Cory, The Musical slated for August

MANILA, Philippines - The original musical that paid tribute to the sacrifices of Ninoy and Cory Aquino will be re-staged on the occasion of Ninoy’s death anniversary come Aug. 20 and 21 at the Meralco Theater.  Directed by Nestor Torre and produced by Buhay Isang Awit Foundation of Bing Pimentel, Cory, The Musical was first shown in 2008, before the death of former Pres. Aquino.

The 19 songs composed by Pimentel relate the story of both Ninoy and Cory, their love for each other and the country which led to Cory’s ascendancy to the presidency to help restore democracy. As in the past staging, lead performers are Isay Alvarez as Cory, opera singer Sherwin Sozon as Ninoy, Robert Seña as Ferdinand Marcos, Pinky Marquez as Imelda Marcos and Tommy Abuel as the reporter. All cleared their calendars to make way for rehearsals and repeat staging of the musical.

The play delineates how they met, how as wife and mother Cory kept to the background while providing the sturdy support to her husband, before finally evolving into the strong woman who rallied the Filipino people to seek an end to the 20 years of dictatorship. 

After watching the musical, former solicitor general Frank Chavez commented: “The stage musical is a wonderful concatenation of the talents of Bing Pimentel, Nestor Torre and Isay Alvarez and the entire cast…a timely reminder, particularly during these times of oppression and unabashed corruption that the time has come once again to rally the people to man the ramparts of freedom and good governance.”

For details, call Marichelle Torres of St. James College at 926-3930 for Aug. 20, 2:30 p.m. matinee performance; Clarisse or Maelyn at 882-0678 loc. 307 for Aug. 20, 7:30 p.m. show; and Isabel Hillerstam of Noble Life International at 0922-8438397 for Aug. 21, 8 p.m. show.