March 25, 2007: Chicagoland, Illinois
Yesterday night, I watched my 17-year old friend, Lakhi Siap, onstage at the Harper College Performing Arts Center’s production of William Shakespeare’s “The Two Gentlemen of Verona.†His drama coach-motivational speaker-mother, Padma Mangharam-Siap (of Cebu City’s acclaimed school, Arts Magnate, before it closed its doors a few years ago) and older sister, Shana Siap (a talented actor and singer, currently pursuing her nursing studies) quickly immersed themselves into the modernized interpretation of a classic. I overheard Shana excitedly disclose to a friend, “I haven’t seen my brother perform in five years. That is a long, long time!â€