Wazzup Pilipinas News and Events

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Jawsome July Returns With Shark Week On Discovery Channel

Wazzup Pilipinas!

SHARK WEEK, one of the longest running and most anticipated television events, returns to Discovery Channel on Monday, July 13 at 9pm (PH).

Last year’s Shark Week netted record high ratings in the Philippines since 2009, and the highest viewership in Singapore over the last ten years since 2005, among viewers aged 25 to 54. From Return of the Great White Serial Killer, to Bride of Jaws and Ninja Sharks, SHARK WEEK is set to be even more jawsome this year!

SHARK WEEK 2015 PROGRAMME SYNOPSIS

ISLAND OF THE MEGA SHARK
Premieres Monday, 13 July at 9pm (PH)

Shark experts Jeff Kurr, Andy Casagrande and Dickie Chivell travel to the volcanic Pacific island of Guadalupe, to search for one of the largest great white sharks ever recorded with new technologies and innovative methods.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental has long been known as the Cultural Center of Southern Philippines, and for the first time ever, the Silliman University Cultural Affairs Committee, the city’s unofficial cultural arm, brings to Manila audiences AMPALAYA THE MUSICAL - an original new musical that will delight and educate, with a performance on 15 July 2015 at the Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo of the Cultural Center of the Philippines, which is part of Silliman University’s commitment as the official regional cultural hub of the CCP.

AMPALAYA THE MUSICAL celebrates Philippine culture through music, dances, games and values. The musical play is based on the award winning children’s story Alamat ng Ampalaya (The Legend of Ampalaya) written by Augie Rivera, Jr. Another highlight of this production is the original music by renowned New York-based guitar virtuoso Maestro Michael Dadap who has set the play’s music using a live 22 piece Orchestra Sin Arco (Orchestra of Plucked Instruments). The play is directed by Dessa Quesada Palm, of the Philippine Educational Theater Association, with musical direction by Dr. Elizabeth Susan Vista-Suarez and choreography by Angelo Sayson. Ampalaya.

AMPALAYA THE MUSICAL has just finished its run from July 3-6, 2015 and its first full length run last September 2014 which were both held at the Luce Auditorium. The musical began as a short play, which debuted in 2000 in Boston.

Wazzup Pilipinas!

Fo Guang Shan Philippines in cooperation with the Buddha’s Light International Association will restage Siddhartha: The Musical at the Main Theater of the Cultural Center of the Philippines on July 17, at 2 pm and 8 pm. Directed by Sarah Mae Enclona-Henderson and with musical direction by Jude Gitamondoc, Siddhartha: The Musical tells the story of Siddhartha, the prince who renounced his royal status to seek enlightenment. He would eventually become the Buddha, the awakened one. His teachings are still kept alive today by millions of people all over the world.
The musical is based on the book The Biography of Sakyamuni Buddha by Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the founder of the Fo Guang Shan Buddhist order. Most of the songs used in the musical are also based on the writings of the Venerable Master.

To date, Siddhartha: The Musical has been staged a total of 55 times. It has been shown in Cebu, Manila, Iloilo, Bacolod, Taiwan and the United States.

In November 2013, the entire cast and crew of the production was invited to perform by Fo Guang Shan Hsi Lai Temple in southern California to take part in the temple’s 25th anniversary celebration. The production also traveled to Northern California and other parts of the U.S. Proceeds from the shows were used to rebuild structures damaged by the earthquake that struck Bohol and Cebu, as well as in relief operations for the victims of typhoon Yolanda.