Tuesday, June 03, 2008
That warm, fuzzy feeling
Ha, get it? Because it's "Spread the fuzz," and...oh, never mind.
Avenue Q will always hold a special place in my heart, since it is the source of a great deal of memories for me: it served as my Micmac-recommended form of escapism back in September '07, when I was going through some tough times in my personal life; it started my freakazoid infatuation-slash-obsession with somebody everyone knows at this point, heh-heh; it was my very first "real" theater show (meaning, something other than high school productions), kick-starting my torrid love affair with Pinoy-staged musicals; and of course, it was one of my favorite parts of turning 18. So, despite the fact that April 2008 onwards has been one ginormous financial enema for me, with all of the shopping and Makati gimiks -- thanks a lot, Altar Boyz -- I didn't think twice about reserving front row seats for myself and my friends.
On June 2, I was one of the lucky five people who got an inside look at the rehearsal process, as well as an interview and performances from the current Avenue Q cast, all thanks to, again, the magnificent Lorna Lopez, whom I've dubbed my personal fairy godmother. Yes, I have a rolodex of glowing adjectives to describe her in future blog posts. The benevolent Lorna Lopez. The omnipotent Lorna Lopez. Hee.
I, on the other hand, am the ubiquitous Julie, where "ubiquitous" is a euphemism for "stalkerish." I showed up early at the rehearsal venue in Kalayaan since I was worried that I might, as usual for a navigational retard like me, get lost along the way, so I was better off heading there ahead of schedule. Of course, who's the first person I see there but the Golden Boy himself? I was like, God damn it. Lorna had pointed out the dichotomy between my real life persona, who is poised and "sophisticated" daw (nakanams!), and my online persona, who is a neurotic, excitable fangirl. And it's true, the voice in my head is very screamo hyperactive as compared to my "oh, hello there" facade, as demonstrated here, when he walked into the room:
Julie: *nervous grin*
Felix Rivera, bemused: "Hello."
Julie: *small wave*
Julie's inner monologue:
Oh my shet what?! He's only seen me at the lobby in like every Altar Boyz show and then at the Avenue Q stagedoor, both times, and then there was that whole Pancake House thing, ang stalker ko tuloy tignan noooo! Julie, you gigantic loser! Run and hide! Frick! The self-hatred, it burns.
I spent the next half-hour talking shop with the effervescent (woot!) Lorna and Dr. Fred of St. Luke's, and since we were all theater lovers, I never ran out of things to talk about. I showed Dr. Fred my cellphone pics with the Altar Boyz (Reuben: "Whoa, sabog" Ako: *picture ulit* Reuben: "Sabog pa rin eh!" Ako: "Pwede na yaaan"). We were then ushered into the studio at around noon.
The cast performed the Avenue Q theme song, "What Do You Do with a B.A. in English?", "The More You Ruv Someone" and "If You Were Gay" (a song I've enthusiastically belted to my brother countless times). I'm grinning the whole time, of course, and restraining myself from lip-synching because I don't think very highly of audience members who lip-synch during theater performances. Even though I'm so totally guilty. :P The vivacious (adjective number five, ding-ding-ding!) Lorna led off the Q and A portion, and I got to see the established camaraderie among the cast members firsthand. The Avenue Q cast was more subdued than the rambunctious Altar Boyz were at the presscon, but then again, it's not a fair comparison because they were, you know, Boyz. With a Z. It's always nice, though, when a cast gels together as well as the Avenue Q gang did, rather than getting all Grey's Anatomy on each other. Watching them made me LSS Chevy Mercado's version of that song about "God's great...family."
We got to mingle after the program over Krispy Kremes, although apparently there's some forbidden love affair going on with Felix Rivera and Krispy Kreme donuts. I asked Joel Trinidad later why everyone was like "No, Felix, you can't have them, go sit in the corner" and it turns out that he gets really, crazily wired after one Krispy Kreme. (Which I would love to have seen.) Probably like what happened to non-coffee-drinking me when I forced myself to down a Praline Mocha at Starbucks as an attempt to keep myself awake through the shift. On an empty stomach. I was jumping around and getting hand tremors and doubling over in pain and yelling "Naiihi akoooooooh!" continually without ever making any attempt to go to the bathroom. I have a coffee-stained purple shirt as a souvenir.
This time, I'm bringing a bottle of Lipovitan to work, because I'm really stupid that way.
At this rate, it'll be magic mushrooms at the end of the month.
But I digress. Anyway, I've finally figured out my approach to the schmoozing portion of press conferences: I tend to pick just one person I'm comfortable with, and then stick with him/her. I always get stutter-y in roundtable discussions (unless everyone else is shy, at which point I turn into Ally McBeal with my incessant babbling), but I don't freak out as much with one-on-ones. At the Constantine Maroulis and Stonefree presscons, I stuck by my co-writer Ivy; Theater Talk, I was with Walter and Shari the whole time -- after I'd finally gotten over the wallflower-texting-in-the-corner phase; at the Altar Boyz presscon, chatted with the very chattable and sabogaloids Reuben. Did I mention that he gave me advice about my Theater Dreamboy once? "Ganito lang sabihin mo: 'Pa-feel naman ng pecs mo.'" =)))))
I mean, it's not a very journalist-y habit, but screw it. I'm a teenager with a blog, not a Reuters correspondent.
After standing around for a while watching Aiza Seguerra get interviewed, I sat down on the floor next to Joel Trinidad, who was Our Collective Favorite from last December's run -- although Kalalz also has an unbridled love of Frenchie Dy! -- and admitted that I was doing the whole nod-and-smile-even-though-I-have-no-idea-what-they're-talking-about schtick, an art I perfected in Math class. Joel, of course, was just as cool, nice and funny as I'd expected. He coaxed me into a Krispy Kreme even though I'd already brushed my teeth and wasn't really that hungry, because it took me that long to realize that I'd never tried a Krispy Kreme before (the local one, anyway), so I was like what the hell, why not, I'll have just the one. (...And Julie was hooked for life. Damn you, Joel Trinidad.) Then we talked about scriptwriting, Repertory's Mulan Jr., the call center industry, all sorts of writer-y things, How I Met Your Mother, and the astonishing talent of Red Concepcion. Hahahahaha, hi Red! :P
I found Joel to be the most approachable because I remember him as being the nicest guy in the cast when we stagedoored on my birthday. See, it's a huge thing for theater fans when the actor is super nice to you at stage door, which explains why Spring Awakening's Jonathan Groff and John Gallagher Jr. are as beloved as they are -- they're not just like, "Oh, hi, thanks for watching, sure, I'll sign your program," but they strike up conversations with all of the fans, and they even remember your name when you come back. Talented as they are, Jonathan B. Wright and Lea Michele aren't as popular for that very reason (he's not too chatty, she often skips stagedoor altogether). It helps the actors in the long run, too, because establishing an emotional investment would make the fan more eager to support the actor. Of course you'd want them to do well, they were nice to you! I'm always enthusiastic about singing Red and Reuben's praises to people, and dragging all barkadas along to see Altar Boyz, because, in addition to actually deserving that acclaim based on their talent alone, they were just the coolest guys at the OnStage lobby. You'd never feel, like, "Oh, maybe I'm being massively annoying already, I should probably go" when you're talking to them. And would you believe I was dorky enough to yell "HOMAYGAD CRIS VILLONCO ADDED ME TO MULTIPLY!" to my co-workers at three in the morning? Hee. Essentially, being ma-PR is definitely an asset, not just for actors, but for anyone.
In that vein: Joel Trinidad is really awesome and talented and witty, you guys! Watch Avenue Q! Woot!
Since I spent the rest of the hour chatting with Joel and savoring the Krispy Kreme donut, I didn't get to talk with the other cast members, so I won't be able to tell you much about them other than that, judging from the interview and performances, they're incredibly talented and sweet. Knowing me, the first question on friends' minds would be "Soooo, how'd it go with Papa Felix, hmm?" And, you know, I did walk into the building with a whole "I'm so not a stalker!" speech prepared, but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'm always going to be a blushing, tongue-tied schoolgirl around this Mega-Talented and Gwapo Actor, and I'm perfectly okay with that. :) I mean, I've never been coherent around anyone I ever had a thing for, anyway, why start now? I'll admire from afar. I'm the nerdy, gawky George O'Malley to his generally oblivious, slightly uncomfortable Meredith Grey. Haha. :P
Took the elevator down with Lorna and Fred, leaving the studio with a link to Joel's Multiply (he's a hilarious writer, check out his blog!), a bright grin, and a mental note to hunt down all Krispy Kreme branches.
I also left with the knowledge that I was completely screwed, since I had a shift later on that night. I wasn't approved for a vacation leave because HSBC doesn't care as much about Avenue Q as I do *sigh*, so I would probably be falling asleep at the desk again. But that's okay, I have my little bottle of Lipovitan!
...Or would a Krispy Kreme donut be more effective?
