Wanders at Pagcor Paranaque

Thanx to dear cousin Astrid, we were able to secure complimentary tickets to the Wanders Show at the Pagcor Grand Theater, yesterday, Sunday. And these are not just mere tickets by the way, they're the best seats in the house! All 6 of them!

If you look closely at the ticket below, the price is at Php5,000. I thought the most expensive ticket was Php3,000. But still, they ARE the best seats in the house.

Wanders tickets

"Lower Orchestra Center" is the pink seating area shown below - center and in front of the stage.

Pagcor Grand Theater
This is the second time we've been here. The first time was when I competed at the Division H Toastmasters Quartethlon in 2006 at the Forum Hall. I believe it used to be known as Casino Filipino back then. Here's the location map to Pagcor.

Pagcor Map
Wanders is truly a "one of a kind" show. Local performers are joined by other nationalities like the Chinese and Russians. Renz was amazed at the diversified talent pool and constantly asked "Anong lahi po sila?" everytime a new set performs. :) Pinoys, being good at singing, provided all the vocals in the show. Frenchie Dy of "Star in a Million" fame was one of the acclaimed singers.


This is Wanders' 266th performance in an extended run. The beginning number was mesmerizing in that so many dances were happening on stage simultaneously that you don't know which to look. After the big bang song and dance, one of the opening acts were these three Chinese girls doing contortionist moves. Shown below is their signature pose ("as seen on TV!"). Kinda looks like a three-headed insect, doesn't it?


Of course there were the fabulous dance and song numbers. Here's the Elvis segment, with the Russian girls. Hmmm, the guy sort of looks like Jograd dela Torre with a bad wig. Anybody remember him? This guy's very good though.


Here's the Chinese Strongman with his partner. The lady could do ramrod stiff poses and stretching without breaking a bone! She's definitely strong!


Some of the acts were a bit strange in that I really thought the performers were Pinoys from your local perya - like these ladies spinning eight plates (4 at each hand) at the same time. I later learned from Astrid that they were all Chinese!


Here's a magnificent performance of two acrobats who were suspended by two long curtains from the ceiling. With them circling above and their flowing costumes, the act was simply beautiful and breathtaking. I read somewhere that they're actually a couple.


Ah, one of my favorites from the local acts, the Blue Man group. They are the Manoeuvres. Isn't that the same group which became backdrop dancers to Gary V's performances? I thought they were awesome although a bit under-appreciated judging from the audience applause. They did elicit laughter from a kid near our seats when two in the group were clowning around as part of the act.


An interesting fan dance from another Chinese group. They all wore red and the entire Grand Theater was lighted in red!


This has to be my personal favorite from the Chinese acts - the gymnastic ability of these guys was mind-boggling - with absolutely no mistakes. Although we didn't notice anything out of the usual, I later heard from Astrid that one of them was injured. Astrid said in spite of the safety gear, training and practices, injuries still happen and an emergency team is always ready.


Other acts not pictured above include the Hat Juggling act, the Rolling Human Rings, the Steel Cube Juggling and the rest of the Song-and-Dance numbers. All photos above by the way are courtesy of Pagcor and Ticketworld websites.

Why didn't we take pictures of the acts? It's because Pagcor is very strict in the bringing of cameras. Cellphones with cameras were covered by security with a lens sticker. This doesn't mean we didn't have pictures though. We did, but not of the Wanders acts.

Right after the show, some of the performers were available for picture taking with the audience right on the stage. Here's us with a photo courtesy of Astrid. The Chinese boy in the orange shirt and blue cap was in the show the whole time and the story revolved around his antics. The girls in black are the Chinese with the spinning plates, the guys are acrobats and the rest are a couple of Russian dancers.


Here's a photo with the Chinese Strongman and his partner, 2 Russian dancers and a couple of Chinese acrobats.


The occasion won't be complete without a photo-op with cousin Astrid, the Marketing Girl, as shown below. Yup, she's tall. Behind is the stage where the pictorials were held.


Finally, after saying our goodbyes to Astrid, a requisite photo with the bright-green Pagcor sign near the parking lot.


Saying we enjoyed the show is an understatement. Having attended an acrobat show live for the first time left us super-thrilled and were talking all about it on the way home. Thank you so much, Astrid!



Go ahead, post your comment below!

Anonymous said...

Blackdove, the casino isn't called "Casino Filipino" anymore. That brand name has been dropped long ago. Now it's just "PAGCOR" plus the location of the property. So for purposes of your excellent review, make it read simply "PAGCOR Paranaque." Good writing, keep it up!

Blackdove said...

Thanx Anonymous for the correction on the name. I wasn't so sure of the location coz others would say Pasay instead of Paranaque and so I decided to skip it. Thanx for dropping by.

Anonymous said...

it's a world class entertainment show...

Anonymous said...

I'm so suprised about the performers i'm not expecting them to do things like that sa if they are gonna do stunts I'm so happy that I have gotten to PAGCOR paranaque in an early age wish I can go back and watch again FLOW the casts mostly the girls they are so beautiful and so tall thay always keep smiling and i'm not expecting that i will saw the guy in greenwhich commercial and his voice is good and he also keep smiling to audience I wish next year the UST high school can go back to PAGGCOR PARANAQUE good luck everyone mwahhh... i love PAGCOR PARANAQUE

Unknown said...

Yup, they're all good, aren't they?