New York, January 2, 2012 – Last year’s New York Musical Festival’s (NYMF) participant Prison Dancer, a musical inspired by the world-renowned dancing prisoners from Cebu, Philippines, featuring music and lyrics by Romeo Candido, and book by Candido and Carmen de Jesus, is now a web series. Prison Dancer, a 12 episode web series premiering this Spring, stars Canadian Idol Season One finalist Mikey Bustos and Mamma Mia! on Broadway’s current Ali, Catherine Ricafort.
Prison Dancer tells the story of six Filipino dancing prisoners – Lola, Oo Oo, Nana, Hookaps, Shakespeare, and Christian (played by Bustos) – whose lives are suddenly changed when their dancing videos uploaded on YouTube became viral hits. Investigative journalist, named Matt, uncovers the “personal, poignant, hilarious, and universal stories of these prisoners.”
Ricafort plays Cherish, love interest to Bustos’ Christian, the prison’s newly-admitted inmate. “We shot in Toronto last month, and it was an incredible experience! It’s a project filled with many firsts me: [it’s my] first time to act on camera; [it’s my] first time to do a project based on a true Filipino story; and [it’s my] first time to speak some lines in Tagalog (the first language in the Philippines) with an accent,” Ricafort told BroadwayWorld.com.
Ana Serrano, a three-time Canadian New Media Award recipient, produces Prison Dancer for its web release. For more information, visit www.prisondancer.com.
