Still Raining. Still Pouring.

It's still pouring. And here's what the second wave of rain brings:

Nov 4-7 Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You

My first straight play in Hong Kong, after waiting for MY break for 4 years, and I get to do it with the American Community Theater! How lucky am I? Playing Gary in "Sister Mary..." (some of you who might know the play will, I'm sure, smile and say "How fitting!" Shut up!), I join what ACT President, Arvin Robles, refers to as an assembly of ACT's new breed of talents in this twin -bill with Harold Pinter's "The Dumb Waiter". Show runs from Nov. 4-7 at the Fringe Studio. Tickets at $220 ($180 for concessions and Fringe members). For more info, visit www.acthongkong.com. For online booking, visit http://hkticketing.com

Nov 21 Everybody Loves Three (The Volume 3rd Anniversary Party)

It's Volume. AND it's their anniversary. So for sure, Chiquitta will be there. This time, though, she will not JUST be there, lip-syncing to popular gay anthems. She is launching her very own single, "Tranny In The House"! As DJ Stonedog puts it, "Come down to watch HK Queer history in the making as LA CHIQUITTA becomes our city's very first DRAG DIVA superstar!"

Cover ENTRY: HK$100 at the door & includes 1 standard drink
plus your special souvineer limited edition Volume CD single with 5 exclusive remixes from:
* DJ STONEDOG (Hong Kong) * PRINCESS ANN (Malaysia) * MATT POP! (Netherlands) * GENDERFKKK (Hong Kong) and * JAD DESENCHANNTEE (Argentina)

Nov 28 Mr. Gay HK

Hong Kong will never be the same.

Come and cheer on with us as we crown the first ever beauty king of this part of the planet, who will represent the multicultural world city of Hong Kong in next year's Mr. Gay World, which will be held in Oslo, Norway.

With a special performance by Chiquitta (of course! Why else would I plug it? We wanna sell more cd's!). For ticket and venue information, visit http://www.manasiaproductions.com


Dec 17-18 For Colored Girls Who Committed Suicide/ When The Rainbow Is Enuf

Multus Productions proudly presents this choreopoem by Ntozake Shange (that inspired Eve Ensler to write The Vagina Monologues), for the benefit of the Narcolepsy Research Foundation. Loved and well-received over the years throughout the whole world, "For Colored..." is debuting in Hong Kong through the efforts of producer/ director Donalda McCarthy.

Multus is still looking for actresses of color (any color except white) and dancers of all shapes and sizes (but preferably more adept in modern, contemporary, or lyrical jazz) to complete the cast. If you're interested and or you may know someone who is, please don't hesitate to call me or to visit this website: http://multusproductions.com

Auditions will be held this Sunday, November 1, in Wan Chai. Timeslot and exact venue will be confirmed upon registration.

How am I involved in this? Why am I plugging this? I'm choreographing.


Jan 13-16 Romeo & Juliet

Orpheus Productions presents a very modern, very relevant, and very hip production of Shakespeare's most renowned classic, Romeo & Juliet at the McAulay Theater, directed by Andy Burt and choreographed by me, of course. More info will follow in January.

Life Is A Musical

Revived Ep 17, "Life Is A Musical" of TD&RS, Out Now!


We waited so long for this. Finally, the musical episode that we have been promising you since Season 1 of The Dan & Rye Show.

Our sincerest thanks to our friends who made this possible. And special mention to "Mr. Englishero", Rony Fortich, for graciously hosting us and playing the piano all night.

Kasuys, here is the 30-minute version of the fun, musical 4-hour jamming that we did one warm Saturday night in August. Tunes that make our hearts smile from Broadway all the way to Cubao. (Imagine how heartbreaking it was to select only 12.5% of everything. There's probably gonna be a part2)

We hope you enjoy listening to it as much as we had fun recording it.

The Dan & Rye Show Revived!

Endings Are Beginnings

Before Chiquitta hogged the limelight, there were three of them. And together, they were called The Glitterazzis.

Join Tiara Ferrari, Krystle Meth, and La Chiquitta as they relive their sisterhood for one last time, in their one-night-only Farewell Show,

"Vegas My Ass!"
Oct. 2, Friday
Volume
Performances at 11 and at midnight

Free entry.

Happy hour till 11 pm.

When It Rains

The long, dry spell is over. And this time, it is pouring! I have been complaining the past few weeks that I don't have enough time to sleep anymore, or to spend with Dan, or T, or even to party. And then I realized, I can go on and on complaining, but this is what I had been asking for, for 4 years!

Shows, shows, shows! Rehearsals, rehearsals, rehearsals!

If you missed Chiquitta in "Hello Sailor!" two weeks ago, the first of a long thread of performances, know that there are other showa that you can catch to make it up to me. ;-)


"Everybody's Famous". Chiquitta's birthday show at Volume. This Friday, 25th f September at Volume. Show starts at 11. Free entry. Happy hour til 11. http://www.volume.com.hk


"Thoroughly Modern Millie". HK Singers brings to Hong Kong the 2002 Tony Awardee for Best Musical. Musical direction-- Scott Gibson, Choreography-- Mandy Petty, Direction-- Allan Nazareno. Hong Kong City Hall Theatre, Oct. 6-10, 730pm (with a 230 matinee on the 10th). Ticket Price- $280. http://www.hksingers.com

"Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You". American Community Theater presents Christopher Durang's Obie Award-winning one-act play, in a twinbill production with "The Dumb Waiter". Opens Nov. 4. More details and poster to follow. http://acthongkong.com

See you at the shows!

Pre-Partum

"Friend?" He answered my call with that. Just that. Friend. None of the perfunctory politeness of "hello", or "yes?" or "Dan speaking. How may I help you?" And that's not surprising. That's how I answer his calls too. That's how we are in everyday life, Dan and I. We are way past niceties and put-on courtesy. We do not beso whenever we see each other, or whenever we part ways. Not that there's anything wrong with beso, we do that to our other friends. It just feels funny when we do it. When the two of us do it. It's not malice. There is definitely no sexual tension between us. Now now, probably not in a million years, even though a lot of people insist on thinking we'd be a good romantic couple. It's not disgust in any level, either. It's not repulsive. It's just funny.
"Do we already have replacement for the broken shower hose?" I asked, without saying hello first also.
"None yet."
"Ok. I'll get one today."

We hung up.

That shower hose. It's been busted for more than a week already. I remember the first time I discovered it had a hole, the water went straight into my nose and eyes, and it felt like the way it does when someone pushes you into the swimming pool and you're totally unprepared. You inhale the water and you actually feel it flow through your nasal passages down to the throat. Close to drowning, that's how it felt. I almost panicked, but the stronger urge was to laugh at myself. And then, instantly, I thought of sms'ing Dan, "Our shower feels like Disney's waterworks parade." Not funny, not profound. Just nonsensical. But that's how we are. We sms each other whatever comes to our minds that we feel we need to share with someone. Anything, from "I felt like crying watching the fireworks" to "I'm washing my balls." And yes, by balls, I didn't mean the kind that they use for sports. I meant testicles. We share stuff like that, too. See, for us there is no such thing as too much information.

Four hours after the phone call that I made, I was home already with the brand new shower hose. I haven't fully settled when an sms from Dan came in: "You home? Looks like I'm the one who won't be coming home tonight instead."

I felt a little bit sad. The last time I saw him was on Friday, last week. And even then, we didn't get to spend time with each other. We didn't have dinner together, because he came from a party. We didn't chat even, because I was trying to edit our podcast. When I left the following morning, he was already out of the house. I hadn't been back until last night since that Saturday. And he was out. But the sadness didn't last for very long. First, I couldn't just expect him to sit around and wait for me to come home whenever I feel like it. Second, I am happy he's no longer sitting around like a spinster on his days off like he used to. I used to often pester him by saying, "Why don't you learn to crochet? Suits you." He is finally spending his days off socializing, catching up with friends and not movie marathon-ing. I couldn't be happier.

So today, I hopped in the shower and, as soon as I turned the shower on, I realized I hadn't installed the new shower hose. I could've done it last night, but I didn't know how. The two times we had to replace it, Dan did the handyman's work. But Dan is out, so I have to do it. And he's leaving soon, so I have to learn to do it.

I remember when Mamu (our ex-flatmate, who stood as the household mother) left us, there were moments when Dan and I would ridicule ourselves because neither of us had half of Mamu's aptitude for bolts, screws and wires. Once, our bathroom light got busted. We had to bear with it for two months, lighting candles whenever we had to go in, until we called our landlord to fix it for us.

I'll be like that soon. Lost. And Dan will no longer be there to laugh at my doltishness. The kind of laugh that you know is just a laugh, and not judgment. And Dan will no longer be there to take the initiative to learn what I don't want to learn. But it's ok. First of all, I don't want him to sit around and just always be there ready to support me in every way I want to, while I allow life to happen for me. And secondly, He's moving on. He is taking a brave, bold step. He is stepping up to the next phase of his life, like I had always wanted him to. Like I had always forced him to. I couldn't be happier. And prouder.

"If all my friends have forgotten
half their promises
they're not unkind,
just hard to find"

My Boyfriend Is A Stud

Oh, my man, I love him so
He'll never know
All my life is just despair
But I don't care
When he takes me in his arms
The world is bright all right
What's the difference if I say
I'll go away
When I know I'll come back on my knees someday
For whatever my man is
I am his
forever more


Happy birthday, T!
Thank you for loving me
despite, with all, and because of
my imperfections.


You're everything to me.
I AUMULU to bits.

Where Are The Asians?

The Miss U oh-nine coverage.

Your kasuys--- a curious observer, Rye, and a pageant enthusiast, Dan-- with pageant expert & co-author of globalbeauties.com, Jamesy, and their beloved HK Beckies gather at 8am for a morning of pinoy breakfast, lotsa chika & laughter, and 84 women vying for the coveted title of Miss Universe 2009.

They share their thoughts about the ladies' dresses, hair and make-up,
and Jamesy lets us in on some juicy background on the finalists
and what happens in the Top 15 selection process.

Revived Ep 16 The Grand Ligwakan*
http://tdrs.mypodcast.com

*We are terribly sorry for the delay. This episode was supposed to come out right after the live telecast of Miss U. But it wasn't until now, Saturday almost, that mypodcast got its act together and allowed us to upload. Anyway, here it is. Sigh!

Almost There

Almost There.

Almost where? Listen up to find out.

The rowdy guest co-host from the first season, Chris, joins Dan & Rye as they look forward to their immediate future.

With a live phone patch from Dubai, and greetings to London.

Revived Ep 15, "Almost There", Out Now!
The Dan & Rye Show Revived!

What A Difference A Night Makes

As I walked home from the bus stop last night, I called T like I always do. He was a little frustrated that his internet wasn't working. I was the last to use his computer so I thought, maybe, I broke his Mac. When I got home, I realized that it was neither his connection or his computer that was acting up. Facebook was down. So was Yahoo. So was Hotmail.

That was last night. 10:30ish pm. Fast forward to this morning... 10ish.

I refused to take off my eye mask because I knew deep in my heart it wasn't waking time for me yet. But my body and mind refused to cooperate. There was no way they'd let me go back to sleep. So I got up, checked my phone and found out it wasn't even 10am yet.

I headed to the kitchen to get my morning water (since I stopped smoking, I have learned to make a habit of having water the first thing to go into my system everyday), and then to my computer shortly after to feed my restaurant staff, water my flowers, and socialize. That's Restaurant City, Farmtown and Sorority Life, in case you're a little confused.

And then I filed the bank statements that have been lying on my work desk for about two months already. Over the course, I have found some documents that need to be filled up. I looked into my filing cabinet to search for some numbers, which I didn't find, so I decided calling Fidelity. I ended up accomplishing not one task, not two, but three, out of that 5-minute phone call. I then called AIA and completed a task which wasn't even on my list.

I fixed myself some lunch, brewed coffee, had some of Josh's double Graham chocolate ref cake, and went on with my tasks.

Sorted the laundry, cleared up my work desk, revised the Chiquitta blog, re-fed my staff, harvested, planted, socialized even more, chatted with T, replied to business emails.

Now, I'm finishing this entry, and it's only 2:50pm. (I actually would have finished this 10 minutes ago had Chris not called. But he did and I had to take it, since he seldom calls now and he's soon leaving HK. Sume-senti. Pagbigyan.)

It's amazing how much one can accomplish when he turns in early to wake up just a wee bit earlier than usual. More importantly, it's amazing what difference a night without Facebook makes.

Finalist

via sms

R (at the Channel [V] Lady Gaga party at FINDS): T, I made it to the Top 12! :-)
T (at home): U r number 1 to me.
R: Aww! Remind me that again when you see me later.

thanks, Fabiola, for the photo

2 hours later, at T's. R, dressed as Lady Gaga wakes up T

T: Waaaaaah! You scared me. You look like a clown!