After a gruelling 18 months of planning, rehearsing, preparing and finally performing, the curtains cameup and the crowd went wild! The 4 th installment of Taste of Broadway shown on October 7 and 8 at theFlato Markham Theatre was greeted with hoots and applause. The 2 night show was a raving successand everyone cheered as the Markham Federation of Filipino Canadians Youth Performing Arts Groupsang and danced their way into everyone’s hearts!
There was a sense of great expectation from the attendees and the performers, especially the little kidswho were performing in a theatre for the first time. One can see the anxiety in their eyes, but as theystarted to perform, so many wonderful smiles came to the faces of everyone in the theatre.
Main performers Jason Nunez, Alvin Alba, Jasmine Ragual, Michaelangelo Masangkay, Candace Santosand Karen Tan lead the MFFC Youth Performing Arts Group into the various Broadway segments likeHello from the Book of Mormon, One from A Chorus Line and Joseph and the Amazing TechnicolorDreamcoat to name but a few. Special guest Jay Davis performed during intermission and gave awonderful rendition of songs like Empty Chairs and Empty Tables and This Is the Moment. The biggestsurprise was when Mayor Frank Scarpitti walked on stage and belted Edelweiss to a roaring crowd!
Producer Karen Tan was the proudest “parent” in the theater. After years of training and educating herstudents, both in performing arts and theatre production, it all came together in a fantastic showing ofperfection. The lighting and audio led by the MFFC mentors were flawless, the music by the direction ofMichael Ombao was seamless, the performances were amazing, all the performers from theprofessional artists to the Youth Performing Arts students were perfect.
Special thanks to the MFFC mentors Michelle Ombao, Russel Ombao, James Abanador, Randy Muere,Ryan Muere, Nicolai Cusi, Melissa Torres, musical director Michael Ombao, props designer Marian Cusiand her team, the MFFC parents and the production committee. The show is a great success due to thededication and effort of this hard working team. Kudos to all!