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Decades later, 'M. Butterfly' returning to local stage, with original star

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<p>Raymond Francisco was 18 years old when he first took on the role of Song Liling in Dulaang UP&#x27;s staging of &quot;M. Butterfly,&quot; the Tony-winning play about a Chinese opera diva who tricks a French diplomat into falling in love with him, in the guise of a woman.</p><div><script src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&amp;version=v2.5" async="" type="text/javascript"></script></div><div class="fb-post" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/152287802271322/videos/211130883053680/" data-width="auto"> </div><p>That was 28 years ago. Fransico earned raves for his portrayal, and became a favorite among theater followers. In many ways, &quot;M. Butterfly&quot; marked a turning point for him.</p><p>&quot;I was so used to acting for free since I was young... On opening night, Tony Mabesa handed me my first paycheck of P2,500, which was for 20 shows,&quot; he recalled, pertaining to Dulaang UP&#x27;s founding artistic director.</p><p>&quot;My initial reaction was, &#x27;No, no, no, I&#x27;m doing this for free,&#x27; kasi doon po ako nasanay. And then he said, &#x27;No, this is yours, you deserve it,&#x27;&quot; Francisco added.</p><p>Referring to &quot;M. Butterfly&quot; as the start of his professional career as a theater actor, Francisco is coming full circle as he reprises the role of Song Liling in his own production of the play, with Dulaang UP as one of its beneficiaries.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkuAEhBg62s/" data-instgrm-version="8" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:28.240740740740737% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkuAEhBg62s/" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by M. Butterfly Manila (@mbutterflymnl)</a> on <time dateTime="2018-07-02T06:12:07+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Jul 1, 2018 at 11:12pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" defer="" src="~//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Francisco, along with Tony-winning theater producer Jhett Tolentino and director Kanakan Balintagos, announced Monday the numerous other organizations that will benefit from the 15-show run of &quot;M. Butterfly,&quot; which kicks off September 14 at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater in Taguig.</p><p>&quot;Dulaang UP has given me so much, and has opened so many doors for me,&quot; Francisco said during the show&#x27;s press launch. &quot;It changed the course of my life, and it brought me to places I never thought I&#x27;d go to. This is the time na I want to give back everything with all my power, all my love, and all my heart.&quot;</p><p>Much, according to Francisco, will be different in this re-staging of &quot;M. Butterfly.&quot; For one, his performance of Song Liling will be more &quot;layered.&quot;</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkt7JtBAEKz/" data-instgrm-version="8" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:50% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Bkt7JtBAEKz/" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by M. Butterfly Manila (@mbutterflymnl)</a> on <time dateTime="2018-07-02T05:29:08+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Jul 1, 2018 at 10:29pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" defer="" src="~//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>He drew a comparison with his first take on the character in 1990: &quot;At the time, I was 18. I didn&#x27;t have much life experience, so I had to really dig up and try to think I&#x27;m 40, I&#x27;ve gone through so much.</p><p>&quot;But now, that I&#x27;m a little bit older, with all that I&#x27;ve gone through, all the hardships, all the heartbreaks — I can put them into the character of Song Liling. I feel, with Kanakan Balintagos&#x27; direction and motivation, I can layer Song Liling even more. That&#x27;s how I feel I can do justice to her right now, more than I did then.&quot;</p><p>Tolentino and Frontrow&#x27;s &quot;M. Butterfly&quot; staging will be based on the original script by David Hwang, whom they assured of staying faithful to the source material.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkuCcjTA-gD/" data-instgrm-version="8" style="background:#FFF;border:0;border-radius:3px;box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15);margin:1px;max-width:658px;padding:0;width:calc(100% - 2px)"><div style="padding:8px"><div style="background:#F8F8F8;line-height:0;margin-top:40px;padding:28.240740740740737% 0;text-align:center;width:100%"><div style="background:url(data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAACwAAAAsCAMAAAApWqozAAAABGdBTUEAALGPC/xhBQAAAAFzUkdCAK7OHOkAAAAMUExURczMzPf399fX1+bm5mzY9AMAAADiSURBVDjLvZXbEsMgCES5/P8/t9FuRVCRmU73JWlzosgSIIZURCjo/ad+EQJJB4Hv8BFt+IDpQoCx1wjOSBFhh2XssxEIYn3ulI/6MNReE07UIWJEv8UEOWDS88LY97kqyTliJKKtuYBbruAyVh5wOHiXmpi5we58Ek028czwyuQdLKPG1Bkb4NnM+VeAnfHqn1k4+GPT6uGQcvu2h2OVuIf/gWUFyy8OWEpdyZSa3aVCqpVoVvzZZ2VTnn2wU8qzVjDDetO90GSy9mVLqtgYSy231MxrY6I2gGqjrTY0L8fxCxfCBbhWrsYYAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC);display:block;height:44px;margin:0 auto -44px;position:relative;top:-22px;width:44px"> </div></div><p style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px;margin-bottom:0;margin-top:8px;overflow:hidden;padding:8px 0 7px;text-align:center;text-overflow:ellipsis;white-space:nowrap"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/BkuCcjTA-gD/" style="color:#c9c8cd;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;font-style:normal;font-weight:normal;line-height:17px;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">A post shared by M. Butterfly Manila (@mbutterflymnl)</a> on <time dateTime="2018-07-02T06:32:52+00:00" style="font-family:Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:17px">Jul 1, 2018 at 11:32pm PDT</time></p></div></blockquote><div><script async="" defer="" src="~//www.instagram.com/embed.js" type="text/javascript"></script></div><p>Acting opposite Francisco as René Gallimard, the French diplomat, is Olivier Borten. They are joined in the cast by Norm Mc Leod as Toulon, Lee O&#x27;Brian as Marc, Rebecca Chuaunsu as Comrade Chin, Pinky Amador as Helga, and Maya Encila as Renee.</p>

<p>Raymond Francisco was 18 years old when he first took on the role of Song Liling in Dulaang UP's staging of "M. Butterfly," the Tony-winning play about a Chinese opera diva who tricks a French diplomat into falling in love with him, in the guise of a woman.</p>

Raymond Francisco was 18 years old when he first took on the role of Song Liling in Dulaang UP's staging of "M. Butterfly," the Tony-winning play about a Chinese opera diva who tricks a French diplomat into falling in love with him, in the guise of a woman.