Building no ordinary aquatic habitat

MANILA, Philippines - I have been producing shows for over a decade now and nothing gives me a sense of accomplishment more than being at the helm of original musicals. Not only are we giving Filipino audiences wholesome family entertainment, we are also contributing fine works to Philippine Theater.

There are many vital elements involved in putting together a production. One is a good artistic team — tasked to create the material and bring it to life onstage. This team includes a writer, director, composer, choreographer, lighting director and scenographer/production designer.

The scenographer takes care of all the visual direction of the action of the show. He devises, designs and executes sets, props and costumes. 

One designer I can always count on is Mio Infante. A graduate of scenography-theater design at Wimbledon School of Art, (University of the Arts London), Mio’s expertise is much in demand in theater, advertising and television. His past productions include The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, where he turned winter into spring and Little Mermaid, when he awed audiences by conjuring up a full sized ship from the horizon in one sweeping maneuver.

For Trumpets’ latest original musical N.O.A.H. (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat), Mio was tasked with updating the beloved Bible story and bringing it up to quasi-modern times. Mio relates:

 “Writer/Director Jaime Del Mundo makes a direct correlation between man’s sinfulness and how he has come to treat the environment so the musical begins in a dreary garbage dump. 

“Then, for Noah’s ‘neighbors,’ I created characters that capture the worse of man today — corrupt politicians, sleazy businessmen, litterbugs, hobos, rebel gangs, guns for hire, druggies, pimps, material girls. They are clothed in monochromatic blacks & grays — a chaotic fusion of fabric textures, prints & silhouettes. In contrast, only Noah and his family are seen in a palette of ‘rainbow’ colors that connotes their innocence, faith and hope. 

“The show has a Narrator who doubles as God. Since teen idol Sam Concepcion and theater find Fred Lo were cast, I decided to keep their look young and dress them in white for obvious reasons.”

When Noah, his wife and three sons construct the ark in the show-stopping number Ship Ship, Mio uses hydraulics to produce the No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat. He then employs shadow puppets to invoke an animal parade before bringing on a menagerie of life-size animal puppets manned by the talented ensemble.

“One of the exciting new challenges of N.O.A.H. was to develop headgear and body-frames as extension costumes of the ensemble who double up as the animals. Since there is lots of choreography involved, the materials had to be light and easy to move with,” explains Mio.

He collaborated with prop/costume experts Joseph Mahusay and Twinkle Zamora, both former dancers, who had valuable input on how the animal frames could be “user friendly.”

“Each animal also had to have distinct characteristics and persona, so we asked the cast to explore their ‘animal bodies’ in rehearsals and give their valuable input as well.

“There is a talent show on board the No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat where the results of the cast and our combined efforts are shown to advantage via, among others, a caterpillar tap number, a tango and hip-hop bit between pigs! It’s a lot of fun!”

Mio pulls out all the vivid colors for the finale as the ark hits land and the rainbow appears.

“In contrast to the dreary, dark and chaotic claustrophobia of Act One, the promise of the rainbow brings unlimited expanse onstage! The rainbow finale brings images of faith & hope… musical theatre style!”

Long before television ever got into the fantaserye frenzy, Trumpets had already blazed the trail with its elaborately designed productions. N.O.A.H. (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat), replete with visual treats, continues this tradition. Mio Infante’s designs like a rainbow will surely bring awe and delight to children and adults alike.

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N.O.A.H. (No Ordinary Aquatic Habitat) opens at the Meralco Theater on Sept. 4 and plays weekends till Sept. 27. For tickets, call Trumpets at 631-7252 or SMS 0921-7263642 and 0917-8842105 or Ticketworld at 891-9999.