Focus on the Philippines: Filipinos snag major roles in Miss Saigon tour

Plus: Journey’s frontman Arnel Pineda meets original vocalist Steve Perry for the first time; Filipino designers showcase their work at Milan Furniture Fair; director Lav Diaz triumphs in Dublin film festival.

Gerald Santos. Courtesy GMA Records

Three Filipino actors have landed major roles in the forthcoming Miss Saigon tour that will be held across the United Kingdom this year.

Seventeen-year-old newcomer Joreen Bautista will play the lead role of Kim, while Red Concepcion has been cast to play the Engineer. Singer Gerald Santos will take on the character of Thuy. Santos, 26, catapulted into fame in the Philippines after winning the reality singing programme Pinoy Pop Superstar.

Created by Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, Miss Saigon is based on Giacomo Puccini's opera Madame Butterfly and tells the story of a romance between a Vietnamese bar girl and an American army officer in the 1970s during the Vietnam War.

Miss Saigon debuted in London’s West End in 1989, starring Filipino actress Lea Salonga, then 18 years old, as Kim.

On Tuesday, Salonga posted on Twitter: “The cat’s out of the bag! Congratulations to Red Concepcion, Gerald Santos and Joreen Bautista!”

Two more Filipinos, Ela Lisondra and Christian Rey Marbella, have also been selected to join the ensemble cast of the musical.

Arnel Pineda meets Steve Perry for first time

Arnel Pineda, the Filipino frontman of the legendary rock band Journey, met the group’s original vocalist Steve Perry for the first time last week.

The meeting, which Pineda told reporters he had been wishing to happen for years, took place during the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame ceremony held in Brooklyn, New York on April 7. Journey is one of this year’s inductees to the Hall of Fame.

On social media, Pineda posted a photograph of himself embracing Perry, accompanied with the caption: “One of the sweetest hugs you can ever get from one of my heroes. It means the world to me. Waited 35 years for this moment. Thank you Almighty God!”

During Perry’s speech as Journey was inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, he said: “I must give a complete shoutout to someone who sings his heart out every night — and it’s Arnel Pineda. Where are you, Arnel? Arnel, I love you.”

Pineda joined the band in December of 2007 after the members of Journey hunted for a replacement for Perry. The group, comprised of lead guitarist Neal Schon, bassist Ross Valory, drummer Steve Smith and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, discovered Pineda’s YouTube videos and were impressed with his soaring covers of Journey’s songs.

Filipino designers showcase at Milan Furniture Fair

Amid 2,000 international labels, over a dozen design brands from the Philippines exhibited their creations at the Salon del Mobile (Milan Furniture Fair), which was held at the Italian city from April 4 to 9.

Leading the Philippine delegation was Kenneth Cobonpue, who is renowned internationally for his designs that integrate traditional Filipino materials with innovative technologies. Chita, an armchair he created with the Brazilian designer Sergio Matos, was cited by the New York Times as one of the top pieces from the fair.

Cobonpue, whose clientele includes celebrities Brad Pitt and Kendall Jenner, also collaborated with the British fashion label Vivienne Westwood for an exhibit held throughout the fair, with Cobonpue’s furniture displayed alongside Westwood’s latest collection.

Aside from Cobonpue, the other Filipino brands that showcased their work in Milan were Catalina, Garcia, Finali, Atelier A, Wataru Sakuma, Stanley Ruiz, Rachelle Dagñalan, Industria, Zacarias 1925, Kristen Blancas, Maze and Mirei Ong.

Filmmaker Lav Diaz triumphs in Dublin festival

Acclaimed Filipino filmmaker Lav Diaz was awarded the Best Director prize at the recently concluded Dublin Film Critics Circle Awards for his film Ang Babaeng Humayo (The Woman Who Left).

The Woman Who Left tells the story of a schoolteacher released from prison 30 years after being framed and wrongly convicted. The movie won the Golden Lion top prize at last year's Venice International Film Festival. It was also the lone Filipino film to be featured at the 2016 Dubai International Film Festival.

The black-and-white film, which runs for four hours, featured the cinematic comeback of 61-year-old veteran actress Charo Santos-Concio.

The Woman Who Left is also scheduled to screen at the forthcoming MOOOV Open Doek Film Festival in Turnhout, Belgium. The festival, which focuses on world cinema, has also selected two other Filipino films for its programme: Mikhail Red's Birdshot and Kohkei Hasei's Blanka.

After screening in Belgium, Diaz’s movie will head to the Sydney Film Festival, which will be held from June 7 to 8 in Australia.

Diaz is currently based in Boston, Massachusetts, where he is a fellow at Harvard University until this summer.