a backstage tour of #SisterActinManila

One of my favorite movies from the 90s is Sister Act and its Broadway musical production is touring right now. They are playing at Solaire Resort from June 27 up to July 9 at The Theatre. I was lucky to get a backstage tour with the Production Manager as we looked on the works of staging this great musical.

We enter The Theater and the 16-foot image of the Virgin Mary welcomes us as the background of the Church of the Queen of Angels. She is transported by ship travelling around the world. The hollow material makes it easier to carry and the movable at the base but she is in one piece and rests on a hammock inside a ship.

At the left of the stage is the audio controlling area where the lapels, sound system, and all audio works are controlled. Then beside it is a props box where items can easily be grabbed or a bottle of water is available if the cast needs a little refreshment or to wet their throats.

On the right side of the stage sits the console where the Program Manager oversees all that's what's going onstage whether to give good lighting and to see what's happening when the lights go down during transition scenes.

Then we moved at the back of the stage and found the bright costumes and there are around 300 pieces of costume throughout the show. I wonder how they maintain all clothes when they perform every day?

Here are also some finds in the backstage:

Thank you Ovation Productions for the experience. You can catch Sister Act, the Glorious Broadway Musical at The Theatre in Solaire until July 9. For tickets, you may visit www.ticketworld.com.

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the game has changed in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

After more than 20 years, a Robin Williams favorite gets an update and now instead of the Jumanji game coming to our world, 4 new players were taken in to the game in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle. Starring Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Karen Gillan, Nick Jonas and Bobby Cannavale.

A group of students facing detention finds the game console while in detention. Choosing different avatars for themselves, they are then transported into the jungle where they are transformed to the bodies of Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan.

They are bound to an epic adventure that they should perform all task or they will be stuck in the game forever. See the trailer below:
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle opens in the Philippines soon and on Christmas in the US. The film is directed by Jake Kasdan, screenplay by Chris McKenna & Erik Sommers and Jake Kasdan & Scott Rosenberg & Jeff Pinkner. Screen Story by Chris McKenna, based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg.

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We're glad Hugh Jackman does a musical again

The first trailer of The Greatest Showman has the Moulin Rouge feels and I love that our favorite Aussie gets to do this movie. Hugh Jackman plays the title role as PT Barnum.

Inspired by the imagination of P.T. Barnum, The Greatest Showman is an original musical that celebrates the birth of show business and tells of a visionary who rose from nothing to create a spectacle that became a worldwide sensation. Watch the trailer below:

The film also features Zac Efron, Michelle Williams, Zendaya, Rebecca Ferguson and more. Directed by Michael Gracey and written by Jenny Bicks and Bill Condon. With Music by John Debney (Jungle Book) with Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, the writers of the songs from La La Land.

The Greatest Showman shows this Christmas in the US.

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Watch an extended sneak peek of Stephen King's The Dark Tower

First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire. From the epic best-selling Stephen King novels, comes Columbia Pictures' The Dark Tower, starring Idris Elba as the Gunslinger, Roland Deschain, and Matthew McConaughey as the Man in Black.

Check out an exclusive extended sneak peek of The Dark Tower below and watch the film in Philippine cinemas starting August 30, 2017.

In addition to soundbites from Elba and McConaughey, Stephen King himself weighs in on the adaptation and shares his thoughts on seeing Elba bring one of his most famous creations to life.

The Dark Tower is directed by Nikolaj Arcel (A Royal Affair), with a screenplay by Akiva Goldsman & Jeff Pinkner and Anders Thomas Jensen & Nikolaj Arcel, based on King’s novels.

Stephen King’s The Dark Tower, the ambitious and expansive story from one of the world’s most celebrated authors, makes its launch to the big screen. The last Knight Warrior, Roland Deschain (Idris Elba), has been locked in an eternal battle with Walter O’Dim, also known as the Man in Black (Matthew McConaughey), determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in the ultimate battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black.

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can you celebrate your Death Day?

Would you turn to the day you met death? What would you do?

Jessica Rothe falls victim to a deja vu where all details of her death day is relived every time until she discovers who her killer is. The slashing action and horror is hidden under the mask, follows and haunts her to death. Who will be her suspects?

Blumhouse released the death day cake poster for the film and it already gives me the goosebumps and excitement.

The film also stars Israel Broussard, Ruby Modine, Rachel Matthews, and Charles Aitken. Watch the trailer below.


Happy Death Day opens in Philippine cinemas on Oct. 11, 2017.

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Pitches are back! One last time.

Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson and the Barden Bellas graduated after the World Championships and face the world as employees in different paths they took. But as the world has been very harsh on them, the Bellas reunite and finds music in the USO tour with some questionable decisions, one last time.

Universal continues the exciting story of the Barden Bellas in Pitch Perfect 3. We suggest to grab your earphones or turn up the volume and see the trailer below:

Pitch Perfect 3 stars Anna Kendrick, Rebel Wilson, Hailee Steinfeld, Brittany Snow, Anna Camp, Alexis Knapp, Hana Mae Lee, Ester Dean, Chrissie Fit, Kelley Jakle, Shelley Regner, John Lithgow, John Michael Higgins, and Elizabeth Banks.

Opening in Philippine cinemas in 2018, Pitch Perfect 3 is distributed in the Philippines by United International Pictures through Columbia Pictures.

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Do we really need another Transformers movie? - my review

Here's what I think about Transformers: The Last Knight.

I saw Transformers: The Last Knight last night and I hope that this would be the last. Shooting it in 98% IMAX cameras just makes it meh. There have been a lot of 3D IMAX movies and the had been better way too much than giving us mere spectacle with Michael Bay's explosives and CGI. I've also got confused of who's really the villain somewhere in the middle and they even added unnecessary characters. Acting is cringe-worthy for Isabela Moner's character who's been so knowing-it-all on the Transformers' nature. The movie didn't establish her as a little heroine. And what happened to the 4 kids at the first half of the movie?

O, Mark Wahlberg was here pala.

It was trying to compose another origin or historical account on the living robots with a short-lived so-called robot-goddess, Quintessa. Great to see Bumblebee to rebuild itself after being torn into pieces. But I am still thankful that they acknowledged the presence of Sam Witwicky (Shia Labeouf) in the movie that might have lighten it up a bit.

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