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Two decades later, Zsazsa Zaturnnah remains the queer icon the Philippines deserves

What happens when a shy gay beautician swallows a magical stone from outer space? In the hands of Filipino creator Carlo Vergara, the answer is pure magic: a towering, red-haired superheroine named Zsazsa Zaturnnah is born—glamorous, powerful, and unapologetically fabulous.

It has been twenty years since Zsazsa first exploded into Philippine popular culture, and she has never felt more necessary. First introduced in Vergara’s self-published 2002 graphic novel Ang Kagila-gilalas na Pakikipagsapalaran ni Zsazsa Zaturnnah (The Spectacular Adventures of Zsazsa Zaturnnah), the character reached a wider audience through the 2006 stage musical and live-action film. Two decades on, her beauty, power, and irrepressible spirit continue to inspire.

At the heart of the story is Ada, a soft-spoken gay man living a quiet life in a small town. When he swallows a mysterious pink meteor, he transforms into Zsazsa Zaturnnah, a voluptuous, high-kicking superheroine who battles zombies, alien invaders, and the man-hating Queen Femina Suarestellar Baroux from Planet XXX. The premise is pure camp, but the emotional core is deeply personal. Ada’s everyday struggles, searching for love, facing homophobia from society and even a zombified version of his own father, remain woven into every spectacular adventure.

Vergara has always said the story grew from a personal place. In a 2020 interview with When in Manila, he reflected on why the character refuses to fade: “May timeless quality siya. A lot of the concerns sa libro about LGBTs, not just LGBT, but also about women, about love, favorite topic natin yung love, nandiyan pa rin siya. Hindi siya nawawala.” He added, almost with a sigh, “Sad to say, habang nandiyan pa rin yung mga problema, hindi talaga mag-eexpire yung relevance ni Zaturnnah.”

That relevance has only deepened. Zsazsa has become more than a comic-book creation. She is a lasting symbol for LGBTQIA+ Filipinos fighting for representation, equal rights, and simple survival in a society that can still be casually cruel. Writer Alain Tavita once described her as “an everlasting symbol to the LGBTQ+ members and their mass fights for representation, equal rights, and survival.” Her design, bold, feminine, larger-than-life, has both drawn from and inspired local drag culture, turning the character into a living emblem of queer joy and resilience.

Across every adaptation, Zsazsa has carried that spirit forward. On the pages of Vergara’s meticulously drawn komiks, on the big screen where Zsa Zsa Padilla embodied her in the 2006 film Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Moveeh, and especially on stage in the beloved musical, she has given Philippine audiences a rare and joyful reflection of the local gay experience. A recent animated feature directed by Avid Liongoren has further expanded her universe, proving the story still sparks new creative energy more than two decades later.

One of the most distinctly Filipino gifts Zsazsa offers is her humor. The story is packed with the sharp, self-aware “bakla” comedy that has long been a survival tool in queer communities. Vergara understands this instinctively. “Siguro comedy… that’s how we deal sa mga problema, concerns,” he has said. “So in a way, it’s a means for us to process things.” Through laughter, spectacle, and pure heart, Zsazsa turns pain into power and makes the fight for dignity feel both urgent and deliciously fun.

Now the icon is preparing for another triumphant return. A major revival of Zsazsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal is set to run at Shooting Gallery Studios from April to June 2027 under Wishbone Collective. The production reunites an all-star creative team: playwright Chris Martinez handling the theatrical adaptation, award-winning lyricist and composer Vincent A. De Jesus as musical director, and director Chris Millado, the former artistic director of Tanghalang Pilipino whose previous work on the show helped make it a landmark of Philippine theater.

Twenty years after she first dazzled audiences, Zsazsa Zaturnnah still stands tall, wigs flying, fists raised, heart wide open. In a country that continues to wrestle with questions of acceptance, belonging, and love, she remains exactly the queer icon the Philippines has always deserved: fierce, funny, fabulous, and utterly, unapologetically herself.

This October, the Philippines becomes a creative crossroads for some of Asia’s most accomplished songwriters and music creators. From October 4 to 7, FILSCAP Asia’s Songwriting Master Camp 2026 will bring together talent from India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Vietnam for four intensive days of collaboration.

These aren’t beginners or workshop attendees learning the basics. They are established hitmakers and seasoned creators representing their countries’ music industries. Instead of sitting through lectures, they will step into shared songwriting rooms to trade ideas, blend distinct musical influences, personal stories, and cultural perspectives, and write new original songs together.

The format deliberately moves past the traditional songwriting workshop. Organized by the Filipino Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (FILSCAP), the Master Camp prioritizes genuine cross-border collaboration. The Philippines serves as both host country and creative backdrop, positioning itself as a regional meeting point for Asian music creators.

Over the four days, participants will develop original material that reflects the diversity of the group, melodies, rhythms, and narratives that could only emerge from this mix of backgrounds. The process culminates on October 7 with Showcase Night, when the songs written during the camp receive their first live performances. Audiences will hear brand-new tracks born from these international sessions, performed for the first time on stage.

FILSCAP, established in 1965 and accredited by the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines, has long protected the rights of Filipino songwriters, composers, and publishers while advocating for creators through its #iValueMusic campaign. This Master Camp continues that mission on a broader scale. It follows a busy year for the organization that already included its Master Lecture Series and Songwriter’s Night Select earlier in 2026, initiatives that spotlighted both established and emerging local talent.

For a Philippine music scene gaining increasing international attention, the gathering offers more than a one-off event. It creates space for lasting professional relationships and potential future collaborations across Asia. In an industry where songs often travel faster than the people who write them, putting creators from ten different markets in the same room for several days is a rare and valuable opportunity.

The result should be a set of original songs that carry traces of multiple cultures while remaining true to the collaborative spirit of the camp. Whether those tracks later find their way onto playlists, stages, or recordings across the region, the connections formed in the Philippines this October are likely to linger longer than any single session.

A rare concentration of Asian songwriting talent, new collaborations, and original music, all unfolding in the Philippines. The stages are set, the rooms are ready, and the songs are about to be written.

Filipino girl group KAIA takes P-Pop to Singapore this weekend, leading the “Made in the Philippines” spotlight at Music Matters Live as the group continues.a series of appearances bringing Filipino music to audiences at home and
abroad.

KAIA will take the Music Matters Live Mainstage at Clarke Quay on October 3, joining fellow Filipino girl group PIX!E under the Philippine spotlight presented by the National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

The appearance brings KAIA before an international audience at one of Singapore’s music showcase festivals, while giving the group another opportunity to represent the growing P-Pop movement alongside fellow Filipino artists.

The Philippine presence continues on October 4 with Lola Amour, bringing another side of contemporary Filipino music to the Music Matters Live stage.

From Manila to Singapore
The Singapore weekend follows KAIA’s recent participation in CREATE Philippines x.Manila International Performing Arts Market (MIPAM) and the ASEAN Creative Industries Expo, two platforms that brought together artists, creative professionals,.cultural leaders, and industry stakeholders around the growth and internationalization of.the creative industries.

Through these appearances, KAIA has become part of a wider conversation around Filipino music and performing arts as creative exports, demonstrating how homegrown artists can reach audiences and opportunities beyond the Philippines.

The direction echoes broader efforts to take Filipino creative content beyond domestic
and diaspora audiences and reach wider international markets.

Bringing the P-Pop Music & Culture Caravan to Singapore

KAIA’s Singapore weekend goes beyond the Music Matters Live stage. On October 4, the group will join PIX!E for the Singapore edition of the P-Pop Music & Culture Caravan at lyf Funan, bringing P-Pop closer to audiences through performances, workshops, activities, a marketplace, and opportunities to interact with the artists.

The Caravan offers a more immersive side of the P-Pop experience, giving audiences an opportunity not only to watch Filipino artists perform but also to experience the music, culture, and community surrounding the movement.

Presented by National Commission for Culture and the Arts, Music Matters Live, and BSE, with the Philippine Embassy in Singapore, CREATE Philippines, CITEM, and lyf Funan among its partners, the Singapore edition extends the P-Pop Music & Culture Caravan beyond the Philippines.
Connecting Southeast Asian Artists at Bridges & Beats.

KAIA will also make a special appearance at Bridges & Beats at Swee Lee Clarke
Quay, a relaxed gathering bringing together artists, creatives, and members of the
regional music community.

The group will perform alongside Indonesian singer-songwriter Jordan Susanto and
Singapore-based Filipino artist Mariae Cassandra, bringing together artists from across Southeast Asia and creating another opportunity for music and connections during the Singapore weekend.
Taking Filipino Music Further Across the weekend, KAIA moves through three different spaces: an international showcase stage at Music Matters Live, a community-centered celebration of P-Pop at lyf Funan, and a regional gathering of artists and creatives at Swee Lee Clarke Quay.

Coming on the heels of their participation in creative-industry platforms in Manila, the Singapore engagements reflect a continuing effort to bring Filipino music and performing arts to wider audiences.

For KAIA, the weekend represents another step beyond the Philippine stage—sharing their music with new audiences while carrying P-Pop and Filipino creativity with them across the region.

The seventh edition brings more than 100 voices together for three days, exploring architecture, culture, care, and collective futures

For three days, Intramuros will become more than a backdrop for architecture.

From October 2 to 4, the historic district will serve as the meeting ground for architects, designers, artists, students, educators, cultural workers, policymakers, developers, and communities from across Southeast Asia as the Anthology ASEAN Architecture Festival 2026 explores what it means to build places that care for people, preserve culture, and imagine shared futures.

Now on its seventh edition, Anthology centers this year’s festival on the theme “Shared Ground: Architecture of Care, Culture, and Collective Futures,” bringing together more than 100 voices from the region through talks, dialogues, exhibitions, installations, performances, and public experiences.

Rather than positioning architecture solely as a professional discipline, the festival opens up a broader conversation about the spaces people inhabit every day—and how those spaces shape relationships, identities, memories, and possibilities for the future.

The program unfolds across three thematic days: CARE on October 2, CULTURE on October 3, and COLLECTIVE FUTURES on October 4. Together, they trace a progression from the ways architecture responds to people and communities, to the role of culture and identity in shaping places, and ultimately to the possibilities that emerge when communities imagine and build together.

Among the festival’s featured voices are internationally recognized architects Shigeru Ban and Ole Scheeren, alongside Filipino and ASEAN practitioners whose work reflects the region’s varied approaches to heritage, identity, community, and the built environment.

A key part of this regional exchange is the presentation of 10 Filipino × ASEAN collaborative installations. Bringing practitioners and perspectives from different parts of Southeast Asia into conversation, the installations offer another way of understanding how architecture can cross borders—not by erasing differences, but by creating space for them to meet.

And the conversation does not remain inside a conference hall.

Anthology is designed as an experience that extends throughout Intramuros, with programs including Anthology Talks, Shelter Dialogues, Anthology RAW, Ground Works, and Living Anthology. Across these platforms, architecture intersects with art, performance, heritage, community, and public life.

The festival’s venues—including Foro de Intramuros, Centro de Turismo, Teatrillo Casa Manila, Plaza Roma, Fort Santiago, and the Pasig River Esplanade—turn the historic district into an interconnected festival landscape.

In this setting, the city itself becomes part of the conversation.

Intramuros carries layers of history, architecture, memory, and cultural identity, making it a fitting setting for a festival examining how places are inherited, inhabited, transformed, and imagined anew. By bringing its programs into different parts of the district, Anthology invites audiences to encounter architecture not simply as something to look at, but as something experienced through movement, gathering, memory, and everyday life.

That openness also extends to audiences beyond the architecture and design communities.

Students, families, culture enthusiasts, creatives, and curious members of the public are invited to experience Shared Ground throughout the three-day festival. The festival’s installations are free and open to all, offering opportunities to encounter creative works and perspectives from across ASEAN without the boundaries of a traditional industry event.

Adding another layer to the regional celebration, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) will host a dedicated booth where participants can claim their ASEAN Passport for free and join the ASEAN Passport Stamp Rally. As visitors move through the festival, the passport offers another way to engage with the cultures and creative expressions represented throughout the event.

At its core, Anthology 2026 asks a question that extends well beyond architecture: What kind of places do people want to build—and what kind of future can they build together?

For three days, Intramuros will offer possible answers through conversations, installations, performances, collaborations, and encounters that bring Southeast Asian perspectives into the same shared space.

From care and culture to collective futures, Anthology ASEAN Architecture Festival 2026 turns the historic heart of Manila into a living forum for imagining how the region can build, connect, and move forward together.

Anthology ASEAN Architecture Festival 2026 runs October 2 to 4 in Intramuros, Manila.