Catholicism is Camp!

Hello, Friends!

"Catholicism is so camp," Chris whispered as we explored the catacomb-like chambers of the San Agustin Church in wide-eyed wonder. And he's right - the ivory statuary, the expressions frozen in perpetuity, the gold, the robes, the ceremony... A tour of Old Manila is the perfect companion tour to Mr. Gay World.

Francis, our chauffeur, first took us to the University of Santo Tomas, since his son studies there. The school is 400 years old . That's pretty old, 'coz I'm almost 30 and I'm feeling ancient.

Next we went to the walled city of Intramuros. We saw a really old house, a really old church, and a really old restaurant, where we had lunch outdoors. I can't remember the restaurant's name, now, but they had a "pasta and barbecue buffet with complimentary halo-halo" for only PhP250 plus taxes. That's pretty dope. Now, if the food were actually any good, I'd recommend the restaurant. But, nah. The spaghetti was typically sweet - but this was quite anemic; and the barbecue consisted of meager pieces of mostly pork fat on wooden skewers. Good thing the locale was romantic and the San Miguel Beer was cold, so it was OK.

And then we went to the Cultural Centre of The Philippines to see Zsa Zsa Zaturnnah, a musical about a hairdresser who swallows a pink meteorite and becomes a bionic woman. I was the de facto translator for the tourists, of course, who were bewildered at all the laughing.

It was quite talky for a musical. I was hoping that it would be driven more by action and visuals, that's why I took my friends there. The humour was very colloquial, therefore much of levity was lost in translation.

I was super happy that I chanced to see my friend, Tuxqs Rutaquio, play the lead character. He was fabulous. The show has been running for a few years now, I believe, so it was great to see Tuxqs still giving it his all. His shining moment was when he had to face the zombie of his dead father. The scene treaded tenderness, pain and humour all so delicately, the balancing act was a work of genius.

The actor who played Didi, the sidekick, was fabulous, too All the principals were great, so, brava. But the chorus lacked discipline, differentiation and synchronicity, I just grew annoyed every time they came onstage. The biggest disappointment was the sound system. The whole show sounded "boxy."

"I thought the superheroine's breasts were going to expand, too," Caro remarked wistfully.

"Yeah," I mused. "That would have been genius."

With Affection,
James