PDI Review: 'Angels in America' by Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group

My only wish is that they replace Andoy for "Perestroika." The website version of this review here.

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'Angels in America' is immensely satisfying theater

Big Dick Energy curtain call.

How director Bobby Garcia ends his staging of Tony Kushner's "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" is the very definition of big dick energy--not with a deafening bang, but with drawn curtains that leave the viewer starving for more (a.k.a. "Perestroika," or part two of this two-part "Gay Fantasia on National Themes," as the subtitle goes).

You can say the same thing about the whole production. This "Angels"--Garcia's second stab at the play after premiering it in Manila in 1995--does not go for grand gestures, boom and spectacle. Instead, it pulses, its movements consisting not of breathless beats, but sharp, deliberate strokes intent on dissecting the play's raw, primal core.

It's the kind of dissection that has become Garcia's trump card of late. Across the board, from "The Bridges of Madison County" to "Fun Home" to "Waitress," his productions have been united by an emphatic focus on the text--an honest-to-goodness "tell the story" sensibility that enables his productions to transcend cultural barriers easily.

And so this "Millennium Approaches," where one emerges--three acts, two intermissions and three-and-a-half hours later--strangely invigorated, despite Kushner's cautioning in the script that "an epic play" such as "Angels" "should be a little fatiguing."

Forget fatigue

Forget fatigue. "Millennium Approaches" is an immensely satisfying piece of theater. What Garcia serves here is searing drama (with sprinklings of comedy) paced perceptively and incredibly well.

You have to admire, for instance, the way this production skims through jokes and lines that predictably go over the Filipino audience's heads--digs on Jews and Republicans that are otherwise surefire hits on the other side of the globe (check out the filmed version of the marvelous 2017 London National Theatre production, for starters).

Garcia zeroes in on the unfiltered emotions that are the backbone of this play. This is, after all, the interconnected story of two couples at the height of the 1980s AIDS crisis in New York: life and death, sickness and betrayal, history and heaven unraveling.

And if Kushner intends for "Angels" to be "an actor-driven event," Garcia's "Millennium Approaches" is an unqualified success--well, almost.

Sore thumb

The sore thumb in this eight-person play is Andoy Ranay, in the role of the Black drag queen Belize. It is unquestionably a tough role to cast hereabouts, yet, without even invoking the part's physical requirements, Ranay is evidently out of his league here--so out of sync with the play's chop-chop rhythm, to say nothing of his rather wan characterization.

That only means the rest of the cast assembled by Garcia are in top form. The four other men in the play deliver superlative, career-defining performances--Topper Fabregas, alternately fierce and fabulous as Prior Walter, the show's narrative pivot; Nelsito Gomez, a pathetic yet transfixing presence as Prior's lover, Louis; Art Acuña as the diabolical Roy Cohn; and Markki Stroem as the closeted lawyer Joe. (In Stroem's case, it's even more impressive when you consider how persuasively he transports you on his character's entire arc, and realize this is only his first nonmusical stint.)

The three women, juggling nine roles among them, are knockouts in their crucial parts: Cherie Gil as Joe's Mormon mother; Pinky Amador as multiple characters, but especially her near-wordless turn as a hobo; and Angeli Bayani, summoning to astounding, sometimes frightening life Joe's Valium-addicted wife, Harper.

Further stressing Harper's volatility, Garcia even introduces Bayani as a scuttling figure on Faust Peneyra's set--an unobtrusive clutter of desks and lamps seemingly piled atop each other, corralled by imposing gray walls that, as lit by the ever-reliable Jonjon Villareal, cast an old-world, claustrophobic feel.

It's but one of the ingenious bits of stagecraft enlivening this production. (GA Fallarme's projections are another, his evocative visuals crafting settings in seconds.) The other bits, one may understandably harp on--how, for example, the reveal of the titular angel at the end comes off more as underwhelming apparition than earth-crashing revelation.

Such faults are ultimately rendered microscopic by the impeccable whole. Where they matter most, "Millennium Approaches" lands its punches--and my, how it soars.

PDI Review: 'Br. Benilde, The Musical' by College of St. Benilde Arts and Culture Cluster; 'Oedipus' by Dulaang Filipino; 'Kung Paano Maghiwalay' by FEU Theater Guild; 'Tao Po' by Juana Change Movement and Ateneo Fine Arts

My second piece for today--a campus theater omnibus!--was written with a March 23 publication date in mind, hence the mentions of "last week" in the piece. I have since corrected the errors. The website version here.

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3 campus shows, and the fearless play you missed

The set of "Kung Paano Maghiwalay."

UP Playwrights' Theatre's "Nana Rosa"--an essential but problematic play--was perhaps the quarter's most visible university-based show, but it wasn't the only one.

'Br. Benilde' (Jan. 23-Feb. 2)

As campus theater is concerned, the year began with the a capella, sort-of-biographical musical "Br. Benilde" at the De La Salle-College of St. Benilde School of Design and Arts Theater. The production was backed by a team of industry pros--Layeta Bucoy as writer, Tuxqs Rutaquio as director, TJ Ramos as composer and musical director, and, save for Natasha Cabrera and Al Gatmaitan (in the titular role), featured a student cast.

"Excessive" was the most appropriate adjective for this production: It was over-scored, over-choreographed, overacted, over-designed. What it lacked was a streamlined, disciplined feel to it, as though what was presented onstage was still a draft version of the real thing.

What stood out, in the end, was the glorious, unamplified singing of the Coro San Benildo, whose members were also part of the ensemble.

'Oedipus' (March 14-15)

At St. Benilde's Taft Avenue campus two weeks ago, a far more brow-raising production took its bow--Dulaang Filipino's "Oedipus," which used Rolando Tinio and Onofre Pagsanjan's translations of the Theban trilogy, but through Riki Benedicto's ministrations, became a 45-minute, movement-heavy condensation.

We recognized this production's global achievements--laurels from theater festivals in Spain, Canada and Belarus, plus an upcoming stint in the Czech Republic next month.

But it's also necessary to question its qualities, as an audience who transcended the visual spectacle it offered and actually understood the language it employed. Truth was, the "Oedipus" we saw was performed with little regard for the script, by actors who seemed not to comprehend the lines they were spewing, in a space with terrible acoustics.

A word of caution, then: Perhaps we should be wary of devised productions such as this "Oedipus," if they inadvertently end up teaching our students that it's somehow acceptable not to tell the story well; not to listen to one's co-actors; not to master the basics of theater performance, so long as one can pull off the show's complicated choreography.

'Kung Paano Maghiwalay' (Feb. 13-March 9)

In stark contrast was the Far Eastern University Theater Guild's "Kung Paano Maghiwalay," the award-winning George de Jesus III play now directed by Dudz Teraña. Here, there was only the script and the actors--and it was interesting, to say the least, seeing a university company handle material that, at first glance, would seem the wrong fit.

Memories of the 2017 Pineapple Lab production were still relatively fresh, most especially the towering performances of Juliene Mendoza and Stella Cañete-Mendoza as the older couple. But Teraña's take on the play instead aimed the spotlight on all the pairs of younger lovers.

The production wasn't always successful. The tonal and thematic shifts between scenes and disparate acting styles could be quite glaring, and the pair who portrayed the older couple was burdened by too much heavy-handed anger in their scenes.

But whenever this production hit its stride, it was a joy to watch--how the student-actors very naturally brought to life their youthful characters. Even better, it figured out the play's inherent comedy, so a delicate back-and-forth between rapture and anguish was more or less ever-present.

Celine Arriola, as the feisty Karla, served that back-and-forth with flair. And Paolo Casiao was a scene-stealing chameleon, playing all the background characters--taxi driver, Starbucks barista, nursing aide, etc.

'Tao Po' (March 14)

Then there was "Tao Po"--included in this roundup for the sole reason that it played a one-off show at the Ateneo de Manila University two weeks ago.

"Tao Po" was no campus theater. It's a Palanca-winning monologue by Maynard Manansala, directed by Ed Lacson Jr. and starring the unflinching Mae Paner (a.k.a. Juana Change). It's been around since 2017, performed on stages from Baguio City to Melbourne, Australia.

"Tao Po" strung four unrelated characters--a photojournalist, a Zumba instructor, a policeman and a grieving girl--who documented, perpetrated, or were victimized, respectively, by Duterte-era extrajudicial killings. And as their stories unfolded, what hit you the hardest was the realization that somehow, these were stories that have been normalized, that--quite troublingly--no longer bore an element of surprise.

Which made the show all the more vital to our times. "Tao Po" was a work of such brutal fearlessness, daring to fight back against the excesses of the Duterte regime, that it went beyond the simple rigors of solo performance.

It was about shedding light anew on stories that people have grown calloused to. It was about empathy, and about mining the limits of what it means to be human in these morally compromised times.

At the end of that performance, the makers issued a call stating that they're open to bringing the play to willing venues. If you're reading this--and have yet to see it, but have the resources to accommodate the show--reach out to them via the "Tao Po Juana Change" Facebook page. As theater is concerned, this is a play that must be seen and heard all across this country--and even beyond.  

PDI Feature: James Reyes - obituary

Before this piece, I have never written an obituary. Rest in peace, James Reyes. (P.S. This piece came out online on Sunday, March 17. Some idiot at Inquirer.net couldn't figure out the basics of spacing. Today, Wednesday, March 20, the piece is in the print edition of the paper and has been updated to include Chris Millado's Facebook tribute. The website version of the updated article here.) 

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James Reyes--'atypical, ego-free artist'

Tanghalang Pilipino's "Mga Buhay na Apoy" (2015), with costume design by Reyes.

"He was an atypical artist--almost ego-free."

Tanghalang Pilipino (TP) artistic director Fernando "Nanding" Josef is describing award-winning theater costumer and fashion designer James Reyes, who succumbed to an acute cardiac condition in the early hours of Saturday, March 16. He was 48.

Josef recalls, "During meetings with a production's artistic team, he would listen intently and quietly to the discussions, especially between the director and the playwright. Days after, he would just submit his interesting studies, which oftentimes immediately got the approval of his director.

"If his director wanted revisions, [Reyes] would go back to the drawing board with no sign of resistance, and return with even more appropriate designs."

More widely recognized in fashion design, where his "edgy," "conceptual," "out of the box" approach marked him as an innovator, Reyes cofounded the Young Designers Group, and was secretary of the Fashion Design Council of the Philippines (FDCP) at the time of his death.

'Out of the box' perspective

It was this "out of the box" perspective that Reyes brought to the stage, where his collaborations with TP, the resident theater company of the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP), spanned almost a decade, in productions ranging from children's shows ("Sandosenang Sapatos," 2013), rap musicals ("Kleptomaniacs," 2014) to Shakespearean adaptations ("A Midsummer Night's Dream/Pangarap sa Isang Gabi ng Gitnang Tag-araw," 2016).

In a Facebook post, Josef referred to him as TP's "'almost resident' costume designer."

One can pick apart the hits and misses in Reyes' body of work, but there's no denying he was an artist who always made the viewer look and think twice: for instance, the Barong Tagalog amid archaic silhouettes in "Ang Pag-uusig" (2017), an adaptation of Arthur Miller's "The Crucible"; or the panoply of blacks and whites that unexpectedly advanced the metaphors in the self-proclaimed rock sarswela "Aurelio Sedisyoso" (2017).

In the Philstage Gawad Buhay Awards for the Performing Arts, Reyes scored three nominations for costume design--one in 2017 for "Aurelio"; and two in 2015, for the steampunk musical "Mabining Mandirigma," and "Juego de Peligro," an adaptation of "Les Liaisons Dangereuses." He rightfully took home the trophy for "Mabini." 

Schooled technique

Chris Millado, director of "Mabini," says on Facebook: "[James'] schooled technique in fashion design instantly matched the conceptual rigor that theater... demanded. It helped that he ran a profitable atelier that he mobilized when lack of personnel and low production budgets became a challenge. 'Gagawan natin ng paraan 'yan,' he would say every time we were ready to... settle for something less."

Playwright Layeta Bucoy, another longtime collaborator, says Reyes found fulfillment in, and was somehow even "addicted" to designing for theater. "Two years ago, he told me he was still in the process of exploring, that he was still learning but loving every moment of [designing for theater]. He fell in love with how the littlest detail in his design would contribute to a play's overall narrative, intentions, vision."

Reyes had just returned from New York, where he visited design laboratories, when work started on Bucoy's 2017 Virgin Labfest entry "Si Dr. Dolly Dalisay at ang Mga Ladybugs."

Bucoy recalls, "He patterned his designs on NY labs. Then I had to remind him, 'James, third world lab.' He said, 'Ay ganon? Akala ko pa naman 'shabby chic.'"

The final Bucoy-Reyes collaboration was last year's "Balag at Angud," an original musical based on the life of protest artist Junyee. And like the show's subject matter, who struggled with the poor reception of his early works, "[James] also went through that phase when he was a youngster, his drawings and sketches were called 'kalat lang,'" Bucoy says. "That's why he identified so much with [the show]."

The two collaborators had plans. "I asked him what would be most challenging to him as a designer, and he said if there'd be minimal props or set pieces onstage. So we agreed to come up with a play with only a pebble onstage," says Bucoy.

A tiny stone for a set would have made quite the punch line to a career that traversed the last 30 years--one that incubated at the University of the Philippines-Diliman, where Reyes obtained his Fine Arts degree; burned for more than a decade in the advertising industry; and even reached the finals of the 2002 Paris Young Designers' Competition, before finally landing on the theater stage.

For now, playgoers will have one more glimpse of Reyes' work, as "Mabini" and "Aurelio" return to the CCP this August for a three-week rerun in repertory.

James Reyes' wake is at St. Alphonsus de Ligouri Church, Magallanes Village, Makati City, until today, March 20.

PDI Feature: Miguel Faustmann and 'Father's Day'

I have two pieces out today! Here's the first one--the website version here. 

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Miguel Faustmann: Theater is always my first choice

The cast of "Father's Day" during the March 29th performance: (L-R) Rachel Coates, Faustmann, Batucan and Borromeo.

For its 10th season, Repertory Philippines (Rep) mounted the classic Jerry Herman musical "Hello, Dolly!" with Baby Barredo in the titular role and Zenaida "Bibot" Amador directing. One of the ensemble members, then a newbie to professional theater, was Miguel Faustmann.

That was 1975. More than 40 years later, Faustmann has become one of those rare show-business chameleons who shift between the stage and the screen, and transition from performer to director to designer, with seeming ease.

Fans and admirers of Jerrold Tarog's historical epics would probably recognize Faustmann as Gen. Arthur MacArthur Jr. in "Heneral Luna" (2015) and its sequel "Goyo: Ang Batang Heneral" (2018). Home viewers loyal to GMA Network might still remember him from the relatively short-lived fantasy series "Victor Magtanggol," lopped off from Thor of Norse lore.

But Faustmann's heart indubitably belongs to the stage. "We earn better in films and TV, but theater is always my first choice," he says. "I always wanted to be in theater. Since elementary (in La Salle Green Hills), I was always in school plays. In high school, I joined Teatro Fil-Hispanico doing a number of Spanish plays."

And after "Hello, Dolly!"? Juan Peron in "Evita," King Arthur in "Camelot," Don Quixote in "Man of La Mancha," Capt. Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music," Martin Dysart in "Equus," Fagin in "Oliver!"--a gold mine of prestige roles seized with only the benefit of "purely Zenaida Amador training," as he calls it.

The last four of his six nominations for the Philstage Gawad Buhay Awards are testaments to his versatility as a theater animal: an acting nomination in 2016 for 9 Works Theatrical's "A Christmas Carol"; and three nominations in 2014, for directing Rep's "Wait Until Dark" and designing the sets of Rep's two other nonmusical plays that year, "August: Osage County" and "Noises Off."

Written for me

Next week, Faustmann returns to acting for Rep, when the company premieres its second season offering, Eric Chappell's "Father's Day." He plays Henry, a cantankerous divorcé, whose estranged son and ex-wife descend upon his house one winter evening.

"Funny, but sometimes I think [the role] was written for me," Faustmann says. "I relate to his living alone and the quirks one has when one lives alone.

"I've done both plays and musicals, but I prefer to be in a play. Musicals are more of fantasy--entertaining for an audience because of song and dance. But we don't burst into song in real life."

"Father's Day" reunites Faustmann with Barredo, in her directorial comeback for Rep, and teams him up with Rep stalwart Liesl Batucan (as his onstage ex-wife), newcomer Andres Borromeo (as his onstage son), and the sisters Becca and Rachel Coates, alternating in the role of Henry's son's goth girlfriend.

"Baby and I have come a long way," Faustmann says. "I'm honored to be directed by her. She has a keen eye for perfection. Andres, this being his first play, is a wonderful actor with a fantastic attitude and love for his craft. The Coates sisters are gems to be with!"

As for the play? Sure, it's billed as a comedy--"I love doing comedy!" Faustmann says--but there's more to it than just the scathing banter. And its principal player prefers to throw the question back at the viewer: "How many families are broken today? How many unwed fathers and mothers do we have today?"

PDI Feature: Myke Salomon and 'Ang Huling El Bimbo' cast recording

Certain people are now in my blacklist of interview subjects, and that is all I'm gonna say. The website version of this piece--one of two I have today--here. 

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Eraserheads--by way of Myke Salomon--now on CD

Curtain call at the Mar. 24 evening show of "Ang Huling El Bimbo."

Great news: You can now listen to Myke Salomon's radical, revivifying take on the seminal Filipino rock band Eraserheads in the comfort of home or car or computer.

Joining the ranks of warhorses such as "ZsaZsa Zaturnnah Ze Muzikal" and "Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady," the stage musical "Ang Huling El Bimbo" has released an original cast recording, now on sale at the foyer of Resorts World Manila's Newport Performing Arts Theater, where the production has returned for a second life.

The album has 14 tracks sung by the original cast--the performers from the musical's 2018 premiere--plus one bonus track performed by the new cast members.

Legacy

It's no secret that the best thing about "El Bimbo" is its music. About the initial run last year, Inquirer reviewer Emil Hofileña wrote: "['El Bimbo'] understands the legacy of its source material, and [Salomon] boldly resists catering to our expectations," resulting in a production "stuffed with thrilling musical moments."

The Eraserheads is only the latest addition to what is already a peerless body of work hereabouts--one that embraces just about every genre, from the vocal cord-busting pop rock of Aegis (for "Rak of Aegis") to the nationalistic rap of Francis M (for "3 Stars and a Sun"), the old-school Original Pilipino Music in the rerun of "Dirty Old Musical."

And yet, Salomon admits to being apprehensive about taking on this project when the producers approached him in 2016. "Eraserheads was the reason my elementary school afternoons were all about picking up a beat-up guitar and learning how to strum G, D, Em, C chords. My though bubble was like, 'My God, what a big responsibility.' But I took on the challenge. Might as well be the culprit of the failure/success of the project."

"The tricky part [has always been] to find the right song for a scene," Salomon adds. "Thinking out of the box is not enough. Thinking out of this world is the better option. After fully understanding each scene and character, I just trust my first gut feel. For example, 'Pare Ko,' [now a military march of sorts]--it was clear in my head that I will go that way. The first scene with Tiya Dely--taking it from her name, 'Tiya/Cha,' I went Cha-cha/Latin with it."

For the album, Salomon served as record producer, with JC Magsalin of the Manila Philharmonic Orchestra as band conductor and orchestrator. Work started last November, while Salomon starred in "Mula sa Buwan," with the final mixing session wrapping up barely two weeks before the "El Bimbo" rerun's March 1 premiere.

Reb Atadero, one of the many returning cast members from last year, says, "[Recording the album] was absolutely surreal. I grew up listening to these songs, and you're telling me the first album I'm ever going to be part of is me singing those songs?"

Concurs Tanya Manalang, another "El Bimbo" veteran and formerly of the 2014 West End revival of "Miss Saigon": "The recording demanded the same energy and connection as doing the actual show. Even though I'd done Trumpets' 'The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe' back in '97, ['El Bimbo'] still felt like my first [time doing a cast album], given that I was more involved in the process. We were there on most days of the recording. The boys and I stayed in the studio and watched each other do our individual tracks."

"During the first run, we're told around 53,000 people saw the show," adds Atadero. "With the recording, we can reach all those people [again], and then some."

"Nothing beats the actual capture of everyone making music harmoniously," says Salomon. "Last year, people kept asking if we would sell a recording of the show, [so] I hope this CD makes them happy. This is a rare opportunity to immortalize the musical." 

PDI Review: 'The Phantom of the Opera' - The 2019 International Tour in Manila

In 2005, I was in sixth grade and completely clueless about theater. Then, my brother introduced me to this newly released movie musical called "The Phantom of the Opera." And so began the journey. The website version of my review here--which reminds me, the Inquirer-Lifestyle website has undergone a facelift and I'm still not sure what to make of it.

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Jonathan Roxmouth's Phantom is worth your trip to the 'Opera'

Gala night curtain call at "The Phantom of the Opera"-Manila 2019.

The thing with musical theater royalty--those immortal, wildly popular pieces such as "Les Miserables" or "The Phantom of the Opera"--is that it either completely blows you away or it doesn't. There is no middle ground.

That thought comes in handy when parsing the production of "Phantom" currently playing at The Theatre at Solaire--the world premiere of the 2019 international tour and the second visit to the country of Broadway's longest-running show.

Like the 2012 version that was Manila's first encounter with the musical's masked genius, this "Phantom" is also a replica production of the original (meaning, other than the actors, what you see here is essentially what you'd see on Broadway and London--direction, choreography, design).

To a certain extent, this "Phantom" lives up to the hype surrounding it. The singing, as expected, is topnotch--to be otherwise would be tantamount to heresy. This Andrew Lloyd Webber and Charles Hart baby is arguably the most musically accomplished among the British megamusicals of the '80s.

"The Masquerade" sequence remains a peerless visual spectacle. The costumes, the dancing, the unveiling of the draped set at the beginning--taken together, they may justify the steep price of admission.

Measured tiptoes

And yet, something's amiss.

Implicit in this musical is the idea of heightened theatricality. For starters, nothing here is short of lavish; everything is grand and meant to awe. Opera sequences--those pockets of Drama with a capital D--abound. A chandelier crashes on the stage; a subterranean lair lit by candelabras is almost a plot point in itself. Heck, the whole story is about a disfigured man haunting an opera house and obsessing over a vacuous ingénue, and acting on this obsession to ridiculous lengths.

Heightened theatricality, this production seems aware it must serve. But it does so mechanically, in a way that feels almost too respectful to the original. Instead of broad, hyperbolic steps, most of the time we get measured tiptoes.

With this tiptoeing, comedy eludes this "Phantom," while the drama becomes a note-by-note unfolding. On gala night, the jokes effortlessly went over the audience's heads, on one hand. The love story, on the other hand, could hardly get the temperature, let along the tension, up.

Perhaps this is precisely the thing with replicas: In their pursuit of parroted perfection, they run the risk of coming across as antiseptic and devoid of personality.

This "Phantom," with director Arthur Masella at the helm, also features Meghan Picerno's bland, occasionally robotic Christine (her placeless Act II solo, "Wishing You Were Somehow Here Again," simply comes and goes); Beverley Chiat's too-mannered and almost-humorless Carlotta; Melina Kalomas as a taxidermied Madame Giry; and, not that it matters significantly, an ovoid chandelier of little oomph.

Commanding creation

Thank the theater gods, then, for Jonathan Roxmouth. His Phantom seven years ago at the Cultural Center of the Philippines was already a commanding creation. Now it is the single thing in this show that firmly grasps the heightened theater of the piece--a performance elevating a production. Here, the masked madman becomes the only character worth caring about, and it also doesn't hurt that Roxmouth sings the score like the music were composed with his voice in mind.

Roxmouth's performance alone makes the pilgrimage to this "Phantom" worth your while. (A second peek, if you were there the first time around, is far from unreasonable.) Come with your own mask, though. A clear view of this production beyond its Phantom might just prove the slightest bit, well, disenchanting.