About Us
Picnic 2007
History
By Ricky Tuazon
Photos by Roy Beusker
A momentous event transpired on May 21, 2007 at Studio 21 Hilversum when emcee Frits Sissing announced Cystine Carreon as the winner of the best supporting actress in a major musical. It came as an astounding and unexpected surprise to both Cystine and husband Ray and was distinctly mirrored on their faces when the contenders were presented in close up on television. Never in her wildest dreams had Cystine expected such a prestigious recognition of her musical and acting prowess. It was another triumph for the Filipino community as Cystine is the first Filipina to garner an award in the Dutch musical world.
The jury was most impressed with her outstanding and remarkable performance as the high school girl Rizzo in the musical Grease. She was well-versed and eloquent in her portrayal of the role that all throughout the musical her extraordinary and dynamic projection gradually escalated to a most intriguing visibility. Truly convincing in her excellent performance Cystine has a crystal clear and mellifluous voice, euphonious musicality, and dramatic sonority as well as exceptional dancing adeptness. A protean artist with a winsome stage personality, Cystine easily adapts to every role that she performs and a significant illustration was in her debut musical Miss Saigon where as a swing she had successfully played all the parts from ensemble to the lead role Kim and even Ellen with a blonde wig. It was the early beginnings of a manifestation of her musical and acting ability. She proficiently portrayed the ill-fated Vietnamese girl and was conspicuously singled out for her striking poignant performance.
Grease is actually an ensemble musical that features a group of teenagers, swinging to the music of the 50’s during their high school years sharing in their relation with each other moments of love’s joys and sorrows. Although the main characters are Danny and Sandy, this musical is more about the totality of the cast in the new 2007 version and in the midst of the singing and dancing ensemble, the salient focal point was Cystine whose outstanding dramatic dynamism constantly stood out from the group. She was not just one of the girls as she created a character telling her own life’s story. It is then that suddenly one realizes that she is being sought out among the group, following her in the progression of the musical.
In the jury report, mention was made of the fact that it would be interesting to cast her in a lead role or compose a musical specially attuned to her versatile talent.
Cystine graduated with a diploma for violin at the Royal Conservatory of Music with singing as a minor course. She had dance lessons with Martin Michel, singing lessons with Adrian v. Liempt and Jimmy Hutchinson and did workshops with Willem Nijholt, Josha Hamman and Victor Löw.
Cystine’s theatrical career started with Miss Saigon where she excelled in the portrayal of the various roles and was showered with a profusion of praise for her distinguished performance. This was followed by Fame, Chorus Line where she played Diana Morales and continued on to Rocky over the Rainbow as Dorothy. With Danny de Munk she played the lead role as Lola in Copacobana where again she was a definite standout. She also played the role of Noura in the family musical Dolfje de Weerwolfje. Since 2005, she has been a member of Damuz, an all woman a-capella group.
As an all-around actress, Cystine has also appeared on several television series: as Polly in BlauwBlauw, Nanda Verhoeven in Goede Tijden Slechte Tijden and currently the challenging role of the Thai au pair Tippiwan in Gooische Vrouwen. In the first part of this series, she only had a minor part but as her acting talent became more perceptible; in the second series her part was expanded and included in the main story.
Cystine is scheduled to perform for a new breed of musical entitled “Shhh…It Happens! from August 5 through November 29 at the Panama Theatre in Amsterdam. Appearing with her are Linda Wagemakers, Tony Neef & Martin van der Starre and Ara Halici, among others. She will also be performing at the forthcoming DPA day 2007 celebration on September 29 at the NH Hotel Hoofddorp.
Finally, Cystine received the recognition she had long deserved and she has indeed reached the upper echelon of the Dutch musical. The Filipino community congratulates Cystine in this notable accomplishment and we are all proud of this recognition for another accomplished Filipina in the Netherlands.