ACTIVITY 1. As the curtain falls: Is Philippine opera dying?

Read the entire article about Philippine Opera and answer the questions at the end of the
reading material.

1. Is Philippine opera dying? Yes or no, Why?

The Philippine Opera is not at its best but it is still alive and thriving. A lot of people thinks that
operas are dying and it is not as popular as before but efforts are still being made to show
Filipino’s what operas are. In recent times there are operas shown and accessed online but as
Molina has mentioned the feeling and experience is still different when operas are watched live.
Opera productions in the Philippines are trying their best to revive or at least make the opera
scene vibrant once again. There are still people that are interested in it and there are various
opera productions are being made in schools that could introduce opera to the public. Though
there are efforts being made it has been repeatedly obscured or hidden due to a lot of factors
that hinders the success of operas.

2. Enumerate 3 problems/ challenges mentioned in the article as to why local exposure of

Philippine Opera has been lacking in recent times
a. Lack of funding and resources
b. Expensive tickets to the public
c. Repeated Titles and barely any Filipino productions

3. Suggest realistic/ achievable solutions to the problems mentioned in number 2 and

explain why your resolutions are the best solution to the problems.

Solution a.

This solution can apply to all the problems listed above. Opera performance is an expensive
process to do, so only a few productions are being made in the Philippines. This is because of
the lack on government funding and lack of interest to the public. To pay for the production cost
ticket pricing is expensive, one solution is to fund productions properly by doing fund raising
events. Any fund raising event that could help fund the opera production will make the
performance possible. We could also include promotions of opera as another beautiful form of
art and its importance to the general public to encourage others to join the fund raising event
and to watch the opera performance. It is a very effective way to earn money without relying too
much on ticket selling.

Solution b.

This solution may again apply to all problems above. If we can lessen the expenses on the
production and also include the money earned in the fund raising event, then we can lower the
cost of ticket more. If there are resources that could be taken from past productions and used
again then it could be helpful, they can also cut off unnecessary expenses to save more money
to be used for the opera production. It is still needed to pay other staffs and crew so the
production must still be according to the general public’s interest and very eye catching so the
price of ticket still should be reasonable. If lowering the ticket price is possible we can now
promote the lower price of ticket to the public with the use of social media advertising and
change their mindset that operas are not only for the rich then the interest for opera will be
much more than before.

Solution c.

In the Philippines interest in opera are slowly declining due to a lot of factors. A possible
solution is to encourage Filipino opera composers to compose more opera performances or
add something to past titles that is new and that could interest the general public. As more
new titles that are targeted to locals are introduced the more exposure it gets to the Filipino
public. It has to be something the general public has not seen before and at the same time
something that they could understand and relate to. It would be great to create a big impact
to the first audience so they could promote it to others and more will be interested to it. This
can not only help fund next productions but also lessen ticket price for the Filipino’s.

Give your initial thought about the CONTEMPORARY PHILIPPINE MUSIC by answering
the essential question “how are the music elements, ideas, or story in a musical play is
enhanced by utilizing multimedia and technology?” Write your answer on the first
column of the table below (Initial Ideas)

INITIAL IDEAS REVISED IDEAS FINAL IDEAS

A lot has improved due to the
advancement of technology
this days and it changing
theatre in a good way.
Through multimedia and
technology tracked or pre-
recorded music in live
performance are used to help
the singer during
performances. Microphones
are also improved and it has
improved the quality of voice
and instruments. Lights are
also used to enhance and
emphasize the emotion in the
scene or to enhance mood
and atmosphere.
Backgrounds are also from
huge screens that could
portray the story in a particular
scene. Cameras are also
used during live performances
to capture the emotions of the
singer to see clearly the ideas
and story of the play.