back from the undead

For a semi-bum, my social life unexpectedly got a healthy jolt, thanks to Gracie’s dinner with the old crowd, Soundproof’s last gig at Newsdesk and best of all, tickets to watch The West Side Story at Meralco Theater.

Gracie’s overdue birthday celebration brought together the usual suspects after a very long time (for me, at least). Glad to see some things never change, good or bad. And hey, two words got me there in a snap: Amici’s gelato. And yes, it seems that it is going to be after 48 years again before we can finally go on that fabled out of town trip that has been planned, scrapped and planned again so many times that we might actually already have a template for the trip’s logistics.

Soundproof’s last gig at Newsdesk turned out to be packed and everyone had a good time so much so that towards the end, it looked like our party. I can only say one thing about that night: I so missed drinking ice-cold beer! Especially because it was a particularly hot and humid night. Hmm, I think I might hang out more at Newsdesk. I like the vibes, love the décor, plus there’s free Wifi. ;) Reminds me of Cebu’s Outpost. It’s actually an old house transformed into a bar/gallery/tambayan for artsy-fartsy types- their tagline bears the more intimidating “The working journalist’s bar” (or something to that effect.)

Saturday, I got to watch The West Side Story, and while we were hoping to catch Joanna Ampil as Maria, getting to watch a play again was just enough for me. The set design was gorgeous, with fast and seamless transitions, and great use of light effects. Their costumes were cute, some I would have wanted to tweak to better represent the era, but over all, it didn’t matter, what with the frenzied and fabulous jazz numbers. The live orchestra (Gerard Salonga as musical director) held me in rapture, so much so that it sometimes distracted me from Tony (Christian Bautista) and Maria (Karylle)- well, maybe it was also because I thought they lacked certain oomph and passion. In the end, Riff (played by Gian Magdangal) really surprised me because he sometimes overshadowed the main characters- that’s how good he was. I saw him perform about a year ago in a corporate event, and I didn’t think he’d be actually good. (What I would give to be in theater again, pwede bang kahit taga-tulak lang ng set? No?) I hope I can still make good on my promise to myself, to watch more plays. And who can forget the heart-wrenching songs of The West Side Story? Some of my favorites:

A Boy Like That/I Have A Love (Anita/Maria duet)

I have a love, and it's all that I have.
Right or wrong, what else can I do?
I love him; I'm his,
And everything he is
I am, too.
I have a love, and it's all that I need,
Right or wrong, and he needs me, too.
I love him, we're one;
There's nothing to be done,
Not a thing I can do
But hold him, hold him forever,
Be with him now, tomorrow
And all of my life!

When love comes so strong,
There is no right or wrong,
Your love is your life.

And the more popular:

Somewhere

There's a place for us,
Somewhere a place for us.
Peace and quiet and open air
Wait for us
Somewhere.

There's a time for us,
Some day a time for us,
Time together with time spare,
Time to learn, time to care,
Some day!

Somewhere.
We'll find a new way of living,
We'll find a way of forgiving
Somewhere . . .

There's a place for us,
A time and place for us.
Hold my hand and we're halfway there.
Hold my hand and I'll take you there
Somehow,
Some day,
Somewhere!

I sometimes wish the world were literally a stage- where everyone performed at his best, dressed nice, and where people sang and danced their way to life. Fun! :D