Writing this in the office. Because I don’t want to tie up the phone line, I typed up the entry first, then logged in quickly to post this.

Went to watch CSB Greenstage’s Salome last night, their first evening show. I had asked Nicco to get me in as an exchange deal for the Beauty and the Beast freebie I gave him last month. Hahaha, as it turned out, all production design and technical theater people can get in for free, plus last night’s show was invitational. Nikki was supposed to go with me, but she had to cancel that day.

The play was held in the auditorium, and when I got there, there was the usual table full of crackers and dip that Miss Cindy had set up. She did the same last March for Beauty and the Beast’s opening night. We joked that there was more variety for this show than the last one. More guests began to arrive, and no one seemed to approach the snack table, so Sir Zandro told me to be the first to go. Hahaha, so I did, but not much. Strangely, I wasn’t hungry, and to think that I’ve been eating more lately, but haven’t even had dinner yet. Oh well. Jeffrey, our Lou in last March’s show, was also there, operating a video camera for the play’s documentation. Then Ria and John emerged from the auditorium, already in full costume. My golly, I missed those two.

When the house opened, Mish, Aiko, Alex and I grabbed seats at the very front row. Hmmm... too close, but it will do. In a venue like that, I know I wouldn’t enjoy viewing a play with a few rows of heads in front of me, because the seats weren’t really raked that much.

Familiar faces abound in the play. There was Alvin, a prod kid from this year’s senior batch; Bryce, the guy who played the title role in last year’s production of Macbeth by Dulaang Filipino; Sir Dennis, our Jacob in Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Miss Magda from DF and who was supposed to be our Dulapil (Filip13) teacher 3 years ago; this other guy I saw in Stephen’s thesis production of Intersection (whoops, I forgot his name, sorry) who played the taong grasa, I think; and of course, there was the favorite burgeoning actor, Nicco, hahaha.

Jessica, the girl who played Salome that night, definitely fit the role. Bryce’s enunciation was better than the last time I saw him onstage. I guess English plays suit him better than the ones with Filipino dialogue. Sir Dennis was a pretty funny drunk antagonist, I’ll tell you that. I don’t know, but I think he’s actually having fun with his role and easily got comfortable, no matter how much lines he had. Miss Magda had this big stage presence, and was impressive, as always, but she could’ve easily downplayed the character a bit to suit the small venue. The two soldiers had a few noticeable things, like one had leather shoes instead of the army boots so his pants weren’t tucked in unlike the other guy. Then Alvin also wore a green baller ID bracelet on his right wrist while the other guy (who had a good voice, but was sort of eating up his words) had a wrist watch on his left hand. Then Nicco, ahehehe. I sort of already had an idea about his character, the gay page. But watching him was a lot different from just hearing from what he tells me. It was quite refreshing to see him in a role such as that. I may be biased, but he’s actually pretty good, having seen him grow as an actor in school. Miss Dayang and I even joked that he and Bryce looked good together, hahahaha! Then there were the Jews, consisting of Ria, John, and this other guy. They were amusing, and Ria was a natural, hahaha. For some reason, the way she spoke reminded me of Ate Tere.

Congrats to the cast and crew of Salome! Congrats to the director, Sir Jethro, as well!

Left CSB with Arnel, Miss Dayang and Sir Jed. By the way, Sir Jed’s going to be the musical director of the upcoming Noli Me Tangere, the Musical by Tanghalang Pilipino in CCP. Woohoo! I gotta catch that one.

Another play’s coming up this Saturday in DLSZ. It’s Lawyn’s thesis, You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Hehehe, can’t wait for this one. It’s one of my favorite musicals, and it’s going to be held at my alma mater, which I haven’t been to in quite a long time.

There seems to be a lot of shows coming up that I want to see. There’s also the restaging of AAI’s Once On This Island, Stages' Footloose, LSGH Cue Drama Club’s Aida (heck, with Peachy and Alys as title role, I really have to see this), and a restaging of Meynard’s Rep class’ Avenue Q Highlights.

Good luck to y’all!