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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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This website includes selected articles from this week's edition of the Filipino Express. Not all the stories published in the printed version appear on this site.
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NEW YORK -- Four Fil-Am organizations and three individuals from Northeast USA were among 48 individuals and organizations who received awards on December 7 from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Malacańang in the 2006 staging of the biennial Presidential Awards for Filipino Individuals and Organizations Overseas.
The organizations that received the prestigious Banaag Awards were Bagong Kulturang Pinoy, Inc., Filipino American Medical Association, Inc., Iskwelahang Pilipino, Inc., and the Philippine American Group of Educators and Surgeons.
The individual awardees were Vladimir Manuel, Adolivni Acosta and Michael Dadap.
Bagong Kulturang Pinoy, Inc., was cited for its outstanding work in putting up and supporting mini-children’s libraries in about 30 depressed communities in the Philippines.
Filipino American Medical Association, Inc., donated almost US$5 Million-worth of medical supplies and medicines to various Philippine hospitals and clinics, aside from conducting medical missions to provinces and cities in Luzon and performing over a thousand free surgeries to indigent patients (including breast and ovarian cancer patients).
Iskwelahang Pilipino, is the first-ever and longest-running Philippine cultural school in the United States.
The Philippine American Group of Educators and Surgeons conducted about 7,500 medical-surgical missions to poor children in Luzon and the Visayas.
Manuel of Rochester, New York, is credited for mobilizing Filipino-American youth for nation-building through the Filipino Intercollegiate Networking Dialogue (FIND), the Collaborative Opportunities for Raising Empowerment (CORE), and the Filipino-American Human Services, Inc. (FAHSI).
Conferred the Pamana ng Pilipino Award were Adolovni P. Acosta, a concert pianist who has performed in the finest concert halls in the world and at the White House and who, in 1982, was named one of the Ten Outstanding Young Women in America; and Mr. Michael Dadap, artistic/music director and conductor of the Children’s Orchestra Society in New York, for his distinguished achievements in music.
Established in 1991, the Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino Award, Kaanib ng Bayan Award and the Banaag Award honor those who have contributed significantly to Philippine development or have promoted the interests of overseas Filipino communities. The Pamana ng Pilipino Award is given to overseas Filipinos who have distinguished themselves in their professions and have brought honor to the Filipino people.
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Mylene Sion will be crowned Miss Pangarap International 2007 this coming Saturday, January 27 at the Astoria World Manor in Astoria, Queens.
A graduate of the Centro Escolar University in Manila, Mylene worked at the Polymedic Hospital in the Philippines before coming to Sadefjord, Norway, and later to New York to land a job at the Bronx-Lebanon Hospital.
At present, she is an ER nurse at the Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. After work, she’s busy with her hobbies which includes bead-making, dancing and reading. Mylene is the first Miss Pangarap International of the Pangarap International Charity Foundation, Inc.
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By Alexis Marcelo de Castro
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I THOUGHT and still think it had the making of a great theater event. But too bad that Tino Aquino Capili’s “Sandcastles on the Hill” had been marred by some technical malfunctioning during its staging last December at St. Paul the Apostle Auditorium, also the venue of the highly successful “Father in Heaven.”
Despite having had to wait for what seemed to be an eternity before the play actually began, I felt right away it was to be another theatrical soar the way the young thespians immediately captured the audience with their a nuanced performance as children frolicking on the hill. Then oh-oh. the first fly in the ointment: the spotlight did not cooperate.
Later, it was the computer (which was utilized for a scene which was to depict images of the horrors of the world war that took place in the 1940s). By then, I had noted the other “non-cooperating” aspects: the stage was not appropriately lighted and the venue having not sufficient heat. Having watched two other plays of the same group (also written and directed by Capili) I still kept my faith that I would get my satisfaction and that Sandcastles… will hold up despite the onslaught of some destructive winds.
True enough, the parts performed by the adult cast were equally riveting as that of the children’s, if not more. I always thought (and still think) it was difficult to handle a big cast for a play director but then I have also seen “Father in Heaven” which had even much more number of participants and the performers were superbly handled. The scene of the friends on what supposed to be a hill depicting the prewar days must have evoked memories of friendships past among the seniors from the audience. That is, to those who were not too old to remember. The production designer though could have done a much better job in making the costume of the eight friends more outdated. As it was, there did not seem to be much difference compared to what is worn by men and women of today.
As a Filipino literary enthusiast, it was nostalgic for me to see “Sisa” in one of the scenes. For the uninformed, the role of Sisa used to be that against which all other female dramatic roles are measured. No wonder that in my college days, all my female classmates who were into theatre dreamed of performing Sisa’s character.
I never thought I could still witness her character unfold onstage in these days and age! And in America. Not handled well enough, it could have come out shallow and ineffective. But the actress who portrayed it was able to parade to the audience, in a brief moment, the angst, sorrow, and pains of the most dolorous mother in the writings of the greatest Filipino hero, Dr. Jose Rizal, and probably among all fictional Filipino mothers.
Another outstanding scene was the war scene itself. Though it could have been enhanced by more effective sound and light effects, the portrayal of the four soldiers was wounding enough. Again, to the veterans whose faculty of recall was still excellent, that war scene would have conjured up memories of their own heroic exploits in the battlefield during WW II.
I found the scene by the Golden Gate refreshingly different. Other plays could have either successfully or lamely depicted a replica of the famous bridge at the backdrop, but what was done in Sandcastles was an impressive way of avoiding additional costs. Brilliant! The audience was made to believe that the Golden Gate was there with the two characters looking at it (with the actor even throwing stones at it) but in this scene, the audience was the golden bridge.
The scene of the old man reminiscing on the hill his yesteryears was at best eerie. It must be both a joy and a torment seeing visions of youth unfolding before the eyes of someone who is now old and weak, someone who had lost the vitality and vigor that he once possessed. From the audience point of view, it was another captivating scene as the children portrayed what seemed to be ghosts of past appearing right before the old man’s very eyes. The children, playful and unaffected, were able to aptly portray the exuberant gaiety of the children that they really are.
Indeed Sandcastles could have been a much greater magical ride to the wonders of theater had it not been marred by some glitches. Other aspects going awry might have been unavoidable, but the play could have fared better without the prolonged musical intermissions. In most of the plays nowadays, such is not necessary. A few guitar strums could have done the job. Even completely without it would not have harmed the play like it did the Sandcastles. Most plays that I saw in New York would have no musical intermission between the scenes. Even elaborate stage props would not be necessary for most of the play (most plays can go without them) hence, I would not fault Sandcastles that much for having just the tree and the bench on the hill. Minimalism is the battlecry. But then again, it would be a big plus for any play to have great production designs.
One unfortunate thing to have affected the quality of the play was also the unmanaged audience. There was too much noise that prevented most of those who were there to really watch it from appreciating the scenes being portrayed. Saving the best for the last, and the most important anyway, the actors were very good in their portrayals. I would say they did not fail in that department. Though Sandcastles was blown away by some uncooperative winds, the redemption came by way of its actors’ talents rising above all the technical onslaughts coupled with a beautiful storyline. Capili’s set of theatre artists is an asset to our Filipino community in the Jersey City or to Filipinos in America in general, if these performers or some of them are from other areas. Despite the problems Sandcastles encountered, it was a moment of truth for all the cast and crew to prove once again that armed with their respective talents, they will not bow down to even the most daunting theatrical blips.
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