Resorts World Manila to expand hotel, gaming facilities

MANILA - Travellers International Hotel Group will spend $600 million to expand its Manila casino-hotel business in the next three years, saying the delay in its $1 billion initial public offering will not slow down its plans.

Travellers, a joint venture between casino operator Genting Hong Kong Ltd. and Philippine conglomerate Alliance Global Group Inc., said it could go to the debt market to seek funding while waiting for the right time to list its shares.

The company has deferred its listing to September or October from an original plan to launch the IPO this month due to market volatility. It is looking to use the proceeds to fund the expansion of its Resorts World Manila integrated tourism estate near terminal 3 of Manila's international airport.

"We are not pressured, we will just wait for the right timing," Travellers President Kingson Sian said regarding the IPO. "We can go to the debt market."

Sian said the company was determined to finish the expansion project by 2016 despite the IPO delay.

The Philippines is Asia's newest top-end gambling destination after Bloomberry Resorts Corp. opened in March the first phase of its $1.2-billion casino-hotel complex in Manila's Entertainment City complex.

The local unit of Macau casino operator Melco Crown Entertainment Ltd is set to open by middle of next year its $1 billion casino-hotel project also in the Entertainment City.

The expansion of the existing Resorts World complex involves a convention center, an additional 1,100 hotel rooms and gaming facilities.

"It will effectively double what we have currently in Resorts World Manila," Sian told reporters after a stockholders' meeting of Megaworld Corp, a Travellers shareholder and another unit of Alliance Global.

Bloomberry is completing the second phase of its Solaire project by the third quarter of 2014, which features a new hotel, high-end retail outlets, theatres and more restaurants.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com

Resorts World to hold auditions for 'Cinderella'

MANILA, Philippines – Resorts World Manila is now preparing for its next big musical as it looks for performers who can portray the roles of the major characters of “Cinderella.”

Auditions for the lead roles and ensemble of “Cinderella” will be held at the Newport Performing Arts Theater from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on March 4 and 5. Registration starts at 8 a.m., with the cut-off time at 3 p.m.

Those who want to get the role of Cinderella should be 18 to 25 years old and be able to sing “In My Own Little Corner,” while Prince Christopher hopefuls should be aged 20 to 30 and can perform “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful.”

Applicants for the Fairy Godmother role should be aged 35 to their late 40s and practice the song “Impossible.” Those who want to be the Stepmother should also be in the same age range and be able to sing “A Lovely Night.”

Other roles open for auditions include the stepsisters Joy and Grace (aged 19 to 30 and can sing “Stepsisters’ Lament”), steward Lionel (aged 25 to 40 and can sing “Do I Love You Because You’re Beautiful”),  and the King and Queen (all ages).

The first callback will be on March 6.

Meanwhile, online auditions for the role of Cinderella will also be held until midnight of March 10. Applicants may upload videos of them performing a song from Rodgers and Hammerstein’s “Cinderella” on YouTube, download an audition form and e-mail the link to the video and the completed form to cinderella@rwmanila.com.

The applicants must be female, at least 5-foot-4 in height, and between 18 to 25 years old. Those chosen in the online application will receive an e-mail and a phone call to schedule a live audition on March 13.

For more information about the auditions, visit the Cinderella Manila Facebook page.

This is not the first time the musical will be staged in Manila. In 2008, Tony Award winner Lea Salonga played the title role in the musical, which was staged at the Cultural Center of the Philippines, as part of an international tour.

source: abs-cbnnews.com

British jazz band Acoustic Alchemy to perform in Manila

MANILA, Philippines - British contemporary jazz band Acoustic Alchemy and other world-class musicians will perform next week at the ABS-CBN Jazz Gala, which is part of the annual Philippine International Jazz and Arts Festival (PI Jazzfest).

The gala will be held on February 24 at the Newport Performing Arts Theater of Resorts World Manila in Pasay City.

For 25 years, Acoustic Alchemy has embraced a spectrum of musical styles, from straight-ahead jazz to folk and rock.

"For a lot of people, instrumental music is just a sound that plays in the background," said guitarist Greg Carmichael. "But we put a lot into it -- not just with this record but with every record we've ever made.

"I'd like to think that after all these years, we've learned how to take people on a journey. A lot of our fans have said that we do that for them. As long as they keep coming back, and as long as they want to stay on that journey, we'll keep doing what we're doing," he added.

Acoustic Alchemy's newest recording is "Roseland," which took four years to create.

Meanwhile, other musicians who are part of the ABS-CBN Jazz Gala include Yaron Gottfried, and Israeli conductor who bridges classical, contemporary and jazz; and Filipino-American Charmaine Clamor, who was cited as "a gifted vocalist" and "one of the most important and original new jazz singers of the decade" by the New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, respectively.

Also set to perform are Dave Eggar, and Filipinos Tateng Katindig and Abe Lagrimas.

The PI Jazzfest, which will run until February 29, is considered this year's biggest gathering of local and international artists.

Tickets for the PI Jazzfest are sold in all Ticketnet outlets nationwide. For inquiries, log on to www.pijazzfest.com or e-mail pijazz@gmail.com.

source: abs-cbnnews.com