Okada Manila opens on Dec 21 which will be a preview before it’s Grand Launch in February #DiscoverExtraordinary #TheFountain #OkadaManila
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Okada Manila, the newest Japanese resort in Manila owned by the Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc., is set to bring world-class entertainment and attractions that can rival that of the most luxurious properties in Las Vegas and Dubai while putting Philippine music at the forefront.
The most impressive and third integrated resort to open in Entertainment City in Paranaque, Okada Manila makes this possible through exciting partnerships with WET and Organisasyon ng Pilipinong Mang-aawit (OPM). These were formalized by Okada Manila COO Takahiro Usui, Okada ManilaPresident Steve Wolstenholme, WET Director of Design Technology Jim Doyle, and OPM executives including Christian Bautista, Gary Valenciano, Dingdong Avanzado and Noel Cabangon. (Top) Okada Manila Creative Director for Entertainment Guilio Scatola, OPM Vice President for External Affairs Gary Valenciano, and OPM Vice President for Special Projects Christian Bautista.
(Bottom) OPM Vice President for Internal Affairs Noel Cabangon, Okada Manila President Steve Wolstenholme, WET Director of Technical Resources Jim Doyle, and OPM Corporate Secretary Dingdong Avanzado
WET the world-famous designer and maker of the grandest fountains in the most prestigious resorts and hotels across 20 countries in 5 continents, developed and constructed Okada Manila’s US$30-million fountain. Measuring 37,464sqm—equivalent to 50 Olympic-size swimming pools—it will be the most iconic feature of the 44-hectare property and will be a one-of-a-kind venue for special events and concerts, open 365 days a year.
And as it is Okada Manila’s advocacy to promote world-class entertainment led by the best Filipino artists, we can be sure that local talents will be featured regularly at The Fountain and other venues within the property. As part of their collaboration with OPM, Okada Manila will support local arts and music industries in a magnitude no other integrated resort has offered before.
Grand fountain for a grand property
Okada Manila’s fountain is a first of its kind in the Philippines, and no other resort complex has a fountain as majestic, and can rival the largest and most popular fountains of the world.
WET used their creative and technical expertise to imagine and transform water, light, and sound into the largest dancing fountain in the Philippines. The extraordinary fountain complements the resort’s unique Y shape and it will be one of two stunning views (with the other being the beautiful Manila Bay) offered by the hotel’s spacious rooms and luxurious villas.
The awe-inspiring dancing water display and light show of The Fountain is the most anticipated attraction at Okada Manila.
Unprecedented OPM support
Okada Manila is the first integrated resort to formalize its support for local arts and entertainment with its official partnership with the OPM organization itself—a move none of the other integrated resorts have ever done before.
With the Philippines touted as the next entertainment and tourism destination in Asia, competing with entertainment giants across the region, Okada Manila provides beloved local acts a great opportunity to showcase their talent to a bigger global audience in its exceptional venues.
The amazing fountain serves as one of the settings for the best that Philippine music artists have to offer. The stellar destination resort also has a 9,000sqm entertainment venue enclosed in a glass dome, as well
as the largest UV-protected indoor beach club in Southeast Asia featuring two expansive stages, with a maximum capacity of up to 4,500 guests.
With The Fountain and top-notch OPM performances, Okada Manila is set to enthrall visitors of all ages from the Philippines and around the world as it creates another benchmark in the country’s entertainment-inspired destination tourism landscape.
A glimpse of this impressive entertainment resort can be first seen at Okada Manila’s December Preview Opening Event which will feature an outdoor concert from some of the country’s largest headliners and a spectacular firework and light show. The media and public can expect a much larger event to mark the official launch of the property early next year.
Rather than a “soft opening,” Okada Manila is delighted to offer a preview period between December 21st and the Grand Opening later in the first quarter of 2017 where the general public can experience a glimpse of the “Extraordinary”.
About Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment Inc.
Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. is a member of Japan-based casino resorts developer and operator Universal Entertainment Corporation.
It aims to join the ranks of truly world-class casino resorts and become the showcase property of Entertainment City Manila, providing an entertainment destination that creates many unique and memorable experiences.
Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. was granted a Provisional License on the 5th of August 2008 to establish and operate a casino in Bagong Nayong Pilipino Entertainment City Manila, with a total investment of over US$2 Billion. The Entertainment City is located on the foreshore of Manila Bay, an ideal location considering the close proximity to neighboring Asian countries all less than 4 hours away by air travel such as China, South Korea, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong.
About Organisasyon Ng Pilipinong Mang-Aawit (OPM)
The ORGANISASYON NG PILIPINONG MANGAAWIT (OPM) is the leading and most respected organization of Filipino professional singers in the country. Established in 1986, OPM is a non-stock, non-profit organization duly registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Philippine music industry abounds with world-class professional singers. OPM’s mission includes the protection of Filipino singers’ rights under Philippine and international laws, promotion of Filipino music and the interest of Filipino artists, and professionalization of singing as a career in the Philippines.
OPM carries the tasks of working for the Filipino singers’ advancement by:
Advocating policies for the welfare of Filipino singers and growth of music industry.
Ensuring that policies relevant to the industry are effectively implemented.
Ensuring that members are adequately supported through legal assistance and professional enhancement.
Continuing promotion for the Filipinos’ patronage of local singers and original Pilipino musical compositions.
Continuing promotion for the recognition of Filipino singers and songs in the international arena.
Some of the projects being implemented by OPM are the Performers’ Equity Program, OPM Spotlight, OPM Workshops, Pinoy Music Festival, and My OPM Playlist. The OPM is governed by a Board of Directors comprised of 7 members duly constituted through election among OPM members
About WET
In an increasingly digital world, now more than ever we crave the authenticity of human connection. Since 1983, WET has created 250 water features in over 20 countries across 5 continents, many of which have become icons in their cities. WET imagines, invents, designs, engineers, prototypes, tests and manufactures every element of its world-renowned fountains from its 150,000 square foot campus in Los Angeles, CA. Each project is brought to life by a team of 300 designers, engineers, architects, scientists, and choreographers, who transform water, fire, fog, light and sound into immersive, emotive and entertaining experiences. The company holds 50 patents, has been named one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Companies,” has received numerous design and business awards, and has been featured in The New Yorker, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, WIRED, Interior Design, CBS News: Sunday Morning, MSNBC, Bloomberg, and TechCrunch. It has also produced its own award-winning TV show on the Discovery Channel. WET’s esteemed portfolio of creations includes the Fountains of Bellagio, The Dubai Fountain, The Cauldrons at the XXII and XIX Winter Olympic Games, Revson Fountain at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, Performance Lake at Wynn Palace, and Aquanura at Efteling: World of Wonders in The Netherlands
Steve Wolstenholme
President
Tiger Resort, Leisure & Entertainment Inc.
Steven Wolstenholme was born and raised in South East England. He attended Brighton Technical School, where his studies included structural engineering and economics. Prior to working in the hospitality industry, Steve spent two years working as a civil engineering for a construction company based in the suburbs of London, England.
Steve has worked in the hospitality and gaming industry since the early 1980’s, beginning his career as a casino croupier in Brighton, England. After having tenured at a number of casinos in the United Kingdom, Steve moved to the Bahamas where he worked for the Atlantis Casino and Resort, formally known as Paradise Island Casino. During his time there he was promoted to Gaming Pit Manager, eventually attaining the position of Salon Privé Manager before being transferred to the Sun International corporate office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida as a Casino Marketing Executive.
While working with Sun International Steve was re-assigned to assist in the pre-opening of Mohegan Sun, a significant venture in Connecticut; the project was a joint venture between the Mohegan Tribe of Connecticut and Sol Kerzner’s Sun International Group. Steve was originally assigned as a Casino Shift Manager and was later elevated to the position of Director of Table Games. Upon opening, Mohegan Sun soon became one of the highest grossing casinos in the world.
In 1999 Steve joined Casino Niagara as the Executive Director of Table Games. He held a number of positions eventually becoming the General Manager of the property in early 2004. In late 2004 he was transferred to the newly opened Fallsview Casino Resort, a $1 billion dollar project, considered to be the jewel of the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Commission (OLG). While there, Steve was the Vice President of Operations for both Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino Niagara.
In early 2008 Steve was appointed as the Chief Operating Officer of Galaxy Macau, situated in the world’s most formidable and lucrative gaming market. His primary responsibility was to direct the pre-opening phase of a $1.8 billion mega resort that consisted of 3000 hotel rooms, extensive leisure amenities, and one of the largest casino floors in the world. While living and working in Macau Steve was a major advocate of incorporating many culturally centric amenities and service standards into the property development.
In mid-2011 through October 2013 Steve worked exclusively for MGM Resorts International in Ontario, Canada in their pursuit of a gaming license and the rights to build a major Integrated Resort in the Greater Toronto Area resulting from a “modernization program” undertaken by the Ontario Provincial Government.
In late 2013 through mid-2015 Steve was the President and Chief Operating Officer for the Grand Sierra Resort, a significant 2000 room hotel and gaming complex in Reno Nevada, where he oversaw the entire operation, including a $100 million plus capital improvement initiative, and planning for the acquisition of additional corporate assets.
Steve continues to be actively involved in the local communities in which he has worked. He is a former board member of The Children’s Cabinet, Reno/Sparks Chamber of Commerce, and Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful and was previously on the board of the St.Catherines General Hospital Foundation and Hospice Niagara where he was instrumental in the funding, design and development of the first residential hospice in the Niagara region.
Steve earned his Executive MBA at the Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario, in 2008. He is presently the President of Tiger Resort, Leisure and Entertainment Inc. in the Philippines where he is responsible for ensuring the dynamic vision of Chairman Kazuo Okada’s $2.4Billion integrated resort is realized, and becomes the iconic symbol of distinction and the pride of the Filipino people.
Currently Steve resides in Makati, with his wife and young daughter.
Takahiro Usui
Chief Operating Officer
Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment, Inc.
After graduating from university in 1996, he joined Sigma, Inc. (currently named Adores, Inc.) listed on Jasdaq as a Shift Manager. Operating more than 60 amusement arcades in Japan, Sigma, Inc. is one of the leading companies that provide amusement and gaming products to both the Japanese domestic market and the international gaming market. The company was granted gaming manufacturer license in Nevada in 1984 and became one of the first non-US based companies.
With his nine year experience in Sigma Inc., he instituted basic operation skills and strategic marketing approach in running a land-based amusement store in a competitive market by raising the quality of service, which became the industry standard. In 2005, he was approached by Aruze Gaming America, Inc. to join them to utilize his product knowledge and operational experience. Learning the gaming product sales business from scratch, he was inspired to take a new challenge and a bigger role.
At the beginning, he mainly worked with a distributor to promote Aruze products within the Asia region. In 2006, he saw the potential of the Macau market which was booming at that time. Since Aruze had no brand presence in Macau and it was only selling its products through a distributor in Asia, he offered to establish an office in the country to deal with casino operators directly and promote the Aruze brand and products. The business was established in 2009 and he became the company’s Director & General Manager.
Under his strong leadership, coupled with effective and efficient team members, Aruze’s market share in Macau increased to 15% from 1% – 2% in 4 years, and contributed more than US$20 million in sales per year. It became one of the fast-growing gaming equipment suppliers in Macau. Soon after the success in Macau, Usui worked on penetrating other markets in Asia such as Singapore, Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia and Vietnam. In addition, he also successfully re-launched the Aruze brand in Europe last 2013.
After his great success in growing the business within Asia, he was appointed as Executive Officer – Global Sales in 2013 to manage the different Aruze’s global sales offices in Macau, Las Vegas, Sydney and Johannesburg. In April 2014, he was promoted to Group CEO was responsible in handling all aspects of the Aruze business.
Due to his proven track record in his career, he was appointed last March 2016 as Chief Operating Officer of Tiger Resort Leisure and Entertainment, Inc. He currently oversees the entire business operations of the biggest integrated resort in the Philippines—Okada Manila. He will lead the team towards a successful launch and opening scheduled before the end of 2016
Giulio Scatola Background:
Giulio is currently Okada Manila’s creative director and choreographer for entertainment. An internationally-acclaimed choreographer and creative director, Giulio brings with him 15 years of experience in theater and performing arts, ballet and modern dance across the globe.
Originally from Rome, Italy, Giulio studied ballet and modern dance in his home town before getting a scholarship in Lausanne at Maurice Bejart École-Atelier. He then received scholarships at both the David Howard Dance Center and at the Alvin Ailey Studios, both in New York.
Giulio speaks fluently Italian, English, French and Spanish. He also has working knowledge of German.
Previous Projects and Roles:
Dancer for Maurice Bejart’s Youth Company
Participated in workshops with the Martha Graham company and the Pina Bausch company under the supervision of Malou Airaudo
Soloist at the TAN National Ballet in Italy
Performed the role of the Prince in Albano’ s Ballet “Nutcracker” in Connecticut USA
Principal dancer/singer in the original European cast of Fosse, under the direction of Anne Reinking
Principal dancer/singer and Dance Captain in the original West End production of Notre Dame de Paris, under the direction of Gilles Maheu
Principal dancer/singer, together with Trevor Nunn, in Cats, Starlight Express and Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat
Solo dancer and singer in the Hit Musical Dance of the Vampires, directed by Roman Polanski
Played Cesar in the German Original Cast of Saturday Night Fever, Original Italian Cast of Promises, Promises
Played Freddy Mercury in the German Musical Tribute We Are The Champions
Associate Choreographer/Resident Director and Solo performer of several European productions, including: Best of Musical Gala Tour (Stage Entertainment), FIFA Presidential Election (Morocco 2004), Peugeot Rimini Art Festival, The Beauty of Magic (resident Choreographer and resident Director for Stage Entertainment)
Director and Choreographer for the V.I.B.E. Performing Arts Centre in Las Vegas (with original productions such as Glow and Fossiana) and Rag Tag Entertainment (with Musical Productions of Jekyll & Hyde, The Who’s “Tommy” and the Bob Fosse tribute “Take Off With Us” )
Director and Choreographer for “The Night Sun, ”a multidisciplinary show which opened in Cipriani’s new dinner theatre “Teatro Bellini” in Ibiza
Guest Choreographer at the SYTYCD Las Vegas Convention with an original Dance/Acrobatic piece called “Sacred Heart”
Creative Director and Lead Choreographer for a multidisciplinary show for PACHA Group in Ibiza
Choreographed “Pirates Voyage,” Dolly Parton’s Dinner Theatre and Acrobatic Spectacle “Pirates Voyage” in Myrtle Beach, USA
Worked on Gotta Dance: A tribute to…Life!, which played at the prestigious Smith Centre
Artistic Specialist and Casting Advisor for Cirque du Soleil for all resident shows in the USA and Asia (12 shows total)
Created, directed and choreographed a short dance film (Liquid Sunshine) for a Cirque du Soleil charitable event organized for the One Drop Organization
Resident Choreographer and Artistic Coach for the “Shine Alternative Fitness” center in Las Vegas
Coach for Cirque du Soleil and professional artists on the Las Vegas strip
Led a series of workshop in NYC and Las Vegas with prestigious academies such as Gelsey Kirkland, Peridance and the Alvin Ailey (where he worked with the professional division) in New York City, UNLV and LVA in Las Vegas and The Chapman University
Councilman for the F.I.D. (Italian dance Federation)
JIM DOYLE
CHIEF OF TECHNICAL RESOURCES
WET
Jim Doyle is Director of Technical Resources at WET. He guides WET’s teams as they pursue marrying ever more challenging technologies with human experience. Jim’s contribution includes the Fountains of Bellagio in Las Vegas, Performance Lake at Wynn Macau, the Salt Lake 2002 Winter Olympic Games Cauldron, the Mirage Volcano in Las Vegas, CityCenter in Las Vegas, and the world’s largest performing fountain, The Dubai Fountain in the UAE.
Jim received an Academy Award in Technical Achievement in 1992. With more than three dozen feature films to his credit, Jim is a veteran special effects technician. His entertainment credits include: Cirque du Soleil; Tama Center of Tokyo, Japan; Universal Studios California and Florida, as well as Rio Hotel, Desert Inn, Mirage Hotel and Treasure Island in Las Vegas, Nevada, and he has supervised special effects for more than one hundred music videos and television commercials. Jim holds pyrotechnic licenses for the states of California and Nevada and holds a federal license as a user of high explosives.
This year, PETA brings its annual Summer Workshop to more Filipinos as part of its celebration of the company’s 50thanniversary. The workshops will be conducted in various satellite venues in the cities of: Makati, Quezon, Angeles and Tacloban. Recognizing the vital role of theater arts in communicating our identity and our highest ideals, Starbucks Philippines supports this program aimed to shape a new generation of artists.
“Starbucks believes in supporting organizations that create opportunities and promote positive change. Since 2015, we have partnered with the Philippine Educational Theatre Association (PETA) as one of the beneficiaries of our planner promotion. We are inspired by their use of theater to raise awareness of important social issues while nurturing the creativity of Filipinos.” said Noey Lopez, president, Starbucks Philippines.
Children from ages 6 to 8 and older kids from ages 9 to 12 can enroll in the Children’s Theater courses that aim to enrich the child’s creativity and imagination. Teenagers aged 13 to 16 will benefit from the Integrated Theater Arts for Teens. As they learn to work in a team, they discover their talents and their self-confidence and communication skills are enhanced.
For aspiring actors aged 18 and up, the Theater Arts course gives fundamental knowledge of theater history and appreciation and skills in improvisational theater production. Meanwhile, theCreative Musical Theater course gives students the opportunity to learn more about the fundamentals of musical theater. The program provides comprehensive training that is aimed at enhancing the enrollee’s musical theater skills.
The highlight of the course is a final recital: an original work created by each class whose participants get to perform on the PETA – Phinma stage.
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