An Evening With Alec Mapa

Alec Mapa had a limited engagement to benefit the Gay & Lesbian Center L.A. at the Village's Renberg Theater. Alec is a Filipino-American actor who originally replaced B.D. Wong in M. Butterfly on Broadway and also did the national tour. He has appeared in Desperate Housewives and most recently in Ugly Betty as the intrepid fashion reporter, Suzuki St. Pierre.

I thought it was going to be a regular standup routine ala Margaret Cho but he had whole production numbers and sketches lined up. He opened with "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne accompanied by the Chixie Dicks, which inspired the sketches that accompanies this entry (no photos allowed, eh). Jodi Long (all American Girl) makes a guest appearance as Mrs. Hill singing "Bali Ha'i".

The stand-up was a no-holds barred tour-de-force based on, among other things, Alec's experiences last year as a headliner in four all-gay cruises which took him around the world, in a manner of speaking. His real name is Alejandro, in case you were interested.

His "tagalog" lessons to help the passengers deal with the all-Filipino service staff on a Hawaiian cruise was hilarious. Included were basics like "Salamat" (Thank You), "Mahal Kita" (I love you - "Now you can LIE in another language!") and the always indispensable "Ay, Puki!" (O, vagina). The latter resulted in passengers greeting him in the hallways with "Ay, Puki!" - to the horror of the room attendants! Hilarious! (Well, you had to be there).