Musings of an avid theater buff

I believe it to be my civic duty as an avid theater buff, theater practitioner, and stage advocate to officially declare August as “Musical Theater Month,” not for anything other than the fact that there are five amazing musicals playing on our local soil this time of the merry year — all with a voice, heart and soul that is uniquely their own.

With hit TV shows like Glee and the forthcoming Katherine McPhee starrer Smash promising to conquer Hollywood by storm, then the movie musical prepping for hits-in-the-making in Les Miserables starring Hugh Jackman and Rock of Ages starring Tom Cruise, appreciation for the art form is definitely at an all-time high. 

From homegrown musicals inspired by the 150 years of our National Hero to full-on musical revivals, Broadway fanatics and even the curious lot are sure to have a ball of a time ingesting some intellectual and emotional soul food while doing their staunch theatrical rounds. 

150 Years of National Pride

A short anecdote before I start: I think it’s both funny and amazing how, upon the invitation of our dear family friend Tita Marrot Moreno, I recently found myself joining the ranks of a Book Club and engaging in a hit-the-ground-running discussion of one of the brightest national treasures known to Juan de la Cruz — the iconic Noli Me Tangere written by Jose Rizal. I’ve probably read the book a gazillion times but the nuances, the way it was written, and what it reveals about our society then and our society today, always makes for insightful exploration and inquisitive panel discussion.

But for those who are not so much the reader and more of the visual-auditory type, then perhaps a better option is to check out Tanghalang Pilipino’s Noli Me Tangere the Musical, which runs until Aug. 28 at the CCP Little Theater in celebration of Gat Jose Rizal’s 150th year. The show will star Rent’s former leading man Gian Magdangal and TV personality Mark Bautista alternating for the role of Crisostomo Ibarra, and Cris Villongco (who will be appearing in Sound of Music later this year) in the role of Maria Clara. With music by Ryan Cayabyab and direction by Audie Gemora, this is a piece that will surely ignite the sense of pride and nationalism in Filipino audiences today.

Painting Rizal In A New Light

As for Dulaang UP’s 36th season, the semi-pro theater outfit is one with Tanghalang Pilipino and Gantimpala Theater’s Kanser in celebrating Rizal’s 150th year via the highly-anticipated Dexter Santos opus, Rizal X — a multi-level and multi-platform theatrical showcase featuring vignettes about Rizal’s life, interspersed with live music from Happy Days Ahead, and works from established poets, playwrights, animators and filmmakers like Dong Abay, Gerson Abesamis, Chips Betran, Winter David, JM Guzman, Joaquin Pedro Valdes and Floy Quintos.

The show also features an original score by William Manzano, and mixed popular media that will usher both the rediscovery and reintroduction of Jose Rizal to today’s hyphenated generation. Rizal X was staged recently at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater and starred Red Concepcion, Reb Atadero, Judith Javier, Yanah Laurel, Maita Ponce, Reuben Uy, Bea Garcia and the UP Ensemble.

Something For The Kids

From East to West, the classic Broadway musical finds a welcome home in 9 Works Theatrical’s bubbly new production, Sweet Charity, a Broadway dance musical comedy.

Probably one of the more exciting occurences of this 2011 theater season is the return of the gorgeously talented Bituin Escalante to the theatrical stage. I last saw her perform onstage via Actors Actors’ Once On This Island and she literally stole the show as the earthy Asaka, meriting standing-Os from audience members including myself and Lea Salonga, immediately after her song Mama Will Provide. And no, it wasn’t yet the curtain call. I recently saw Bituin in CTE Production’s Love, Loss and What I Wore, and her performance validated how generous and brilliant an actor she is onstage.

Thus, to find out that she will be appearing in Repertory Philippines’ Seussical the Musical as the Sour Kangaroo opposite a slew of other theater veterans, who will be bringing Dr. Seuss’ other famous characters to life, is definitely music to this Broadway Baby’s ears, especially since the children’s piece hails from the award-winning team of Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Fact: They are also the creators of Once on This Island. Is this destiny? Or coincidence? The play is also an amalgamation of Dr. Seuss’ most famous books and features the show tune Alone in the Universe. Seussical is directed by Joy Virata and runs at the On-Stage Greenbelt 1.

Fun, Laughs, Good Times

From East to West, the classic Broadway musical finds a welcome home in 9 Works Theatrical’s bubbly new production, Sweet Charity, a Broadway dance musical comedy. I personally saw this in the Big Apple a few years back starring the delectable Christina Applegate and loved it so much that I decided to write a column about it for The STAR, juxtaposing it with a local version that I saw months later by the Ateneo Blue Repertory (which was equally as entertaining). In the Broadway version, Christina was ravishing and spellbinding as the lovelorn taxi dancer Charity who wears her heart on her sleeve but always seems to fall for the wrong man, and the phenomenal dancing and choreography that went into the show, as inspired by the show’s creator Bob Fosse who is also the man behind Chicago, was just the perfect icing to top it all off. 

I’m expecting nothing less from Nikki Gil who received rave reviews from last year’s Legally Blonde as she takes up the challenge to give justice to the title role of Charity. For this production, she will be joined by Kris Lawrence as the panicky tax accountant Oscar, Ciara Sotto as Helene, Shiela Valderrama-Martinez as Nickie, Sheree as Carmen, OJ Mariano as Italian movie star Vittorio Vidal and Daddy Brubeck, Angela Padilla as Ursala, and veteran Miguel Faustmann as Herman. Sweet Charity is directed by Robbie Guevara and will run until Aug. 27 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium, RCBC Plaza, Makati.

Somewhere That’s Green (In Blue)

 Speaking of the Ateneo Blue Repertory, from which hails a huge chunk of the actors who are making waves in the aforementioned shows and in Philippine theater today (Sherine Koa and Regina de Vera for Noli Me Tangere, Reb Atadero, Maita Ponce, Red Concepcion, Bea Garcia, and Reuben Uy for Rizal X, Rem Zamora, Red Concepcion, Geru Gotico, Bym Buhain, EA Asuncion, and Kyla Rivera for Seussical, and Ciara Sotto and Caisa Borromeo for Sweet Charity), for the musical theater organization’s 20th season premiere, they will be presenting Little Shop of Horrors, a black comedy musical satirizing old-school sci-fi movies and one of the longest running Off-Broadway shows of all time.

 It’s amazing to come full circle with this show as this was the musical that I saw of REP’s back in 2004 starring Ana Abad Santos and Niccolo Manahan that ultimately inspired me to join a REP Summer Workshop and ignite my love affair with theater. Now, I feel sorely blessed to be given this amazing opportunity to direct the show for a new generation of Blue Reppers who are sure to dominate the local stage as soon as they graduate into the professional theater scene.

With music by Alan Menken (Disney’s The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast), the show puts shopkeeper Seymour Krelborn in a putrid pickle of having to choose between right and wrong, all for the sake of a bit of glory and his lady love’s affection. The show stars Luis Marcelo as Seymour, Maronne Cruz as Audrey, Mela Tan as Audrey (Understudy), Gelo Lantaco as Orin, Dar Uy as Mushnik, Cassie Manalastas as Ronette, Roxci de Leon as Crystal, Abi Sulit as Chiffon, and Tina Ramos as Audrey II. The show will run until Aug. 27 at the Fine Arts Theater and will be directed by yours truly.

A case of ‘Charity’: Nikki Gil, Kris Lawrence, Ciara Sotto and the cast of Sweet Charity get the chance to show off their own vocal and dancing chops — positively electric.

Whoever said that theater was a dying art must be living under a rock. It is alive, booming, and well at the palace, fueled by a collective passion by companies and shows to educate, entertain and mirror life. So good luck to your pockets (and your weekend itineraries) kids — the rest of August is going to be one hell of an exciting ride.

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TP’s Noli Me Tangere runs from Aug. 28. For tickets, call 832-3661. For tickets inquiries on Rep’s Seussical the Musical, call 571-6926. 9 Works Theatrical’s Sweet Charity runs until Aug. 27 at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium in RCBC. For tickets, call 557-5860 or 0917-5545560. And finally, Ateneo Blue Repertory’s Little Shop of Horrors runs until Aug. 27 at the Fine Arts Theater in Ateneo. For tickets, call 0917-8908795.