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| David Bianco as Marco Polo |
The costumes are a feast for the eyes, lavish and intricate for Khan, Empress Wu, the warlords, the countesses and the other Cathay elite. The songs are memorable, from Marco's `What's There', to `Confucius Says' by the 8 Learned Men, up to the Finale number by the cast. Pinky Marquez as Empress Wu never fails to impress. I always love hearing her soaring operatic voice. Stephanie Reese as Princess Kogajin is also amazing, I look forward to seeing her in more musicals (I learned from the program that she played Kim in the German Production of Miss Saigon).
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/marcopolonewmusical
 |
| Friends in the cast include Kuya Manzano as Baron Tegan, and Fiona Gallano as Countess Sulin |
THE WORLD PREMIERE OF MARCO POLO: AN UNTOLD LOVE STORY - A NEW MUSICAL
February 8, 2014 at the Meralco Theater,
Gala Performance at 8:00pm
February 9, 2014 at the Meralco Theater,
Matinee Performance at 3:00pm
FOR TICKETS:
...
Tickets are available in all TicketWorld Manila outlets. You may call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or buy it online through this link http://bit.ly/1d6VH9h.
DISCOUNTS:
1. Student Discount: 40% off on tickets. Available over the counter. Not available on internet purchase. Present Student ID upon purchase.
Present Student ID upon entering the venue.
2. Senior Citizen Discount - 20% discount for senior citizens (minus tax so around 25-30% discount)
See you at the theatre!
From:
Business World - Marco Polo: exploring a forbidden love :
Theater Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story, The MusicalFeb. 8, 8 p.m.; Feb. 9, 3 p.m. Meralco Theater, Ortigas cor. Meralco Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City
EVERYONE knows who Marco Polo is, but do they know about the Venetian explorer’s love affair with Princess Kogajin, the daughter of the Great Kublai Khan? Though the affair is largely disputed, Rogelio Saldo Chua imagines the implications of this romance in his play Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story, The Musical.
Written, composed and directed by Mr. Chua, the musical was launched in
New York in June 2012 as a sung through concert. The full-fledged play
will finally make its world premier this weekend at the Meralco Theater.
The playwright flexed his creative muscles and conceived of how Marco Polo, a foreigner and the son of a mere Venetian merchant, sought to prove himself worthy of marrying Princess Kogajin. Through a series of explorations and tests with learned men, Marco Polo tries to win the favor of the Great Khan.
Mr. Chua has high hopes for this musical as he says he wrote it for the West End and Broadway audiences. He talked with people familiar with those theater scenes and got their advice.
His own experience watching plays in West End and Broadway have also helped him understand the standards of those theater hubs.
Mr. Chua became fascinated with Marco Polo when he watched a movie called Marco Polo the Magnificent as a 14-year-old and said to himself, “I want to be like him.” He went on to became an explorer, visiting 35 countries. When he retired from international banking in 2006, he saw Marco Polo on the cover of Time Magazine’s August issue, which described the historical figure as “the revolutionary from Venice.” Mr. Chua interpreted this as a sign that he should finally create a musical honoring his childhood hero.
He began playing with melodic lines and chord progressions. “For me it is the music first that comes, then the lyrics,” he said, explaining his creative process. When inspiration strikes, he starts humming a tune and tapes it on his recorder. Surprisingly his experience as a business executive helps him with music. The analytics field involves a lot of math, he explained, and often those who are good at math are also gifted when it comes to music.
BLOOD OF AN ADVENTURER
The first thing about playing Marco Polo is understanding the time period of the character, said David Bianco who plays the titular character. Being married, the love story component is “not a stretch” he said.
He is also an explorer at heart -- at the age of 18, acting took him around the US and Japan. He also went on the Camino de Santiago religious pilgrimage in Spain.
Above all, he is attracted to the nuggets wisdom contained in the musical. When Marco Polo is challenged by learned men about a saying by Confucius, the explorer responds, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
“You really have to listen to the dialogue,” he said.
A WARRIOR PRINCESS
Stephanie Reese says her character Princess Kogajin defies the damsel-in-distress stereotype. “She’s a wushu fighter and a commander,” she said. “She’s even a better fighter than Marco Polo.”
Ms. Reese is also happy her character doesn’t die by the end of the play -- the fate of several characters she has played, most notably Kim in the German production of Miss Saigon.
Landing the role of Kim was a big turning point in her life, said Ms. Reese, and since then she has gotten theater job after theater job until she landed the role of Kogajin.
“She’s a very strong character,” she said of the princess. “But she’s torn between duty and love.”
Other cast members include Chinggoy Alonso as Rustigielo, Pinky Marquez as Empress Wu Ze-Lin, and George Yang as Kublai Khan.
For tickets, call TicketWorld at call 891 -- 9999.
The playwright flexed his creative muscles and conceived of how Marco Polo, a foreigner and the son of a mere Venetian merchant, sought to prove himself worthy of marrying Princess Kogajin. Through a series of explorations and tests with learned men, Marco Polo tries to win the favor of the Great Khan.
Mr. Chua has high hopes for this musical as he says he wrote it for the West End and Broadway audiences. He talked with people familiar with those theater scenes and got their advice.
His own experience watching plays in West End and Broadway have also helped him understand the standards of those theater hubs.
Mr. Chua became fascinated with Marco Polo when he watched a movie called Marco Polo the Magnificent as a 14-year-old and said to himself, “I want to be like him.” He went on to became an explorer, visiting 35 countries. When he retired from international banking in 2006, he saw Marco Polo on the cover of Time Magazine’s August issue, which described the historical figure as “the revolutionary from Venice.” Mr. Chua interpreted this as a sign that he should finally create a musical honoring his childhood hero.
He began playing with melodic lines and chord progressions. “For me it is the music first that comes, then the lyrics,” he said, explaining his creative process. When inspiration strikes, he starts humming a tune and tapes it on his recorder. Surprisingly his experience as a business executive helps him with music. The analytics field involves a lot of math, he explained, and often those who are good at math are also gifted when it comes to music.
BLOOD OF AN ADVENTURER
The first thing about playing Marco Polo is understanding the time period of the character, said David Bianco who plays the titular character. Being married, the love story component is “not a stretch” he said.
He is also an explorer at heart -- at the age of 18, acting took him around the US and Japan. He also went on the Camino de Santiago religious pilgrimage in Spain.
Above all, he is attracted to the nuggets wisdom contained in the musical. When Marco Polo is challenged by learned men about a saying by Confucius, the explorer responds, “I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand.”
“You really have to listen to the dialogue,” he said.
A WARRIOR PRINCESS
Stephanie Reese says her character Princess Kogajin defies the damsel-in-distress stereotype. “She’s a wushu fighter and a commander,” she said. “She’s even a better fighter than Marco Polo.”
Ms. Reese is also happy her character doesn’t die by the end of the play -- the fate of several characters she has played, most notably Kim in the German production of Miss Saigon.
Landing the role of Kim was a big turning point in her life, said Ms. Reese, and since then she has gotten theater job after theater job until she landed the role of Kogajin.
“She’s a very strong character,” she said of the princess. “But she’s torn between duty and love.”
Other cast members include Chinggoy Alonso as Rustigielo, Pinky Marquez as Empress Wu Ze-Lin, and George Yang as Kublai Khan.
For tickets, call TicketWorld at call 891 -- 9999.
From PEP.ph :
Overview:
Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story
“Manila’s beautiful set in full force at Marco Polo an Untold Love Story the Musical”
So says well-known theatre critic Mario Hernando as noted in his blog.
As does celebrated cultural journalist Rosalinda L. Orosa who in her own words was stupendously surprised at “the singing, acting, staging, lighting, dancing and direction — all these expressing Chua’s book, lyrics and music — rendered Marco Polo comparable to the best musicals I have seen here and abroad. It could be for this reason executive producer Olivier Leonard reportedly plans to stage Marco Polo in London.”
Manila’s beautiful people was led by no less than Fil-Am philanthropist and art patroness Loida Nicolas-Lewis who helped launched this first musical composed by a Filipino helmed for West End and Broadway among bankers and investors in New York last year. The new musical is written and composed by stage actor, singer and director Rogelio Saldo Chua. It will be performed by a 40-member international cast and artistic team dominated by seasoned Filipino theatre professionals led by formerly New York-based actor David Bianco in the role of Marco Polo. Playing the role of Princess Kogajin is Fil-Am Stephanie Reese who was Tuptim in the revival of King & I on the West End and performed the lead role of Kim in the German version of Miss Saigon. The two leads will be supported in the Manila premiere by Pinky Marquez as Empress Wu, Chinggoy Alonso as Rustigielo and George Yang as Kublai Khan.
The Manila premiere of the full musical theatre version starts with the gala night on February 8, 2014, Saturday at 8 pm and a 3 pm matinee performance on February 9, Sunday. All shows are at Meralco Theatre, Ortigas, Pasig. A road show covering cities in Asia and Europe is being planned to drum up investor interest in the West End London opening. For tickets, call TicketWorld at 891-9999 or email artiststheater@live.com.
Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story
“Manila’s beautiful set in full force at Marco Polo an Untold Love Story the Musical”
So says well-known theatre critic Mario Hernando as noted in his blog.
As does celebrated cultural journalist Rosalinda L. Orosa who in her own words was stupendously surprised at “the singing, acting, staging, lighting, dancing and direction — all these expressing Chua’s book, lyrics and music — rendered Marco Polo comparable to the best musicals I have seen here and abroad. It could be for this reason executive producer Olivier Leonard reportedly plans to stage Marco Polo in London.”
Manila’s beautiful people was led by no less than Fil-Am philanthropist and art patroness Loida Nicolas-Lewis who helped launched this first musical composed by a Filipino helmed for West End and Broadway among bankers and investors in New York last year. The new musical is written and composed by stage actor, singer and director Rogelio Saldo Chua. It will be performed by a 40-member international cast and artistic team dominated by seasoned Filipino theatre professionals led by formerly New York-based actor David Bianco in the role of Marco Polo. Playing the role of Princess Kogajin is Fil-Am Stephanie Reese who was Tuptim in the revival of King & I on the West End and performed the lead role of Kim in the German version of Miss Saigon. The two leads will be supported in the Manila premiere by Pinky Marquez as Empress Wu, Chinggoy Alonso as Rustigielo and George Yang as Kublai Khan.
The Manila premiere of the full musical theatre version starts with the gala night on February 8, 2014, Saturday at 8 pm and a 3 pm matinee performance on February 9, Sunday. All shows are at Meralco Theatre, Ortigas, Pasig. A road show covering cities in Asia and Europe is being planned to drum up investor interest in the West End London opening. For tickets, call TicketWorld at 891-9999 or email artiststheater@live.com.
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