It’s nostalgia time for us Boomers when “Bongga Ka Day: The Annie Batungbakal Musical” goes on stage next month (starts Sept. 18) at the Resorts World Newport Theater. The music of that era – the Manila Sound – has been revived and is playing on the air and in our minds.
It’s the sound of the 70s – we were under martial law, foreign travel was restricted, schooling was disrupted, some of our friends and professors were in jail or had gone underground, media was shuttered and the Ang Bagong Lipunan (May bagong silang/May bago nang buhay/Bagong bansa/Bagong galaw/Sa bagong lipunan…) anthem played over and over.
Brothers Dennis and Rene Garcia were then touring abroad with a band and, missing home, wrote a love song to their city: Hinahanap-hanap kita Manila/Ang ingay mong kay sarap sa tenga/Mga jeepney mong nagliliparan/Mga babae mong nagagandahan/Take me back in your arms Manila/ And promise me you’ll never let go…
It tugged at our heartstrings – and it was fun! That was the Hotdog formula, and oh did it work!
There were other songs: Ikaw ang Miss Universe ng Buhay Ko (when the Miss U pageant was held in Manila in 1974), Para sa Akin and, of course, Bongga Ka Day and Annie Batungbakal.
The quintessential Annie Batungbakal is unarguably Nora Aunor, and in terms of character and voice quality, the National Artist is, so many years later, a tough act to follow. Atasha Muhlach takes on the role this time. She is pedigreed – daughter of Aga Muhlach (an original Bagets) and Charlene Gonzales – and yes, she did audition, contrary to social media claims that she was handed the role because of her name. But is she too tisay and burgis (is that term still used?) to get into the character of a dispatsadora na taga Frisco (I heard she had to have lessons to get rid of her accent, since she studied in the UK)? She’s doing everything she can to do justice to the role – and the songs. “I’m really grateful, blessed, to sing these songs,” she said at the recent tribute concert. “Talaga napakasarap balik-balikan ang iconic Manila Sound.”
I have to admit that the other members of this cast are unfamiliar to me, but I’m sure – I hope – they’re having a lot of fun doing the musical, giving it a Gen Z spin (I can’t say what that means really; you’ll have to watch it to find out). On the other hand, the cast of the iconic 1979 movie directed by Mario J. Delos Reyes featured a powerhouse lineup. Aside from Nora Aunor, there was Christopher de Leon, Nida Blanca, Chichay, Rudy Fernandez, Rio Locsin, Victor Wood… But I guess these GenZers will probably be as unfamiliar with those names as I am with theirs!
Director Chris Millado though is of the Hotdog/Manila Sound era. “The songs of Hotdog were the soundtrack of my college years,” he said in a previous interview. “Bongga Ka Day” is somewhat of a departure from his other theater works – i.e. “serious” – which include the plays “Balete” and “Anak Datu” as well as the hugely successful steampunk musical “Mabini Mandirigma” (about Apolinario Mabini), “Aurelio Sedisyoso” (about Aurelio Tolentino) – all with National Performing Arts Company for Theater Tanghalang Pilipino – and the revival of Tolentino’s 1903 seditious play, “Kahapon Ngayon at Bukas.” His first musical was 2008’s “EJ: And Pinagdaanang Buhay ni Evelio Javier at Edgar Jopson,” featuring the music of The Dawn.
While “Bongga Ka Day” is nostalgic fun, with music, choreography and costumes from the disco era of the 70s, Chris sees Annie Batungbakal as the representation of “that kind of tension between performing before adoring eyes and the pressure of keeping up a façade.”
He adds: “This is not just about flashy-ness and sparkly things,” he said in another interview, but seeking to redefine what it means to be bongga – the real bongga which “comes from inside.”
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The cast of GenZers were not born when the Manila Sound pervaded the airwaves. It was not just a sound; it was a state of mind, an attitude, a way of looking at life. The Garcia brothers and Hotdog (the band name says it all) took real life in this city of our frustrations, added a good dose of fun and gave us songs that our generation totally identified with. “Tuwing kita nakikita/Ako’y natutunaw/Parang ice cream na bilad/Sa ilalim ng araw… Di na makatulog/Di pa makakain/Taghiyawat sa ilong/ Pati na sa pisngi/Sa kakaisip sa yo/Taghiyawat dumadami…” (how can you not smile at this song, Pers Lab, one of my favorites).
Half a century later, a new generation is discovering the magic of the Manila Sound, via this musical produced by Viva Entertainment, Newport World Resorts and The Philippine STAR and, hopefully, making it their own and proving that if there’s anything that can bridge the generational divide – even the one in the impeachment court – it’s music.