How Nino Muhlach Threw A Most Awesome Star Wars Party For Alonzo

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NINO MUHLACH: AN ICON

I was too young when Nino Muhlach burst into the entertainment scene (that was back in the 1970s), but my earliest memories of him was his role in Tropang Bulilit (1981). It’s quite hard to recall anything specific about the movie, but I can still remember having this good feeling, that light laughing feeling that comes from watching a good comedy.

Flash forward 35 years into the future, and it’s as if we have traveled back in time, for we are now seeing the birth of another Nino Muhlach in the form of his irrepressible son, Alonzo Muhlach. Look at the likeness of these two!

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I’ve met this kid once before when we were doing an ocular for another venue site, and I’m telling you, he’s the real dealWithin seconds of meeting him, I was astounded: Alonzo is a firecracker of a boy with seemingly boundless levels of energy. This boy is so irrepressible, so exuberant, that you could literally feel the air around him charged with electricity.

From then on, I knew that this boy was a natural performer.

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Alonzo Muhlach in Jedi wardrobe, wielding the infamous crossguard lightsaber and swirling with iridescent lasers

A big THANK YOU to Rio Jones Photography for sending me these amazing shots!

CHILD WONDER OF THE 80’S THROWS PARTY FOR CHILD WONDER OF THE 21ST CENTURY

So, how would the incumbent Boy Wonder throw a birthday party for the incoming Boy Wonder? Why, by doing it the Party Magic Way of course!

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Photography by Nice Print Photo

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Photography by Rio Jones

Nino wanted a more visceral, realistic feel for Alonzo’s bash, which I think is apt since Alonzo is turning 6 years old already (imagine how his 7th birthday party would look like!). Therefore, I opted for a more stark ceiling treatment with blacks and whites speckled with some gold stars and some string lights.

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The look of the stage can be seen from the above photo. I was gunning for simple, sleek, and totally bad-ass. Speaking of bad-ass, wait ’til you see Alonzo’s grand entrance!

But before we get ahead of ourselves though, remember that first photo I posted of Alonzo surrounded by laser lights? That was actually a scene from his entrance act, where he entered the stage in darkness and smoke, and did this awesome action-sequence with his lightsaber, all the while being surrounded by moving laser lights:

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Alonzo’s entrance act

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Alonzo in the midst of an action sequence

It all ends with this scene:

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Alonzo escorted by 2 stormtroopers, Chewbacca, and Darth Vader himself

Now that’s what I call a grand entrance.

THE TIE FIGHTER AND THE JEDI ACADEMY

For a side attraction, I thought that it would be a literal boy’s (this applies to some men I know too) dream come true if I created and placed a life-sized Tie Fighter model in the party:

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Isn’t that awesome!

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We placed some studio lights to give the Tie Fighter that “display” feel.

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This stormtrooper looks awfully small compared to that Tie Fighter, and that’s the point!

Another attraction I prepared was the entrance. Here we had a sort of “Jedi Training Academy” scene where kids can supposedly pretend that they’re Jedi students (in Jedi-speak, these students are called “padawans“)

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A nice feature in this entrance scene are the floating lightsabers, as if they were guided by some invisible Jedi Master thru the Force! Apparently, these floating sabers were too hard to resist: the kids plucked them out of the air one by one! By the end of the party, nothing was left!

Speaking of attractions, if you’re thinking about hosting a Star Wars party, you should consider hiring these totally bad-ass LED light dancers:

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THE CAKE, DESSERTS, AND GIVEAWAYS

The cake was not to be missed: it was a masterful display of confectionery genius!

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Alonzo’s masterful cake focusing on the cast of The Force Awakens

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The evil Kylo Ren

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The dashing pilot Poe Dameron

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The adorable droid BB-8

The desserts were equally tasteful:

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Of course, no party of Nino Muhlach’s would be complete without some Muhlach Ensaymada! 

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Princess Lea and Darth Vader cake pops

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Stormtrooper cookies

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Stormtrooper action figure guarding the sweets

The giveaways were both practical and in tune with the Stars Wars theme:

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BB-8 and stormtrooper stools

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Jedi Alonzo Muhlach pillows

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Darth Vader and R2-D2 stools

ALONZO: A STAR AWAKENS

A most heartfelt THANK YOU to Nino Muhlach for entrusting me with your son’s birthday bash. The happiest of celebrations to you, dear Alonzo!

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Love,

Michelle

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Michelle Lao

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By Michelle Lao

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