William 2012!

Ron Capinding's William is back on stage! Gawad Buhay winner for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Ensemble Performance, and Outstanding Original Script, William is the story of familiarizes young people with the beauty of Shakespeare’s works and re-invents the Bard using rap rhythm and hip-hop beats.

Directed by Maribel Legarda, William touches on themes of adolescence, parents’ unconditional love and friendship and promotes respect for teachers and classmates, and advocates love for reading and appreciating literature—Shakespeare or not.

That, and I'm part of the cast. So please watch! Limited one-weekend-rerun only!

Watch William on these dates and times. Schedules in bold are my performance dates.

July 27, Friday, 10AM.
July 27, Friday, 3PM
July 28, Saturday, 10AM
July 28, Saturday, 3PM
July 29, Sunday, 10AM
July 29, Sunday, 3PM

See you at the Theater! For ticket information, visit PETA online.

How my William audition went

I suppose you'd want to know how my William auditions went. I was not able to walk to PETA from home because of the weather. I planned to drop by DM's so we can go together, but when I texted he said he was still in the shower so I went on ahead.

When I got to PETA none of my BA classmates were there yet. I arrived around a quarter past three. I listed in, was number "9," and asked to take a seat in the waiting area. There was already a lot of people and some had the same idea I had: come in high school uniform.

I didn't wear my St. John's Academy uniform, no! Good luck if that would still fit even if I were able to find one that survived time. I approximated my uniform. I wore a sando and a white polo with a simple print design. I wore khaki slacks. I decided, because of the weather, not to wear my leather shoes. I used my rubber shoes. I was gunning for the Erwin Castro (matamlay at mahiyain, di katangi-tangi) role, so I thought rubber shoes will make me look plain and ordinary (not that I need help in that area).

I played Gloc 9's Walang Natira over and over again. I'd alternate between my rap piece and my monologue. I felt more comfortable and ready with my Shylock piece, so I focused on my rap. I still tripped over my lines. Soon, Dene Gomez came. He wore a long-sleeved white polo with a fashionable slim tie, black formal pants, and pointed leather shoes. He also carried a guitar. "Did you go to IS in high school?" I quipped. He admitted that was the look he was aiming for. Soon, Avery Salaya came, too.

There were so many people who auditioned that someone said that this was the biggest turnout that PETA has had for an audition yet. And I was called to go up at 6:30pm. Yep, 3 hours of being very nervous! Good thing because Veck and I were set to watch Care Divas that night at 8pm and I didn't want to miss that!

Avery was fooling around with me and singing Stupid Luv by Salbakuta and whenever I hear him sing it I forget the rhythm and tone of Walang Natira and would've to play it back again using my music phone. I use my wife's Samsung earphones and somehow the way they're built allows me to hear my own voice when I hum or sing along to a song I'm playing, so at least I know when I'm off-key. Melo Uy came to give us her support.

I also want to note that I was nervous, but not helplessly so. I was praying and praying and I didn't care anymore if people saw me with head bowed. I bumped into someone I met in PUP (I'm sorry I forget his name), and coincidentally he was doing the Shylock speech, too. (Dene was doing the same speech, too.) My acquaintance from PUP said he's not memorized his monologue yet so I lent him my codigo. He didn't return it though, but it was okay because at that time I didn't need it anymore.

Another boy in pink-striped longsleeves came up to me and said he was doing the same speech I was doing. When I asked him from what play, he said he wasn't sure. I asked, what role? He said he wasn't sure. I said recite some lines and when he said, "If you prick us, do we not bleed," I said, "Oh, yeah, you're doing Shylock from Merchant of Venice." Talk about coming prepared for an audition!

Soon I was called into Studio A for my turn. I was about ready to die. I wanted nothing else but to make a dash for the restroom and take a dump. Instead push open the studio doors and see Ron Capinding, the playwright, grinning like a happy camper. The director, Maribel Legarda, was among the panel and she was very nice and patient. I didn't recognize the rest of the panel, though.

I said, "Good evening, po."

Maribel said, "Oh, you're from Melvin's class! You're the lion! I enjoyed your showcase."

You can imagine how good I felt when she said that.

I decided to do my monologue first: make a good "first impression." I did my Shylock making sure I do it as far away from Al Pacino's interpretation as possible. I didn't want to be a copycat, and who knows? Maybe this would be the only opportunity in my whole lifetime that I get to be Shylock, even for just a few minutes.

Then came the rap part. I am not a singer but I am willing to learn. (What you just read is a disclaimer.) I am not comfortable with my singing. So when I opened my mouth, my voice shook. I tried to just "face the music" and go on with it and do my choreography alongside the rap, but I tripped, as expected, over the fast Tagalog words. Maribel said I can hold my lyrics, it's okay. I did, and I just went through the song as fast as I could.

Oh, they were all laughing all throughout. Yeah, I am that amusing when I try to sing. Like Shengka Mangahas said, "It's fun to make a fool of yourself." Well, fun for those who watch, I guess.

Then they made me sing the National Anthem, which I totally didn't expect. I only got through the first two stanzas and they laughed through it as well. (You would, too, if you were there.) Then they said amongst themselves, "Okay, he's a baritone."

Wow. I'm a baritone? Baritones are singers. If I'm a baritone and baritones are singers, therefore... yeah, I didn't do well in Logic 101.

So they asked me to stay and read TJ Domingo (makisig, atleta, mahina sa akademiko, siga), who is the polar opposite of Rico del Rosario when he was in third year high school, but hey, it's "acting." They handed me a script and told me to study scene 2. After a short while, they got enough auditionees to fill up all the roles in scene 2, which are the teacher, Miss Lutgarda Martinez, and the whole gang of students. I secretly envied the guy reading Erwin Castro, but TJ's a lot of fun, too. His lines are very funny and I made sure I hit my punchlines during our scene. (Who knows if this is the first and last time I get to do TJ or do a scene in William?) It felt good because I heard some people from the panel laugh. I tried to conjure in my memory how the biggest bully in my high school life behaved. His name is Betong de Guzman. He would threaten me with his fist if I didn't show him my test answers. One time I decided not to let him copy and it felt good. I wonder how he is now.

All in all we had fun, all six of us who did the scene together. Then I thanked the panel profusely, headed out and met Veck who was shopping for milk at a grocery store nearby. We ate at KFC and spotted Manila's theatre critic Gibbs Cadiz. We saw him later in the audience at Care Divas.

Well, about 11:06am the next day I woke up to my phone was ringing and the caller identified himself as Aaron from PETA and he was informing me that I'm due for a callback on June 28! Yay! I literally was jumping up and down after the phone call. Dene Gomez and Avery Salaya are in the callbacks, too. Also Neomi Gonzales, J-mee Katanyag, and Eji Carreon. Woot! Break a leg, guys!

My question is, what does one do to prepare for a callback? I certainly don't know. In the meantime, kee kaa kee kaa kee...

And do send us lots of good vibes so we make it through the callbacks! Thanks!

William Auditions Today O_O

I am going on an audition today for PETA's William, a play by Ron Capinding. I don't know the story but I think it's about high school students whose lives unwittingly mirror those of Shakespeare's immortal characters.

I am 29 years old. I'll turn 30 in August. And I'm auditioning for a 15- to 16-year old role. Well, it's the theatre.

I'm doing a rap song from Gloc 9 and for the life of me I can't do it without tripping over the words, so I have to be extra careful. I am not so worried about my Shylock speech ("If you prick us, do we not bleed") although I need to do choice hunts for that. I was planning to re-read Anne Rice's "Angel Time" to give me a picture of the sorry plight of Jews in history, but I ran out of time for that. Otherwise, my plan is to love Shylock. As another Jew by the name of Apostle Paul wrote: "Don't just pretend to love others. Really love them." So ayun. What I did was I read Merchant of Venice (nosebleeeeeed!) until I got to that part so I can understand where all of Shylock's anger is coming from. Truth is, not until I read all the preceding scenes did I understand what "To bait fish withal" means.

What also helped is a book I found in my library. I bought this last year from Books&Mags for P29.00. (Interesting, I'm 29 years old!) It's called "Shakespeare Alive!" by Joseph Papp and Elizabeth Kirkland. It's subtitle says: America's foremost theater producer brings Shakespeare's England to life." The book really helped me get a picture of the prejudice the Jewish people received in England, and suddenly I realized that Antonio was not cruel towards Shylock just as a theatrical device, but that he really is a product of his time, and he reflected the general or common feeling or attitude of the English towards the immigrant Jews during Shakespeare's time. I also began to understand why Shylock is in the moneylending business. (I plan to have Dene Gomez, who is doing the same speech for his audition, read the chapter on Jews in the book.)

I realize, slowly, that for the most part, Shakespeare's characters are really truly living and breathing three-dimensional people. I used to find it cheesy when actors talk about the characters in their plays as if they were real and living, as if what they read wasn't a script or play but a newspaper. Hello? Fiction, non-fiction! I recently had a dose of this when after a Titus Andronicus reading, I was listening to the conversation of Joel Saracho, Gwyn Guanzon and the director George de Jesus. That's how they talked about the play and the characters. As if Titus and Tamora and Aaron were in the showbiz section and they're commenting on the dirty business of their lives. Hey, a young actor learns!

For Gloc 9, I plan to walk all the way to PETA from my apartment and recite it all the way, as a warm-up and a desperate attempt to memorize the fast parts of "Walang Natira." This is my fault. I should have been reading the same amount of Filipino literature as English. Then my tongue would be used to our own language and not trip over the lines. I promise you, I can sing "Another Hundred People" from Company, or "Gangsta's Paradise" and not mess up the words. But I don't think those two would make good audition pieces. Besides, me, sing Sondheim? No.

Okay, I also wanted to say I fouled up two auditions I went to recently. The first was for a Samsung hosting event I didn't care about much because they'd have us dress up as Iron Man and deliver lines in that ken. Hyuk! I do wish their event a success. The casting director behaved as if he's good friends with Melvin Lee and Anton Juan, and then asked me to ham my acting up. Anyway, I read in a book if you don't feel "right" during the audition, if you don't feel good vibes in the working environment, most likely the actual rehearsal/production work would be worse.

The next was my audition for Upstart Production's Much Ado About Nothing. I did my assignment. I read the play. I dressed nice. I came on time. My mistake was, I relied on me. All on me. Me, me, me, and my abilities. Big mistake.

Jacob told Dan, his son, just about before he was to breathe his last, "Dan will govern his people, like any other tribe in Israel. Dan will be a snake beside the road, a poisonous viper along the path that bites the horse's hooves so its rider is thrown off." Amazing abilities, huh? Jacob was blessing his son and showing him his future. Looks like Dan has it good. But then Jacob interjects, "I trust in you for salvation, O LORD!"

See, trust in the LORD for salvation. Not in one's own blessings or abilities. That I didn't do. I came to Much Ado reading all "Oh, I can wing this. I can muscle my way through. No need for my daily morning meditation, no need for prayer. I'm uber-talented." Well, Joel Trinidad texted me and said, "No roles for you now. Maybe in July."

So I won't mess up today's auditions. Finally, here are some of my personal tips culled from personal experience when going to auditions.

01) Never leave God out of the picture. Include Him, make Him central to your art, your acting. He is the God of the Arts and the Theatre, after all.
02) "Don't think you are better than you realy are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us."
03) Offer your audition piece as a sacrifice to God.
04) Don't think it's an audition. Think of it as an actual performance. Have complete freedom and let your imagination soar in your own attack! Take the audition as a chance to do a scene study.
05) Come prepared. Theater companies would post what they expect, and you must try your best to meet their expectations. If they say come with a Shakespeare monologue and a rap song, be sure you have that and then some at your arsenal.
06) Breathe. Work out. Steam your vocal cords.
07) Don't make the audition about Yourself with a capital Y, although you really are selling yourself as an actor and artist. Try to focus on the character you are presenting in your monologue. That way you behave as if you've already got the part and you're presenting it before an audience.

I guess that's it. Now I'm off to practice what I preach. Boy, am I so nervous!