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Denise Kara: Big voice, big dreams
By Cristina DC Pastor Denise Kara Almario, like Shirley Temple before her decades ago, started singing when she was 2 years old. When her family realized she had this nascent singing talent coming out of her voice, Kara’s parents did what Shirley Temple’s parents had done: They encouraged her to continue singing and enrolled her […]
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U2’s Manila concert to feature Bino Realuyo’s poem ‘Filipineza’
Filipino American poet/novelist Bino A. Realuyo will be “participating” in a special way in U2’s much anticipated Joshua Tree 30th anniversary concert in Manila on December 11. The band plans to include poetry that expresses the experience of the country and has asked the poet Realuyo for permission to feature and project his poem “Filipineza” […]
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The Band of Brothers: Then and now
By Maricar CP Hampton Three siblings and a cousin. They make up The Band of Brothers, a durable Filipino boy band on the East Coast. Brothers Jose Lozano II (Pepe), 38; Gregorio Lozano Jr. (JJ), 34; and Juan Carlos Lozano (JC), 33; and cousin Nielson Manapat (Niel), 39, have been singing the songs from […]
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Filipino-H.K. opera ‘Mila’ premieres in New York on Dec. 7
Asia Society New York is hosting the North American premiere of the chamber opera “Mila,” about the plight of Hong Kong’s domestic workers that TIME Magazine called “quirky, quintessentially Hong Kong, and bold.” The performance will be sung in English, Cantonese and Tagalog. The hour-long opera features composer Eli Marshall, librettist Candace Chong, director Chu […]
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DJ SOSUPERSAM breaks cultural, career expectations
The new docuseries Intersections features SOSUPERSAM, a child of Filipino immigrants who overcame rock bottom and broke cultural expectations to become a world-renowned DJ, artist, and entrepreneur. Intersections is a NextDayBetter Original Series that explores the untold stories of who Filipinos are becoming across the diaspora. It is aired through The Filipino Channel. Samantha Duenas, who […]
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Camille de la Cruz, a rising star in Jersey
Camille de la Cruz loves to perform even when she was kid. It started in summer theater and ballet performances. At age 9, Camille de la Cruz was admitted to the Rockit Academy program in Red Bank, New Jersey. At Rockit, she was able to sing with legends the likes of Eddie Brigatti, Ricky Byrd, […]
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It’s over when the fat lady sings
By Luis H. Francia In Ramona Diaz’s 2003 eponymous film, there is a scene where the former first lady—still quite a looker—spends an inordinate amount of time drawing her cosmic views on a pad. But these are comic rather than cosmic, made up of New Age blather. Fond of circles, she fills page after page […]
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The Barrettos and the privilege of behaving badly
By Joel David Since celebrity scandals observe the same cycle of fostering fatigue among the public after a period of intense engagement, don’t be surprised if the latest Barretto family intrigue has mellowed, if not dissipated, by the time you read this. Hence Gretchen Barretto did not feel the need to use another family name […]
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Dorothea Gloria plays a voiceless student in NYC theater debut
In “The Sandalwood Box,” college student Marsha Gates loses her voice. On her way to speech therapy, she encounters Professor Claudia Mitchell, who captures the most captivating catastrophes of the world and preserves them in a sandalwood box. Dorothea Gloria, an actress from the Philippines, plays Marsha Gates. She has performed professionally in various theater […]