Tanghalang Ateneo presents: Lysistrata

Beware the Greeks bearing... Wait!!! Ooops, this is not about those Trojan Women...

And victims these wives are not. Tired of having their husbands go off to war all the time, Lysistrata leads this band of wives to take a vow to achieve peace: deprive their husbands of sex until peace reigns. The husbands, unable to dip their wicks -so to speak- suffer the deprivation of their carnal needs and attempt to have their wives break this most inconvenient vow with disastrously hilarious results.

Nothing like the Greeks, I tell you...

Tanghalang Ateneo, in its 30th Season present Aristophanes' comedy about sex, war, and peace: LYSISTRATA

Directed by Ricardo Abad, dance and movement by Dexter Santos, with sets by Gino Gonzales, costumes by Marlon Rivera,
lighting design by Jonjon Villareal, and sound design by Dino Concepcion & Reamur David

LYSISTRATA runs from February 19 - 21, 24 - 28, and March 3 - 7 at 7 PM, with 2 PM matinees on February 21, 28, and March 7.

Contact Bea Gulinao (0917-826-9686) or Bettina Santos (0906-241-1509) for tickets and inquiries.


Do spend an evening in the theater, will you...

Ateneo Blue Repertory stages BARE: the musical

What will the Jesuits think about this one? [insert image of the barefoot baklesa with a curious grin on his face]

So, what do you get when a school's golden boy's greatest secret is in danger of unravelling and destroying the fragile wall of appearances he's kept all this time? In the mix: his secret love affair with another boy, a smitten and persistent co-ed, and the impositions and expectations of the straight and narrow path on a young man's heart. The classic dilemma of "appearance versus desire" takes on the musical form in Ateneo Blue Repertory's staging of BARE.



directed by Ana Abad Santos, the show will raise curtains this 17th of February 2009 at the Fine Arts Exhibit Hall, 3rd Floor Gonzaga Hall, Ateneo de Manila University.

Full run: February 17-21 and 24-28

For tickets and other inquiries, contact Alexa Yupangco,09177220805



Do spend an evening in the theater...

Czech Choir sings "Ikaw" with Ateneo College Glee Club

I can't remember if it was Sharon Cuneta or Regine Velasquez who made this song popular. In my opinion, Regine Velasquez may have strained her vocal chords singing her version of the song, but it seemed to me the equivalent of a constipated performance I have seen of some washed-up theater veteran. [Boy, do I feel a surge of hate e-mail flooding through from some Regine fans coming my way... but then again,nothing that anyone who consider themselves Regine fans can say actually matter to me... ]

"Ikaw" [You] is one of the few Filipino songs that could stir my emotions if I'm being...say...nationalistic? My words betray me now, but I'm sure the point I wish to get across is not that unfathomable.

And as a believer of the formalist critique that once a work of art is finished, it stands alone by itself; and no singer who screeches can ruin it. Ergo, in the simplest attempt, and no vocal theatrics than what is expected, this video of a Czech Choir singing the song with the Ateneo College Glee Club is probably one of the best renditions so far.

Looking back, a friend of mine who grew up in the united states came back to study college in Ateneo with but a few words of Filipino in her vocabulary, made me realize how beautiful this song is...

And that's all I wrote.

The Ateneo Way... 150 years of Excellence

here's a video that brings back some memories...

you gotta admit, striving for excellence these days in a pool of mediocrity is not an easy thing though...

to all of you kindred souls from the hills of loyola, here's to further striving for excellence this new year...

ad majorem dei gloriam