Photo Flash: LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE In Manila

Co-written by Precious Lee Cundangan

Manila, Philippines, January 23, 2012 –  Falling in love is sweeter the second time around, and it’s true in the case of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, an Off Broadway play that you would fall in love with, and would love to see over and over again. For that reason alone, Manila-based CTE Productions brought back Love, Loss, and What I Wore for another run at RCBC Theater in Makati City last weekend. Michael Williams (Sweeney Todd, Defending the Caveman) and Cathy Azanza-Dy (Defending the Caveman) teamed up again as co-directors for Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which was first performed in Manila in July 2011.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore’s ultrachic, straightforward, and compelling script is penned by sisters Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle) and Delia Ephron (The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Hanging Up). Based on the bestselling book by Ilene Beckerman, Love, Loss, and What I Wore vividly recalls a collection of funny, emotional, heartwarming, and sometimes heartbreaking stories from various women who remembered important times in their lives through the clothes they wore: from prom dresses to memories of what mothers would say about their daughters’ sense of style; from women’s gamut of emotions inside the dressing room to those cowboy boots that make a woman feel and look sexy and tough – and even Madonna – the play talks about fashion only women would understand.

Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which is currently running on Off Broadway, has had featured notable actresses like Alexis Bledel (Gilmore Girls); Alicia Silverstone (Clueless); Betty White (Golden Girls); Brooke Shields (Blue Lagoon, Grease); Fran Drescher (The Nanny); Jamie Lynn Sigler (The Sopranos,  Entourage), Jane Lynch (Glee); Nikki Blonsky (Hairspray), Rita Wilson (Sleepless in Seattle), and Rosie O'Donnell (Grease), to name a few.

For last weekend’s run in Manila, Jay Valencia-Glorioso, acclaimed classical vocalist and theater performer, headlined the cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore, together with other theater luminaries: Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo, also Repertory Philippines’ associate artistic director; Azanza-Dy; Liza Infante-Robinson, also Repertory Philippines’ treasurer; and Bituin Escalante, a multi-award winning recording artist.

Love, Lost, and What I Wore may look like a “girl thing” on the onset but it should also cater to men – the play could help men understand what goes through a woman’s mind, and her often misunderstood, abused heart.

Photos by Jory Rivera