Wicked Journey is a feature is where I recount the times I actually went out of my comfort zone and went to different places. This includes book signings, travels, and other posts related to journeying.
Disclaimer: The following photos are not mine. They are taken by my production mates, Caroline Castro and Ivonne Trabado. They have given me permission to use their photos to be posted in these posts.
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YOLO = You Only Live Once
That's the name of our production group for our Theater Directing and Production class. I know all of their names but they don't know me. I was scared. Oh what are they like? How will they like me as a member? Those were going in my head. I will be a part of this group till the end of the semester and mound a production.
After setting aside all of the shyness, we started working. Our director, Ejhey Gonzales, presented to us, 'Gee-Gee at Waterina' written by J. Dennis C. Teodisio. It's about the lives of Walter Dempster aka Waterina Markova, the comfort gay, and Justo Justo, the late councilor of Pasay and founder of the Home for the Golden Gays. Waterina Markova's colorful and gay life has been translated into film, Markova, by the late Comedy King, Dolphy, in the early 2000s along with his sons Eric Quizon and Jeffrey Quizon.
As I read the script, it was so GAY! :) I was so excited with this play. And I knew then that this play will be a hit especially with Mass Communication community in my school which predominantly gay. Even our Theater Directing and Production professor, Sir Dudz Terana, is excited and has high hopes for our play since this is his favorite play. (Hello, PRESSURE!)
Mounding a play isn't an easy task. Props aren't made overnight. Lines aren't memorized in a blink of an eye. But we made it through. Those sleepless nights over at our director's house were worth it.
Getting prepped up for our ID photo shoot. The theme: DRAG. As our director said several times, 'Don't be a drag, just be a queen~'
I have a fear for make-up. I mean, I put on make-up but only to a minimal which explains my pouty-make-up less face.
I have to hand it down to our director who looked the most BONGGA! (There's no English equivalent for the word BONGGA but it roughly means AMAZING~)
Looking all glam and fierce. :) We're missing a member here though. :(
Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. Discussing props and how to throw lines, the lights and the sounds. All listening carefully to the directions of our beloved director~ (Dagnabbit, my frizzy hair~ ewwww)
Rehearsals however weren't always in school since school hallways aren't ideal for rehearsing. Plus, other groups would see what we are doing. So we took our rehearsals outside school.
This was the first rehearsal after the Christmas vacation. Our director instructed our actors to drop books. (Drop book - theater term, meaning to memorize and understand lines) Well, let's just say, they haven't really dropped their books yet.
Rehearsals span at least a day or two. So that's what we did. We used our weekends to go to our director's house for overnights. And man, overnights were a blast. The photos don't do justice to all things we did and all the fun we had during overnights at our director's house.
Playing Jenga at the side while the others are making cardboard buildings. :) Guess who lost in Jenga~
ME! Hahahaha! I got flicked on the hand four times. Man, it hurt. Both losing and getting flicked on the hand.
All is good though. Dancing our stress away~ :) We need to dance. We need to be energized. Hence the late night dancing. I think we were the only ones up during that time. By the morning, we are back to work.
Overnights were worth it. I had my firsts here. My first time eating using my hands and on a banana leaf. Sorry, I'm such a rich kid (that's what my production mates tell me. ALWAYS) My first time to stay over at a friend's house and sleep there. My first time getting drunk outside the vicinity of hometown. And vomiting the morning after. My first time finishing half a pack of cigarettes in one sitting. I could never have chosen anyone to spend my time with other than them.
No words are exact to even describe how much I love these guys. And how proud I am to have worked with them for the whole semester. :)
But wait there's more! Another post is coming up. This time it's our show time! :) You'll see more pictures of our beloved actors in character and our lovely stage.
Stay tuned!
