Mirror Mirror: The Snow White Legend Comes Alive (2012)

There's one movie I had been looking forward to watch ever since I stumbled upon its huge standees at SM Mall of Asia a month ago.  It's a modern day fantasy remake of the classic Disney tale "Snow White" where Julia Robert stars as the wicked stepmother and Lily Collins, the beautiful 23 year-old daughter of Phil Collins, as Snow White.

And so David and I were able to spare an hour and 45 minutes today for Mirror Mirror. (Yey!) 

Just a quick review.   Although it still resembles the basic story line of our favorite Disney story, there is a lot of comedic twists and surprising turns in the plot that makes it truly interesting.  

Like any other fairy-tale, it starts with "Once upon a time.." But this time it is the evil queen speaking.  For me, it's a nice new take but a bit cliche if we look at its contemporaries: Tangled (with Flynn Ryder's point of view) or Wicked (not that it's made a movie).

The cast played their roles very well.  It's refreshing to see a beautiful new face to play the princess.  Julia Roberts did good, as usual, as the queen and her eerie pale reflection.  As for the dwarves, I was hoping for them to portray more adorable, funny characters.  I was expecting them to keep the fun upbeat "hi-ho, hi-ho" personalities.  But probably as professional bandits, they couldn't.  Each of the seven  still has apparently distinct personalities, but they're not named Bashful, Sleepy, etc.

As for the plot, I appreciated the new scenes added in Mirror Mirror, one example would be the potion Queen (Julia Roberts) had Prince Alcott (Armie Hammer) drink.  I find it witty when she later learns that the potion that turns him into a barking prince who can't get enough of her is the "puppy love" potion.

It's quite obvious that the objective of the movie is to defy the classic tale, to be new and unexpected.  True enough it is.  The spell is casted on the prince.  The princess saves the prince.  At the end, the princess saves the day.  Somehow, being too unpredictable becomes predictable.

But despite that, it was still fun to see how the Snow White legend comes alive.

JUNE 26: It's Andrew Lloyd Webber Day! :)

I had counted down the days towards the much awaited event on June 26, 2011, Sunday.

For those of you who've dropped in some guesses...

It's not a post independence day celebration.

It's not my graduation day.

No, It's not my birthday.

Someone did not propose to me.

It's not the second coming of Christ. Although I heard that it's near.

Of course, I did not propose to anyone either.

It's AW Day -- The Andrew Lloyd Webber Day!

For those who fancy the breed of art that delights both your visual and auditory senses, this is for you. Broadway.

I was ten years old when I got to watch my first musical. I can still remember the intense mood blanketing the hall.. the heavy percussion beating at the beginning, the chorus adamantly singing "Do you hear the people sing.. singing the songs of angry men..," the little girl pitifully sweeping the floors while wishing for a castle on a cloud. Although I didn't understand Les Miserables then -- since a bulk of the story was sung in songs, it was love at first sight.

Fifteen years later, the fervor hasn't really faded. I got extremely excited when I saw an ad in the newspaper that had featured an all-star cast from Australia that was coming to perform hits of the internationally-acclaimed music icon, Andrew Lloyd Webber. I booked for tickets as soon as I could get my hand on a phone. True enough, it was indeed a great experience enter the world of Andrew Lloyd Webber and enjoy his masterpieces.

The show had started on time and we were 3 minutes late. Boo. Restroom traffic. Because of that, my brother-in-Christ/boyfriend David and I missed the opening of what seemed to be the song my dad used to play in the car. I was quite surprised that they opted for a mellow song, Love Changes Everything, as the opening act.

Maybe The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber wants to make a point that love is the most wonderful, beautiful, moving, catalyst in the world. Maybe they want to show that it is Andrew Lloyd Webber's love of music that has made the event possible... and maybe it is his love for music that has captured hearts of people from various generations... or maybe it's his love for the world that leads him to create music... and maybe inspires us to make a positive change through love..

We got to enter during the energetic beaty song, Jellicle Ball. Hurrying to our seats, I noticed that the stage set-up was simple and very versatile. There were two flat screens, one faced diagonally to the right, the other to the left. They showed titles of the musicals and visuals to color the stage during song numbers. There were also two mobile staircases the cast could tumble, run and dance on.

The costumes were also very simple. The black skimpy dress for the ladies was a staple. The only changes I remember were the cat outfits in Cats, leather jackets for the guys in Whistle Down the Wind and Delia Hannah's white gown in Evita. Despite the simplicity, their superb acting was able to compensate for whatever that's lacking. Even from my seat at the lower box, I could see the depth of emotion in the eyes of Michael Cormick when he was singing The Music of the Night.

Below are the songs performed by the cast of The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber in Manila. I've embedded links of available videos online to give you a feel of the songs.

ACT I:

Love Changes Everything (Aspects of Love)

Jellicle Ball (Cats)

Take that Look off Your Face (Tell Me on a Sunday)

On This Night of a Thousand Stars (Evita)

And the Money Kept rolling in (Evita)

High Flying, Adored (Evita)

Don't Cry for Me Argentine (Evita) - The transitions of the Evita songs were seamless. The acting was really good. Even if it was just something as plain as walking, I could see the 'nervousness' Delia was trying to portray in Evita. The way she delivered the song --the facial expressions, the tones-- was also very moving.

One Rock n' Roll Too Many (Starlight Express)

Light at the End of the Tunnel (Starlight Express)

Unexpected Song (Song and Dance)

I Don't Know How to Love Him (Jesus Christ Superstar)

Coney Island Waltz (Love Never Dies) - This musical is a sequel to The Phantom of the Opera. I still prefer the songs from the first musical.

Till I Hear You Sing (Love Never Dies)

All I Ask of You (The Phantom of the Opera)

Skimbleshanks: The Railway Cat (Cats)

Memory (Cats)

ACT II

Heaven on Their Minds (Jesus Christ Superstar) - This musical sees Jesus from the point of view of Judas Iscariot.

I Believe My Heart (The Woman in White) - I love this song! Perfect for weddings. One creepy psychological musical that is a must watch!

Tell Me on a Sunday (Tell Me on a Sunday)

Sunset Boulevard (Sunset Boulevard)

Pie Jesu (Requiem) - this is a musical Andrew Lloyd Webber wrote when his father died.

No Matter What (Whistle Down the Wind) - the quartet delivered it a lot better than Boyzone. Don't get me wrong, I was once a Boyzone fan.

Whistle Down the Wind (Whistle Down the Wind)

The Vaults of Heaven (Whistle Down the Wind)

With One Look (Sunset Boulevard)

The Music of the Night (The Phantom of the Opera) - Great duet. It could be better if there were more props and grander costumes.

Superstar (Jesus Christ Superstar)

Would you believe that there were only eight of them singing, acting and dancing all throughout the show? And yet, they were able to pull the audience off their seats with a standing ovation.

Two thumbs up for The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber... which was four in our case.

Creative Filipinos, Huh?

Filipinos I think are the most creative people in the world. They have painted jeepneys showing babies or cartoons that color the roads of the city. There are also the manongs and manangs who sell cellphone chargers, chicharon (pig skin), corn on a cub, buko juice in the streets. I guess they have analyzed the markets that pass by their area of responsibility, checked out their needs and creatively matched these with the little means that they have.



The beggars have also innovated. Most of them are not knocking at your side windows anymore. Some of them are now your car cleaners who approach you at the stop light and wipe your windshield with an odd yellow color liquid. Another group of youth would entertain you with a song and dance number before the light turns green. Then just today, I saw another innovation! A kid about 10 years of age climbed onto a jeepney and wiped (or shined) the shoes of the passengers on board.

Even robbers have found new ways of stealing. I heard from the news this afternoon that there were two boarders who rented a room at the second floor of a building. They were living directly above a pawnshop. What they did was they had sawn off the floor right under their toes while playing loud music and grabbed five million worth of cash and goods from the pawnshop below.

I'm writing this blog not to condemn the Philippines. I love the Philippines. I actually admire our creativity. A great number of our artists are leading in the New York fashion scene, singing with other internationally acclaimed celebrities and writing for the whole world to see.

Sadly, many use their gifts for the wrong reasons, for selfish, sinful and other pathetic reasons. Their decisions depend mainly on short-term happiness. They have the five million peso now to buy foods, clothing, gadgets. They can run, they can hide but they cannot get away from God's eyes. They can't see that in the distant future they will be stripped off of everything and they will be severely punished (both on earth and in hell).

What we can do instead is to use our creativity in ways that can solve the problems in the society. I know this sounds boring. But there are plenty of businesses or organizations that have risen out of the small seed of a noble cause. Efren Penaflorida, the CNN Hero of the Year has shown us a great example. He pushed his adorable cart full of books and toys to teach children in the streets. Many of them cannot even buy three nutritional meals a day, much less shoes, books and bags. They were his target market and he was blessed with loads of support. There is also the silent sisters who create bags out of recyclable plastic bags to help lessen land pollution. Believe it or not, they are also making money out of it!

Now that the country is suffering from a great disgrace (in the whole world's eyes), plagues (dengue and sore-eyes), calamities and all the other compounded problems (lack of education, poverty, etc), I believe this is the best time to challenge our creative juices. Looking at it as glass half-full, these problems are in fact opportunities! Let's strike the iron while it is still hot!

So, what are you good at? Cooking? Teaching? Creating crafts? Doing business? Share your blessings and help PNoy. Please. He cannot bring up the country on his own. Pray how you can be of help. You will definitely be blessed and provided for by our loving Father.

RENT the Musical - 2.21.10

An evening date with the Friday Crew.

One of my most favorite musicals ever is RENT. I love the songs. You may catch me singing “Christmas bells are ringing..” on summer time, acting out Mimi’s lines “my heart may freeze, or it can burn, the pain will ease if I can learn.. there is no future, there is no past..” or humming the popular melody of Seasons of Love. When I heard that Rent is playing in the Philippines, it gave me another adventure to pursue and a reason to get excited.

The story depicts several social issues including poverty, homosexuality and AIDS. Rent opens the eyes of viewers to what is hidden and yet prevalent in the society, through the means of a musical. I think this is the main objective of Jonathan Larson, the composer and writer of this musical. He had a passion for social injustice I think, since his other works also had this theme. The actors played their characters very well, two thumbs up. They colored the songs I’ve been listening to beautifully. Now I know who sings which part, and how the songs fit in the whole play.

One thing I didn’t like about the musical though was that that there were too much explicit, suggestive and metaphorical scenes (that could actually be rated R18 by the MTRCB). I think this is also the comment of several other spectators. Many people were taken aback. I believe if the musical was made more wholesome, the whole concept of promoting social injustice would have been better implemented.

During the show, I was really tempted to cover the eyes of our youngest member. I guess one learning I got from this adventure is to really screen out the activities for our fellowship, to make all the time together purposeful. Nevertheless, I still thank God for a wonderful time I had with my brother and two younger sisters before the show and with the rest soon afterward.

"525,600 minutes, 525,000 moments so dear.. la..lalala.." Okay, gotta stop singing and get back to work.