Carla Guevarra-Laforteza

Carla kicked off the REP season in her comeback role as EMMA in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s SONG AND DANCE, and is nowending the year with a bang by joining the cast of REP's Big Musical offering FIDDLER ON THE ROOF as the angry and dramatic ghost of FRUMA-SARAH seen in Tevye's Dream. Carla's passion and dedication to her craft as a performing artist for the past 15 years has earned her a place in the entertainment industry, especially in Philippine and International theater alike. An alumni of MISS SAIGON LONDON CAST (1995-97) where she played the roles of KIM and GIGI understudy, a PMPC STAR AWARDEE for BEST NEW ARTIST IN 2000 for her role in STAR DRAMA PRESENTS "BURN" for ABS-CBN, and a GOLDEN VOICE AWARDEE for POP-SIKLABAN in 1994, expect no less than excellence in all the roles she does, may it be in theater, television or the movies.

Cathy Azanza

After playing the role of Antonia, Alonso Quijana's cunning niece in “Man of La Mancha”, Cathy once again returned to the Rep stage for the staging of “I Love You, You're Perfect… Now Change”. Joining Repertory Philippines as a teenager -- where she appeared in Annie, Proposals, Oliver, Miong, The Secret Garden, and more than a dozen other productions -- Cathy has proceeded to take on feature roles in Trumpets' The Little Mermaid, Atlantis' Urinetown, The Rocky Horror Show, and Beauty and the Beast. She also played Clarabelle in the Ma-Yi Theater Company of New York's The Romance of Magno Rubio. Most recently, Cathy reprised her role as Andrea in the AAI production of Once On This Island When not engaged in theatrical pursuits, Cathy writes for and directs special events, does assistant directing and voice work for commercials, and works as a freelance editor.

Jack Salud

JACK SALUD baritone
Jack Salud is a resident artist of THE PHILIPPINE OPERA COMPANY. He made his theatrical debut in 1985 as the Constable in REPERTORY PHILIPPINES' production of the Broadway musical ZORBA directed by the late Zeneida "Bibot" Amador. Subsequently he played the role of Jack in REP'S musical comedy I LOVE MY WIFE that same year directed by Baby Barredo. His other theatrical roles with Repertory Philippines include Nathaniel in William Shakespeare's TAMING OF THE SHREW and Sir Ivan in THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES. Jack also played Sky Masterson during Rep's summer acting workshop production of GUYS AND DOLLS. He was last seen on Rep's stage in MAN OF LA MANCHA in 2005. While stage acting Jack studied classical singing at the CULTURAL CENTER OF THE PHILIPPINES (CCP) under University of the Philippines Professor EMMANUEL GREGORIO. He participated in CCP's student's voice recital 2003 held also at the Cultural Center of the Philippines. Aside from various corporate shows, Jack's recent performances with the Philippine Opera Company include the GREENBELT HOLIDAY OPERA CONCERT, the NEW YEAR OPERA CONCERT held at the New Hyatt Regency, and A TRIBUTE TO PAVAROTTI which was named by the Philippine Daily Inquirer as one of THE BEST SHOWS FOR THE LAST QUARTER OF 2007. In 2008, Jack will be part of the cast of the Philippine Opera Company's production of Puccini's LA BOHEME at the Cultural Center of the Philippines.
He has done several shows for some of the country’s top corporations, which includes 2007 Agora Marketing Awards and Ayala Land Corporation, Roche Philippines, 2008 Spouses of Heads of Mission Annual Ball, JVC Philippines, Maxicare, 2008 Alabang Country Club’s Annual Super Raffle/Concert, 30th Anniversary of the Ambassador’s Foundation.
Jack is also one of the singers of the Philippine Opera Company’s newest entertainment concept HARANA, which is scheduled to go international this year.
Jack is under the exclusive management of Philippine Opera Company.

JM Rodriguez

JM Rodriguez has been an actor since he was eleven years old when he was cast as lead in a Father Reuter play called A Song for an Angel. Lots and lots of years later , he's appeared in many other plays, musicals, films, and television shows. Favorites include: the Repertory productions of Evita, A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Forum, A Midsummer Nights Dream, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Man Who Came to Dinner, Passion,Loves Labours Lost, Carousel, Celebration 2, The Fantastiks, The Importance of Being Ernest, Canterbury Tales, Company, Romeo and Juliet, Romance, Romance, South Pacific, The Taming of the Shrew, Bakers Wife, Moon Over Buffalo, The Last Night of Balyhoo, Amadeus, Annie, Miong, Grease, They're Playing Our song, A Man for all Seasons,". But above all else, he's best known for playing the role of Mark Cohen in Jonathan Larson's landmark rock opera Rent. He took the show from Manila to Singapore . He is a member of ABS CBN's talent center and has appeared in numerous television shows and commercials. At present he is the endorser for Motorola and Century Tuna in the Philippines. Besides acting

Liesl Catherine H. Batucan

Liesl is one of the most versatile actresses on the legitimate Philippine stage, having appeared in over 90 theatre productions that showcased her remarkable range as an actress in dramas, comedies, musicals, Shakespearean classics, and everything in between.  She has donned the cap of Assistant Director for theatre productions; acting coach; voice and on-camera talent for movies, radio and television; as well as events host and guest performer, singing for corporate events and trade shows, both here and abroad, in such countries as Australia, Malaysia, and the United States, to name a few. Liesl was in Budapest, Hungary in the first quarter of 2007 to host an interactive television game show, where she captured the hearts of all her international peers, and won over the European community with her homegrown Filipina charm, vibrance and talent. Further bringing pride to the Philippines, in June and July of this year, she delivered sterling performances Off-Broadway at the prestigious La Mama Theatre in New York in a project for the UNESCO and the National Commission on Culture and the Arts. “Something to Crow About” received critical praise and an astounding welcome from the Filipino and American communities in New York, Washington D.C., Los Angeles and San Francisco. An accomplished actress, Liesl is an Aliw Award nominee for Best Actress in a Musical for her stirring, poignant performance in “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change”. For Repertory Philippines, she has portrayed Maria in “The Sound of Music”, Portia in Shakespeare’s “The Merchant of Venice”, Theda Blau in the hilarious two-actor romantic comedy “It Had To Be You”, Luisa in the longest running Off-Broadway musical “The Fantasticks”, Audrey in “Little Shop of Horrors”, Beauty in the children’s classic tale “Beauty and the Beast”, and the title role in “Pinocchio”, among countless others. Liesl is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of the Philippines and former corporate finance consultant with SGV&Co.

Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo

This two time Aliw Best Actress nominee began her theater career in 1978 with Repertory Philippines in the production of A FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. Some of her more memorable roles with Repertory are MARIA in WEST SIDE STORY, LUISA in THE FANTASTICKS, JOHANNA in SWEENEY TODD, DIANA MORALES in A CHORUS LINE, FANTINE in LES MISERABLES, FOSCA in PASSION, GUINEVERE in CAMELOT, GENEVIEVE in THE BAKER'S WIFE, NANCY in OLIVER, AURORA/SPIDERWOMAN in KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN, JOANNE in COMPANY, HODEL in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF (1984), TUPTIM in THE KING AND I, THE WITCH in INTO THE WOODS, MARTHA in THE SECRET GARDEN, ALDONZA/DULCINEA in MAN OF LA MANCHA and EVA PERON in EVITA Menchu has also done the role of JADIS, the white witch in the Trumpets production of THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE, was a walk on cover forELLEN in the Manila production of LISS SAIGON, CLAIRE in the Atlantis production of PROOF and ARLENE McNALLY in the musical BABY also with Atlantis. Menchu celebrated her 25 year in theater with the critically acclaimed musical THE LAST 5 YEARS were she played the role of CATHY with Actor's Actor Incorporated where she is also a board member. She has also played the role of ERZULIE in the musical ONCE ON THIS ISLAND also with Actor's Actor Inc. She is currently playing the role of the BAKER'S WIFE in the musical INTO THE WOODS with New Voice Company.

Michael Williams

Michael was part of the original cast of Miss Saigon in the West End. He also went on to play Lun Tha (the romantic lead) in the touring and West End productions of The King and I. Since coming back from London in 1992, he has established himself in the lounge and trade show circuits but continued to churn out stellar work in the theater. He was acclaimed for his portrayal of Javert in Les Miserables; the lead role in Tartuffe and AAI's Taking Sides. His acute knowledge of music and the musical theater served him in good stead in shows like Evita, and Carousel. He is slated to perform the role of the Baker in Into The Woods for New Voice Company in November. He is also directing Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Theater Down South a theater company based in Alabang.

Rem Zamora

Entrepreneur turned actor Rem Zamora entered the Philippine theatrical scene with a flying leap, starring in the rock musical JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR with the much coveted role of Judas Iscariot. His intensity and hard-edged compassion stood out even among a cast of veterans, and led to Rem’s speedy rise in the REPERTORY company of actors. But, the largest feather in Rem Zamora’s performance has been his portrayal of General Emilio Aguinaldo, in the world premiere of MIONG, an original Filipino musical based on the revolutionary leader’s life and great achievements. Since then, he has gone on to play both leading and support roles in various musicals, classic and contemporary plays, comedies, and concerts here and abroad. Other theater credits include, THE FANTASTICKS, COMPANY, ROMANCE-ROMANCE, MAN OF LA MANCHA, SOUTH PACIFIC, CAROUSEL, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, A CHRISTMAS CAROL, BAKER’S WIFE, ALLADIN, PINOCCHIO, LEND ME A TENOR, GLORIOUS, MERCHANT OF VENICE, ROMEO AND JULIET, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, A MIDSUMMER NIGHTS DREAM, THE TAMING OF THE SHREW, LOVE’S LABOR’S LOST, A MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, and a slew of other straight plays and musicals. Rem has also lends his voice as a guest singer for special performances of one of the country’s top rock bands, The Dawn. Rem also lends his artistic skills to costume and graphic design for Repertory Philippines. Recently he took the role as Rep’s Marketing Director. Outside Repertory Philippines, Rem is an event producer and fashion show director, and entrepreneur. Rem opened Insomnia Café in Malate in 1993, which ran until 2001. In 1999-2003, he opened the popular club, seveneightorange, which later on became Olive. Currently, Rem runs Piquant, healthy food restaurant in RCBC Plaza.

Felix Rivera

There are some interests that cannot be given up, some dreams that cannot be forgotten and some passions that cannot be ignored. Felix started performing when he was in high school as part of La Salle Greenhills' youth music group Kundirana. Upon enetring college, he joined the University of Asia and the Pacific Chorale to further his knowledge and skill in music and singing. The he finished his degree in Humanities and Economics, he still pursued a career in music and performance. Expanding his experience in singing, Felix became part of IL DIVINO the Musical (Santos/de Guzman) staged by renowned director-writer Freddie Santos. He got his first taste of musical theater with Tanghalang Ateneo's LAM-ANG the Musical where he played the lead. Years later, he found himself glued to the world of stage: Stages, Inc.'s FOOTLOOSE the Musical directed by Chari Arespacochaga, Trumpet's JOSEPH THE DREAMER (2006), Dulaang UP's BASILIA NG MALOLOS, Blue Repertory's HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL and THE 25TH ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE (as musical director), Atlantis Productions' AVENUE Q. As a lyricist, he co-wrote the theme songs for MMFF entries AISHITE IMASU 1942 (Hanggang Wakas, Aishite Imasu) and EXODUS (Love that Never Fades sung by Sarah Geronimo and Erik Santos). A son of Dr. Felixberto and Mrs. Lilian Rivera, and brother to Northwestern University pianist Richelle and GMA 7 news producer Rosetti, Felix entered the town of Anatevka as FIDDLER ON THE ROOF'S Perchik as his debut in the Repertory stage.

Caisa Borromeo

Caisa just recently finished her music degree in Voice Performance early last year. She began performing at the tender age of ten, where she took summer workshops under Repertory Philippines for six consecutive years, performing in different musical productions. By the age of 17, she landed her first professional debut role as Snow White in Repertory Philippines' Children's Theatre production, NOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS. Various musical productions followed such as COMPANY CALL, FOOTLOOSE THE MUSICAL, and MERRILY WE ROLL ALONG all with Ateneo Blue Repertory. She also explored workshops in other theater companies, such as Trumpets, where she portrayed the role of Daisy Hilton in SIDE SHOW. In September 2005, Caisa was once again casted as "Rusty" in the 80's dance musical FOOTLOOSE, this time produced by STAGES PRODUCTIONS. She was seen in Repertory Philippines' ALADDIN JR. as Jasmine at some shows and Narrator at other shows. She was also seen in last year's CINDERELLA, LOVE'S LABOR'S LOST and FIDDLER ON THE ROOF. She plans to continue pursuing and nurturing her passion for theatre even more.

Cara Barredo

Cara started in Rep at a very young age, playing the role of Tiny tim in SCROOGE. She was recently seen playing the role of Chava in last year's big musical FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Drizella/Luca in RCT's Cinderella Kids. Other theater credits: Jasmine in ALADDIN Jr., Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ, and Pinocchio in PINOCCHIO. Other Rep credits include EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, CHRISTMAS CAROL, EVITA, CAROUSEL, MIONG, ANNIE, OLIVER, CELEBRATION III, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, to name a few. She was also a member of the Repertory Philippines Shortstoppers and is a member of the Junior Showstoppers. Cara is also an Assistant Instructor for Repertory Philippines Summer Workshop. A junior in St. Scholastica's College, Bachelor of Music, Majoring in voice.

Red Concepcion

Red's first taste of theatre - Trumpets' HONK!: THE UGLY DUCKLING (Beaky / Froglet) - got him hookes for life. After a short stint studying Musical Theater in Singapore, Red appeared in a string of musiclas - LITTLE MERMAID as the Devilfish Slick, THE HAPPY PRINCE as the Narrator, FABLES & PARABLES for Trumpets. ALADDIN JR. as Iago and CINDERELLA KIDS as Gus for Repertory. BASILIA NG MALOLOS as Miguel Maglaya fro Dulaang UP, INTO THE WOODS for New Voice Company, among others. He was also in MOOSE MURDERS for Rep.

Jejie Esguerra

After taking on the serious roles of Mendel / Perchik via last years hit FIDDLER ON THE ROOF, Jejie goes back to his roots of Shakespearean tragic/comedies. Fresh from the success of Rep’s Classic offering for 2007 LOVE LABOURS LOST where he essayed the role of the naughty yet earthy swain Costard. Apart from being an instructor of Personality Development at John Robert Powers, he is also a regular workshop facilitator and has taught for Trumpets, St. Paul, and ABS-CBN. He also dabbles with hosting, voicing for cartoons and commercials and has also appeared for several tv shows and ads for GMA 7 and ABS-CBN. Recent theater credits include ALADDIN, THE BOOR AND THE PROPOSAL, VIRGIN LABFEST, THE EMPEROR’S NEW CLOTHES, TAMING OF THE SHREW, WIZARD OF OZ, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST, ONCE ON THIS ISLAND, JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT, KISS OF THE SPIDER WOMAN, OLIVER, ANNIE, MIONG, SLEEPING BEAUTY, PINOCCHIO, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK, LIBOG, MEDEA, HILAKBOT, MACBETH, RICHARD III, ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDERSTERN ARE DEAD, MERCHANT OF VENICE, NOAH’S BIG BOAT, LYSISTRATA, MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, MAYNILA, DIGMAAN, BATAS MILITAR, INANG BAYAN, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS, among many others. He thanks is parents, friends and Amal for all their support. Jejie will be next seen in MULAN JR, Reps RCT offering this year.

Angela Primavera

Angela first got bitten by the acting bug after being an orphan in her grade school production of "Oliver". Falling thoroughlyin love with the stage, she then joined Rep workshops. Angela then joined Ateneo's theater organization Blue Rep, where- banking on her unique bubbly energy, she landed such quirky roles as the Granny in Into the Woods, Wendy Jo in Footloose, and the title role in their production of Sweet Charity. Her recent works include Repertory’s Fiddler on the Roof, RCT’s Cinderella Kids, RCT's Aladdin Jr., and Trumpets' Little Mermaid (Provincial Tour).

Karla Gutierrez

KARLA PATRICIA GUTIERREZ

Soprano

Karla attained her Bachelor of Music Degree, Majoring in Voice from the University of the Philippines’ College of Music, under the tutelage of Prof. Fides Cuyugan-Asensio. She pursued further studies in Opera Interpretations with the Accademia Internazionale delle Arti in Rome, Italy under the supervision of Maestra Doris Andrews.
Her Repertory Philippines’ credits include Cosette in “Les Miserables”, Hodel in “Fiddler on the Roof”, Lily in “Secret Garden”, Sophie de Palma in “Master Class”, Julie Jordan in “Carousel”, among many others. She played the role of Cinderella in Rep’s production of “Into the Woods”, later reprising the same role with Singapore Repertory Theater in Singapore. She appeared as Andrea in “Once On This Island” staged at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts.
Her operatic roles includes, Lucy in “The Telephone”, Micaela in “La Chanson de Carmen”, Hansel in “Hansel and Gretel”, and portrayed the role of Dew Fairy in “Hanzel und Gretel” with the Rome Opera Festival in Italy, under the baton of Maestro Fritz Maraffi. She was the soloist in David Glass’ World-Premiere production of “The Lost Child”.
Karla was part of the entourage of former Pres. Fidel Ramos’ Western Europe Tour, World Economic Forum in Hong Kong and Australia for the Philippine Centennial Celebration. She also performed for the Tourism Week in Taiwan, and in 2003, she was invited to sing for the United Nations in New York.
Karla was a recipient of the New Neutrogena Woman for the Arts for 2002.
She is currently the Artistic and Managing Director of the Philippine Opera Company and Vice-President of Friends of Philippine Opera Foundation.