Wazzup Pilipinas!Performing artists Sheila Francisco, Michael Williams and Bituin Escalante headline in TRIPLE THREATS: Leading Men and Women of Philippine Musical Theater from August to October 2014 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) at 7:30pm. This event comes after the successful series run in 2013 that featured Nonie Buencamino, Audie Gemora and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo.
TRIPLE THREATS: Leading Men and Women of Philippine Musical Theater is a series of solo concerts featuring the stalwarts of Philippine Musical Theater. Each concert is an intimate evening of beautiful music, personally selected by the artists themselves, from their vast repertoire of favorite songs from Broadway, West End, original Filipino musicals and the movies. Dubbed as a series of “concept concerts”, the narrative of the performance is dictated by the song choices. It is a rare opportunity for the audience to see a different facet of the acclaimed theater, television and film artist being featured. The definition of a “triple threat” is someone in a particular field who exhibits the three skills that are necessary to excel – can act, can sing and can dance.
Opening the series on August 21, 2014 is acclaimed stage actress Sheila Francisco in her first solo concert entitled “Once in a Lifetime”. She was handpicked by no less than Sir Trevor Nunn to play Bloody Mary in the Royal National Theatre’s production of “South Pacific” in 2002. She is the first Filipino to perform in the prestigious Olivier Theatre to rave reviews. After five years, Sheila reprised her role as Bloody Mary in UK Productions’ “South Pacific” (UK tour). In the last four years, she starred in Singapore’s most successful musicals: “Forbidden City – Portrait of an Empress”, “Twist of Fate” and “Snow Queen”. Sheila has performed in Japan, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Malaysia and Brunei. Back in Manila she did Mother Abbess in “Sound of Music”, Dolores in “Rivalry” and the wacky Flora in “No Way to Treat a Lady”. In 2013, she played the role of The Queen in Resorts World’s production of “Cinderella”. She also starred in Repertory Philippines’s production of “August: Osage County” under the direction of Chris Millado.