ADVERTISEMENT
Manila Bulletin devider Lifestyle devider More than the sum of its parts

More than the sum of its parts

Published Jul 23, 2022 04:57 pm

The launch of the Samsung Performing Arts Theater marks the return of live performances

There’s a new theater for the performing arts in Metro Manila. Located at the Circuit Makati, the Samsung Performing Arts Theater is a 1,500-seater launched on July 14. It’s a truly impressive theater, built to the latest international specifications and with numerous amenities for both the performers on stage and the audience. More than all these physical attributes, it’s what this theater represents, in a post-pandemic Philippines, which made so many excited to attend the launch night. 

he Jaime Zobel de Ayala Hall at the Samsung Theater

If for us the audience it was an exciting clarion call that live performing would once again be part of our cultural agenda, imagine how the performers on stage were feeling. Whether a theater actor, ballet dancer, musical theater or opera singer, orchestra conductor and/or musician, or stagehand, the last two and a half years have been a painful, lonely journey of abstinence and frustration. You spend years honing your craft and, in one fell swoop of Covid, you’re forced to transition online and forego the immediacy of performing live, interacting with an audience, and just feeling that your dreams and aspirations are being fulfilled.

Samsung Theater managing director Chris Mohnani, National Artist Alice Reyes, and Fernando Zobel de Ayala.

Most everyone who’s anyone in the performing arts community were at the launch, including national artist Alice Reyes, Irene Marcos-Araneta, Alex Cortez, Mindy Perez-Rubio, Joy Virata, Liesl Batucan-del Rosario, Anton Juan, Robbie Guevara, and Audie Gemora. 

Irene Marcos-Araneta and Sofia Zobel-Elizalde

And to show how important Ayala Land is taking this rebirth of live performances and culture through the launch of the theater, no less than Ayala Corporation chairman and CEO Fernando Zobel de Ayala went on stage to welcome the guests. His sister Sofia Zobel-Elizalde is the real cheerleader behind this project. Both formal yet intimate, his welcome remarks set the stage for the showcase of a stage show entitled Welcome Home.

Lizzie and Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala

Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, Bituin Escalante, and Sheila Valderrama-Martinez opened the number with aplomb. My personal highlights would include the excerpts from the upcoming musical Mula Sa Buwan, and Rachelle Gerodias-Park, with her uncredited husband singing from the audience, which had us first wondering where his disembodied voice was coming from. The Nutcracker excerpt performed by the Steps Dance Studio had them accompanied by the Mandaluyong Children’s Choir. 

Mula Sa Buwan is an adaptation of Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac but transposed to Manila during the 1940s. It had a successful run at the Ateneo pre-pandemic, and it now forms part of the festivities surrounding the 75th anniversary of French-Filipino friendship. It will have its 2022 opening night at the Samsung Theater on Aug. 26. 

The finale of "Welcome Home"

During the course of Welcome Home, we were reminded of how the launch of the Samsung Performing Arts Theater marked the return of live performances. While at times it felt like a “Please Curb Your Enthusiasm” scenario, this repetition could easily be forgiven, as it truly is the start of a new chapter of performing, and the people behind the theater are obviously excited. Built during the course of the pandemic, I can imagine how there were days they wondered when the theater would even open, or that there were droves of people seated as an audience. To see it come to fruition will no doubt be a happy relief, and something they’ll shout to the top.

Related Tags

samsung performing arts theater Ayala Corporation Ayala Land Arts and Culture
ADVERTISEMENT
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1561_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1562_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.most-popular .layout-ratio{ padding-bottom: 79.13%; } @media (min-width: 768px) and (max-width: 1024px) { .widget-title { font-size: 15px !important; } }

{{ articles_filter_1563_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}

{{ articles_filter_1564_widget.title }}

{{ item.title }}
.mb-article-details { position: relative; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview, .mb-article-details .article-body-summary{ font-size: 17px; line-height: 30px; font-family: "Libre Caslon Text", serif; color: #000; } .mb-article-details .article-body-preview iframe , .mb-article-details .article-body-summary iframe{ width: 100%; margin: auto; } .read-more-background { background: linear-gradient(180deg, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0) 13.75%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000 / 0.8) 30.79%, color(display-p3 1.000 1.000 1.000) 72.5%); position: absolute; height: 200px; width: 100%; bottom: 0; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; padding: 0; } .read-more-background a{ color: #000; } .read-more-btn { padding: 17px 45px; font-family: Inter; font-weight: 700; font-size: 18px; line-height: 16px; text-align: center; vertical-align: middle; border: 1px solid black; background-color: white; } .hidden { display: none; }
function initializeAllSwipers() { // Get all hidden inputs with cms_article_id document.querySelectorAll('[id^="cms_article_id_"]').forEach(function (input) { const cmsArticleId = input.value; const articleSelector = '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .body_images'; const swiperElement = document.querySelector(articleSelector); if (swiperElement && !swiperElement.classList.contains('swiper-initialized')) { new Swiper(articleSelector, { loop: true, pagination: false, navigation: { nextEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-next', prevEl: '#article-' + cmsArticleId + ' .swiper-button-prev', }, }); } }); } setTimeout(initializeAllSwipers, 3000); const intersectionObserver = new IntersectionObserver( (entries) => { entries.forEach((entry) => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { const newUrl = entry.target.getAttribute("data-url"); if (newUrl) { history.pushState(null, null, newUrl); let article = entry.target; // Extract metadata const author = article.querySelector('.author-section').textContent.replace('By', '').trim(); const section = article.querySelector('.section-info ').textContent.replace(' ', ' '); const title = article.querySelector('.article-title h1').textContent; // Parse URL for Chartbeat path format const parsedUrl = new URL(newUrl, window.location.origin); const cleanUrl = parsedUrl.host + parsedUrl.pathname; // Update Chartbeat configuration if (typeof window._sf_async_config !== 'undefined') { window._sf_async_config.path = cleanUrl; window._sf_async_config.sections = section; window._sf_async_config.authors = author; } // Track virtual page view with Chartbeat if (typeof pSUPERFLY !== 'undefined' && typeof pSUPERFLY.virtualPage === 'function') { try { pSUPERFLY.virtualPage({ path: cleanUrl, title: title, sections: section, authors: author }); } catch (error) { console.error('ping error', error); } } // Optional: Update document title if (title && title !== document.title) { document.title = title; } } } }); }, { threshold: 0.1 } ); function showArticleBody(button) { const article = button.closest("article"); const summary = article.querySelector(".article-body-summary"); const body = article.querySelector(".article-body-preview"); const readMoreSection = article.querySelector(".read-more-background"); // Hide summary and read-more section summary.style.display = "none"; readMoreSection.style.display = "none"; // Show the full article body body.classList.remove("hidden"); } document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { let loadCount = 0; // Track how many times articles are loaded const offset = [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10]; // Offset values const currentUrl = window.location.pathname.substring(1); let isLoading = false; // Prevent multiple calls if (!currentUrl) { console.log("Current URL is invalid."); return; } const sentinel = document.getElementById("load-more-sentinel"); if (!sentinel) { console.log("Sentinel element not found."); return; } function isSentinelVisible() { const rect = sentinel.getBoundingClientRect(); return ( rect.top < window.innerHeight && rect.bottom >= 0 ); } function onScroll() { if (isLoading) return; if (isSentinelVisible()) { if (loadCount >= offset.length) { console.log("Maximum load attempts reached."); window.removeEventListener("scroll", onScroll); return; } isLoading = true; const currentOffset = offset[loadCount]; window.loadMoreItems().then(() => { let article = document.querySelector('#widget_1690 > div:nth-last-of-type(2) article'); intersectionObserver.observe(article) loadCount++; }).catch(error => { console.error("Error loading more items:", error); }).finally(() => { isLoading = false; }); } } window.addEventListener("scroll", onScroll); });
Join Our Newsletters

Sign up by email to receive news.

© 2025 Manila Bulletin The Nation's Leading Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.