Jomari VillanuevaNotes of Experience

Joining the cast of Xander and auditioning for Roc particularly was never really something I thought of doing this school year. Already committed to ViARE and Chorale, I was aware that taking part in a third major project for the semester would be very detrimental to my commitment with the other two orgs and to my studies. But at the same time, I knew to myself that I really did want to take part in this musical, since I enjoyed working with a musical that ViARE produced a year ago, Come Stay. I was persuaded by some of the people who were part of the koro to join the team a month before opening night. Mindful of the inevitable consequences, I thought to myself that this was a very rare opportunity, and that I had to go for it. Im very glad I did, and I was blessed with a very talented and wonderful cast.

I joined the cast later on during the rehearsal processes, and I was raided with several new faces, Tagalog songs that Ive never heard of, a very different environment, and rehearsals that would last till 1:00 in the morning. I knew I had to be in sync with all of my cast mates real fast if Id want to reach every one elses level. Luckily enough, the atmosphere was exciting for all of the rehearsals. My fellow koro mates helped me figure out how to work with the stage, the choreography, and all the new songs along the way. I honestly was fascinated by the way our director, X Vallez, granted us the liberty to be able to express ourselves during the musical. We were only tasked with simple directions, and it was our job to feel the stage and to get the audience entertained, given that the production is domestically a comedy. All the actors, the organizational committee, the crew, and all the other Roc alumni all worked together to make the musical a success. It was definitely more than I had hoped for.

These little things ultimately formed the entire production into a big family. Although everyone in the cast was different in their own way, some reaching bizarre levels, we all eventually started moving together as a single organism.This production really impressed me because I have never really seen a cast this close before, all to the point where eating out after every rehearsal started to become a thing. There would always be tables in CAS Garden full of the cast having fun together. Xander was definitely something else for me. Although the entire month of February got me stressed and tired, working back-to-back shows with ViAREs Twelve Angry Men, I found each show as an opportunity to help me regain my energy and forget about the different problems Ive been encountering with schoolwork. Also, given the limited time we had for rehearsals, I honestly made closer friends with the cast as compared to those under my course. Knowing how great this show was, I would definitely want to be part of another production in the future!