Talented Filipino-American artists shine in Washington, DC

The other Saturday, we were invited to watch the world premiere of “The Mortification of Fovea Munson” at the iconic John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Family Theater.

Adapted from the celebrated novel of Mary Winn Heider who also wrote the book for the musical, the play is about a 12-year-old Filipino-American girl who gets a summer job in her parents’ cadaver laboratory and finds herself interacting with three disembodied “talking heads” who dream about recording an album and so ask her for a big favor: She must find a tenor to complete their barbershop quartet.

The successful opening with a full-house audience gave us a sense of pride at seeing the talent of Filipino artists being showcased, with Justine Moral as Fovea, Regina Aquino who had a double role as Fovea’s mother and grandmother and award-winning playwright Justin Huertas who wrote the music and lyrics along with the rest of the other Filipinos in the cast and the creatives team.

While the audience enjoyed the quirky humor and the “screwball comedy” and found the coming-of-age and finding-yourself theme very engaging as Fovea struggles with her parents’ expectations that she will take over their business someday – they were also captivated by the interaction between the girl and her immigrant grandmother.

The scenes between Fovea and her grandmother also serve to highlight Filipino culture and traditions, at the same time providing an insight of who we are as a people, like the “mano” where a younger person takes the hand of an elder and presses it on his forehead as a sign of respect.

Admittedly, I found it truly amazing to see the Filipino family and culture shown on stage at a place like the Kennedy Center’s Family Theater, a state-of-the-art venue that is home to world-class family theater performances geared towards young and adult audiences alike.

It gave me a sense of pride to see Filipino artistry, humor and imagination enchantingly represented through the play – commissioned by the Kennedy Center, by the way – that will definitely raise the profile of the Filipinos. I also found it very encouraging that when the play ended, a Filipino child excitedly waited outside to meet the cast members who looked like her. There is certainly no doubt that this was another groundbreaking moment for the Filipino-American community in the DMV (District of Columbia-Maryland-Virginia) area.

The Philippine embassy in Washington, DC has always been fully supportive of activities that promote Filipino talent in theater. Just last month, we organized a panel discussion entitled “Filipino American Theater Makers: A Panel Discussion with Filipinos Who are Moving Theater Forward” to celebrate the Filipino National Arts Month.

The embassy partnered with Regina Aquino, who also served as the moderator during the panel discussion that featured local Filipino-Americans in the DC arts and theater scene, namely Justine Moral, Justin Huertas, Raymond Caldwell, Joseph Pinzon and Sally Imbriano, who talked about their experiences, the challenges they have faced or continue to face, and their insights regarding Filipino representation in theater. They also shared how their Filipino heritage has influenced their craft.

Regina is the daughter of our friend Rose Aquino-Valeriano. She is a very talented artist who is the first Filipino to receive a Helen Hayes Award for Outstanding Lead Performer in 2019 and was also named as one of the “10 Biggest Theater Stars DC” by the Washingtonian magazine. An advocate for equity in the theater industry, she is also committed to promoting the accurate representation of all cultures on stage, in particular stories about Asian-Americans.

One of her dreams was to play a Filipino character on stage, and when it finally happened with her role as Grandma Van in Fovea Munson, she found it very overwhelming but also quite an honor. “I’m so moved at showing our culture in front of so many people, both Filipinos and non-Filipinos, and representing who we are and how much love we have for each other. It’s an honor for me to be Filipino on stage and to have Filipinos witness this story so we’re all very, very proud and so excited and just grateful for the supporters,” Regina said.

Justine Moral, who studied classical voice in college and has been on television and also heard on radio across the US and the Philippines, was naturally very excited for audiences, especially Filipinos, to watch Fovea Munson because “there are certain cultural moments and traditions that are presented on the stage that I’ve never seen in any other production. It’s just so meaningful when you see it,” she says, admitting that she feels a sense of pride when going through the motions of making “mano” with her lola (grandmother).

“And when you see parts of your culture represented on stage, that you have sincere pride and you will see yourself represented… that is very important especially for the new, young, up-and-coming people in our community, not just in the arts but everywhere,” she adds.

The fact that Filipino artists are getting leading roles in theaters and are increasingly being recognized for their talent as performers shows how strong the people-to-people relationship between the Philippines and the United States has become over the years. At the end of the day, the success of Filipinos not only in theater but in many other sectors of society serves as a source of great pride to us all, providing inspiration and encouragement to Filipinos all over the world. They are, indeed, our best ambassadors in promoting the kind of people we are: talented, hardworking and, most of all – good people.

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