Limelight

By Alvin I. Dacanay In a career spanning more than 40 years, award-winning actress Elizabeth Oropesa has made a name for herself for playing strong and vivid women who are not afraid to speak their mind or assert themselves when a situation demands it. 

A week after 24-year-old Iris Mittenaere of France was crowned as the new Miss Universe at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City, pageant watchers and commentators still couldn’t get enough of the charming dental-surgery student from Lille who snuck up behind the contest’s frontrunners, including our very own Miss Philippines Maxine Medina, to clinch the title—the first time …

The PhilPop MusicFest Foundation is set to expand nationwide this year by holding the PhilPop Songwriting Boot Camp on certain dates and in key cities across the country, with the aim of inspiring and encouraging Filipino songwriters and helping them grow. 

Mega Global Corp., a leading distributor of canned goods and ready-to-eat viands, recently renewed its partnership with actress Liza Soberano as Mega Tuna’s celebrity endorser with the signing of a contract during the company’s sales conference at Prime Hotel in Quezon City. 

By Alvin I. Dacanay  For many beauty-pageant watchers in the Philippines and around the world, there will only be one question on their minds when the 65th Miss Universe Competition reaches its climax at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City on Monday (Manila time): Who will win the coveted title? 

By Alvin I. Dacanay  Last Tuesday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (Ampas) revealed online its list of nominees for the 89th Academy Awards. As expected, this year’s list offers several surprises, among these Mel Gibson’s best-director nomination for the World War II drama Hacksaw Ridge and the exclusion of Arrival’s Amy Adams from the best actress category. 

New theater company Sugid Productions Inc., in collaboration with the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Foundation, is staging Chris Millado’s 1985 play Buwan at Baril sa E-flat Major (Moon and Gun in E-flat Major) as its maiden production at the Ambassador Alfonso T. Yuchengco Auditorium of the Bantayog ng mga Bayani Center in Quezon City until February 12. 

While some candidates of the 65th Miss Universe Pageant were enjoying the cool breeze of Baguio City and the warmth of its residents last Wednesday, others were in Manila to support a non-governmental organization (NGO) that delivers about 3,600 meals to women in need. 

New operas; arts festivals; concerts; exciting collaborations in theater, dance and music; and the launch of the updated encyclopedia of Philippine arts will be the highlights of the 2017 season of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). 

Noli Me Tangere: The Opera (Touch Me Not: The Opera), National Artists Felipe de Leon Sr. and Guillermo Tolentino’s full-length operatic adaptation of Dr. José Rizal’s groundbreaking 1887 novel of the same title, will be staged once more by the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) and J&S Productions Inc. at the former’s Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) from January …