Sitting in the office right now by my lonesome. Was pretty busy earlier this afternoon, and because it’s a little slow right now, I thought I’d make use of this time to blog. Just type and then quickly log in to post this entry.

So yeah, I’m still alive. I’m just not online as often as before because my computer’s still busted, and I still have to go to Internet cafes just to check my email. So what have I been up to lately? Nothing much, except for a few highlights. Heck, I just came from Gloria Jeans Coffee at The Fort to deliver 30 iced mochas to the rehearsal.

Saturday, May 28

The day of Ave. Q Highlights, Peachy’s Rep workshop showcase. Their call time wasn’t until 9 in the morning, so I met up with her and Tricia at McDo near Greenbelt 1 for breakfast before I had to go to work. Walked with them until Onstage where the rest of their friends were setting up at the lobby then off I went to the office.

After work, I headed back to Onstage. When I was entering the theater, Meynard’s angry voice filled the house. Yikes. So I slowly crept inside. He passed by me with a brief but calm hello before I settled in one of the seats in the 2nd row.

I got to watch them run through "The Money Song". They were just doing stage adjustment then, and I just sat through until they were done adjusting and fixing the curtain call. They were given a pretty long lunch break before they do their first and only dress-tech, so I hung around in the girls’ dressing room with Peachy and Tricia. I wasn’t really properly introduced to most of the people in the cast (heck, I know only a handful, not counting Kevin) when I attended one of their rehearsals, so I got to meet them then. Most of them looked at me and said hi before they knew who I was. Hahaha, Peachy said that they probably thought that I was either their age or I used to be in one of the classes. Trixie (one of the Christmas Eves) was pretty funny. Peachy and I were laughing at something and then there was this abrupt moment of silence when Trixie passed by. When I looked over my shoulder, she was leaning over me to buss my cheek but had forgotten my name, and I had this question mark on my face because I didn’t know whether to say hello or not. Hahahaha...

Anyway, at around 3:30 or so, Meynard started calling everyone through his mic so the lapels can be distributed. Huwaw, 22 mics. No hassles in mic traffic for them, rawr. Then everyone changed into their costumes for the DTR as I settled in one of the orchestra seats to watch.

Hahaha, I was surprised to see extra characters in the play. There was a Kermit the Frog and a Grover puppet (renamed Hermit the Toad and Rover, respectively), a huge Audrey II costume and 2 little Audrey II puppets, a huge purple bear with a muzzle and chain, and even Pinocchio made an appearance near the end.

They began the DTR twice, because there was a lot of feedback during the first couple of scenes. They had to fix the amps and sound of the band, and also did a mic check, which they should have done before they started the DTR.

After the DTR, company call as usual and a prayer, then everyone went to the dressing rooms to get ready. I was still sitting there in the audience, and when Meynard was talking to the ushers, he looked at me and said, "Hogi, can you help us usher?" I obliged, because I already did it last year.

The little problem about ushering this year was that (no offense to him), Meynard wasn’t as organized as Jeremy was. Last year, Jeremy was co-teacher to Meynard’s class and he got to label each of the reserved seats to each sponsor. This year, Meynard just got the Rep people to put gold sashes on the orchestra center seats for the kids’ parents, and told me where the seats reserved for sponsors were. So I had to guard those seats and check if people’s tickets were labeled for those rows. Apparently there was a mix-up in the seating, because a group (some kid’s family) had declared that they should follow the seats that matched with the tickets, and wanted this whole row of people to move. But that other group was happy with their seats and didn’t want to move anymore. So that left the first group complaining to Meynard, who was trying to mix and match seats for them. Suddenly he said that he’s still thinking of where to place them, and then just went to the tech booth. I had to deal with the family until they finally settled to sit in separate seats. Happy with that, I went to sit in my own row that I reserved, along with Mish, Patti, Drei, Nikki and Remus.

Hehehe, I kept myself from singing or even humming the song numbers when the theme song began. The introduction and spiels with the Hermit and Rover puppets made up for the scenes in between the song numbers, so they claimed it was the "watered-down version of the musical," with cuss words "bleeped out" by sound effects.

For those who didn’t get to watch, each puppet and character was performed by at least 2 people. I say "at least" because Kate Monster was performed by around 5 or 6 girls. Peachy was one of the Gary Colemans, alternating with Cherise. Hahaha, Peach had this trademark "Superman-slash-Peter-Pan" pose as Gary. Trixie looked so much like Krissy even when she was made up as the Japanese Christmas Eve. She was cute, though; one of my favorites. Listening to Tricia as Kate was like listening to the recording. Even the guy playing Brian, except for his enunciation, and his movements were so restrained. The "If You Were Gay" number had improved compared to the last time I saw it. The end of "Mix Tape" had this cute moment between Kate and Princeton, hahaha! And that Trekkie Monster was a hoot. He was so makulit that he became cute, specially in "The Internet Is For Porn." And I just loved Eena and Eina’s rendition of "Special," though Eina’s high parts in the encore sort of lost its volume. My golly, Kevin’s rendition of "Fantasies Come True" was hilarious, because he had to dance with the purple bear with the muzzle. And in "The Money Song," I was happy enough to slip something in Cherise’s hat (she was the easiest target) when the ensemble suddenly broke the 4th wall (only Hermit and Rover were doing so during the entire show) and actually went to the audience to ask for money. But don’t worry, the money isn’t for them; It’s for the Chosen Children in Cavite. And the resolution between Rod and Nicky was hilarious, because the boyfriend Nicky found for Rod turned out to be the Rover puppet. And I couldn’t help it, I was already singing along with the cast during "For Now."

Congrats to Ave. Q Highlights! You guys pulled it off well!


Sunday, May 29

Watched Once On This Island again with Krystal, Karen and Iko. The Sunday matinee was supposed to be the closing show, but then I found out that they were extending until the evening. Oh well. Anyway, while we waited for the long line to inch forward, we hung out in front of the entrance. Rony passed by us and then had a picture taken with us. Hahaha, he was trying to take pictures of everything in sight because he was leaving for Hong Kong real soon. A little chit-chat with us then he excused himself, taking a picture of himself with two girls in line. Then when he returned to us...

Rony: Actually I don’t know them; I just wanted a picture taken with them.

Hahaha! Nah, he knew those girls from a class before. I just wanted to write that down because it was so funny how he said it.

Our seats were on the 2nd row of the loge section, which was pretty good, except for the darn bar that was sort of blocking our view. Well, not really, just part of the apron. Other than that, it was fine.

Once again, Raki was Ti Moune, and Bito was Asaka. And I still couldn’t stop giggling every time Jeffrey Hidalgo crossed the stage in "Waiting For Life." And as for "Forever Yours," his voice was still too pop. Rawr. May Bayot was pretty funny, though. As Mama Euralie, she was compassionate. But in "Mama Will Provide," she had this very funny smile that made me want to roll on the floor laughing. Another was Mike as the stern guard at the gate. When Tita Menchu as Erzulie approached him, his expression turned from stern to this geeky smile as he let Ti moune enter. Hahahaha! My golly, speaking of Tita Menchu, no matter what you put her in, she still looks beautiful. Bito, as usual, was amazing. "Mama Will Provide" was good, but her mic went out earlier than it was supposed to be. Grrr… And I don’t know why, but I actually had tears in my eyes when Ti Moune and Daniel saw each other when he and Andrea were finally wed.

Anyway, I had no regrets that I didn’t get to watch Kristian Lei and Radha perform as Ti Moune and Asaka. After the curtain call, Bart Guingona got them to sing an encore, which was a song that was taken out from the musical. I forgot what the title was. "Come Down From The Tree," I think. Where was it supposed to be again?

After the show, all four of us went backstage to the dressing rooms. Hahaha, Pio was at the backstage entrance when we went through, and what’s new, he messed up my hair, like he always does when he sees me. Said hi to Bito backstage. Man, she was great. And without fail, she called me Carmichael. Yes, as in Hoagie Carmichael, her favorite musician. When Jett greeted me, she said, "That’s Carmichael." Nyak, hahaha. And she almost introduced me as that to Radha. I’ve worked with the latter once in an Akafellas concert, but I doubt she’d remember that.

Here’s some more news about the show. Even though Once On This Island closed last night, there will be a rerun in August!