RJ Rosales returns to Sydney by Benjie de Ubago

RJ Rosales, one of the Filipino community’s best loved sons, will be returning to Sydney on June 2010 to star in the maiden offering of Fine Artists Collaboration, “Her Son, Jose Rizal.”

This two-hour play “Her Son, Jose Rizal” written by Leonor Orosa-Goquingco is scheduled on June 17 18, 19 of June from 7:00pm plus a matinee performance on 20 June at 2:00pm at Tom Mann Theatre, 136-140 Chalmers Street, Surry Hills.

The performances are scheduled to coincide with the 112th Anniversary of Philippine Independence and the 149th Birthday (19 June) of the Philippine’s national hero, Dr. Jose Rizal.

RJ returns to Sydney with heaps of accomplishments in the entertainment industry. His talent, versatility and good looks has seen RJ shoot to stardom. He made his mark on stage when he landed the role of “Thuy” and “The Engineer” in the Broadway production of Miss Saigon which earned a Best Supporting Actor nomination at the Helpmann Awards (the Australian equivalent of The Tony Awards in Broadway). He has just completed a stint on Beauty and the Beast in Singapore.

He now travels between Singapore, Philippines and Sydney juggling his stage engagements, concerts and recordings.

“Her son, Jose Rizal” is a theatrical gem first staged in the early 1950’s by the Barangay Theatre Guild and directed by the late National Artist for Film and Theatre Lamberto V. Avellana. In 1955, it was produced by the UP Mobile Theatre, under the direction of Wilfredo Ma. Guerrero and finally in 1974 at the Cultural Centre of the Philippines.

It was translated for SBS radio in 1997 by Richie Buenaventura and serialized on air also featuring RJ Rosales as Jose Rizal and directed by Armando Reyes.

Fine Artists Collaboration is a community theatre group established by Director, Armando Reyes and Dance artist/choreographer Albert Dimarucut along with a group of Filipinos with a love and passion for the theatre and the arts. “We hope to awaken the community’s interest in the theatre and the arts and hope to provide the Filipino-Australian community in Sydney an alternative form of entertainment,” said Director Armando Reyes.

Director, Armando Reyes is a mass communications graduate and a scholar of Pamantasan Ng Lungsod Ng Maynila. He was a recipient of film scholarships in the 1990’s: the Mowelfund Film Scholarship and the Lily Monteverde Scholarship in Production Design in Film under the mentorship of Mr. Peque Gallaga.

Mr. Reyes was an entertainment journalist for 10 years in Manila before migrating to Australia in 1995 but has shifted his passion to the culinary arts since he arrived in Australia 15 years ago.

Armando Reyes will direct RJ when he takes to the stage as Dr. Jose Rizal in June. Together, they are bound to enthrall Sydneysiders as they pull on those patriotic heart strings.