Saturday, March 29, 2008
Jesus wants you to watch this musical (and so do I)
The gracious
Lorna Lopez invited me to the press conference of
Altar Boyz, the one production (I'll skip the lengthy synopsis and just tell you the short version -- it's about a Christian boy band) that convinced me to buy season tickets for this season of Repertory Philippines. I'd been nagging every theater geek I know, like, "EEEE LET'S WATCH ALTAR BOYZ" since I first heard it was coming to Manila. So when I got Lorna's email I was like "EEEE ALTAR BOYZ PRESSCON!" Haha. I'm so excitable.
EEEE NEXT PARAGRAPH! Sige na nga, I'll stop. Anyway, the press conference took place in MyCinema in Greenbelt 3, and it was catered by Bubba Gump, which I unabashedly took advantage of because OMG Bubba Gump. I laaav it. I didn't have to go through the "Waaah, I don't know anybodeeeh" wallflower wangsting process anymore because I was with my theater buddy Kathleen, and everyone else there was very friendly. I was first greeted by Rep veteran Joy Virata (which I proceeded to brag about to my dad when I got home), then I chatted a bit with some of the guests, including
AJ of BaklaAko.com, who once again looked
fieeerce, like, if only all men dressed like that! The world would be so much hipper. The room quieted down when
Gibbs Cadiz arrived, because he will always be the number one VIP in these things, I mean, even I get starstruck whenever I see him. Haha, go Gibbs! :D Not too long after that, the Altar Boyz themselves arrived, in full make-up and outfits, with a couple of them still smarting from getting their eyebrows threaded earlier in the day, to which I replied, "You get used to it. Eventually."
Sweet-faced TV actor
PJ Valerio is Matthew, the Timberlake-esque leader of the Altar Boyz (PJ, cutely: "He's sort of, um, the leader?"), and he totally looks like my
Spring Awakening crush, Matt Doyle, even sings like him a little bit, yiiiih! Charming, well-spoken
Red Concepcion, previously Rosencrantz in
Hamlet, plays Mark, the "sensitive" one -- read: the Carson Kressley, or, as the event host sighed in frustration, "Can we just say 'gay?'". Seriously, full-on fierceness in a pink shirt, tight jeans and bleached blonde hair, a la Jai Rodriguez in
Zanna, Don't!, and y'all know that musical was alllllll about dem gay peoplez.
Reuben "Ryu" Uy, who I got to talk to the most, is alternately kalog and siga and weirdo and sweet, and he plays Luke, the "bad boy" of the Altar Boyz (I know, right?). The Boyz claim that there isn't much of a difference between Ryu and Luke, and I kind of saw their point as I got to talk more with them, hee-hee. Not that it's a bad thing! Then there's
Reb Atadero, who, when I asked about how similiar he is to his character, Juan (as in, "Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
Juan," which will never ever not be funny) replied, "I guess I'm kind of a loverboy." Cutely corny pick-up lines and all. Hehe. But hey, corny boys are totally charming kaya! And rounding out God's Fab Five is the witty, infectiously hyper
Chevy Mercado as Abraham, who is not just "Abraham," but "Abraham -- he's Jewish!"
While chatting with the Boyz after their performance ("We are the Altar Boyz," "The Calling"), I candidly expressed that I was kind of sad to find out that Felix Rivera wasn't going to be one of the stars (remember
what I said last time?
"I can't wait for Altar Boyz
in April! If Felix Rivera is not one of the leads, I swear I will cry.") because I thought he would be so perfect for this musical, and then they were like "Okay, we're leaving, she doesn't want us here!" sabay getting
this close to walking out, which is why the previous paragraph is peppered with shining compliments for the Boyz. Now you know. Haha. But no, really, you're all very awesome! Promise! =D
You'd think that I would have been reduced to an unintelligible pile of squee in the presence of such cute guys (there ha, I said you were cute!), but PJ, Red, Reuben, Reb and Chevy were all so friendly that all the guests, myself included, felt comfortable talking to them. I realized then that
Jammoe (you should have been there!) was right when she told me that theater actors were surprisingly sweet and humble. Conniving
bastards. :)
Kathleen and I had to leave early because she had to meet with her thesis coach, but we both had a great time. Once we left MyCinema, I turned to her and squealed, "Wasn't this AWESOME?" although to avoid sounding too lame-o, I left out the
And we got freebies, yaaay -- they're my favorite part of press conferences! that continued in my head.
Needless to say, I'm even more psyched for
Altar Boyz than I was before, and trust me, these Boyz are going to wow you. I remember hearing Chevy say, "I could get used to this!" while they were having their pictures taken. And all I can say to that is: you'd better. :D
I'll be watching the dress rehearsal on April 3 since Lorna was kind enough to invite me -- thank you, you rock! -- and I'm thinking that the follow-up title for the review would be, "Jesus Approves of This Musical." (Although if things don't go as I'm expecting they will, that title might just be "Jesus Says 'Never Mind.'")
Altar Boyz plays at the Onstage Theater, Greenbelt 1 from April 4 to 27, 2008. Shows on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00pm with Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:30pm. Tickets are at Php550, Php350, and Php 250. For tickets, reservations, and information call the Rep office at 8870710 or Ticketworld at 891999. You may also log on to the Repertory Philippines website or the Ticketworld website. Tickets are also available at the REP office located at 2316 Pasong Tamo Extension, Makati City and at the gate before every performance.
