Here are a couple of links reviewing last week’s performance of Miss Saigon! (Click on the links to read the full review). If you haven’t seen it yet, its not too late to catch one of the five remaining shows! More  reviews to follow…

1. BroadwayWorld.Com Toronto

" Miss Saigon: You Haven’t Seen "The Engineer" Until You’ve Seen This Blow-away Performance!"

2. Ontario Arts Review

"Miss Saigon, an emotional journey"

3.The Mississauga News

"Miss Saigon: It sounds like a hit"

… and I’m not just talking out of context here!

Alvin just forwarded me an e-mail from a mutual old colleague of ours who said that she saw yesterday’s matinee show only after persistently calling the box office and being put on hold before securing the last ticket. And on a side note… my mom’s friend was not able to get tickets from the box office, but apparently there was someone scalping tickets outside! My sister thinks that it’s probably someone who had extra tickets because his friends didn’t show up… It just so happened that he had 7 extra tickets… and was selling it for an inflated price.

Can you imagine? A scalper? For a community theatre production?

I’m really impressed by the drawing power of this show. It was a lot of hard work with juggling schedules and putting the show together. But now that it’s halfway through the run, I can proudly say that it was all worth the stress and hassles that go hand-in-hand with working in a production.

It was an agonizing decision to chose Miss Saigon over Alexander Singers this year, but now I know I made the right choice. Miss Saigon pushed me to go beyond my comfort zone as an actor (and possibly my father’s comfort zone as well as a spectator… ^_^.) . After doing Miss Saigon, I think I’m ready to seriously tackle Principal roles.

Yeah… after saying that I’m going to be ready for a looooong vacation from acting after doing Miss Saigon. Ironically, now that the run is halfway done, I’m looking forward to do more productions! I think the acting bug’s bite is too potent to ignore.

I’m eyeing two productions right now. Hopefully I’ll be able to secure a principal role in at least one of them. I really would love to stretch my wings. Prior to joining non-Filipino groups, I’ve always had lead and principal roles (even back in the Philippines). It’s quite an adjustment… but then again, most of them are straight plays. Musicals are another genre all together! (There’s also the fact that I’m a pathetic dancer) ^_^. What sucks about musical theatre is that in order to excell, you really need to be a triple threat.  And unfortunately, dancing in my Achilles Heel.

Anywayz… there are five more shows to go followed by a few months of quiet before I jump into the insanity once again!

The date: March 27, 2008
The time: 8 PM
The place: Meadovale Theatre, Mississauga
The mission: OPENING NIGHT!!!!!

There were a hitches here and there… but we survived! With a standing ovation to boot! Words cannot describe how proud I am to be part of this production. Yes there were problems and complaints here and there… but in the end, it’s really remarkable to see how people put their personal issues aside for the sake of really putting together a spectacular show!

I’m so impressed with the cast and production crew… and most especially the tech crew! MAN! If for some reason or other, I end up producing a show or having a concert of some sort… I WANT THAT CREW! (^O^)

Anywayz, one show down and nine more to go. My bestfriends Jade and Saige are coming to the show tonight. I haven’t seen them in quite a while because of rehearsals and such. So it will be totally awesome to see them. My family and Kuya Deo from the radio station are watching the matinee show tomorrow. Also, a colleague at work with his mother and girlfriend… GAH! I hope they’re not seated at the front It’ll feel awkward if I see their shocked faces in the front row… Though I’m sure they’ll probably not recognize me or simply go in denial when they see me in my Ho’ Mama clothes. ^_^;

Anywayz… Gotta get pumped up for show #2 tonight!

If you haven’t gotten tickets yet, its not too late!

One day more… one day more and Miss Saigon Mississauga launches tomorrow night! It’s a terrifying and exciting notion!

To be entirely honest, the idea behind the story of Miss Saigon is not really in-line with my personal principles. I mean, yeah… Miss Saigon is instrumental to bringing a lot of othewise overlooked Asian actors in mainstream theatre. But in a lot of ways, Miss Saigon, also perpetuates in enhancing the Asian stereotype. The western ideology that of that fragile exotic Asian flower that needs to be rescued by a white American man in shining armor who’s not faithful to her. Though in the end, the servile Asian girl still remains true to her unfaithful love.

It’s really an awful idea in a emotionally charged story… but unfortunately, this is also one of the reasons why plays like Miss Saigon needs to be told. Because as much as it enhances the fragile Asian girl stereotype that needs to be rescued by a strong white American, that poor fragile Asian girl also happens to be real.

You don’t need to look back in the Vietnam war, or Korean war, or World War 2 to realize that the Kims and Gigis in Asia are still very much alive. They’re still dancing in nightclubs and brothels hoping that one of these dirty old white men would actually rescue them from poverty, marry them and bring them to America. Some of them are even as young as twelve, thirteen, fourteen years old. I broke down in tears when I watched this documentary where a pretty Filipina "exotic dancer" who recalls the with a matter-of-fact expression of how she lost her viginity to a 50-year-old American patron when she first started dancing when she was twelve.

It wasn’t so much what happened to her that bothered me. It was how she and the other girls around her looked at what happened to them as a normal part of their life. And the idea that more girls will follow them and continue to look at that kind of life as normal.

Last night, we did a run of Kim’s Nightmare and finally ran the scene with the helicopter and the lights, the fences… and I remembered that documentary and those girls. It’s really funny how all those war stories and history stuff and acting exercises… they didn’t really help me in putting myself on the shoes of those Vietamese left behind in Vietnam that day when the US fled.

It wasn’t Vietnam in the 1970’s that made Miss Saigon real to me.

It was Manila in the Philippines and the year 2005.

It was the image of those young pretty girls in the former Clark Airbase clubs. Not once did they show them despairing in that documentary. They were laughing, smiling like any regular teenager or young woman you’d see in the streets. Eventhough some of them are ridded with sexually transmitted diseases and AIDs and are most likely to die before they turn 25. And they dance and sell sex so their families would have something to eat, and their little sisters and daughters will be able to go to school, have a good job, and not go through what they’re going through. All of them, despite the horrible fate they have, are still full of hope that their current American boyfriend would eventually marry them and take them to a better life in America.

Then I saw the helicopter lifting off and leaving the hopes of these smiling girls behind…

That gives you an idea of how emotionally intense this production has been for me. That’s also the main reason why I don’t feel like celebrating after rehearsals. I never really shared this with anyone in the cast, but I’m sharing it with you guys because as I mentioned earlier…

Yes, Miss Saigon is a solid show. The current CCMP cast and crew are full of passion and talent and it will really be a shame to miss watching these talented group of people in this amazing show.

But in my personal opinion, Miss Saigon is a story that needs to be told. For me it’s not really about the Madame Butterfly plot, or the haunting ballads, or the special effects.

Eventhough its just for one brief moment, Miss Saigon gave a face and a voice to the Kims and Gigis of the poor nations of the world on mainstream theatre.

Miss Saigon will be playing Mar, 27- April 5 @ the Meadowvale Theatre. Please see http://www.ccmp-music.com/ for details. And I really do hope to see you there!

Lotsaluv,

Regina

I did a Dungeon and Dragons survey just for fun and ended up with this category! It’s rather interesting. ^_^.

Lawful Good Human Sorcerer (5th Level)

Ability Scores:
Strength-   11
Dexterity-   12
Constitution-   15
Intelligence-   15
Wisdom-   16
Charisma-   16

Alignment:
Lawful Good-
A lawful good character acts as a good person is expected or required
to act. He combines a commitment to oppose evil with the discipline to
fight relentlessly. He tells the truth, keeps his word, helps those in
need, and speaks out against injustice. A lawful good character hates
to see the guilty go unpunished. Lawful good is the best alignment you
can be because it combines honor and compassion. However, lawful good
can be a dangerous alignment because it restricts freedom and
criminalizes self-interest.

Race:
Humans are
the most adaptable of the common races. Short generations and a
penchant for migration and conquest have made them physically diverse
as well. Humans are often unorthodox in their dress, sporting unusual
hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, and the like.

Class:
Sorcerers-
Sorcerers are arcane spellcasters who manipulate magic energy with
imagination and talent rather than studious discipline. They have no
books, no mentors, no theories just raw power that they direct at will.
Sorcerers know fewer spells than wizards do and acquire them more
slowly, but they can cast individual spells more often and have no need
to prepare their incantations ahead of time. Also unlike wizards,
sorcerers cannot specialize in a school of magic. Since sorcerers gain
their powers without undergoing the years of rigorous study that
wizards go through, they have more time to learn fighting skills and
are proficient with simple weapons. Charisma is very important for
sorcerers; the higher their value in this ability, the higher the spell
level they can cast.

Find
out What Kind of Dungeons and Dragons Character Would You
Be? courtesy of Easydamus (e-mail)

I took this random quiz in Facebook just for fun. It was called "How Filipino are you?"  I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised that after I took the quiz, I got the label "Definietly not a Flip". Why? Because the questions asked are all what are believed to be general stereotypical Filipino  traits. Such as the practice of Filipino Time, the practice of giving  nicknames to relatives like "Girlie" or "Ling -ling" or "Bobot", or having three pairs of tsinelas at your door step or having a supply of frozen lumpia in the freezer.

I understand that there’s some truth in them, and the quiz is just for fun… but it also reminded me… and this is not just in Filipino culture, but in all ethnicities in general… that the thing that we seem to prize as our "identity" are traits that don’t necessarily show us in a positive light.

Even though it was meant to be just for fun, and I expected the answer since I answered the questions honestly, it kind of hurt to have the  result that Regina is "truly not a Flip". And it really made me wonder…

Is that what all there is to it? Are all these stereotypical Filipino traits that really define me as Filipino?

Why is it that when you meet someone whom you haven’t seen in a while, makes a comment how good you looked and notices that you lost a bit of weight follows up with and/or asks the question: "It must be because you have a new boyfriend.  Do you have a new boyfriend?"

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT ALL ABOUT?

Is our society still so influenced by such outdated beliefs that we still think that a woman only looks pretty because of a man? Doesn’t changing one’s lifestyle and adopting a healthy diet and regular exercise count? Or being involved in a hobby or activity that refreshes you after work? Or a woman deciding that she just wants to look pretty for the hell of it?

And that is my short random musing for the day…   

As Valentine’s Day approaches, I once again fall into my yearly reflection on this day… and is surprised to realize how my feelings for this day evolved as the years passed.

When I was in elementary school, Valentines Day meant making heart-shaped cards or other crafts to give to Mom & Dad. Maybe sneak in a card or candy to the boy (or girl) you like… because if any of the other kids knew, you know the "eeewww" factor comes into play and you never hear the end of it.

I hated Valentines day when I was in elementary school. Mainly because my classmates made such a big deal of it. And the fact that the boy I liked was interested in another girl… but that’s the story of my life. ^_^. (Years later, Regina will discover that all the good ones are either gay or will become future priests…)

Valentines in highschool is no different. But it becomes a social clique to have someone for Valentines day. The cards and candy are replaced by roses and chocolates and stuffed animals… and possibly a date to see a movie then go to McDonalds. Giving Valentines cards to Mom and Dad are either forgotten or is just plain weird.

I hated Valentines Day in highschool. Again, because my classmates made a big deal out of it… and not because you don’t get gifts from the boy (or girl) you like. But because it almost feels like a trophy when you get a gift, or a rose, or chocolates. Of course you feel absolutely happy that the boy you liked gave you something… but at the same time, you feel absolutely guilty that your best friend didn’t get anything. And thats… frigging unfair! (Regina discovers the real reason for giving chocolates during Valentines Day… Eating chocolates temporarily make the guilty feelings go away. Though ironically, guilt does come back afterwards… accompanied by a few added inches around your waist and thighs).

Valentines Day in University…

… … …

I hated Valentines Day in University. In University, you find out that its a day that the Roman Catholic Church designated for St. Valentine to counteract the pagan fertility rituals that happen at this time (though ironically, keeping the essence of its original paganistic tradition of men wooing women to have hot monkey sex). 

And yes, this parternalistic capitalist society had to take it one step further. Our capitalist society has to exploiting you by romanticizing the event, molding your thoughts and spending habits from childhood so men can buy all the chocolates, and roses, and jewelry for the woman (or man… whatever floats your boat) they love. Yes, the best way you can show you love her is by getting her a $999 diamond necklace (originally priced at $2,999!) and them ice beauties, my friend, will ensure that you will be getting some sugar tonight!

(That and the fact that chocolates are on sale and are in overabundance… and you don’t need a man to give you some to acquire it… and the fact that aside from feeling guilt and weight gain after eating chocolate… not having it, especially on those days just before you get your period, it makes you feel like you want to kill the next person who gets on your way.)

Valentines Day now…

Now that I’m older, not as idealistic, and realize that I actually prefer to be single and unattached… Valentine’s Day has just become another day to tolerate. I sit down and listen to a younger friend or co-worker, getting all anxious because they don’t have anything perfect for their boyfriend or girlfriend yet. The annoyance factor of friends who pity you and try to set you up with this "nice" boy so you’re not alone Valentine’s Day actually goes down. And you find that sitting down with your Mom or your Aunts and hearing them talk about their Valentines Day stories and disappointments are actually quite enjoyable.

And then realization that instead of buying a $60 box of 20 piece assorted belgian chocolates, you can actually make approximately 100 pieces of organic, low fat, low sugar, guilt-fee gourmet chocolate truffles in company of your chef-in-training sister to give to friends and family for a mere total of $45 brings a warm happy glow to your heart.

Happy Valentines Day!

I get strange and sometimes really scary dreams once in a while, eversince I was little. I had one last night… it was so vivid and felt so real that I could feel the air in my face and the chill of the cold in my fingers. I woke up with my heart pounding hard in my chest.

I dreamnt that I was riding a bicycle on a main street that looked awfully like Eglinton Ave and Avenue Rd… though not really. It just looked really similar.  It wasn’t evening, but at the same time the light was pretty dim and the sky was greyish. It looked more like early morning before the sun rose.  And the one riding the bike wasn’t really me. Because I saw that my hands were Caucasian. It was as if I was in someone else’s body and I’m seeing everything in that person’s eyes.

Then all of the sudden, I felt these heavy arms grab me on the shoulders and a very very angry woman’s voice screaming over my head calling me "You b***h!" over and over again. I struggled and tried to get away but the arms were too strong. I couldn’t even get off my bike. I managed to bite one of the woman’s hands (which were also Caucasion), but she won’t let go. And she started guiding/pushing my bike towards the traffic and there wasn’t anything I could do. And then I woke up feeling really scared and terrified.

That wasn’t the first time I had dreams like that… about terrible things happening to me, who isn’t me. There was one time when I was in back in Manila. It was before we moved to our second house… so it must be between grade 6 and highschool. I remember waking up feeling really really sad and scared that I ran to my mother crying uncontrollably. I don’t know if she still remembers it, but do remember her laughing at me for being silly.

I dreamnt that I was riding a bus in a place that I didn’t recognize at all. Again, the dream was in a weird point of view. It was as if I was seeing everything in someone else’s eyes. I remember feeling really lousy in the dream. Like I had a bad headache and I was really sleepy, wanting to fall asleep, but my headache won’t let me fall asleep. So I leaned my head against the window. I was sitting on the windowseat. I could a bit of my reflection on the window. It wasn’t clear, but I saw enough to realize that it wasn’t really me. I was much older and had long hair. My phone rang. I answered it but there was no one talking on the other line. Then there was this sudden feeling and realization in me that said "My mother is dead" before waking up.

The feeling was so strong that when I woke up, I was convinced that my mother was dead. I remember walking in a bit of a daze, feeling confused with this really awful feeling in my chest. When I saw Mama sitting on the sofa in the living room, I just burst into tears.

Now this was the strangest part of that dream, remembering it again after all these years. The bus I was riding in a street I didn’t recognize back then… I recognize it now. I even recognized the street. It was inside a TTC bus and the street was near where we used to live in Toronto. It was along Eglinton Ave W near Eglinton W station. I don’t remember much of the reflection I saw at the bus window. But I know enough now that the reflection was definitely not me… she was an Indian-looking woman.

Another terrifying dream I had was also when I was around in Grade 6. Unlike my other dreams, I don’t remember much of the details. just flashes of scenes. I just remember feeling really scared and detached from the entire thing. Again, I wasn’t really me. I dreamt that I was in the cemetery. I don’t recognize the place, but it was one of those rich people cemeteries where everything was manicured and in its place. The sun was bright and shining. They were burying a coffin and I was watching these people who are probably relatives crying as the priest was performing burial rites. I was watching the whole scene from far away. No one knew I was there. I didn’t know why, but I knew that the person inside the coffin was the me who wasn’t me. And I also knew how I died. I was very angry about it. I had flashes of an ugly fat man who had me pinned on the ground. I couldn’t move and he was laughing when he pointed a black gun on my face and shot me in the head. I kind of forgot about that dream too until the bicycle dream triggered it along with the other dreams I used to have.

The earliest really scary dream of was way back when I was also in elementary school. My father used to take us to Baguio City in the summer. And I remember this dream very very vividly because I woke up shaking, feeling really scared an nauseous. I wanted to tell my father, but for some reason, I didn’t and I couldn’t. The was the only dream I had wherein I wasn’t part of the dream. It was more like I was watching everything from the above. Like I was hovering high above the sky or something. I was watching this car drive down the mountain from Baguio City. It was red. It was weaving through the road dangerously, like it was going to fall off the mountain. But the car kept moving, as if it was trying to ignore the danger. I remember wanting to go down to the car to warn them and tell them to slow down, but I started falling from where I was. I was falling and the ground was getting nearer faster and faster. I felt sick in my stomach and there was this really unnerving "restless" feeling from my shoulders and my back and my heart was pounding really really hard that I felt really dizzy. When I woke up, the feeling was still there and for a moment I thought I was going to faint. I went to my father and tried to tell him my dream, but I felt so sick that the words wouldn’t come out. For some strange reason, I remember telling my father that we should buy Sweepstakes tickets, instead of telling him my scary dream…

It’s really really strange… 

Dear all!

It has been a very tense week for everyone who has supported me in the
Mobistar Contest. I actually feel a little guilty for last Tuesday
night (Wednesday afternoon in the Philippines) because I slept through the
whole thing while my family and our friends were sitting in front of
their computer monitors as our families in the Philippines duked out in
the text messaging war. ^_^. In the end, Jaz won by around 5,000 votes
and it all came down to the judges’ decision. Mobistar didn’t announce
the monthly winner on the website right away like they did in the weekly
winners and I know my family, friends and supporters were really
really upset at the website ranking (since Jaz was ranked first and I was
second) and were kept in the dark from what the judges decided. All we
had were their cryptic comments on the website, which were except for
some specific pointers, have been mostly generic and didn’t really give
much indication of how they scored each
contestant.

Well, they made the announcement this morning in "Filipino. Eh?" and
the final result is…

Regina is going to the grand finals in July 2008! ^_^.

There’s no way I could have done this without your support and your
prayers. I know all my family and the families of our friends in the
Philippines have been telling everyone they know to support me. Tita Flora
and all the members of our "Lahing Simon" clan in the Philippines, Tita
Lily (who I wish you are here to give your image consulting! ^_^. Which
I obviously need…), Ate Leila and the rest of the Gaspar Family,
Ninang Fe, Tito Dani and everyone in the PLM Alumni Association, my
colleagues at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, my brothers and
sisters in the Alexander Players and Singers, Tita Luisa and the rest of
the Quizon family (who is pretty my Tita Flora’s counterpart here in
Canada), Ate Nevs and Tita Nanette, my highschool classmates from Bene, of
course my Mama and Papa who pretty much made this contest the centre
of their universe for the past week and most of all my beloved sister,
Jessica.

When things weren’t going well, Jessica was the one who lifted up my
spirits, gave me reassurance and let me know that no matter what happened
in this contest, she will continue supporting me in any of my
endeavors. She, along with my Tita’s, stepped up to defend me and reassure my
after all the defamatory comments by mean spirited anonymous users in
the website. She even got a group of her friends from Sheridan College
involved and they sent me a wonderful note that brought me to tears.

It was most particularly touching  because they didn’t know me at all,
but these group of students (and one professor apparently) watched the
contest and followed the voting process to the very end in their dorms,
all the while giving me their support because they believed in my
talents. At the end of the voting process when Jaz won by 5,000 votes, the
  put together a collective statement to support me. So thank you very
much. I wish I knew all your names, but Jessica only identified you as
her old Sheridan College group (and one professor). ^_^.

I’m sorry if I miss your name in this thank you note, because I’m just
writing this on the fly… ^_^. There’s just so many people to thank.
This contest really opened my eyes on how wonderfully good and
supportive people are. Again, thank you very much! And I promise that I will
definitely do my best to be worthy of your faith in me in the Mobistar
Grand Finals next year in July.

Lots of love,
Regina

P.S.

After I sent this note in my e-mail, I just finished an interview for "Iba Talaga ang Pinoy" on 101.3 FM (airs every Sunday 9-10 PM E.S.T) and found out from the Mobistar people that the race with Jaz was REALLY REALLY close. It was the judges’ points that saved me. Essentially, Jaz’ total points was 92%. I won @ 93%. It was THAT close!  This only shows how vital your support was in this journey and again and again and again… thank you so much! ^_^.