Masterpieces for Atlantis Theatrical at 20

Atlantis Theatrical Productions certainly lives up to the blurb on its site. Its existence is about having a “tradition of bringing the best that the West End and Broadway has to offer to local audiences, to nurture and showcase the abundance of Filipino talent and to expand this experience to the exponentially growing number of theater-goers in the region.”

As the most trusted licensee by foreign theater groups, Atlantis does bring in the best and most awarded shows. Think Rent, Proof, In The Heights, Fun Home, Beauty and the Beast and in some cases even the world premieres like Disney’s Aladdin and Waitress. As for showcasing the Filipino talent, Atlantis has discovered and nurtured many of the best actors we have today. One of them is Rachelle Ann Go who went from zero theater experience to becoming Eliza Hamilton in Hamilton in London after playing Ariel in Atlantis’ Little Mermaid.

So if you want Broadway and West End done right with a Filipino touch and memorable performances, watch an Atlantis show. You will leave the theater not only entertained but also feeling proud about the abundance of Filipino talent. That is definitely much better than paying an arm and a leg to watch the touring company of a famous show with a second-rate cast.

Atlantis Theatrical Productions is turning 20 this year and celebrating it in a big way. Its driving force Bobby Garcia is presenting and also directing three important shows, each one with a dream of a cast made up of some of the best actors around.

The celebration begins on March 22 with one of the greatest American plays ever written, Tony Kushner’s Angels in America: Millennium Approaches at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza on Ayala Ave. Makati.

Angels was quite a sensation when it first played on Broadway in the early ’90s. Not only because there was this huge statue of an angel hanging from the window on the theater. You cannot help but look up and wonder what it was. I remember watching and wondering, how did Kushner come up with this?

Angels is a complex, riveting dramatic play about the spread of the AIDS virus in New York City of the ’80s and how it affects a varied sampling of characters. It is now the most awarded play in history. I am sure the Atlantis production will leave the audience stunned.

Acclaim and awards hound actors who have performed in Angels and Garcia has assembled such a worthy cast. Art Acuña as the lawyer with AIDS Roy Cohn; Topper Fabregas as the HIV-afflicted Prior Walter; Nelsito Gomez as his boyfriend Louis Ironson; Angeli Bayani as Harper Pitt, the Valium addicted Mormon housewife; Markki Stroem as her gay lawyer husband Joe Pitt; Cherie Gil as his mother Hannah; Andoy Ranay as the nurse Belize and Pinky Amador as the angel.

Come June 14, Atlantis will bring out its second anniversary goodie. This is the premiere on local shores of the Tony, Olivier and Grammy-winning musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical at the Meralco Theater.

Beautiful tells the story of the early years in the career of the legendary songwriter and singer Carole King. She was, or I should say, still is, the inspiration for many girls and also a lot of boys who dream of being in the music business. They may listen to Post Malone or Dua Lipa nowadays but bring out King’s You’ve Got A Friend or (You Make Me Feel Like A) Natural Woman and everything else pales in comparison.

Kayla Rivera, who I remember as Princess Jasmine in Disney’s Aladdin and Wednesday Addams in The Addams Family, plays King while Nick Varricchio is her husband Gerry Goffin. King and Goffin co-wrote classics like Up On The Roof, Take Good Care of My Baby and Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow.

And then comes the third and even bigger anniversary presentation, the also Tony Award-winning Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street which will open at The Theatre in Solaire in October. I still frown over having a barber who slashes throats as the subject for a musical. Why he even has a devoted lady friend who serves up dead people in meat pies. Really morbid.

But then this show has the music of the great Stephen Sondheim, a big favorite is the song Not While I’m Around, and that is more than enough to keep all the bloodshed on stage palatable. Besides, Lea Salonga is set to play that weird lady of the meat pies Mrs. Lovett. That must be watched.