About the author It feels great to be onboard CarouselPinoy.Com! And I’d like to share this great feeling to all the loyal followers of this widely-read Pinoy Entertainment Portal in the US! For the past 12 years, I’ve been writing, handling public relations (PR) projects, and even teaching the science of PR to prospective practitioners at De La Salle University-Manila. It started out really serious for me as young professional to be handling corporate PR accounts for Pepsi Philippines, Dao Heng Bank, PICOP Resources, and some land and investment holdings in the first 8 years of my practice. I definitely learned a lot from the experience. But, hey, I feel I needed to let my hair down! Heaven-sent Philippine theater stalwarts Bart Guingona (Actor’s Actors Inc.) and Audie Gemora (STAGES) came into the picture to “rescue” me. I tried it out first as a freelance publicist to Guingona and Gemora’s theatrical production of Off Broadway hit “The Last Five Years.” The theater bug finally bit me and ‘til now I’m handling a huge slice of the pie of the biggest theater shows in the Philippines like Trumpets’ productions of “Mr. Noah’s Big Boat,” and “Joseph the Dreamer;” Actors’ Actors Inc.’s productions of Broadway shows “Oleanna,” “Art,” “Once On This Island,” and “Death and the Maiden;” Dulaang UP’s grand production of “St. Louis Loves Dem Filipinos;” and of course my homebase – STAGES’ production of hit Broadway musical “Footloose,” and the upcoming full stage production of Disney’s “High School Musical.” Moreover, my post in STAGES as resident publicist and PR consultant, has been paving the way for me to work on the publicity needs of big mainstream artists such as Christian Bautista, Gary Valenciano, “Little Big Star” grand prize winner Sam Concepcion, Heart Evangelista, Rachelle Ann Go, Bituin Escalante, Lara Fabregas, Franco Laurel, Philippines’ premier rock band The Dawn, among others. The chance to also work on the much-needed publicity for independent films like Clodualdo del Mundo's “Maid In Singapore,” and “Pepot Superstar,” Denisa Reyes and Mark Gary’s “Sandalang Bahay, and more recently Adolf Alix’s “Donsol,” and Mike Sandejas’ “Tulad Ng Dati came into my way. PR works for marine resources and whale shark (butanding) conservation in partnership with Greenpeace Philippines, and underwater cinematographer Carina Escudero have definitely fueled in more passion into my practice. When Carousel Pinoy’s publisher Terry Badiola offered me a column space on his highly popular portal, I just couldn’t say no. I firmly believe that the Philippines has been blessed with amazing talents, arts and culture, travel destinations and marine resources; and the rest of the world must know that. Sadly, most of our kababayans in the US are not even aware of these amazing tidbits about the Philippines. I hope that my column “STAGESCOPE” will be a worthy expanded avenue for our kababayans in the US and for that matter all over the world to appreciate more of the Philippines. The Philippines is not as bad as what you read in the papers or watch on TV. Allow me tell you the other side of the story. I urge you to read on, and the great wonders of the Philippines will unfold. God Bless. I love the Philippines. Oliver Oliveros stages_pr@i-manila.com.ph WCOPA National Director for the Philippines introduces 2007 Team Philippines June 18, 2007 Carlo Orosa, newly-licensed World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) National Director for the Philippines, presented to sponsors and the media this year's Team Philippines that will compete at the 11th Annual WCOPA in Hollywood, California during a fundraising concert held recently at Teatrino, Promenade, Greenhills. Ida Henares, former WCOPA National Director for the Philippines and Jed Madela, 2005 WCOPA Grand Champion Performer of the World, were at the affair to show support to 2007 Team Philippines. Team Philippines includes Pop Virtuoso Reuben Laurente, Hamilton Canada Talent Hunt Grand Prize Winner and "Philippine Idol" finalist Reymond Sajor, "Born Diva" Grand Prize Winner Raki Vega, 2006 Manhunt International semi-finalist Iago Raterta, "Little Big Superstar" finalist Aria Clemente and Zamboanga-based Revelation Band. WCOPA is often cited as the one and only "official Talent Olympics" for performers and entertainers. After 11 years of incredible growth, it is the only premier international talent and modeling competition of its kind annually held in Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world! Similar to the Olympics, only invited and qualified competitors (called Worldstars) representing countries compete each year in a fierce competition for the "Grand Champion Performer of the World" titles. There are three rounds of competitions. The first will determine the medalists: Gold, silver, and bronze. The medalists move on to the second round of competitions to determine overall World Champions. Outstanding and entertaining performers chosen during the second round will then perform before a selected panel of judges to determine the finalists who will compete for the "Grand Champion of the World" category titles and ultimately the "Grand Champion Performer of the World" titles. Competitors are encouraged to look for sponsors from their respective countries that will pay up for their registration fee, airfare, food and accommodation at WCOPA from July 28 to Aug 5. Expected expenditure would sum up to around $3,000 per delegate. Over 50 countries are expected to send in their representatives to WCOPA. "Team Philippines this year is carefully selected and made up of incredible talents from major TV networks and nationwide singing competitions. We are also sending our very first male model delegate to WCOPA," says Orosa. Griff O' Neal, former "Miss Universe" pageant executive and WCOPA president, shares the same excitement over Team Philippines. "All of us are anxious to welcome Team Philippines to the 11th annual WCOPA! "Go for the Gold!" says O' Neal. For inquiries and donations to 2007 WCOPA Team Philippines, you may contact Oliver Oliveros of STAGES at mobile no. 0928-7725254 or e-mail add. stages_pr@i-manila.com.ph. 2007 WCOPA Team Philippines has been getting support from the following sponsors: PLDT MyDSL, Outland, STAGES, Christian Bautista, Senator Ramon Bong Revilla, Jr., Mr. Kenway, Trumpets Musicademy, Rodriguez de Alba Bespoke and Fotofabrik – Photography by Jay Javier. WCOPA delegates hold fundraising concert June 4, 2007 2007 World Championships of Performing Arts (WCOPA) Filipino delegates Pop Virtuoso Reuben Laurente, Hamilton Canada Talent Hunt Grand Prize Winner and "Philippine Idol" finalist Reymond Sajor, "Born Diva" Grand Prize Winner Raki Vega, top male model Iago Raterta, Calisang siblings and The Revelation Band, together with 2005 WCOPA Grand Champion Performer of the World Jed Madela, will hold a fundraising concert at Teatrino, Promenade, Greenhills Shopping Complex, on June 15, Friday at 8:30 p.m. WCOPA is often cited as the one and only "official Talent Olympics" for performers and entertainers. After eleven years of incredible growth, it is the only premier international talent and modeling competition of its kind annually held in Hollywood, the entertainment capital of the world! Similar to the Olympics, only invited and qualified competitors (called Worldstars) representing countries compete each year in a fierce competition for the "Grand Champion Performer of the World" titles. There are three rounds of competitions at WCOPA. The first round of competitions will determine the medalists: gold, silver, and bronze. After which, the medalists move on to the second round of competitions to determine overall World Champions. Outstanding and entertaining performers chosen during the second round will then perform before a selected panel of judges to determine the finalists who will compete for the "Grand Champion of the World" category titles, and ultimately the "Grand Champion Performer of the World" titles. It is encouraged that every competitor would look for sponsors from their respective countries that will pay up for his/her registration fee, airfare, food and accommodation at WCOPA from July 28 to Aug 5, 2007. Expected expenditure would sum up to around USD 3,000 per delegate. Over 50 countries are expected to send in their representatives to WCOPA. "Team Philippines for this year is carefully selected and made up of incredible talents from major TV networks and nationwide singing competitions. We are also sending our very first male model delegate to WCOPA," says Carlo Orosa of STAGES, and this year's WCOPA National Director for the Philippines. For tickets to the 2007 WCOPA fundraising concert at Teatrino, call or text 0928-7725254 or email stages_pr@i-manila.com.ph. Sponsors' tickets are available at PhP1,000 each. Video: Disney's "High School Musical" videos! June 2, 2007 Video: Disney’s “High School Musical On Stage” Press Con from ClicktheCity.Com Clipcast of STAGES and Trumpets Playshop’s production of Disney’s “High School Musical On Stage” now uploaded at: http://www.clickthecity.com/clipcast/?v=212 Vids, pics, stories and more coming soon on www.clickthecity.com Get your tickets now at Ticketworld 891-9999 or STAGES 818-1111 loc. 209. Enjoy! =) Oliver Audie Gemora introduces the future of musical theatre May 8, 2007 In Manila theatre scene, Audie Gemora is revered as the King of Philippine Musical Theatre for playing almost all possible roles onstage in his three-decade-old career from Javert (Les Miserables) Aslan (The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe), Joseph (Joseph the Dreamer) El Gallo (The Fantasticks), Billy Bigallow (Carousel), among many others, but as a producer, his track record is just as impressive – he produced hit musicals for STAGES and Trumpets and launched KC Concepcion, Carol Banawa, Dianne dela Fuente, Karylle (Little Mermaid), Jay-R and Iya Villania (Footloose) as theater actors. With STAGES and Trumpets Playshop’s production of the hit Disney telemusical High School Musical this June and July at the Meralco Theater, Audie is once again thrilled as he is introducing musical theatre’s freshest, youngest breed of musical theater actors – Teen heartthrob and Trumpets Playshop’s pride Sam Concepcion, pretty and talented Cheska Ortega, commercial model Alex Godinez, and TV personality PJ Valerio with almost 50 of the most promising performers in the country. “Sam is very talented and very charismatic onstage. He can sing, act and dance,” says Audie. “Tapping Sam to play the musical’s lead, Troy Bolton, is an obvious choice.” Audie also admits that casting "High School Musical" gave him a sense of fulfillment, since most of the cast members are Playshoppers. He considers his cast to be perfect – young, good looking, and talented. “Alex Godinez is very Sharpay Evans because she has this ‘diva’ air in her,” he says. “As for the female lead, Gabriella Montez, I always had Cheska Ortega in mind and I can now say that the role is really meant for her.” TV personality PJ Valerio makes his crossover to stage acting via "High School Musical" and Audie believes in the potential of this teener. Earlier, Audie plucked singer Regine Velasquez to do theater via Tanghalang Pilipino’s "Noli Me Tangere" in 1995. This prompted Viva’s top honcho Vic del Rosario to give the Songbird her break as a movie actress the following year. For tickets, call Ticketworld at (632) 891-9999 or STAGES at tel. no. (632) 818-1111 loc. 209 or 225. Disney's "High School Musical" is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI). You may reach the writer at email: stages_pr@i-manila.com.ph or blog site: http://oliverpublicist.blogspot.com