12 JANUARY 18-24, 2008 • ASIAN JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS • (714) 284—0191 • http://www.asianjournal.com MUSICAL ‘Tina and the Magic Mirror’ at Normandie Casino By Rene Villaroman Asianjournal.com CERRITOS — Fresh from a successful initial production of Karim at Jasmin—the first original Filipino opera—MRG is now preparing for its second offering, a Broadway musical comedy written by composer and writer Dr. Ramon Sison Geluz. The musical, titled Tina and the Magic Mirror, will be presented on February 14 at Normandie Casino. This was announced by Dr. Geluz at his residence here on Sunday, January 13. Lara Avengoza, 20, who starred as one of the water nymphs (diwata) in Karim at Jasmin, will star in the lead role as Tina. Christopher Avendano, who portrayed the lead in Karim will play the lead. Tina and the Magic Mirror is the story of Valentina, a perpetual dreamer who celebrates her birthday by slipping in and out of a magic mirror that takes her to different romantic and funny adventures. It will feature songs from iconic Broadway shows, immigrant living: 101 and beyond By Monette Adeva Maglaya Singer Lara Avengoza (left) confers with writer-composer, Dr. Ramon SisonGeluz (right) and pianist-arranger Joselito Pascual during rehearsals for the Broadway musical “Tina and the Magic Mirror” at the residence of Dr. Geluz in Cerritos. The musical comedy will be presented at Normandie Casino on February 14. AJ Photo by Rene Villaroman including West Side Story, know, it’s a little nerve-rackSouth Pacific, Camelot, The ing at times,” Avengoza told Phantom of the Opera, and Asian Journal. “But because other ballads, woven together it’s a musical comedy and the to provide the romantic ingre- cast is small, I am actually redient in the musical comedy. ally comfortable.” Tina will be the first imporA couple of years back, tant role in a musical for Ms. Avengoza performed in a Avengoza, who began singing back-to-back concert at Hollywhen she was three years wood’s Celebrity Center with old. “I grew up singing the Chris Lawrence, winner in the songs of Lea Salonga and Kuh The Filipino Channel-sponLedesma,” she said. “When sored Star in a Million contest. they (producers) asked me to “That experience was differplay Tina—she’s the lead—I ent because I was still on my was very excited, but, you phase as a pop and hip-hop music, and I was still on an awkward stage in my music,” Avengoza revealed. “But now that I am heading towards musicals, I feel more comfortable in this role.” Avengoza also had joined the cast of A Kid’s Life, a traveling musical production that toured the U.S. for several weeks. Classically-trained pianist and arranger Joselito Pascual—a graduate of the Philippine Women’s University College of Music—makes a comeback as musical director and will co-star with Avengoza, Avendano, and Joan Cano, (“Princess Rajita” in Karim), as a pianist who becomes Tina’s mentor in her musical journey. “Actually, this is a lighter Continued on PAGE 14 Remember the story of the three little pigs? Everyone does. But we relegate the story to children’s lit and condescendingly forget that these cute little porkers bring home an important point about the choices we make when we embark on building something worthwhile — like choosing the foundation on which we build our immigrant life. The first pig built his house of straw and the second one built his house of sticks and went partying till the cows came home. And the big bad wolf, who had a hankering for chicharrones, came down huffing and puffing and blowing both houses down in a snap, much to the utter dismay of the two hapless, lazy porkers. Running for their lives with their curled, tiny tails and the hair on their chinny, chin chin a-quivering, they dashed over to safety, straight to the house of their other stolid, somewhat stodgy brother pig who had built his house methodically, meticulously, slowly, brick by solid brick. Enter the big bad wolf, now crazed with the thought of wolfing down not one but three pigs. He does his blustery huffing and puffing… well… you know how the story ended. Any structural engineer will agree with the third porker and allude to the biblical reference about a house built on a rock and the wind and rain could not prevail upon it. He will tell you that solid foundation work taking stress points into account is basic in building anything of value that’s meant to last. The same is true in building an immigrant life. I am certain there are countless other pointers hundreds of thousands of immigrants more than 200 years ago can add to the growing pool of knowledge and wisdom in this continuing saga of immigrants shaping this great country called America, but in the interest of brevity and the theme of this special issue, I’ll cull out only 15 bitesize pointers gleaned and gathered by observation and study. The first 5 tips came out on December 13, 2006 issue and the second set of 5 tips, on the December 20, 2006 issue. (Continued from Part 2 of a Part 3 of 3 15 Tips: How to Build a House of Bricks ***************************************** “Adapt, you must. Or die early, you will.” — What the dodo bird’s mantra should have been ***************************************** 3-part series) 11. Pray without ceasing to the God of your being. Realize that when you do, you will never be alone. The single, most important foundation of a transplanted life begins with the realization that by yourself alone, without help, you can do nothing of real meaning and lasting value. No obstacle is too steep, no situation too difficult, or setback too overwhelming that cannot be helped by constant, heartfelt prayer and a foundation of faith so strong, it can move mountains. 12. Bring it all together. Once your circumstances become stable and you are able to choose the type of work you love to do and more importantly, that which makes you happy — go for it. The shift will be uncomfortable and unnerving at first. Seek the path that makes use of the abilities and the talents that you were born with. Listen to what your whole being says you were meant to do and enter that rare, enviable state of being that finally feels like coming home. 13. Rein in the spirit of the crab. Put a number of live crabs in a basket and witness how crabs behave. Any crab successful enough to rise above the heads of the other crabs to escape the confines of the basket will be pulled down by the pincer claws of the other crabs underfoot. The crab mentality is nothing more than envy in disguise— alive and well in human nature. Lest you think the Severe Acute Crab Syndrome (SACS) — a name I coined for this social phenomenon — is endemic or unique only to our community, take heart, for we’re not alone. Other immigrant communities report the same thing. To counteract this, try and be happy for others (even if it kills you). 14. Strive to learn any way you can. Learning is a lifelong process of adaptation. And to copy Yoda’s transposed way of making a point, “Adapt, you must. Or die early, you will.” The dodo bird never learned to adapt, never learned to defend itself against predators and became extinct. It’s been said that the human mind is like a cup with a hole at the bottom. You just have to keep trying to fill that bottomless cup. But be warned: intelligence alone is sorely inadequate. The whole person’s mind and heart must evolve. Of the two, the heart should lead. Draw from the strength of our own culture and weave it into the new one. The hybrid is often better suited to the new environment. The American Jews have been remarkable because they knew the value of education and hit the libraries early in the history of this country and went all the way to the highest levels of learning. Many now dominate multiple areas of achievement. Take a cursory look at the young ones who frequent your local libraries and those who do volunteer work and you can take a peek at what the future holds. See a preview of which immigrant communities today will replicate the patterns of excellence and achievement seen in earlier groups of immigrants. Yet, we must never lose sight of the fact that in the end, all learning means nothing if we never learn how to love. 15. See the big picture. Between birth and death is life. How you live your immigrant life is up to you. Many of the wisest men who have pondered the meaning and the purpose of life over thousands of years, have defined life according to their own perceptions and circumstances. In the end, if you are in full control of all your faculties as an average human being, you and you alone define your own life with the set of gifts and the circumstances that life gives you. Immigrant or native, remember what someone else wrote so succinctly long ago about the essence of any worthwhile life and that is — TO LIVE WELL, LAUGH OFTEN AND LOVE MUCH. May the house Continued on PAGE 13 The crowd in Alex Theatre there has been talk but right now we’re just enjoying the success of Kasal, Kasali and Sakal, Sakali.” The young couple was just very thankful for having the opportunity to meet Filipinos that went to the screening. “To all the Pinoys, thank you for attending the screening in LA,” said Agoncillo. “Thank you very much. We know you lead busy lives here in America so thank you so much for the reception you have given us.” “Mabuhay,” added Santos. Love the movie After the show, the Filipino crowd had smiles on their faces. “Very good,” said Fatima of LA. “I really love them. They are so good. All I can say is ‘Oh my God,’ they are very good.” “The movie was great, wonderful and funny,” said Ging Ging. “We all enjoyed it.” (AJ) A Star-Studded... From PAGE 11 coming here and enjoy the movie,” added Ryan. Art imitating life? In an interview with the Asian Journal (AJ) backstage, AJ asked if Ryan and Juday’s relationship mirrors that of their characters Jed and Angie in the movie. Ryan said, “Jed and Angie’s characters are opposite to who we are.” “Jed is spineless. Angie is very noisy, maingay totally the opposite of Judy but it’s fun to play these characters. By shooting these two films, we decided that we are not going to get married to Jed and Angie.” Juday also said that at the moment there are no plans for a part 3. “There’s been talk but honestly, probably not,” said Juday. “Two is enough.” “We might be stretching it,” added Ryan. “Honestly, AJ Photo by Joseph Pimentel Lea to Take... Jolo, Lovi Bonding; Lian... From PAGE 11 The contract of Cristine Reyes with GMA-7 will expire by the end of January. Some quarters are speculating that she will make the big switch to ABS-CBN. “I don’t want to choose between the two networks,” she said. “What’s important is kung saan maexplore ang talents ko at hindi lang yung puro pa-sexy.” Is she staying put in the Kapuso network because of Dennis Trillo? “Di ko na muna siya iniisip,” she said, blushing. “But I’m not closing my doors on him.” Will Dennis come knocking back soon? g OCnIE SEC-2 JANUARY 18-revised w12 12 From PAGE 11 Dec. 4) their fourth child at a San Francisco hospital, safe and sound, despite earlier advice by her doctor to choose between her life and that of her baby due to Jackie’s heart problem (reported in “scoops” by Funfare). “I was on the phone all the time Jackie was in labor,” Anjo tells Funfare. “I felt as if someone you love got hurt in an accident but you couldn’t be with her, so you imagined the worst scenario.” Jackie was vacationing in the US with her mom when she was diagnosed to have a bad heart developed when she was heavy with their third child. Anjo and their three kids followed her late last year and they had a tearful family Christmas reunion. “As soon as Jackie delivered the baby, whom we named Sean Nathan, I kept checking during our extended phone call if he was ‘complete’ — the toes, the fingers, all parts of his body — just like how every parent does. Luckily, and thank God, Sean is okay.” Asked what the best lesson is that he learned from the experience, Anjo says, “To devote more time to my family. It shouldn’t be work, work, work all the time.” g 1/17/08 4:10:21 PM