MANILA, Philippines - You’ve heard of concerts in a mall. Dance competitions in a mall. Cooking demos, sporting events and car shows in a mall. But have you ever heard of a full-length Broadway musical being staged in a mall?
On Oct. 6 and 7, The Power Plant Mall will go all out and do yet another mall innovation: A full Broadway musical that will be the first ever to be presented in the middle of a mall — for free.
Using the unique viewing experience of theater in the round — where the audience surrounds the performance at all angles — The Power Plant will stage the Broadway hit It’s A Grand Night For Singing by Rodgers and Hammerstein at The Concourse, the Power Plant’s dining area at 7 p.m.
Starring singer-dancer-stage actor Red Concepcion (who last starred in Equus); former Akafellas tenor Reuben Uy (who played Stanley Kowalski in Tanghalang Pilipino’s A Streetcar Named Desire); actress-singer Bea Garcia (of Atlantis Production’s Spring Awakening); violinist-actress Farida Kabayao (who played Fiddler in Repertory Philippines’ The Fiddler on the Roof) and professional dancer-actress- singer Tasy Garrucha (Zafira in Dulaang UP’s restaging of Orosman at Zafira); It’s A Grand Night For Singing took Broadway by storm when it was first staged in 1993.
The musical revue showcases the music of Richard Rodgers and the lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II.
Like Glee, the play is a musical revue — a musical that “mashes” songs from different musicals together and weaves them into a different story and context. Guaranteed to set audiences’ hearts and feet thumpin’ with songs from South Pacific, The King and I, State Fair, Carousel, Oklahoma! and The Sound of Music, the musical was originally presented cabaret-style at Rainbow & Stars at the top of Rockefeller Center. It ran for 52 performances and was nominated for two Tony Awards, Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revue.
For details, call 898-1702.