Asia Tour of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Aims to Bring Audience To Their Feet—And Dance in the Aisles

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Remembering "Saturday Night Fever"? A huge commercial success, "Saturday Night Fever" significantly popularized disco music around the world and made celebrities like John Travolta famous. The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack featuring disco songs by the Bee Gees became one of the best-selling soundtracks of all time.

The younger generation has not had a chance to witness the impact of the movie 'Saturday Night Fever' made in the '70s. I'd be great to see a new generation of theatergoers dancing in the aisles to the timeless tunes of The Bee Gees,” says Patrick Bywalski, deputy chairman of Robert Stigwood Organisation Ltd. , which co-produces the upcoming Asian Tour of the hit West End and Broadway dance musical SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER alongside Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group (ATEG) and Ten Bridges Media Corp. 

The dancing crowd doing the hustle is expected to spill out of The Theatre at Solaire Resort and Casino, where a '70s disco-themed party will take place at a nearby venue to aptly kick off the tour running in Manila (July 3-26), Kuala Lumpur (Septmber 1-15), and Singapore (September 25 to October 11). 

“Since SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER opened in the West End in 1997, we've nurtured the musical around the globe with each production contextualized [and recontextualized] to please the local customs,” adds Bywalski. Apparently, the recent UK productions and the upcoming Asian Tour of the musical have been more fearless—definitely more provocative—than their sanitized predecessors in the West End and on Broadway by staying true to the authentic, gritty realism depicted in the landmark film. 

“The film was, finally, so authentic...it was more of a documentary,” Karen Lynn Gorney, the actress who played Stephanie Mangano, the love interest of John Travolta's Tony Manero in the film, told Vanity Fair in December 2007. “We improvised for two weeks, so that by the time it came to filming, [film director] John Badham just shot what was happening. It wasn't acting.”

With the stamp of approval to reimagine SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER onstage for Asian audiences, multi-awarded stage director Bobby Garcia has set his eyes on reliving the authentic coming-of-age in a tough world story of the film—amid the backdrop of the pulsating strobe lights of the infamous retro '70s disco era.

For Garcia, nothing would be more authentic than asking Broadway choreographer and child of the '70s Vince Pesce to join his creative team. Pesce, who's a longtime associate choreographer of Tony winner Kathleen Marshall, grew up in the same neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, where the movie was filmed. “I've a clear memory of the movement/dance and how it made us feel,” says Pesce.

Based upon music critic Nik Cohn's magazine article “Tribal Rites of the New Saturday Night,” which was published in the June 7, 1976 issue of New York, SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER tells the story of Italian-American Vincent (later renamed to Tony Manero) and his gang in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn who are stuck in dead-end jobs but rule the dance floor at the discotheque 2001 Odyssey. Vincent or Tony is a tough cookie; an outstanding dancer, his ultimate dream was to escape the mean streets of Brooklyn.

“I did go back and look at the movie again just to make sure I capture the gritty, dynamic, and social movement that shifted popular dance as we know it,” Pesce continues. “With that in mind, Bobby Garcia, our director, and I felt we needed to expand the dancing in the show and make it more relatable to modern audiences yet remain true to the original choreography. You'll get to see the hustle, Travolta's finger point, and lots of exciting disco dancing but much more is needed to be done.

“Today's sophisticated audiences are accustomed to intricate, dynamic dance styles on TV, e.g. 'Dancing with the Stars.' We have to deliver expanded dance sequences that will thrill. On the other hand, we also have to create a world of movement that doesn't only take place in the disco. Essentially, we need to capture the pulse, frustration, and energy of the streets of Brooklyn and the '70s social movements.”

A show that's heavy on the dance side yet demands authentic emotions onstage, a triple threat casting is equally crucial. “We auditioned for the roles of Tony, Stephanie, Tony's friend Double J, and a [Latin] dancer in N.Y.,” says West End and Broadway casting director Tara Rubin. “We were looking for great actors, singers, and dancers who seemed authentic to the show's time and place. We needed actors experienced enough to star in the show and play these iconic roles.”

Pesce adds, “The culture in Brooklyn is all about bigger than life and fun loving personalities. We didn't stop looking until we found them.”

At the end of the auditions, Brandon Rubendall (“Spider-man” on Broadway), Jenna Rubaii (“American Idiot”), and Nick Varricchio (“A Chorus Line”) were cast as Tony, Stephanie, and Double J, respectively.

Thespians Marie Rose, Rafa Giguion-Reyna, Yanah Laurel, Jamie Wilson, and Carla Guevara-Laforteza are also joining its 20-strong cast.

Besides Garcia, Pesce, and Rubin, Tony Award-winning scenic designer David Gallo, original lighting designer of SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER on Broadway Paul Miller, costume designer Eric Pineda, and musical director Ceejay Javier are also part of the show's first-rate creative team.

For tickets and more information, call ATEG at (632)650 5144 or (63917) 8381534; visit TicketWorld at ticketworld.com.ph.

Like ATEG on facebook.com/ATEGasia.

DepEd publishes partial list of schools that will offer SHS nationwide

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As part of the continuous preparations for the full implementation of the K to 12 program, the Department of Education (DepEd) released the initial list of Senior High Schools (SHS) online, comprised of DepEd and non-DepEd schools, higher education institutions (HEIs), technical vocational institutions (TVIs), state universities and colleges (SUCs).

DepEd Secretary Br. Armin Luistro FSC said that “the 2014 and 2015 budgets already have allocations for 30,000 classrooms for SHS.” He also mentioned that the initial target for the proposed 2016 budget, which is subject for approval, is over 20,000 classrooms for SHS. The government shall further allocate investments for SHS.

The partial list shows 3,839 public schools that were submitted to the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for funding and to the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) for bidding and construction. Also included is the initial list of the 1,866 non-DepEd schools, which include private schools, HEIS, TVIs, LUCs, and SUCs that have been cleared to offer SHS come June 2016. There are still applications being processed.

The list may be viewed at www.deped.gov.ph/datasets.

WATTPAD PRESENTS"Sky, 'My Robot Prince'" on TV5

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Artista Academy alumna Chanel Morales and Ken Anderson team up for the first time as they give life to the well-loved characters of Lowlah and Sky in WATTPAD PRESENTS “Sky, ‘My Robot Prince’”. 

Based on the Wattpad novel written by ZAI RED, WATTPAD PRESENTS “Sky,‘My Robot Prince’” tells the tale of true love in this modern age of technology. This TV adaptation features Chanel Morales and Ken Anderson as childhood friends who both try to hide their feelings from each other. Also, for the first time, Kiray Celis ventures into her first-ever TV5 project as she portrays the girl who will try to keep the characters of Chanel Morales and Ken Anderson apart. 

Ken Anderson

Sky (Ken Anderson), a member of famous boy band named “The Flower Prince 3”, is best known for his talent in playing the guitar. Though girls continue to chase him, he remains uninterested since he already has his eyes on his best friend Lowlah (Chanel Morales).

Chanel Morales

Lowlah is s a struggling robotics engineering student who wishes to excel in her field like her parents. Unlike Sky who has time for his passion in music, Lowlah chooses to concentrate on her inventions. Sneaking his way into Lowlah’s life, Sky inadvertently destroys her most-prized and latest invention: an android robot which perfectly resembles Sky. Afraid of Lowlah’s expected wrath, Sky decides to pretend to be the android robot in Lowlah’s room while he waits for his friend to fix the actual android robot that he destroyed. Awkward and difficult as it may seem, Sky takes this chance to spend more time with Lowlah.

In the middle of this, Lowlah discovers herself falling in love with what she thinks is her robot invention. Making this love story more complicated is the participation of Kiray Celis who plays the role of the obsessed fan of Sky who is willing to do anything and anything to have him for herself. Will Sky still be able to correct all the complications he himself created before he finally drives Lowlah away?

Don’t miss this “kilig” story brought to life by Channel Morales and Ken Anderson on WATTPAD PRESENTS “Sky ‘My Robot Prince’”, airing Monday to Friday at 9pm on TV5.

The Mothers’ Day campaign with Regine Velasquez introduces the new landline Telsets - PLDT HOME Regine Series

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PLDT HOME with the singer celebrity Regine Velasquez features new landline telsets - Regine series. 

The Songbird, Regine Velasquez, may have titles in the field of music, movies and television appended to her name, but talking to her, it is being Mommy to three-year-old Nate that gives her life the utmost inspiration.

It is along this line that PLDT HOME Telsets find a most opportune time to give tribute not only to the artistry of but also to the real values in life she holds dear.

For the voice that never fails to bring us back HOME belongs to a devoted and loving mother to her only son Nate.

The Mothers’ Day campaign introduces the new landline Telsets featuring the Regine Series paired with PLDT’s best calling rates ever. Subscribers with landline get a wonderful treat with the following offers: Add as low as P75/mo: New telsets with corresponding price points and features depending on the unit; Add P75/mo: FREE NDD Calls (PLDT to PLDT Nationwide) + P10 per call to SMART/TNT; and Add P50/mo: Free 15 minute call to US, Canada, China, HongKong, Singapore, Guam and Hawaii, with lowest IDD rate of P2/succeeding minute.

Regine is thankful and happy with her connection with the PLDT HOME team. 

“They have been very supportive of everything I do. They allow me to stay connected to my own home and for a working mother like me, you know that keeping in close contact with our family is everything. Especially that I have a growing little boy who never fails to surprise me with his discoveries every single day,” she enthuses.

“When I became pregnant, my sisters and my friends told me my life was going to be different. I realized I had no idea what they were talking about. Not until I had Nate,” she says with a satisfied smile on her face. “Everything about my life changed completely. I have a totally different perspective now, a different outlook in life,” she declares with contagious enthusiasm.

Mrs. Ogie Alcasid considers every single day blessed. Her marriage was immediately gifted by this bundle of joy she and her husband christened Nathaniel James. 

“He will turn four in November. How time flies! So far, so good. We are very, very happy with how things are with Nate. A lot of people tell us how behaved and good a kid Nate is. Hindi siya yung katulad ng ibang bata na sobrang malikot kahit nasa labas. He behaves well. He is not a spoiled brat because we are very conscious of that being an only son so far. He listens to us when we caution him. He remembers what we teach him. We couldn’t be prouder,” she shares.

Regine says the one thing that she and her husband Ogie are conscious about when it comes to instilling discipline in their son is that they should always be on the same side. 

“We don’t employ the good cop-bad cop scheme in our parenting style. The only rule is that the “aggrieved” parent should be the one to discipline the boy. So kung ako ang nagalit sa kanya over something he did, I will be the one to discipline him.”

Regine confesses that she didn’t think at first that it was in her to be the one to give Nate some spanking. 

“But I did it. I think I have spanked him three times already for throwing away things, like my Ipad. We have learned a lot from our Pastor in church how to discipline a child. From ages 0-12, our Pastor told us that we can instill discipline in them and break their developing pride by spanking. Past that age, it will be very hard already. If you spank them when they are older, you won’t be breaking their pride anymore, but their spirit,” Regine said. 

“I think our parenting style is working because Nate is a well-behaved boy and is truly a joy to be with even when we travel long distance,” she added.

When asked what she considers the highlights of being a mother so far are, Regine was quick to say, “Everyday is a highlight!” And we believe her.

“Every day there is something new with him. Either he says a new word or discovers something new that he shows us. That is why I am very conscious to be present in his life. I never want to miss out on anything. When I am working, we are in constant communication with his yaya. She sends me pictures of him when I am not with him.”

For this particular interview (behind the scenes of her pictorial for PLDT HOME Telset campaign), Regine said Nate was with his Yaya nearby waiting for him to finish. “He is very patient because we explain to him that we need to work. Sometimes we think our children don’t understand this kind of things. But in my experience, I know that children are smart and they have the capability to understand and comprehend, more than what we want to give them credit for. It shouldn’t stop us adults, from involving them,” she said.

The doting mother says they are training him to speak in fluent Tagalog right now saying that Nate is learning English easily from school and the television shows that he watches everyday. Unlike most Filipino parents who give more weight on teaching their children to speak in English, the Alcasids differ in perspective.

“Mas weird kasi kung hirap siya sa Tagalog bilang nandito naman tayo sa Pilipinas,” Regine said with so much logic.

“The beauty of this stage in my son’s life is that he really converses with us now. Before kasi, nagsasalita siya pero wala pang sense. Now, it’s so nice to talk to him. Nagkukwento na, nakakatuwa!”

Regine is very grateful for the kind of workload that she is allowed to have at this point in her life.

“I had a major shift in my priorities and I am so thankful that the people I work for understand this. I still get to work to help my husband but the load is just perfect for me to still be very much present in my son’s life. I am truly blessed,” she says.

So what is her dream for her Nate? Regine answers from the heart. 

“I have none. I feel that it is his job to dream for himself, whatever and whoever he wants to be. I feel that I have to allow him the same liberty that my parents gave me when I was growing up. Binigyan ako ng kalayaan ng mga magulang ko na mangarap, kaya ako nandito ngayon. Yun din ang gusto kong ibigay kay Nate,” she says.

Regine believes that the role of the parent is to make sure that their children grow up instilled with discipline and values. 

“We are here to provide support and the necessary ammunition for them to work on and realize their dreams someday. If anything, I just want my Nate to grow up to be a follower of Jesus Christ. When he fears God, I know that his future is set,” the example of a mother who knows best, ends.

(Photos and Story: Janet Marie Caducio, Arts Travel Magazine)

WD adds the Four New My Cloud NAS Solutions for expert and business users with the My Cloud line

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Designed for Creative Professionals, Prosumers and Small Businesses, the Four New My Cloud NAS Solutions Round Out a Full Portfolio of Powerful NAS Products Built With the My Cloud OS and WD Red Drives

WD, a Western Digital company and a world leader in connected storage solutions, today expanded its suite of network attached storage (NAS) solutions with four new products that address the increasing demands for content storage, management, protection and streaming among prosumers, creative professionals and small businesses. 

The My Cloud Expert Series includes My Cloud EX2100 (two-bay) and My Cloud EX4100 (four-bay) high-performance NAS systems designed from the ground up for creative professionals and prosumers that need to reliably save, share, back up, stream and manage large amounts of digital data. Powered by the latest version of the dual-core Marvell ARMADA processor, these two new additions to the Expert Series offer top of their class read/write speeds for simultaneous, high-performance HD media streaming with up to 24 TB of storage capacity.

The new My Cloud Business Series includes My Cloud DL2100 (two-bay) and My Cloud DL4100 (four-bay) high-performance NAS systems built to provide the reliability, security and scalability small business customers need. Powered by Intel Atom dual-core processors with up to 24 TB of storage capacity, the My Cloud Business Series runs on the acclaimed Linux-based WD My Cloud operating software (OS).

“As the market leader in the single-bay personal cloud category with our award winning My Cloud platform, as well as in the NAS hard disk drive (HDD) category with our WD Red line, WD understands that customers need more power and more choice in NAS systems,” said Jim Welsh, executive vice president, WD Content Solutions Business and Worldwide Sales. 

“We are very excited about our new My Cloud Expert Series and My Cloud Business Series NAS products that offer the performance, ease of use, reliability and My Cloud OS that customers want from WD.”

My Cloud Expert Series

For photographers, videographers, graphic designers and other creative professionals adapting to ever increasing file sizes, from RAW images and 4K video footage, the new My Cloud Expert Series products include the latest and fastest dual-core Marvell ARMADA 385 and 388 processors for high-performance media streaming, provide up to 24 TB of storage and the ability to keep files safe, secure and accessible from anywhere. The robust data management and security features let customers select their preferred methods for managing, sharing and protecting their most important movies, photos, music and digital files.

The included WD Red drives can be configured using multiple RAID options (model dependent) including RAID 0, 1, 5, 10 JBOD and spanning modes. Customers can use their My Cloud Expert Series products to centralize and back up all of their computers and notebooks with WD SmartWare Pro software for PC users, and with the Apple Time Machine backup software for Mac users. 

My Cloud Expert Series products can also serve as a digital entertainment hub, seamlessly streaming movies and music to any DLNA/UPnP certified multimedia device such as gaming consoles, smart TVs and WD TV Live media players. The Twonky, DLNA-certified media server and iTunes®server make for simple streaming of large movie and music libraries. 

Additionally, the integrated file server, FTP server, backup server and P2P download server provide advanced data serving options. Customers can also customize their My Cloud Expert series NAS, monitor system health, manage users and energy saving features with the My Cloud dashboard, as well as use a suite of third party apps, including aMule, Icecast, Transmission, DVBlink, SqueezeCenter and more.

My Cloud Business Series

The all new My Cloud Business Series solutions allow small businesses to centralize and protect their data in the workplace and provide employees with secure access to critical data from anywhere. Powered by the latest Intel Atom dual core processor, with RAM up to 2GB, and data storage capacity up to 24 TB, small businesses have the performance and scalability, to meet their business needs. 

Secure access, protection and backup of data for small businesses is critical. Offering AES 256-bit volume encryption and multiple RAID options (RAID 0, 1, 5, 10, JBOD and spanning modes), the My Cloud Business Series offers small businesses multiple options to secure and protect their data. Customers can also use their My Cloud Business Series products to back up all of their computers with WD SmartWare Pro software for PC users and Apple Time Machine support for Mac users. My Cloud Business Series products can also backup themselves, either to another My Cloud in a different location or to cloud services such as Amazon S3 and ElephantDrive. Users can also use the one-touch USB 3.0 copy button to automatically copy data from an external USB storage device onto the NAS.

The My Cloud Business Series products feature many business-ready capabilities including iSCSI target and initiator, replication and file synchronization, integrated FTP, WebDAV server, SSH Shell, and Microsoft Active Directory support. Additionally there are enterprise-class redundancies such as dual power supply ports with fail over, dual Gigabit Ethernet and UPS support. The My Cloud Business Series also provides memory expansion up to 6GB, and scalable storage through dual NICs or USB.

My Cloud Business Series products are available in several capacity options. The My Cloud DL2100 (two-bay) is available diskless or with 4 TB, 8 TB or 12 TB capacities. The My Cloud DL4100 (four-bay) is available diskless or with 8 TB, 16 TB or 24 TB capacities.

With Easy-Slide-Drive technology, My Cloud Business Series customers can easily install or hot-swap drives in seconds, without the need for a screwdriver, toolkit or trays. 

Anywhere Access

The award-winning WD My Cloud mobile app provides anywhere access to the entire My Cloud product family. With the WD My Cloud mobile app users can easily view photos, stream video and share, save and manage files from anywhere on their iOS® and Android™ devices. The mobile app makes file sharing and collaborating simple, allowing customers to easily email files, share files as a link and print and open files with third party apps. The WD My Cloud mobile app also integrates major public cloud services so that customers can easily transfer files from their Dropbox™, OneDrive® and Google Drive™ public cloud accounts.

Pricing and Availability

My Cloud Expert Series and My Cloud Business Series products will be available in June through selected retailers and resellers and are distributed by Iontech, Inc. in the Philippines. 

MSRP for the My Cloud Expert Series EX2100 is Php 13, 999 for diskless unit, Php 24, 099 for 4 TB, Php 32, 399 for 8 TB and Php 41, 699 for 12 TB. MSRP for the My Cloud Expert Series EX4100 is Php 22, 699 for the diskless unit, Php 42, 599 for 8 TB, Php 59, 999 for the 16 TB and Php 81, 999 for the 24 TB.

While the MSRP for the My Cloud Business Series DL2100 is Php 19, 999 for the diskless unit, Php 29, 999 for 4 TB, Php 36, 599 for 8 TB and Php 48, 699 for 12 TB. MSRP for the My Cloud Business Series DL4100 is Php 29, 999 for the diskless unit, Php 47, 999 for the 8 TB, Php 65, 999 for the 16 TB and Php 85, 999 for the 24 TB.

The WD My Cloud mobile app currently is available for download for free from the App StoreSM and Google PlayTM.

Warranty

The My Cloud Expert Series and Business Series products come with a 3-year limited warranty for the populated products and a 2-year limited warranty for the diskless products. Terms and conditions of WD’s limited warranty may be found at support.wdc.com/warranty. 

Compatibility 

My Cloud Expert Series and My Cloud Business Series are compatible with Windows® 8, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Vista®, Windows XP, Mac OS X Yosemite, Mavericks™, Mountain Lion™, Lion®, as well as DLNA®/UPnP® enabled devices. 

About WD

WD, a Western Digital company, is a long-time innovator and storage industry leader. As a storage technology pacesetter, the company produces reliable, high-performance hard disk drives and solid state drives. These drives are deployed by OEMs and integrators in desktop and mobile computers, enterprise computing systems, embedded systems and consumer electronics applications, as well as by the company in providing its own storage products. WD’s leading storage devices and systems, networking products, media players and software solutions empower people around the world to easily save, store, protect, share and experience their content on multiple devices. WD was established in 1970 and is headquartered in Irvine, Calif. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.wd.com.

Western Digital Corp., Irvine, Calif., is a global provider of products and services that empower people to create, manage, experience and preserve digital content. Its companies design and manufacture storage devices, networking equipment and home entertainment products under the WD, HGST and G-Technology brands. Visit the Investor section of the company's website (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

This news release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the estimated availability in March of the My Cloud Expert Series and Business Series products. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, the failure by certain suppliers to develop and manufacture components, technology or production equipment for our products, global economic conditions and or other risks detailed from time-to-time in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q to which your attention is directed. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak as of the date hereof, and WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.