REP’s magnificent ‘Man of La Mancha’

The REP. The ever-dependable REP. For the past 50 years or so, Repertory Philippines has provided Filipinos with easy access to theater in English. Long before Broadway and West End companies came a calling with their perfect replicas on tour, there was the REP.

The REP was and still is great theater. It is also for everybody who wants to watch plays by Shakespeare, Rodgers and Hammerstein or Neil Simon but cannot afford the trip abroad. Of course, there were corners cut sometimes, actors without the right accents, costumes and sets that have seen better times and other shortcomings. But those are minor details compared to the stage magic that the REP put out year after year.

Just think, an 11-year-old pitch-perfect Lea Salonga singing Tomorrow in that famous red dress in “Annie.” What about seeing Michael Williams transform into Mr. Hyde without the help of makeup or special effects in “Jekyll and Hyde”? Or only a few days ago, it was while watching Katrine Sunga run the gamut of singer, actress and star right before your eyes as Aldonza in “Man of La Mancha.”

Sunga is the female lead of the REP’s latest offering, the famous “Man of La Mancha.” This is a take on the Spanish literary classic Don Quixote de la Mancha, which Miguel de Cervantes of Alcala de Henares wrote in 1605. It is about a man on a quest to bring back chivalry and its attendant virtues to a cruel world. It is acknowledged as one of the earliest and greatest novels ever written. Its message also holds true to this day.

For “Man of La Mancha,” writer Dale Wasserman took Cervantes, put him in jail by the dreaded Spanish Inquisition and then had him put on a play to put his fellow jailbirds eager to divest him of his possessions, at bay. His play is about the deluded Alfonso Quijano, who believes he is Don Quixote, a knight errant off to adventures with his devoted squire Sancho Panza.

The clever Wasserman spun a play within a play. That is why the jailbirds take on various roles assigned to them by the seemingly mad but also mesmerizing Don Quixote, who is also Quijano and Cervantes.  Then he gave them songs by Mitch Lee and Joe Darion, who came up with would-be gems like Impossible Dream and Dulcinea. The result netted several Tony Awards in 1965 and “Man of La Mancha” has since become one of the most loved musicals of all time.

This “Man of La Mancha” was what the REP staged at its Eastwood theater for its current season. Like most of its presentations, it was expected to be good, but surprisingly, even after all these years and with familiar material, the REP still managed to outdo itself.

The invitation said it is time to dream again. And dream the audience did, with such a wonderfully put-together show. The guy at the helm was Nelsito Gomez, who, I thought, was more of a Wolfgang musical type, but he did put his rock chops to excellent use with a superb grouping of creatives and perfect cast of actors.

That was where Sunga, an earthy soprano, found her star-making role as both Aldonza, the servant girl/whore, and as Dulcinea, Don Quijote’s lady love. There was also Marvin Ong, who was every bit the ideal Sancho Panza, the voice of reason, who in this case sang in crystalline tones. And what can one say about Nonie Buencamino, a familiar face on film and TV, he was pure magnificence as Don Quijote.