Get ready for your weekly Hogi update, hahaha. But never fear, this won't be as long as you think.


Thursday, July 13

Day one of The King and I dance auditions. Ate Sally and I went to the office an hour early to get everything ready, then we went to Steps Dance Studio at around 9 to help set things up along with Dobi. We also finally got to meet Susi, the choreogapher, along with her husband Eric.

Few people than expected had signed up and auditioned that day. But I guess it was because of the darn rain.


Friday, July 14

Day Two was much better. More dancers had signed up, including Santi, yay! Hahaha, finally, one of my recruits had decided to audition. While their batch was still in the studio, some of the people who auditioned from the day before had arrived and we watched the others through the studio door's glass window.

More dancing after lunch, including the ones that had auditioned during the morning. They had weeded everyone out, then told them to come back on Monday.

Met up with Mish during the evening. It was our sushi night, yay! Hahaha, we went to Teriyaki Boy and ordered a whole lot of food until we were more than stuffed. Then we burned what we ate at Timezone.


Saturday, July 15

Spent most of the day in my room, sleeping in, because I haven't done that in ages. By mid-afternoon, I left for CCP to meet with Tin and Julia at Starbucks Harbour Square. We decided to meet before heading for the Virgin Labfest so we can have time to talk. What was amusing was that even though no one else had planned it, Betty and Jonna (with Harold) had suddenly appeared at Starbucks. And Michelle was also there when we got to the theater, as well as Fiancee and Gem.

The only thing I didn't enjoy about the whole thing was our location. We were seated right next to extreme stage left, giving us a lousy view of some of the actors that were facing downstage. Anyway. The featured plays were Pag-Uwi, Pag Undas, Dragon's Breath and The Palanca In My Mind. Hahaha, I was intrigued by the first play ever since Nicco first brought it up (gee, why he mentioned it, I have no idea why, wahehehe). I really would've enjoyed it better if it weren't for the darn view I got of Chromewell and Carmella. Dragon's Breath was fine, and I could even hear Betty behind me chuckling because she could understand all the Chinese words uttered all throughout the play. And of course, there was The Palanca In My Mind, featuring Wenah, Bong, Nicco, Anna, Tara, Jen, Je and the rest of of TP. They were hilarious! They simulated this FX taxi all throughout the show, and it would shift to something from the mind of Dory (played by Wenah). I still can't forget that darn Miss Saigon parody with Bong in that ridiculous costume with the xylophone, and Nicco as a gay director that reminded me of Sir Jethro.

Oh yeah, something was bothering us the whole time we were there at CCP. Miss Tess was sort of brooding because we didn't get to watch her show last Sunday. Waaah...

After the show, we congratulated Nicco (Betty even gave him a fortune plant, hahaha) and the rest of the cast, then we headed for Harbour Square to eat at Pancake House. Pigged out and talked, with Nicco stopping by for a while before he left to meet the rest of the cast to go to Penguin.


Sunday, July 16

Back to CCP to catch the matinee of the last plays of the Labfest. Mimay and I hung around the LT lobby for a while, just sitting on the floor, and Ate Naomi even joined us as well until it was time to fall in line to go in. Found Fiancee and Betty near the entrance, and we all went inside the theater together. Hahaha, I firmly told them that I didn't want to sit at the area where we were the day before, so we opted for seats on a riser that directly faced the stage.

The first play, Payb-Siks, featured Arnold Reyes and Jake Macapagal. Ahahaha, I just have to say, I was uber grateful for the seats we chose. 'Nuff said, hehe. Though Jake's voice could use a little work. Then came Palabas/Exit, which was kinda draggy. Oh well. The best really came last. It was Hubad, featuring Nonie Buencamino and Irma Adlawan. They were funny, they were great! I loved their performance.

Once again, after the show, Mimay, Betty, Michelle and I were back at Pancake House, hehehe. We didn't stay long though, because everyone had other stuff to do. I, on the other hand, opted to stick around Starbucks in Taft to chat with Tin for a while before I headed home.


Monday, July 17

King and I callback auditions! Dancers were up first during the morning, in small groups, and everything went really fast. Even though the auditions flew quickly, we were still running late if we referred to the schedule. After a quick lunch, it was time for the actors callbacks, beginning with Calvin, John and Raymund, then the women. Oh my, just listening to May Bayot... huwaw. I loved how she sang Once on This Island's "Human Heart". Go Lady Thiang! Hahaha...

After work, Nicco and I met up at Makati Cinema Square because he had to buy tights and ballet shoes. During the whole time we were there, and as we walked back to Glorietta, he had quite a story to tell, hahahahaha. Though I wonder how this story will turn out. Paging Nicco... You lifted the "no blogging rule," right? Wahehehe...

Anyway, we walked all the way to the cinemas, and decided to watch United 93. To kill time before the flick, it was off to Timezone, as usual, hehehe. We even ran into Je and Lau with Eula while we were about to get tickets. My golly, the movie? It left me thinking, "What if???" What if the passengers had started thinking earlier about the bomb and how to get to the cockpit? Oh well.

My hands are getting tired. I'm out for now.