Filipino-made musical set for world premiere

MANILA, Philippines — The much-anticipated “Guadalupe: The Musical” will make its world premiere on September 28, 8 p.m. at the Meralco Theater. 

The “Guadalupe: The Musical” is a story about Saint Juan Diego, a poor peasant who did not expect a visit from the mother of God herself. 

Julie Borromeo, a pillar in the local dance scene, was touched by Lady of Guadalupe, so she decided to give the Lady a special homage by creating the musical. 

Directed by Baby Barredo, with book lyrics by Joel Trinidad, music by Ejay Yatco and choreography by Julie and Rose Borromeo, the musical’s gross income will proceed to the construction of the new building of Punlaan School. 

“Annually, we have a fund raising for Punlaan and for this year, it’s the ‘Guadalupe The Musical.’ This group, it’s called the Guadalupe team which I am the chairman, will spearhead the fundraising and the logistics of the event,” Lorraine Feliciano, chairman of the event, told Philstar.com.

“This is going to be an entertaining piece of theater pero at the same time, I would say that this production will last for many, many years, and this is Filipino-made,” Lorraine added.  

Anne Molabola, one of the organizers of the event and a member of Friends of Punlaan, said the musical has been invited to tour in other countries. 

“That’s why we’re calling this the world premiere. We’re lucky that the first showing is our show. We hope to be able to raise enough funds from this event to at least chip off the millions that we still need for Punlaan,” Anne said.  

“The Friends of Punlaan is a group of women tasked to help build the new Punlaan building. Months ago, we met Mrs. Julie Borromeo, she is the producer of the ‘Guadalupe: The Musical.’ For three years, they conceptualized, they actually really did the music and script together,” Anne added. 

The Friends of Punlaan are a group of professional women committed to building a better future for as many as 500 underprivileged young women through a holistic education in hospitality and culinary arts.

“We all believe in the mission and vision of Punlaan School, so we really want to help more girls to be educated because education is the way out of poverty,” Anne said. 

Started in 1975, Punlaan School was ran by volunteer housewives to professionalize the work in the home for household helpers. As the years went on, in 1990, it has developed, but the core is still the same which is food service. 

The all-girls Punlaan School successfully introduced the dual training concept to the hotels and restaurants. All students are 100 percent scholars and the hotels and restaurants funded their trainings. 

From just 15 partner hotels and restaurants, the school now has over 70 partners. It also has over a thousand graduates who are now all over the world because of the school’s 100 percent employment rate.

“In 1990, our executive director back then met a German who has a foundation and looking for a project. Punlaan is the one which was chosen. He transferred to us the technology of dual training, which is a German-inspired training delivery model of technical vocational school.  The places of learning: in school and on the job, and then we became the pioneer to implement the dual training system in the Philippines,” Anne Marie Jacinto told Philstar.com.

With the help of the “Guadalupe: The Musical” and other partners, the old wooden Punlaan School is now currently building a new complex to cater to more students soon after its completion in 2020.

“We are going to expand to 500 students. From a total population of 120 students, we’re going to expand to 500 students. So from 60 graduates per year, it will become 120 graduates. We cannot anymore fit in that building so we decided to make it a better structure that will last until for the next 30 years,” Anne Marie said.  

“Right now our program is K-12 ready. We offer Grade 11, Grade 12 and seven months on-the-job training in a partner hotel and restaurant. That is where they really get the state-of-the-art skills. After the seven months, they really are job-ready. They will be hired by their venue,” Anne Marie assured.