Category Archives: Music

Entertainment, Human Interest, International, Music

‘THE LION KING’ MUSICAL HAS A NEW TITLE, THANKS TO CECIL

July 30, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

From Edmonton and Calgary to New York City; from Las Vegas and San Jose to Melbourne, tickets to the Tony Award-winning musical, ‘The Lion King,’ have been selling out in just the last few days, thanks to the killing by an American dentist of Cecil, the beloved lion of Zimbabwe.

The outrage and outpouring of emotion over Cecil’s death have quickly spread worldwide. The incident has gained much more attention than the killing of unarmed black men by police in America, or the extrajudicial killings happening in many countries with repressive regimes. The incident has produced a new meme and hashtag, ‘LionLivesMatter,’ a take-off from ‘BlackLivesMatter.’

‘The Lion King ‘ is a musical based on the 1994 Disney animated film of the same name with music by Elton John and lyrics by Tim Rice along with the musical score created by Hans Zimmer with choral arrangements by Lebo M. Directed by Julie Taymor, the musical features actors in animal costumes as well as giant, hollow puppets.

The musical debuted July 8, 1997, at the Orpheum Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the same state in which the killer dentist, Walter Palmer, holds his practice.

Today, the show’s producers announced that they are changing the title of the musical from “The Lion King” to “Cecil The King” in honor of the slain lion.

It wasn’t clear whether the title change was a humanitarian/animal activist decision or a financial decision. Ticket prices have reportedly doubled this past week.

Meanwhile, Palmer, whose whereabouts is currently unknown, has sent out feelers to the producers that he would like to sponsor a return engagement of the musical to Minnesota.

Entertainment, Music, Travel

SINGER CHRIS BROWN INVITED BACK TO THE PHILIPPINES

July 30, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – After just ten days since his sold-out concert in Manila, Grammy Award-winning singer Chris Brown has been invited back to the Philippines. Brown is currently in Israel as part of his concert tour.

The unprecedented invitation came from no less than Leila De Lima, Secretary of the Philippines’ Department of Justice (DOJ). It came in the form of a subpoena.

DOJ has issued a subpoena against Brown for allegedly defrauding a Christian church out of $1 million after he canceled a performance at a New Years Eve event and failed to return the money.

Brown’s name appears on the subpoena along with Canadian promoter John Michael Pio Roda after a $1 million estafa complaint was filed due to the singer skipping a scheduled musical performance for the Church of Christ in the Philippines, which is called Iglesia ni Cristo, on Dec. 31, 2014, at the Philippine Arena. Brown and Roda were reportedly paid $1 million in advance and canceled without paying any of the money back.

Ahead of the subpoena being issued, Brown, 26, was performing in Manila and was initially barred from leaving the Philippines on July 21 because of the complaint that was filed. While he was finally cleared to leave the country by the Bureau of Immigration on July 24, Roda was not.

Roda is planning a return concert for Brown as soon as he arrives back in Manila. The concert will be held at the Philippine Arena. Concert proceeds will help fund the court case that will ensue as a result of the DOJ invitation.

It remains to be seen whether or not the upcoming concert will be able to raise the $1 Million that Brown owes Iglesia Ni Cristo, and then some.

Entertainment, Music

FOREIGN CONCERT ARTISTS UNITE TO BOYCOTT THE PHILIPPINES

July 23, 2015 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

LOS ANGELES, California (The Adobo Chronicles® ) – Foreign concert artists continue to run afoul of the Philippines’ strict moral and other standards, and they are uniting to skip the country for their world music tours.

In 2012, a Lady Gaga Manila concert attracted widespread protest due to supposedly anti-Christian lyrics in one of the singer’s hits. And earlier this year, two members of One Direction paid bonds of roughly $4,500 before their performance in Manila, due to their casual admission of marijuana use in a video released last year.

This week, Grammy Award winner Chris Brown was barred from leaving the country after a one-day concert in Manila because of fraud charges brought against him by an influential church group. The charges stemmed from the singer’s non-appearance at a New Year’s Eve concert at the Philippine Arena, owned by the Iglesia Ni Cristo (Church of Christ).

Earlier today, Madonna, who had just announced she has chosen the Philippines as the only country in Asia that would be included in her Rebel Heart Tour, said she decided to cancel her February 2016 concert at the Mall of Asia in Manila, in solidarity with Brown.

The boycott could either deprive Filipinos of the chance to see their favorite international artists, or possibly enhance the careers of local singers and performers. After all, Filipino artists are among the best in the world.