Mmm, Free SPIT

All this month S.P.I.T. was waiving the P200 entrance fee for their shows, so naturally my cheapskate self jumped at the chance to catch it.

I picked up Lola at her place, then we went to fetch Dee at the Dusit Hotel. Arriving a wee bit early, we had to drive around the hotel entrance half a dozen times (security finally recognized us by round 4 and skipped vehicle inspection) before she finally came out. Off to Mag:Net Cafe on Boni High Street. Dee called KV, who said he'd catch up.

This would be Lola's first time to watch (or even hear of) S.P.I.T. , and after the elevator brought us to the 2nd floor (Dee hates having stairs meet high heels) we were "greeted" by the team warming up with something akin to a Black gospel choir and campfire song mix. Whatever helps bring the funny, I guess.

Place was packed, so we made do w/ the smoking section patio table. View wasn't so great, and did I mention the smoking part? Glass panels separating us from the main floor made for bad sound reception, and having Joel Trinidad (one of the performers) block our view for awhile as he checked out the videotaping didn't help. Still, despite alla that (and missing female cast members), the show wasn't too bad. As usual the beauty contest portion brought the biggest laughs. The song improvs fell flat again, but I still gave them an 'A' for effort, as that sh*t ain't easy.

I did get annoyed when they started late and finished early, but I guess they were that eager to start their "Disney-oke" session. The first couple began w/ A Whole New World (Aladdin), followed by another duo who sang There's Something There (Beauty & the Beast). KV and I were determined to go onstage, with him undecided w/c songs he wanted to sing but didn't know the lyrics to (or wanting to sing non-Disney songs). As for myself I was undecided between Hakuna Matata (The Lion King) and Under the Sea (The Little Mermaid), so long at least one funny Disney song was sung before it all got too sappy.

Some castmembers of a local production of Mulan, Jr. went up and did Be Our Guest (nothing hides a bad voice like singing w/a crowd), but their tempo was slowed down to an oompa oompa beat, like something you'd hear on Oktoberfest in a German pub. Worse, the guy who did "Lumiere's" voice --half-empty Pale Pilsen bottle in hand-- couldn't sustain the accent. Too busy being sloshed, probably.

When we finally approached Gabriel Mercado to put our names on the list of wannabe singers, he told us to go onstage and browse thru the sheetmusic books scattered behind the pianist. Unfortunately KV took too long in long and picking a song (and Gabriel was kinda picky of singers, too) and like Cinderella had to go once his watch struck midnight. See ya around, chance for fame.

(On the bright side, when I got home I found out I couldn't exactly hit the higher notes called for in Hakuna Matata. Close call, then. Grr, shoulda picked Under the Sea.)