Tiny Beautiful Thoughts: An interview with Mr. Rody Vera

I LOVE the theatre. I might not have the means to see every single show running in my city at a given time, but when I do get my chance, I always have a great time.

This weekend, I’m looking forward to discovering a play for the first time! It’s a straight play called Tiny Beautiful Things, which is a stage adaptation of the book with the same title, penned by American author Cheryl Strayed. In Tiny Beautiful Things, an anonymous advice columnist named Sugar encounters a colorful variety of personalities as they talk about their struggles and seek her advice through the letters they send her.

The local staging of Tiny Beautiful Things is brought to us by The Sandbox Co., and stars Iza Calzado as the advice columnist, Sugar. She is joined by Rody Vera, Gabby Padilla, and Ketchup Eusebio as the letter writers. Rounding out the cast are Brian Sy and Regina de Vera who also play letter writers at certain performances.

Earlier today, I had the honor of having a virtual interview with Mr. Rody Vera, who plays Letter Writer 1. I may have spent several seconds fangirling because he wrote PETA’s Walang Aray, which I absolutely LOVED, but we of course talked more about his role in Tiny Beautiful Things, his thoughts about how the Filipino audience will be able to relate to the material, and This experience working on the production.

Check it out below.

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My weekend with Pawssion Project

I don’t remember now how exactly I discovered Pawssion Project, but I do know it was before the pandemic happened, and I’d had aspirations of becoming a volunteer even back then. Fast forward to 2023, and I saw a call for volunteers on their Instagram page; I signed up and that was it! I became a Pawssion Project volunteer!

I initially signed up as one of their content creators, but immediately realized I couldn’t contribute as much because of my day job and other author-related activities. Even volunteering at events became a bit tricky schedule-wise, because my weekends were always busy. And when they’re not, I’m almost always catching up on sleep.

Anyway, I was able to volunteer at the Bobba’s Backyard Pet Expo event this weekend, and it was a lot of fun. We got to raise over P100,000 for the shelter and new rescues in need of urgent care! It was amazing to meet people who share the same love and compassion for strays and abandoned animals, and I truly hope to see a world where every stray and homeless dog and cat find their furever homes.

For more information about Pawssion Project, visit their website: pawssionproject.org.ph. You may also follow them on Instagram or Facebook for updates on rescues and details of upcoming events. There are upcoming events where you can participate and help us out, so please watch out for those, and we hope to see you there!

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Tara’s Thoughts On: PETA Theater Center’s One More Chance the Musical

When PETA’s One More Chance the Musical was announced last year, my first reaction was “WHY?”

Now, hear me out—I don’t want to be a hater, but I think most of us who loved the Star Cinema movie when it first came out have grown older and wiser, and realized that a) Popoy, the male MC, was a toxic sadboi, and; b) his HFN with Basha wasn’t rightfully earned. Which is my way of saying I wasn’t exactly thrilled at the prospect of seeing it interpreted as a musical, even as a casual fan of Ben&Ben’s music.

But this IS still a PETA production, and from experience, I rarely leave a PETA show disappointed, so I decided to watch it at least once. Thankfully, I was able to get tickets now after being unable to snag some during their first run.

One More Chance tells the story of Popoy and Basha, an engineer and architect, respectively, who have been together for five years. They’re getting married soon, and everything they’re doing career-wise is geared toward that milestone. Plus their dream house, which Basha designed.

As the show opens, we see cracks in their relationship, owing mainly to Popoy disregarding Basha’s feelings. She is burnt out and unhappy in the firm they’re both working at, and wants to leave it all behind to venture into something else entirely—a t-shirt design business that Popoy thinks is simply a distraction from their end goal. Things come to a head when seemingly minor inconveniences pile up and aggravate Basha’s feelings of being unheard, and she decides to end their relationship.

Completely lost without her, a stubborn Popoy tries to win Basha’s heart back, eventually hurting not only her but also his relationship with their shared circle of friends. Will Popoy and Basha ever get their Happy Ever After? And when they do, will they be back in each other’s arms, or in someone else’s?

This review contains spoilers.

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I’m launching a book at #MIBF2024 this Saturday!

Yes, folks—it’s finally happening! But first…

Look at these beauties! These are the new Blush Books edition covers for Six de los Reyes’ Beginner’s Guide: Love and Other Chemical Reactions, Mina V. Esguerra’s Better at Weddings Than You, and my book, Scandalized! Aren’t they amazing? Many thanks to talented local artists Enid Din, Ren Bit, and Shai San Jose for giving our books a glow-up!

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LOOK: It’s an August $0.99 SALE!

Hey, hey! Where I’m from, August is a month spotlighting Filipino-authored work (although if you ask me, Filipinos should be reading more Filipino-authored work all year round), so here’s a month-long sale—Get a copy of What If We Fall In Love? for only $0.99!

Awesome, I’d love a copy—let’s go!

If you’ve already read and enjoyed this book, please feel free to share this post with someone you think would enjoy it as well. And as always, I hope you give it some love on Goodreads!

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