‘Ready to race’

KTM Philippines made waves during the 11th Inside RACING Bike Festival and Trade Show, the biggest gathering of motorcycle manufacturers and enthusiasts, held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City.

KTM Southeast Asia managing director Julian Legazpi, sales director Gianluca Lozzi and Adventure Cycle Philippines Inc. president and COO Dino Santos showed off the exciting, high-powered line of KTM motorcycles — all “Ready to Race” — including the 200 Duke.

The event also saw the introduction of 18-year-old racing wunderkind Ralph Kenneth Torres, the first sponsored rider to the prestigious KTM RC Cup Asia, which is being held at the challenging Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia from March until November. Torres has over a decade of experience on the track, bagging numerous trophies both locally and internationally, among them: the 2015 MOTO IR champion, 2013 Golden Wheel Award Scooter champion, 2012 IRGP Scooter champion, 2010 115cc Underbone King overall champion and the 160cc Scooter Class overall champion.

Motorcycle aficionados and racing enthusiasts joined the company in the excitement, including Tourism Assistant Secretary Ricky Alegre, Wheeltek Big Bikes division general manager Bobby Orbe, motorcycle legend Max Kienle and actor Paulo Avelino.

KTM Philippines also took the opportunity to proudly announce the opening of the KTM Asia Motorcycle Manufacturing Philippines Inc. (KAMMI) plant in Laguna, a joint venture between Ayala Group and KTM AG of Austria that will eventually export motorcycles to China.

(For more information, visit www.ktm.ph. and www.ktmrccup.com.)

The ‘Doc’ is in

Well-loved lifestyle brand Dr. Martens, best known for its footwear, capped off the first quarter of 2017 with the launch of its most revolutionary concept since its birth in the ‘60s — the Dr. Martens Lite.

Designed to appeal to a broader consumer, Dr. Martens Lite is for free-thinking individuals who may never have worn a pair of Dr. Martens before, or those who have been with the brand for a long time.

Held at the Dr. Martens Store in Two Parkade, Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, the launch of the new shoe collection was attended by street-style influencers and celebrities. The event was graced by a rock-out performance from Razorback. Fans of the brand also came to celebrate this new milestone.

The Dr. Martens Lite shoe is available in black, navy, mid-gray and dark red. Each style comes with a SoftWair memory foam insole, with moisture-wicking technology as well. The lightweight but tough and flexible rubber outsole maximizes durability and comfort for the wearer and is engineered on a white midsole for a fresh, seasonal take.

I grew up wearing Doc Martens (as we call the shoe brand). Can’t wait to check out these new light ones! Check them out now!

Sister Act in Manila

Ovation Productions is once again bringing another Broadway and West End smash hit that Filipinos should really look forward to.

Sister Act, the musical comedy based on the hit 1992 film that has more than six million audiences jumping to their feet worldwide, will be shown from June 27 to July 9 at the Theatre at Solaire.

Be prepared for dazzling dance routines and a vast inspiration of musical styles from Motown, Barry White, soul and funk to great big disco anthems.

The musical features an original score with music by Tony and eight-time Oscar winner Alan Menken (Disney’s Aladdin and Beauty and the Beast, Newsies, Enchanted and The Little Mermaid), lyrics by Tony and Academy Award nominee Glenn Slater (The Little Mermaid) and a book by multi-Emmy Award winners Cheri and Bill Steinkellner (Cheers) with additional book material by Tony and Olivier Award nominee Douglas Carter Beane (Xanadu and The Little Dog Laughed).

Directed on Broadway by four-time Tony Award winner Jerry Zaks (Guys and Dolls, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and Smokey Joe’s Café), the musical production features choreography by Tony and Olivier Award nominee Anthony Van Laast (Mamma Mia and Bombay Dreams) and is based on the Touchstone Pictures motion picture Sister Act written by Joseph Howard.

Sister Act is produced by Oscar winner Whoopi Goldberg, Troika Entertainment and Sister Act On Tour, LLC. In 2011, the musical received five Tony Award nominations including Best Musical, Best Original Score and Best Book for a Musical. 

The original film’s locations of Reno and San Francisco have been changed to Philadelphia and the action now is set in the 1970s. When disco diva wannabe Deloris Van Cartier witnesses her gangster boyfriend Curtis Shank commit a murder at the grungy club where she’s performing, she reports the crime to the police and is placed in the witness protection program. Disguised as a nun named Sister Mary Clarence, she is placed in the convent of the Holy Order of the Little Sisters of Our Mother of Perpetual Faith, where she finds herself up against the rigid Mother Superior. Deloris uses her singing talent to inspire the other nuns to create a more contemporary choir, and they become the hit of the community. Word of their success reaches Curtis and his mob, who arrive on the scene to settle their score with Deloris and find themselves battling not only her, but a gang of feisty nuns and the Mother Superior as well.

With only a limited two-week run, don’t miss this blissfully silly, heavenly hit show. *

(For more information, call Ticketworld at 891-9999 or visit www.ovationproductions.com and Facebook.com/ovationproductions.)

(Follow me on Instagram @pepperteehankee.)