New episode of Muni-Muni Stories focuses on The Company
THE FILIPINAS Heritage Library and the OPM Archive will release episode 4 of Muni-Muni Stories: A Podcast on Filipino Music on Nov. 6, 6 p.m., on Spotify. The episode — “The CompanY/Pakisabi na Lang” — has the members of The CompanY sharing their experiences of 35 years in the industry, the complexities of achieving real harmony, and being a force for Filipino a cappella. They also discuss the story behind their hit song “Pakisabi Na Lang.” The Muni-Muni Stories podcasts are available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. For updates regarding the episode upload schedules, visit the Filipinas Heritage Library and the OPM Archive on Facebook. The podcast is an offshoot of the curated playlists of the library, Muni-Muni Muna and Muni-Muni Muli, which were introduced during the initial months of the quarantine. The podcast’s first season features 12 episodes, each to be aired monthly starting September until March 2021. Artists on the roster include Joey Ayala, Raymund Marasigan, The CompanY, Bayang Barrios, and Pia Magalona and Saab Magalona-Bacarro, who provide insights into the life and legacy of the late Francis M. Muni-Muni Stories’ inaugural guest was Celeste Legaspi, who talked about her song “Saranggola ni Pepe.”
PETA’s Care Divas streams this November
PHILIPPINE Educational Theater Association’s hit original Filipino musical Care Divas will be streaming for the first time on Nov. 27 to 29, and again on Dec. 4 to 6. The show, together with two other musicals, six new works, and a PETA documentary will be available for limited pay-per-view via www.ktx.ph. Care Divas is a bittersweet story about five gay overseas Filipino workers based in Israel who work as caregivers in the morning and transform into glamorous drag queens at night. The streaming cast includes the original Divas: Melvin Lee (Chelsea), Vincent De Jesus (Shai), Ricci Chan (Kayla), Dudz Teraña (Thalia), and Buddy Caramat (Jonee). Aside from Care Divas, PETA will also be streaming Si Tamad, Ang Diyablo, at Ang Limang Milyong Boto, and, for the first time on screen, 1896, PETA’s first and only sung-through musical, which tells the story about the Philippine revolution. PETA also presents six new works: Maskian (The Masks of Asian), WFH, Finding Z, Harinawa, 2nd Set: 2 Meters Apart, and Hello. Also to be launched Living Voices, a documentary about PETA’s work as one of the country’s groundbreaking theater companies in the last 50 years. Tickets are now available via www.ktx.ph.
Online interactive play to premiere
A FULL online production entitled The Boarding House, alongside a specially designed interactive website, will premiere next week to provide a quirky and innovative theater experience that pushes the potential of Philippine theater. It is a promenade-style play that allows the spectators freedom to curate their own viewing experience. They can enter their preferred rooms and select the order of the scenes to immerse themselves into, with varying social commentaries and perspectives presented in the narrative. They can also traverse the fully interactive online map that provides an in-depth introduction of each character as well as a tour of the surreal setting. The presentation transports the audience to year 2030 in a futuristic surveillance state called Lunan City, formerly known as Manila. The capital was acquired and transformed by an umbrella corporation into a speculative universe, where a diverse range of mythical creatures, sentient objects and structures and humans co-exist. The Boarding House was written, directed, and produced by Teatro 77, a team of Theater Arts students from the School of Design and Arts of the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. The Boarding House is accessible on a website specially created to be non-linear and exploratory, designed for the global audience with subtitles in full English and Filipino. The website is open to the public. Viewers, however, are encouraged to donate to the pandemic relief operations of Para Sa Sining. The Boarding House Acts 1 and 2 will premiere on Nov. 5 and 12 at 7 p.m., respectively. It will be available on view until Dec. 5 through its virtual front of the house at https://explorelunan.web.app/. For inquiries, e-mail teatro77ph@gmail.com or visit the team’s social media channels on Facebook (@teatro77ph), Twitter (@teatro77), and Instagram (@teatro77_ph).
Casa de Memoria’s Cuarto auction showcases art as Christmas gifts
AS THE HOLIDAYS draw near, Casa de Memoria will be holding Cuarto, its fourth major auction for the year, featuring unique art pieces that can be given as gifts. To be held on Nov. 28, 2 p.m., Cuarto will feature 180 European-Filipino antiquities and objets d’art. Among these are a silver cigar box formerly owned by Spanish statesman Don José Antonio Girón de Velasco, a Napoleon III style radiogram with 1950s radio and “Philips” mono record player, a polychromed dinner set, an ivory triptych depicting England’s “Glorious Revolution of 1688,” and a vermeil tea and coffee set by Joyerías Aldao. Cuarto will also feature European art pieces with Asian influences, such as an 18th century Burmese alabaster Buddha head in the Shan style and a solid 18 karat gold relief of the Buddha circa 13th century Bayon period of the Khmer Empire. From glass and crystal pieces to furniture, as well as paintings and lithography, there is something for everyone. Explore the auction pieces and register for the auction at www.casadememoria.com. Interested parties may also attend the intimate auction preview from Nov. 3 to 27, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Palacio de Memoria at 95 Roxas Blvd., Tambo, Parañaque. Strict safety protocols are in place at the venue. For more details, call (02) 8253-3994 or e-mail hello@casadememoria.com. For more information, visit https://www.casadememoria.com/ or follow @thecasadememoria on Facebook and @casadememoria on Instagram.
‘Cutting Corners’ in a Virtual ArtistSpace
ON NOV. 6, Virtual ArtistSpace presents its first virtual exhibition, “Cutting Corners,” featuring nine Filipino visual artists: Floyd Absalon, Bea Aspiras, Gab Baez, Andre Baldovino, Steven Burce, Pepe Delfin, Bayani Galera, Kat Grow, and Miles Villanueva. With works produced during the pandemic, Cutting Corners surveys the different realities, thoughts, and ideas of the nine artists. Together, they form a visual anthology that looks at the consciousness, meanings, and processes in art-making while navigating through a time of uncertainty and disquiet. “Cutting Corners” will be on view virtually starting Nov. 6, 6 p.m. The virtual exhibition will run until Nov. 26. The link to the exhibition will be posted on ArtistSpace Facebook and Instagram pages @artistspacegallery.
Contests mark Library and Information Services Month
THE CULTURAL Center of the Philippines (CCP) joins the National Commission for Culture and the Arts, National Committee on Libraries and Information Services (NCCA-NCLIS) and the National Library of the Philippines (NLP) in the celebration of the 30th Library and Information Services Month in November. The activities throughout the month include a number of contests: a Digital Poster Making Contest which is open to amateur artists, senior high school or college students; Best Online Activities by Library and Information Science Associations; Share-A-Book: Book-Based Interactive Storytelling for children to develop a love for books and reading thereby enhancing their presentation and communication skills through storytelling; “MakiVlog na! LibREALang, may Papremyo pa!,” a Vlog contest whose winner will serve as the promotional video for libraries during the pandemic; BookFace Contest which uses books as artistic objects; and Cutest Photo in the Library. For details, visit the National Library of the Philippines website http://web.nlp.gov.ph/ .
Music appreciation webinar
THE CARL Jung Circle Center’s Vessel: The Jung Art Collection presents its 2nd music appreciation webinar for the year. “World Beats: Cruising Through Music Cultures,” which will be presented by musicologist Daniel Pardo, will be held on Nov. 6 and 7, 3:30-5 p.m., via Zoom. Tickets are P1,500 for the two days. To register, visit https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wR_eO_PCTeWwKnSXEVDAYg .
