Current mood:	enthralled
Current music:	Suddenly Seamore from Little Shop of Horrors

Under the Fire of Baby Barredo
I am having the time of my life in Repertory Class. Cam's probably had enough of all the wonderful insights that i've gained from none other than Tita Baby Barredo, the co-founder of Repertory Philippines. Tita Bibot Amador was the other one; however, she just recently passed away.

I've been attending Rep class from 6-8 pm everyday for the past five days, and I've gotten to know some of the most diverse people you can ever imagine.

I was talking to this girl, who I assumed wasn't in college anymore, and asked her what she does. Then she gave me flat out, "I'm a mother." Woah! I'm classmates with fathers, husbands who aren't allowed by their wives to go out with us after the workshops (haha), mothers-to-be, mothers, college students, and working people. And I've loving it to the core.

Most importantly, I've been learning a lot of things... some the hard way.

When I first sang my piece, "Some Enchanted Evening" in front of Tita Baby, she said...
1) That was terrible. You're using your voice and not your diaphragm.
2) Why did you pick a song that a widower would sing? You're only what? Eighteen? CHANGE IT!
3) You were with Charlie before in the Kinder-Prep play in CSA right? You were so cute! WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?

Talk about self-confidence. Mine was at an all-time low. But then again, as the days progressed, I started to understand the beauty of her frankness, of how genuine each, "Christopher, your body movement is so lousy!" could be. I went through the fire of Tita Baby Barredo, and started improving on myself. I am more expressive now, with my body, my voice, my character, and my anima. It's just like hatching from a cocoon, or sprouting from the ground. And the catalyst was Tita Baby, rather, the art that she represented. In its pristine state, unsullied by laziness and lack of professionalism that the modern Filipino continues to suffer as of today, Tita Baby had the passion. And it burned through my soul.

Tita Baby's Words of Wisdom
1) Acting is being. It is never reacting. It is when you hang your clothes, and put on the persona of the character you're playing. You become Eliza Dolittle, or Maria Vontrapp, or Oliver, or Seamore.
2) Life is never boring, for life is beautiful. When things get tedious, you can do something to make it different. Reinvent yourself.
3) Actors are the most generous and the bravest people in the world. It is no joke to stand before a live audience and perform live while trying to please them. You can never think about yourself.
4) Some people have the talent.Some of my classmates have the knack for singing, or acting. Others like me have to work hard for it. We will never be as good a singer or actor as them; vis-a-vis, they may never be as (fill in the blanks) as me. But we can be a believable actor or singer or writer or speaker so as long as we work hard to become one.