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Some weeks ago the Asian Wall Street Journal ran a feature on a Filipino director who declared that “Gay movies don’t sell in the Philippines.” Was he misquoted, or was he being disingenuous? Uh…Facifica Falayfay, Ang Tatay Kong Nanay, Kumander Gringa, Kaming Mga Talyada, Tubog Sa Ginto, Zombadings, In My Life, Petrang Kabayo…

The biggest blockbuster in the history of Philippine cinema, we’re told, is Praybeyt Benjamin starring Vice Ganda. Whose latest outing This Guy’s In Love With You, Mare is packing them in. Have you seen it?

We overcame a massive inferiority complex to talk to the novelist Chang-Rae Lee after his panel session at the Ubud festival. We covered the basics: how he writes, where he writes, when he writes and why he writes.

Listen to our weekly podcast episode 9 here. Also available for download or subscription via iTunes.

Thanks to Summa Durie of the UWRF Media Centre for arranging the interview.

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In this week’s podcast quiz we’re giving away five copies of Chang-Rae Lee’s The Surrendered courtesy of National Bookstore.

1. He majored in Literature and then he got a job on Wall Street. Why?
2. What was the first thing he ever wrote that made him think he could be a writer?
3. He compares the scale of The Surrendered to that of the work of which artist?
4. How does he know when a novel is finished?
5. Apart from his computer in a quiet room, what does he need in order to write?
6. What was his favorite compliment from a reader?
7. Why does he write?

Post your answers in Comments.

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The winner of last week’s podcast quiz is claarzero. Congratulations! Please post your full name in Comments (It won’t be published) and we’ll alert you when your prize has been delivered to National Bookstore in Rockwell.

Update: You may pick up your book at the Customer Service counter, National Bookstore, Power Plant Mall, tel (02)8974562.

Tres Dahlias: The fabulous Angelina Kanapi, Shamaine Centenera and Mae Paner play bodabil veterans in Tanghalang Pilipino’s presentation of Mario O’Hara’s Stageshow at the CCP.

We had a blast at Stageshow, the Tanghalang Pilipino production of Mario O’Hara’s musical play about Filipino bodabil veterans recalling their heyday in the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Directed by Chris Millado, it’s got song-and-dance numbers (the choreography is by Denisa Reyes with tap dance choreography by Tony Casimiro), old-style patter, dirty jokes, naughty bits, and it wouldn’t be Pinoy without the big dramatic love story.

After the demise of the stageshow circuit the old pros keep on entertaining the audience, be it as the Babaeng Gagamba at a carnival or a singing beggar at Luneta. Directed by Chris Millado, Stageshow is both hilarious and touching, a tribute to Mario O’Hara and to the plucky The-show-must-go-on spirit of Filipino theatre performers undaunted by measly budgets (You could see it in the bare stage and makeshift costumes. This is not the time for minimalism, it’s vaudeville! Then again, it’s a show about penniless artists), limited advertising and mostly empty seats (We consoled ourselves with the thought that the empty seats were occupied by the ghosts of old stageshow performers).

Leads Shamaine Centenera and Nonie Buencamino, Angelina Kanapi and Mae Paner are outstanding. Rody Vera is amazing as the singer Bobby Gonzales (as Jackie said, Parang nasaniban), whom we remember from those TV variety shows with Sylvia La Torre. And Lou Veloso brings down the house in a short, hilarious/nasty scene that is a master class on how to make an entrance, how to tell a joke, and how to make an exit.

Stageshow reminds us that Mario O’Hara’s greatest quality was his humanity.

As the sparse but satisfied audience filed out of the Little Theatre it converged with the crowd coming out of Phantom of the Opera in the Main Theatre. It’s so obvious it’s not even a metaphor: upstairs, a full house at the big imported Broadway musical; downstairs, two dozen viewers at the locally-produced musical. “May Hollywood and indie equivalent din pala sa teatro,” Vivien sighed. We can’t begrudge Phantom its success (we hear it was an excellent production), but we feel bad for the Pinoy stageshow. If Stageshow had just a tiny portion of Phantom’s budget for production and marketing, imagine the possibilities.

Remaining playdates:
(Wed) October 17 at 8pm
(Thurs) October 18 at 8pm
(Fri) October 19 at 3pm and 8pm
(Sat) October 20 at 3pm and 8pm
(Sun) October 21 at 3pm

Tickets available at the CCP Box Office, (02)8321125 or at TicketWorld Outlets, (02)891-9999.

Spotted outside the chapel at Power Plant Mall

Eugenides at UWRF. Photo by Stanny Angga.

Some months ago I received, via email, an invitation to appear at the 9th Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) in Bali, Indonesia. Naturally I thought it was a mistake—I hadn’t done anything literary in years, I would be spotted instantly as a fraud. Then I saw the list of writers who were coming to the festival. It included novelists I regard with awe and terror, such as Jeffrey Eugenides (author of The Virgin Suicides, Middlesex), Chang-Rae Lee (The Surrendered) and Colson Whitehead (Sag Harbor, Zone One—probably the best zombie novel every written). I accepted the invitation and hoped the mistake would not be discovered till it was too late.

The UWRF was organized to support the community in the aftermath of the Bali bombings; since then it’s grown into the largest, most acclaimed literary festival in the region. This year 140 writers from 30 countries converged on picturesque Ubud, recognizable to many as the setting of Eat, Pray, Love (and of the asinine Julia Roberts movie). There were panel discussions, readings, workshops, tours, movies, a concert by Nick Cave, and film screenings. I participated in two panel sessions and managed not to get anything hurled at me (Given the large population of ducks roaming around the open-air venues it would’ve been easy to grab random fowl and throw them in anger).

The best part of the festival was sitting in the presence of some of the most gifted novelists of our time and hearing them talk about writing—not as some mystical experience/divinely-inspired ritual, but as a job they toil at, flesh, blood and brains. I tried to get an interview with Jeffrey Eugenides, whose first book The Virgin Suicides is my definition of “incandescent”, but he managed to evade my requests. I had to be content with attending his talk, which turned out to be better than my planned interview. The author was in good form, the moderator asked the right questions, and the audience was knowledgeable and appreciative.

“I’m always working on a book,” began Eugenides (Eu-GEN-ee-dees), 52. He took us back to the start of his career, when he was trying to get short stories published in magazines. Like most writers he amassed a collection of form rejection slips—sometimes there would be a scrawled “Try us again” at the bottom, and this would be enough encouragement for two years.

Read our column today in the Philippine Star.

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Eugenides said his all-time favorite book, the one he reads over and over again, is Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.

His other favorites are Herzog by Saul Bellow and the novels of Henry James (marriage plots!).

In middle age he’s come to revere Alice Munro.

Recently he enjoyed the Patrick Melrose novels of Edward St. Aubyn, which he pronounced delightful, funny and wicked.

Rasta Barista: James Dennis grows what is purportedly the best coffee on earth. Photo from the National Geographic.

Scientists recently discovered that caffeine consumption can be tied to a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. They knew that it was suppressing the rise of amyloid plaques in the brain, but why coffee consumption did the trick remained a mystery. But now, researchers from the University of Illinois believe they have found the answer, and it has to do with caffeine’s ability to block inflammation in the brain — a discovery that could lead to new drugs which can prevent — or even reverse — mild cognitive impairment.

Read We now know why coffee helps to stave off Alzheimer’s disease in io9.