Sunday, August 17, 2008

August 18th's Philippine Star Newspaper Article: The big girl & the heartthrob









Entertainment
The big girl & the heartthrob
DIRECTLINE By Boy Abunda
Monday, August 18, 2008



Atlantis Productions’ highly-anticipated production of the Tony award-winning musical Hairspray has found its two lead stars, Tim Espinosa and Madel Ching who will play the highly-coveted roles of Link Larkin and Tracy Turnblad.

Like most Tracy Turnblads before her, Madel will be making her professional stage debut in Hairspray. She is a junior at Ateneo de Manila majoring in AB Political Science. Having performed in school productions including High School Musical. Madel is thrilled to take on her first major role. She says, “Girls like me don’t get opportunities like this! Honestly, I feel like I’m the modern-day Filipina version of Tracy. A big girl with big dreams. It’s a little scary to take on a role this big, but I’m really looking forward to taking on the challenge of playing a character with this much spirit and energy!”

Madel fully understands the discipline needed to take on a role like Tracy, so she continues her regular voice classes with Cynthia Guico and will also be taking dance classes to build up stamina for the role.

Tim takes on the role of heartthrob Link Larkin, made famous in the film by Zach Efron. Tim has been seen on ABS-CBN as a singer, dancer and actor and will also be making his professional stage debut. Tim says, “I am thrilled about everything. Hairspray entails singing, acting and dancing. I can’t wait to do all three at the same time! I’m sure it will be fun from start to finish.”

Tim’s dreams for the future include making films and possibly a recording. He says, “I’d love to be in a movie someday, make my own music album one day, win an Oscar, own a home. Or if none of those happen, I want to take a ride in the dryer!”

Hairspray is about Tracy who wins a spot on the local TV dance program The Corny Collins Show. The big girl with big hair and big dreams becomes a teen celebrity overnight. Soon Tracy finds herself pitted against the show’s reigning princess for the title Miss Teenage Hairspray 1962. Based on the John Waters film, Hairspray is the winner of eight Tony awards including Best Musical. It was recently made into a hit film starring John Travolta, Michelle Pfeiffer and Queen Latifah.

Hairspray is directed by Bobby Garcia, choreography by Cecile Martinez, sets and costumes by Gino Gonzales, and lighting design by Shoko Matsumoto. It runs from Nov. 14 to Dec. 7 at the Star Theatre, CCP Complex. Tickets are on sale now by calling Atlantis Productions at 892-7078, 840-1187 or Ticketworld at 891-9999.
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