seeing the musical alive will forever be a different immersive experience. This is the magic of theater. Since the musical is based on the stage production, some songs appear in scenes you probably wouldn't expect them to be in. Some songs in the film are also not in the stage production, and some songs are in the stage production but not in the movie. The pacing is also slightly different since the movie had an easier time bending time through montages, while the stage production had to be....a bit abrupt in some parts of the narrative. (I'm trying to be quite vague, for those who probably wish to watch.) 

- Overall, I loved the performance! Jill Christine-Wiley and Trevor Martin as Marita and Captain Von Trapp were perfect. More importantly, I must say I now have a newfound respect for Markki Stroem - whom I normally ignore when I see on TV because I thought he was just one of those mestizo actors TV stations hire. I wasn't actually aware that he started out in showbiz as a singer, and that he was active in the theater scene in the Philippines apart from his appearances in TV and film. (This being said, I guess I need to watch more local productions too.) As for Karylle, I have seen her in local productions (top of my mind is "Rama Hari" in 2012), so it was no surprise that she gave life to Baroness Schraeder really well too! However, I guess a super minor concern would be the theater's microphone situation since there were some instances of the actors' microphones not working for a second or two. However, it didn't really affect the overall experience of watching the play.

Hills covered in blue....clouds?

- I'm so glad I was able to watch the musical because I was actually saving money for something. However, God probably wanted me to see this because I earned a decent amount of money from a recent wedding I attended (I joined/was forced to join games in that wedding) and so I had some money to spare for a ticket. I love The Sound of Music so much I even did some sort of "pilgrimage" to the filming locations of the movie when I went to Salzburg a few years back (see here, here, and here). I'm hoping that more people would come watch since I was surprised that not a lot of people knew that the musical is currently showing. So why not take a chance? Go to the hills now, maybe your heart is lonely? Or climb ev'ry mountain, 'til you find your place....in the theater!  

"Kare" for some Art?: The Alley at Karrivin Plaza

- March 18, 2022, Friday; March 24, 2022, Thursday.

- This blog will be a little bit different from the usual, since I'm merging two visits to Karrivin Plaza in one blog. The two visits were a week apart. I thought of merging them since I wanted to mostly enumerate the interesting things to see and experience at Karrivin Plaza, rather than my usual by-sequence narrative (i.e. "I did this, next I did this, then I did this etc.") 

- Karrivin Plaza has been around for many years now, and is mostly known as an art-and-food hub. It is located near the Magallanes area in Makati City. Karrivin Plaza has three main buildings: A, B, and C. The latest attraction is The Alley (Building C), which opened in 2016. This surprised me as I haven't heard anything about this place until late last year, in the middle of the pandemic. Also, I don't normally frequent Makati.

- From an old warehouse, this place was turned into a quiet artsy corner of Makati where one can eat fusion cuisines, enjoy a gallery or two, or buy pieces of good-looking furniture. By the way, most stores are open from Tuesdays to Sundays.

Building C.

The Alley at Karrivin.

- The Alley has two main art galleries: The Drawing Room, and Artinformal. These contemporary art galleries showcase many Filipino artists' works. The galleries are free, but they might need to limit people due to the pandemic. If you know me well you'd know that I'm not really into contemporary art, but it was nice to appreciate various expressions of art.  

The Drawing Room, with acrylic paintings by Maria Cruz, Manuel Ocampo, and Gerardo Tan. They're collectively called "Terms and Conditions."

Near the entrance is a collection of paintings called "It Wasn't Just a Bad Dream" by Jigger Cruz.

This is at the second-floor of Artinformal. This painting is part of Pope Bacay's "Lures from the other Land."

More pieces from Bacay's "Lures from the Other Land." I love the organic, earthy vibes of these artworks!

Some paintings by Carlo Ricafort in Artinformal, in the exhibit called "Helter-in-shell." 

- Speaking of art galleries, you can go across to building B to visit Art Cube Gallery. It was a huge gallery, and found it the "homiest" of the three galleries I visited. 

"Imperfect Circles" exhibit.

I saw this fire escape in the middle of the gallery, I thought it was an art installation. Turned out it was a real fire escape. Still took a photo with it though.

Appreciating art.

The exhibit is called "Duality" by Dondon Jeresano and Arnica Acantilado.

- Other interesting places to see are some of its artsy stores, like Aphro and Lanai. Aphro invites a lot of visitors because of its towering pyramid-like display area and its adult-sized slide at the side! The items on display are on sale. 

Many cats call The Alley their home.

Black Panther!

Inside Aphro.

The cat is named Blanca! (Because she's white.) She likes to strut along The Alley. She's probably the most famous cat in The Alley.

Hi Blanca!

Of course I had to go down the slide!

By Blanca!! By the way, I was told that Blanca has learned to NOT destroy the artworks.

Going out of Lanai! It has a lot of nice-looking "Asian" stuff.

- Finally, the biggest crowd-puller is the food! All three buildings have some restaurants, but I only got to try Poison and Three Squares. Poison has Japanese food, but its donuts are based on Filipino flavors. I tried the Kikkoman-flavored donut and I think it was a bit weird, but the Kikkoman and cream combination seemed to work (??). As for Three Squares Cafe + Bar, it is located at the second floor of The Design Story furniture shop. (I know I should try Toyo too, but I wasn't able to!)

Outside Toyo.

Ramen and donut at Poison.

An interesting restaurant.

My French toast and chocolate cake at Three Squares!

A cozy cafe in the middle of the store.

- The Alley at Karrivin isn't a place that I'd normally go to, but it was nice to see what everyone was fussing about this colorful cozy corner in Makati. I do think, however, that it's a nice place to hang out and talk with friends that's not a mall / in the mall. I'm not sure how frequently I'll be visiting this place because it's quite far and traffic is building up on the roads again. However, I do hope that I'll get to try all the other restaurants in the area, since I feel that I'll be going back more for the food than the art. I'm happy that there are pockets of peace like this in the Metro!    

From Mindanao to Manila: Yuchengco Museum's Exhibit on Mindanao Textiles and Jewelry

- Sept. 22, 2017, Friday.

- The Yuchengco Museum (as of Sept. 29 while writing this article) is holding two on-going temporary exhibits on Mindanao culture, entitled "Origins and Translations: Mindanao Tapestry" and "Silken Courts: The Maranao Malong - Garments of Identity and Continuity." These two exhibits are located at the third floor gallery. I have to thank my department secretary in the university where I work for telling me about this, since she knows that not only do I appreciate cultures in general -especially those involving costumes and jewelry - but I also have my own stash of Mindanao fabric and jewelry in my vast collection of cultural/ethnic wear and jewelry. Of course I screamed at the top of my lungs in my department in excitement after our department secretary told me about this. Needless to say, I just had to visit this exhibit before it ends. (I phoned the Yuchengco Museum and told me that they don't have an end date yet to this excellent temporary exhibit.)

Hello Yuchengco Museum.

- The Yuchengco Museum, by the way, is located in RCBC Plaza, at the corner of Gil Puyat Avenue and Ayala Avenue. The museum is owned by Ambassador Alfonso Yuchengco, a prominent Filipino-Chinese figure (he's a philantropist, and ambassador, a businessman, art enthusiast, to name a few things he does.) He passed away earlier this year. His family owns RCBC (Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation,) so it's no surprise that the museum is located inside the RCBC Plaza. This young museum was opened just in 2005.

You'll see this on the way to the museum.

 - Recently, Philippine news has been bombarded with not-so-happy news about certain places in Mindanao (ex. Marawi in Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, etc..) I think this relevant back-to-back exhibit gives a subtle nod to those places by celebrating their indigenous cultures and allows people to see these places as rich cradles of Mindanao's colorful indigenous cultures. Some cultures featured include the T'bolis of Cotabato, the Maranaos of Lanao del Sur, the B'laan of Cotabato and Davao, just to name a few.     

- The Maranao malong gallery not only had malongs on display, but what I loved the most about it was the mannequins showcasing the different ways the the malong can be used through a diorama akin to the singkil dance. Of course, knowing me, I brought a few pieces from my collection and wore them so I can get the feel of being one with the exhibit. Ms. Elma, the museum's program officer, saw me walking around with my Maranao inspired getup and told me that I seemed to belong to the exhibit. (I couldn't agree more, and that was the goal.)

A "buraq" on a Maranao ritual blanket. This creature from Islamic mythology was supposed to carry prophets from one place to another.

A male and female Maranao formal costume.

Ready to dance the singkil??

One of them. My yellow/golden shirt was made by my Muslim tailor. It was supposed to resemble a Maranao groom's shirt.

The whole squad; this tableau shows the different ways that a malong can be worn.

This bridge thing at the third floor is the best place to have a photoshoot in the Yuchengco Museum.

Hello, it me.

- Apart from the tableau, there were also spexial malongs exhibited, such as those used by the Maranao royalty, or those with epics embroidered on them. If only I had the chance, I would've wanted to take all of them home!!

This was my favorite: a malong with the epic Darangen embroidered on it.

- In the adjacent gallery on Mindanao tapestry, I had to opportunity to examine the techniques of weaving and jewelry-making from the other groups in Mindanao. It was also an opportunity for me to understand more the things I have in my closet, since it's difficult to find in-depth information on Philippine indigenous clothing and design. Though I knew the basics of all the cultural things that I buy, I always love the opportunity to learn more.

Poster and a female Mandaya costume.

The T'boli's famed t'nalak fabric; it is said that the designs are dreamt by the weavers, and hence the weavers are called "dream weavers."

Brought my own lmimot, which is a kind of T'boli necklace, and the guard at the museum was more excited than me when he saw that the one I brought was a smaller version of the one they have in the exhibit.

Costume change into my Mansaka-inspired costume. The mannequin at the back has a Lumad costume.

With a female Manobo costume.

- After going around the exhibit, I spent some time doing my photoshoot inspired by the exhibit. I changed into my Mansaka- and Tausug-inspired costumes. (I even brought my janggay - silver nail - set for my pangalay photo.)

Mansaka-inspired. The coat was designed by well-respected Davao designer and former member of the Bayanihan Dance Troupe, Alfonso Guino-o.

My Tausug inspired costume. My bandana is an authentic Tausug scarf. My silver-nails used to dance the pangalay dance were shipped from Zamboanga; I bought my nails from a professional pangalay dancer.

I bought my Tausug scarf from the Tausug weavers that the national museum invited to demonstrate their weaving culture (click here to see my interaction with the Tausug people.) The nails on my fingers may be used by both female and male pangalay dancers.

- After going around the exhibit for one last time, I went to see the other permanent exhibits and dropped by the souvenir shop at the lobby. They were also selling ethnic jewelry and fabric aside from the usual books and paraphernalia in the museum's gift shop.

The permanent exhibit area at the ground floor.

Amorsolo's "Urduja" painting.

- I finally left the museum after a whole day of absorbing myself in the stunning exhibit; to think I expected to stay for only around 2 hours. I think there should me more exhibits like this one to let people know that Mindanao is not just a place with "many dangers" (as how Mindanao is usually framed or shown in media), but Mindanao is also a region in the Philippines with a variety of flamboyant, rainbow-touched, and regal cultures that have their roots in the Philippines' glorious pre-colonial past.