'Wicked' brings hope to Yolanda survivors
Aside from bringing the magic of Oz and the glamour of Broadway closer to Filipinos, the Manila staging of the musical “Wicked” also brought hope to victims of typhoon Yolanda.
As curtains closed on the Broadway hit in Manila March 9, the musical’s producers pledged P7.9 million to help fund the repair and rebuilding of schools hit by the monster storm.
The amount came from one of Wicked’s weekend performances. Bob Sewell, president of the musical’s event partner TicketWorld, also pledged P230,000 from his personal funds.
The total donation of more than P8 million was turned over to the Aboitiz Foundation, which is leading rehabilitation efforts for heavily and partially damaged school buildings in Northern Cebu.
“We would like to direct that the funds are used for school rebuilding or building in the Yolanda affected areas,” Sewell said in a letter sent to the Aboitiz Foundation.
The symbolic turnover was made onstage March 7 with members of the musical's cast, as well as Sewell and top officials from Aboitiz Foundation and Aboitiz Equity Ventures.
Aboitiz Foundation has earlier earmarked Php140 million of the Php203 million it was able to raise last year, for schools, particularly in worst-hit Bogo, San Remigio and Medellin.
The group is set to repair around 130 classrooms and build 70 new ones in 28 schools. The endeavor is expected to benefit some 13,000 students.
Aside from the donation from Wicked, the Foundation received P11.3 million from the Harvard Club of the Philippines, an association of locally based Harvard alumni.
“Wicked,” touted as “Broadway’s biggest blockbuster” with 50 awards including Tonys and a Grammy, opened in Manila to a full house last January 22 at the CCP Main Theatre.
