Archive - Arts & Culture

By PABLO A. TARIMAN THEY are no doubt about it, the best in their respective artistic fiefdom. What happens when they share the stage for two nights? Metro Manila got a most-needed respite from scams and scandals when Cecile Licad, Lea Salonga and Lisa Macuja Elizalde — along with the ABS CBN Philharmonic under Gerard

  Text and photos ELIZABETH LOLARGA BILLED as “the most anticipated artistic/musical event of the year, ” the show “Pers Lab” carries the advertising profession’s glib hyperbole. Nevertheless, the six artists (Nelson Cruz, Dennis Garcia, Dennis Magdamo, Bong Pedro, Fernando Modesto and Myra Portillo) pleasantly surprise and lend substance to their claim. Opening night at

By KARA SANTOS If brewmaster Paul Stuart del Rosario is to be believed, there’s a revolution brewing in the country these days: a craft beer revolution. With such names as Kalayaan Amber Ale, Liberation Pale Ale, and Indio Pale Ale, these beers are manufactured by a handful of craft breweries in the country, and could

Text and photo by ELIZABETH LOLARGA CHILD experts haven’t emphasized enough how “first years last forever” to mean that the years zero to six are crucial to a child’s physical, mental and emotional development. In fact, it is part of the United Nations Children’s Fund mandate to protect and nurture those years. With its “Auction

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA FOR a head of an office that encourages overseas Filipino workers to come home and be part of a dynamic sector called “the creative industries,” Ambassador Jose Maria A. Cariño has to work with a budget of one million pesos, not a centavo more. He said the amount

  By PABLO A. TARIMAN DISTINGUISHED Filipino baritone Andrew Fernando takes his first crack as Padre Damaso in the Felipe Padilla de Leon opera, “Noli Me Tangere” in New York on October 4, 5, 6 at the Kaye Playhouse of Hunter College in New York. Last heard as Germont in La Traviata, Sharpless in Madama

   Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA TWO years in the making, “Appasionata” at Altro Mondo has at last seen light. This light is beamed at the works of Rosario “Charito” Bitanga, Imelda Cajipe Endaya, Lenore RS Lim, Marivic Rufino and Susan Fetalvero Roces. Curated by Deanna Ongpin-Recto, the show underscores how even the most

    By PABLO A. TARIMAN “METRO MANILA” — which is UK’s official entry in the Oscar foreign language category in Hollywood — opens in the city October 9 with Filipino actors among them,  John Arcilla and Jake Macapagal. Just like in his last Hollywood film, “Bourne Legacy,” Arcilla plays the role of a security

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA HER resume may be short, but people who have thrilled to the voice of lyric soprano Myramae Tapia Meneses agree that she’s small but wonderful. Scheduled for a solo recital on Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. at the Ayala Museum as part of the Manila Chamber Orchestra (MCO)

By PABLO A. TARIMAN A film like “The Guerilla Is a Poet” can be viewed on many levels. For those who were not yet born anywhere near the declaration of martial law, the film is an apt introduction to the Marcos era of the 60s and the early 70s and how the political and social

By NORMAN SISON UPON entering the gallery, museum visitors are immediately greeted by a huge painting, prominently displayed in a rotunda at the end of the hall. Completed in 1886, the oil-on-wood painting “España y Filipinas” (“Spain and the Philippines”) is the crown jewel of the Lopez Museum & Library’s collection of 41 paintings done

  By JUSTINE OBANDO and HAZEL P. VILLA COSPLAY (short for costume play) has recently become a popular hobby among Filipino anime, manga (Japanese comics) and games enthusiasts. For many fans of established characters, there is great appeal and fun in transforming themselves and portraying the characters they love. However, while it is common for

  By ELIZABETH LOLARGA Photos by KIMI FERNANDEZ IT is good corporate practice to set aside a sizable space in a mall so the public can enjoy live symphonic music. Not only is it good, it should become SOP in a country where people have an innate musicality and are always up to date on

  By LEILANIE ADRIANO PAGUDPUD, Ilocos Norte—Steady winds make Caparispisan village in this northern most part of Ilocos Norte town a favorite destination of thrill-seeking foreign and domestic tourists who love to play with the waves while kite surfing. And, soon, tourists can look forward to an added attraction: windmills— just like those in neighboring

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA TRANQUIL and quiet beside Juan Luna, who shot and killed his wife and mother-in-law in a crime of passion that landed on the front pages of several newspapers in Paris, painter Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo is perceived to be a bit of a mama’s boy. In his “Visualizing Philippine

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA IN the 19th century, Juan Luna, Felix Resurreccion Hidalgo, Jose Rizal and other expatriates in Europe were already doing their versions of the “selfie” and “wacky shot.” They were unaware of the greatness that was their destiny. Historian Ambeth Ocampo, who specializes in 19th-century Philippines, including the arts

  Text and photos by ELIZABETH LOLARGA IVAN Niccolo Nery is one of four brothers whose first name is a variation of John. There’s a Gian Francesco, a Johann Frederic and a Jan Lambert. Even his sister Anna has a name that is the female version of John. Nery’s first two names fittingly point to

    By PABLO A. TARIMAN BOMBARDED with the stench of pork barrel which made one Janet Lim Napoles an instant billionaire and with the shocking details of the money trail as related by whistleblower Benhur Luy, the country is now pictured as one big, well-organized gangland peopled by shrewd shenanigans luxuriating in bathtubs awash