Based on the festival material provided, the Puregold CinePanalo Film Festival 2026 has screenings scheduled from September 23 to October 4, 2026 , with films showing at Gateway Cineplex 18 in Araneta City and several Ayala Malls Cinemas in Metro Manila . This year's program includes seven full-length films, four student shorts blocks, Panorama shorts, and selected screenings with talkbacks. The full-length lineup jumps from political comedy to grief in Japan, supernatural romance, family drama, and a magical road trip involving John Arcilla and a carabao. Picking a schedule is going to take more thought than simply choosing whatever starts next. Puregold CinePanalo 2026 full-length films Wantawsan Joseph Abello's Wantawsan follows a poor father who receives cash from the newly elected mayor he supported. Later that day, he sets out to buy food for his son's birthday and ends up on a comic adventure that puts both his values and his wit to the test....

Rodgers & Hammerstein's South Pacific is back in Metro Manila for eight performances at the Proscenium Theater in Rockwell, Makati, from September 12 to 20, 2026. Presented by the University of Santo Tomas Conservatory of Music in partnership with the College of Commerce and Business Administration, South Pacific: The Comeback stars Ciara Sotto as Nellie Forbush and Jose Vera Perez as Emile de Becque. Paolo O'Hara directs, with Daniel Bartolome leading the UST Symphony Orchestra. Update, September 14, 2026: I have since seen this production. Read my South Pacific review for the performances, the UST Symphony Orchestra, and the view from K26. The preview below records what I knew before seeing it. For me, the title comes with an old memory. I remember seeing a South Pacific programme at home when I was younger, but I don't remember actually watching the show. Repertory Philippines staged South Pacific in 1997, and that must have been the programme I ...

Filipino singer-songwriter Nicole Laurel Asensio is putting the songs, and the stories behind them, at the center of an intimate new performance at 78 Salcedo in Makati. On September 19, 2026 at 7 PM , Nicole presents Songwriter , a one-night show featuring 20 compositions selected from hundreds she has written over the years. The set includes songs audiences already know, along with unfinished work, spoken word, fragments, and material that has rarely, if ever, been heard in public. More than a regular concert set, Songwriter gives audiences a closer look at how some of Nicole's music started before it became a finished recording. I've been following Nicole's work for a long time. I still remember being in awe of her Mimi in 9 Works Theatrical's Rent back in 2010, and years later, her music was among the songs I found myself turning to during some particularly difficult months of the pandemic. That history is part of why a show centered on the songw...

The Sandbox Collective brings Spring Awakening back to Metro Manila in February 2027. Photo from the 2026 production by Loreta Arroyo, courtesy of The Sandbox Collective. If you missed The Sandbox Collective’s Spring Awakening this year, you’ll have another chance in February 2027. The company has announced a limited rerun to open its 2027 season at The Black Box at The Proscenium Theater, Rockwell Center, Makati City. There’s reason to be curious about a return. In my February 2026 review of Spring Awakening , I wrote about a production that grew steadier as it unfolded, with early vocal roughness giving way to an ensemble that found its footing. “Left Behind” made me cry. I also had reservations about some sightlines and lighting choices. A rerun gives us a chance to see how the staging develops. The adults have answers. They just won’t give them. Set in late 19th-century Germany, Spring Awakening follows teenagers trying to understand sex and their changing bodies w...

The ribbon cutting at Gourdo’s Dream Oasis at The Podium on September 5, 2026. Video still: Saul de Jesus / Unsaulicited. It had been a while since I last went to The Podium. I came back for Gourdo’s Dream Oasis media event and went home with two pillows and new pillowcases. I would blame the special prices, but I did make those decisions myself. Gourdo’s Dream Oasis: Sleepcare x Healthguard , in collaboration with A-Fontane, brought pillows, bedding and a few reasons to rethink bedtime to The Podium. I attended the media event on September 5, 2026 , part of the September 4 to 6 pop-up. Before the program even started, though, I had a reunion. A familiar face at The Podium Hosting the event was Cerah Hernandez Co , a friend I have known since college. It was lovely catching up before the program, then watching her do what she does so well. Cerah kept things moving, filled the afternoon with useful information and made sure there was no dead ai...