Lugging Baggage and Finding my Inner Clown

First off, belated Happy Canada Day! I hope your Canada Day weekend was fun and safe. My Canada Day weekend was relatively chaotic as my projects are quickly closing in.

The Mobistar Singing Contest is coming very soon. I will be asking everyone for help and support. We’re filming the Grand Finals on July 20th. The voting period will come sometime around the last week of July-1st week of August. And the grand finals result will be announced live in Ontario Place on the 16th. I’ll give more info later on… but first things first…

My first Toronto Fringe Festival show opens tonight!

And guess what? Last Saturday, "Baggage" was cited as one of the top 5 must see shows in the Fringe this year in a National Post article interviewing theatre veteran and Fringe President Derrick Chua.

Even the more reason for all of us to be proud of these talented group of young Filipino-Canadian playwrights and actors. Please come and support us. For me, its a great honor playing with the members of the Pulang Maleta Collective. I was first introduced to Filipino Theatre here in Canada through Carlos Bulosan Cultural Workshop (now called the Carlos Bulosan Theatre Collective). Pulang Maleta is the little sister of CBT, who shares the same vision as telling our stories in our voice within the Filipino-Canadian community.

5 very talented playwrights collaborated in creating this wicked show of 5 short plays interconnecting with each other. "Claim Your Baggage"  (by Christine Mangosing ) is a funny story about transplanted Filipinos and cultural shame. "Maria" (by Aura Carcueva) is a powerful story about a family struggling with familial obligations in the midst of a young woman leaving for Canada as a mail-order bride.  "Not My Exotic" (by Darrel Gamotin) gives a vouyeristic point of view on a one-night rendezvous that unravels into something more. "Edge of the Family" (by Vincent Galvez) paints the uncertainties of a Filipino crime syndicate family’s daughter, who needs to make an important decision. "Touch" (Reese Baguio) is a hilarious story about a young woman struggling against her conservative Filipino Catholic upbringing as she enters the world as a new lesbian.

Baggage will be playing, starting tonight, July 2 and will be playing until July 13 (except Monday, no show on Monday). All weekday shows are @ 8PM and weekend shows are @ 2:30 PM. We’ll be at the Kapisanan Philipine Centre @ 197 Augusta St (Augusta and Dundas). Tickets are available through the Toronto Fringe Festival ( www.fringetoronto.com; 416-966-1062) or at the door. But please come on time. Late comers will not be admitted.

Then the weekend after that, will debut my first (and hopefully not my last) attempt into full blown comedy, as Crossroads Theatre Project’s "Clown the Musical".

I’ve always enjoyed Vinnie Sestito’s summer workshops and I felt that I’ve learned treasures of knowledge to incorporate in my performance from it. This year is no exception. And it’s a little terrifying for me too, since I’ve never really ventured into straight comedy. I mean, I’ve been in shows that had comedic elements,  but not like this… not JUST comedy… CLOWN!

The premise is, a group of clowns (literally) think that they’re really good performers. So they decided to put together a theatre company… eventhough they know nothing about theatre or opera whatsoever! I highly recommend that people brace themselves from ultimate lunacy. This group is absolutely hilarious. As in "I-just-peed-in-my-pants-my-belly-hurts-that-it-feels-like-an-alien-will-burst-out-any-minute-now" hilarious.

And of course what I particularly love about Vinnie and Gwyneth is how they encourage and nurture each and every group member’s uniqueness to enhance their performance.And since I am the sole Filipino member of the group… you’re sure to expect a touch of Filipino in the show. ^_^. 

"Clown the Musical" will show for 3 nights only! July 17-19th, 8 PM @ the Winchester Street Theatre, 80 Winchester St (Winchester and Parliament, south of Wellesley). Tickets are $20 (adults), $18 (seniors/students). (www.alexandersingers.com; 416-781-9253; sestito@rogers.com)

I hope to see everyone there!