Tuesday, December 31, 2019

The Year in Film and TV (2019)

I'm doing something different this year: I'm combining movies and TV in a single list. Feels just about right, given how three of the best things I saw onscreen were TV series/miniseries. The same personal rule once again applies: My list is, first, a rundown of favorites (because I am not my colleague Emil Hofileña ["Emil Reviews Things"], who somehow has the time and stamina to watch everything); and, second, a combination of the current year's new releases and the previous year's leftovers. If you're reading this on desktop or desktop mode, there's a sidebar to the right that lists every movie and TV show I saw this year. Now on to the list!

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1. Parasite (dir. Bong Joon-ho)
The perfect moviegoing experience. 

2. Chernobyl (HBO; dir. Johan Renck)
A five-hour-plus nervous breakdown.

3. Fleabag, Season 2 (BBC Three; dir. Harry Bradbeer)
Short, sweet, rapturous and flawless. That first episode should be taught in film schools everywhere.

4. An Elephant Sitting Still (dir. Hu Bo)
A sweeping triumph of portraiture, both macro (the fucked-up 21st-century Chinese society at large) and micro (the lost and lonely inhabitants of this modern-day epic). 

5. Edward (dir. Thop Nazareno)
Maybe it's just my biases as a doctor at play. Maybe it's really the best Filipino film of 2019. Take your pick. 

6. Oda sa Wala (dir. Dwein Baltazar)
If you're not yet a Dwein Baltazar stan, then you're not doing drag. 

7. Succession, Season 2 (HBO; dirs. various)
For starters: "Boar on the floor!"

8. Cleaners (dir. Glenn Barit)
A remarkably precise and tender love letter to a distinctly Filipino high school experience (by way of Damián Szifron's "Wild Tales"). This is exactly what it meant and felt like to come of age in the late 2000s.

9. Knives Out (dir. Rian Johnson)
Dictionaries should edit themselves to use this film in sentence examples of "fun."

10. The Favourite (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos); Shoplifters (dir. Hirokazu Kore-eda); By the Grace of God (dir. François Ozon)
A three-way Sophie's choice: The Greek and his blacker-than-black black comedy; the Japanese and his quiet, and quietly heartbreaking, exploration of family and poverty; and the Frenchman taking on the Catholic Church with machine-gun rhythm.

And now for my next 10--because despite the likes of "Joker," "Uncut Gems," "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood," etc., 2019, like the previous year, still offered an embarrassment of riches. 

11. Portrait of a Lady on Fire (dir. Céline Sciamma)
Every frame is a painting. Every scene gleams with care and patience.

12. The Crown, Season 3 (Netflix/ dirs. various)
The strongest season so far. "Aberfan"? Josh O'Connor's "Hollow Crown" monologue? Charles Dance in that Montbatten episode? And look how the series has embraced its teleserye roots.

13. Marriage Story (dir. Noah Baumbach)
It's rightfully leading the Best Picture tally at present--and this isn't even Baumbach's best yet (that would be "Frances Ha").

14. Can You Ever Forgive Me? (dir. Marielle Heller)
Why didn't this win more awards last season?

15. Barry, Season 2 (HBO/ dirs. various)
If the Filipino word "baliw" were turned into TV, this is how it would look like.

16. The End of the F***cking World, Season 2 (Channel 4/All 4/Netflix; dirs. Lucy Forbes & Destiny Ekaragha)
Every episode kept below 25 minutes. (Short-form) storytellers, pay attention!

17. Sila-Sila (dir. Giancarlo Abrahan)
Theater people really are God's gift to the world. (P.S. Gio Gahol deserved that Best Actor festival prize.)

18. Catastrophe, Season 4 (Channel 4; dir. Jim O'Hanlon)
The discipline that this has. Every episode at/below 25 minutes, part II.

19. Hustlers (dir. Lorene Scafaria)
This is how I love my dose of mainstream.

20. Midsommar (dir. Ari Aster); Us (dir. Jordan Peele)
A tie between these two this *low* in my list, if only because as follow-up efforts, they feel *less* than "Hereditary" and "Get Out," respectively. Still brilliant, tho.

BUT WAIT--there's more. In alphabetical order, 10 more titles I'd recommend in a heartbeat to anyone who asks: Ad Astra (dir. James Gray); American Factory (dirs. Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert); Bacurau (dirs. Kleber Mendonça Filho & Juliano Dornelles); Elise (dir. Joel Ferrer); Isa Pa with Feelings (dir. Prime Cruz); Lola Igna (dir. Eduardo Roy Jr.); The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Season 2 (Amazon Prime Video; dirs. various); Metamorphosis (dir. J.E. Tiglao); One Child Nation (dirs. Nanfu Wang & Jialing Zhang); Russian Doll, Season 1 (Netflix; dirs. various).

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My favorite performance of the year--heck, what should be the performance of the year--is MICHELLE WILLIAMS in "Fosse/Verdon." I suspect we'll be talking about her monumental, infinitely giving turn as Gwen Verdon for decades to come. Here are *20* more performances, from an ocean of great performances, that I can watch again and again and again:
  • Louise Abuel (Edward)
  • Carlo Aquino (Isa Pa with Feelings)
  • Timothée Chalamet (Beautiful Boy) 
  • Toni Collette (Knives Out)
  • Olivia Colman (The Favourite; Fleabag, Season 2)
  • Charles Dance (The Crown, Season 3)
  • Alessandra de Rossi (Lucid)
  • Adam Driver (Marriage Story)
  • Gio Gahol (Sila-Sila)
  • Bob Jbeili (Lucid)
  • Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers)
  • Natasha Lyonne (Russian Doll, Season 1)
  • Lupita Nyong'o (Us)
  • Josh O'Connor (The Crown, Season 3)
  • Peng Yuchang (An Elephant Sitting Still)
  • Joe Pesci (The Irishman)
  • Brad Pitt (Ad Astra; Once Upon a Time in Hollywood)
  • Florence Pugh (Midsommar)
  • Jose Javier Reyes (Ang Babae sa Septic Tank 3: The Real Untold Story of Josephine Bracken)
and the ensemble of "Succession," Season 2.

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Saturday, December 28, 2019

PDI Feature: Extra Virgin Labfest 1

So I wrote about this recent trip to CDO here.

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Extra Virgin Labfest: 'Mindanao theater is Philippine theater


Gala night of EVLF at the Rodelsa Hall lobby, Liceo de Cagayan University.

Every year, for the last 15 years, the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) has devoted two to three weeks of its calendar to the Virgin Labfest (VLF), a festival of "untried, untested, unstaged" plays that CCP vice president Chris Millado said began as an effort "to address the fact that fewer and fewer writers are doing one-act plays."

The effort has come a long way. Since 2005, VLF has premiered over 150 titles. Some have become full-length films, like Juan Miguel Severo's "Hintayan ng Langit." Others have earned recognition in such a prestigious body as the Palanca Awards, like Guelan Luarca's "Mga Kuneho" and "Bait," and Ma. Cecilia dela Rosa's "Ang Mga Bisita ni Jean." 

VLF can now count an additional 12 new one-acts to its name: the nine fully staged plays and three dramatic readings that comprised Extra Virgin Labfest (EVLF), which ran Dec. 4-7 at Liceo de Cagayan University, Cagayan de Oro City, marking the festival's first venture beyond Manila.

A dream

On gala night, the university's 700-seat Rodelsa Hall was packed. Cameramen and videographers roamed the lobby, where red carpets had been rolled out to welcome arriving audiences, a number of whom were literally dressed to the nines--all of it quite nothing like the low-key, casual affair that has been the norm at the CCP.

All of it, as well, was just a dream five years ago, when EVLF festival director Hobart Savior first raised the idea of bringing the festival to Mindanao, in a conversation with playwright Rody Vera, longtime head of VLF coproducer The Writer's Bloc.

The realization of that dream is only affirmation that "Mindanao theater is Philippine theater," as Savior declared to the gala night audience--affirmation that is, in fact, crucial to a country where the theater scene (and its coverage by leading print and online publications) remains concentrated in the capital city.

Breaching barriers

The differences brought forth by the breaching of geographical and cultural barriers were immediately apparent. For instance, Dominique La Victoria's "Ang Bata sa Drum," performed as a one-off gala night special, was surprisingly both more intimate and powerful in its new, purely Bisaya form (the translation from its original Tagalog-Cebuano mix care of Savior himself).

Regional sensibilities, too, surfaced with regional playwrights--writers "who know their land and people," as Savior put it, dramatizing issues that resonate loudest in the Southern part of the country.

Lendz Barinque's "Ang Mga Babae sa Kusina" focused on the role of women--or their continuing silencing--in Muslim society.

Darren Bendanillo's "Banga" and Norman Isla's "Daang Papunta, Daang Pabalik" both dealt with the specter of the siege of Marawi.

Gil Nambatac's "Si Balaw ug ang Lablab sa Palawpao" infused traditional dance into its dramatization of the persisting purge of indigenous communities out of their ancestral lands.

Or consider, for example, the staged reading of Abigail James' "Birhen," how it merged the issue of folk medicine (its protagonist is an albularya, a traditional healer) into the narrative of messy romantic entanglements (a love triangle figures in the plot!) in a way that, to this author's mind, would lose its potency, should its Cebuano script be subjected to translation.

Mindanaoan languages

Of the 12 plays, in fact, only one was written in pure English, and a couple purely or partly in Tagalog. The rest were in languages spoken across Mindanao, most prominently Cebuano and Hiligaynon.

The nine fully staged plays were divided into three sets of three plays each, each set playing a matinee and an evening performance, the festival's four-night run a collaboration among nine Mindanaoan playwrights, 10 directors, 50 actors and 45 production staff.

The rawness of the plays and the productions can, of course, be easily attributed to necessary birthing pains. As VLF production manager Nikki Garde-Torres later wrote on Facebook: "Of course, there is much to improve. There always is. But the strength of having the courage to stage 'untried, untested and unstaged' works lies also in the courage to face constant change--in systems [and] in styles of expression."

If anything, EVLF only highlighted the need to nurture not just playwrights, but also directors, actors and designers--and perhaps, even theater arts programs themselves, be they in the university or community settings.

There is much to improve, indeed. But as demonstrated by the first, and hopefully not the last EVLF, there is always a path to achieving results.  

Saturday, December 21, 2019

The Best Theater of the Decade

What a decade it's been. The idea was to do a 20-before-20, but obviously we couldn't even agree on a top 20. The dotnet version of this piece here.

SEE ALSO:

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Best theater of the decade
co-written with Arturo Hilado

So many plays, so little time.

There's the gist of the last 10 years in Philippine theater--or, at least, the ever-expanding scene in Manila that we have covered week after week to arrive at this best-of-the-decade rundown of homegrown shows.

Our theater industry remains a small and predictably unpredictable sphere.

Most productions are constrained to limit themselves to playing only on weekends, for runs that hardly go beyond a month.

It's an encouraging sign of the times, therefore, that running after anywhere between three and five productions in a single weekend has become a frequent occurrence, especially in the second half of the decade.

And we're not complaining.

So, a toast to the crème de la crème of the 2010s!

"Tribes," August 2016.

1) "Next to Normal" (Atlantis Productions, 2011; music by Tom Kitt, libretto by Brian Yorkey; Bobby Garcia, director). 

This electrifying, heart-shredding production was our first glimpse this decade of the mastery of the Broadway musical idiom that would become an Atlantis--and Garcia--signature.

Here, as well, we witnessed the first, and perhaps finest, of many fine turns--"fine" being a severe understatement--that the peerless Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (as the bipolar protagonist Diana Goodman) would churn out in a 10-year span.

2) "Stageshow" (Tanghalang Pilipino, 2012; script by Mario O'Hara; Chris Millado, director).

Former Theater editor Gibbs Cadiz said it best: "An instant classic... [mapping] out a crucial lost era in the history of Filipino culture, and [filling] a gap in our understanding [of] what makes us the Scheherazades of the world, singing and dancing for our lives in the face of death and destruction."

Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino was sensational in a Herculean tour-de-force as bodabil star Ester. Her real-life husband Nonie Buencamino played her onstage husband--a whirlwind of dizzying virtuosity, attaining peak form with an explosive dance rendition of "I'm Gonna Live Till I Die."

3) "Der Kaufmann: Ang Negosyante ng Venecia" (Tanghalang Pilipino, 2013; William Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice," Filipino translation by Rolando Tinio, adaptation by Rody Vera; Tuxqs Rutaquio and Rody Vera, directors). 

We saw a number of outstanding Shakespeare adaptations this decade, but none as mind-bending as this.

It was the sheer ironic cruelty of it all, the themes of discrimination and domination played to devastating hilt, that stuck with you--Vera setting the story in a concentration camp where Jewish inmates are forced to "play" the play, given how the original's traditional villain happens to be the Jewish Shylock.

One of TP's most unforgettable productions: a comedy brilliantly transformed into unthinkable tragedy.

4) "Red" (The Necessary Theatre by Actor's Actors Inc., 2013; John Logan; Bart Guingona, director).

This two-hander happened to be that year's most cerebral play--talk of Matisse and Pollock, art and mythology, the endless vexations of the creative mind, populates the dialogue--but on the magnificent shoulders of Guingona (as the painter Mark Rothko) and the ever-reliable Joaquin Valdes (in one of his rare stage outings, as Rothko's fictional assistant), was also the most mesmerizing. 

5) "Sa Wakas" (Culture Shock Productions, 2013; book by Andrei Pamintuan and Ina Abuan, score by Ebe Dancel; Andrei Pamintuan, director).

Parallel to the surge of jukebox musicals on Broadway was a similar development hereabouts, our "honorees" so far including The Eraserheads, APO Hiking Society, Yeng Constantino, Aegis, and Francis Magalona.

But the best of the lot--and by best, we mean the tightest, most elegant and fully realized fusion of story and music-making--was the 2013 premiere of this Sugarfree musical, telling a middle-class, millennial love triangle in the inverted-time structure of Stephen Sondheim's "Merrily We Roll Along." With musical direction by the prolific Ejay Yatco.

6) "Middle Finger" (Tanghalang Ateneo, 2014; Han Ong, Filipino translation by Ron Capinding; Ed Lacson Jr., director).

The claustrophobia and blinding confusion of coming-of-age in a society that wants its youth silenced and stifled, rendered with breathtaking fearlessness in what is undoubtedly the university company's most accomplished work this decade.

This was the year our hearts wept for Guelan Luarca (the playwright is also an actor!) and Joe-Nel Garcia as a pair of lost, tormented teenagers, and also the year Lacson emerged as formidable figure in theater directing.

7) "33 Variations" (Red Turnip Theater, 2015; Moisés Kaufman; Jenny Jamora, director). 

Unquestionably a highlight for the company that has made a name for pushing boundaries with heady, creatively challenging plays.

First-time director Jenny Jamora's management of the interpenetrating timelines was nothing short of astounding, as were the set (by Ed Lacson Jr.) and lighting design (by John Batalla) that combined economy and imagination.

With Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, in yet another memorable role, as the dying musicologist Katherine Brandt, Teroy Guzman as fictionalized Ludwig van Beethoven, and Ejay Yatco as Guzman's piano-playing double, dazzlingly executing the titular "33 Variations" throughout the dramatic action. 

8) "Desaparesidos" (Ateneo Entablado, 2016/Ateneo Areté, Almonte, Bustamante and Jamora, 2018; Lualhati Bautista's novel, adapted and directed by Guelan Luarca).

In an era that cries out for politically engaged art, "Desaparesidos" captured both the courage and passion of the resistance struggle, and the heartaches bedeviling its (supposed) triumph.

Indicative of Luarca's protean abilities were its two incarnations: the visceral, epic-sweep, student-run original, and two years later, a marvelously tighter and deeper recalibration.

Seeing the two versions was almost "Rashomon"-like: the same canvas, merging the political and the personal, witnessed through somewhat different lenses--and a richer combined experience of this theatrical work for that.

9) "Fun Home" (Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group, 2016; music by Jeanine Tesori, libretto by Lisa Kron; Bobby Garcia, director).

With its themes of homosexuality, suicide and dead-end marriages, it certainly didn't fit the conventional happy-hummable Broadway mold. But what an indelible piece of theater--alternately funny and heartbreaking, and gripping in its emotional power and depiction of the complex human spirit.

As the subdued matriarch Helen Bechdel, Lea Salonga was no central character--the splendid leads were Cris Villonco (as Alison Bechdel) and Eric Kunze (as Bruce)--but it defied belief that anyone could have come away unshaken by her rendition of "Days and Days."

10) "Tribes" (Red Turnip Theater, 2016; Nina Raine; Topper Fabregas, director).

Inarguably the second peak in a remarkable three-year run of critical successes for the company, from "Cock" to "Rabbit Hole" to "Time Stands Still" to "33 Variations" (the first peak!) to "This Is Our Youth" to "Constellations."

"Tribes" felt like new plane for Red Turnip: The dominant aesthetics were silence and restraint, which the production pulled off impressively to become, as Cora Llamas wrote in her review, "compelling, consequential theater."

11) "Angry Christ" (UP Playwrights' Theatre, 2017; Floy Quintos; Dexter Santos, director).

Probably the best original Filipino play of the decade--a masterpiece on many levels, from Santos' nuanced evocation of an entire regional milieu to the explication of a bewildering, complicated artwork; from the intertwined depictions of class realities by Nelsito Gomez (as the painter Alfonso Ossorio) and Kalil Almonte (as Ossorio's fictional lowly assistant), to Monino Duque's lighting--bringing to literal light in the final scene the titular mural, before obliterating it to emotionally wrecking effect.

Above all, there was Quintos' magisterial writing, harnessing the multifarious strands in the life of an artist and a society.

12) "Ang Pag-uusig" (Tanghalang Pilipino, 2017; Arthur Miller's "The Crucible," Filipino translation by Jerry Respeto; Dennis Marasigan, director).

No other show that year came closer to approximating the culture of duplicity enabled by the Duterte administration than this force-of-nature play, mirroring our country in the Salem witch trials, where truth was sacrificed in favor of power and repute.

This was the TP Actors' Company at its most blistering since "Der Kaufmann": Jonathan Tadioan as Deputy Governor Danforth, JV Ibesate as John Proctor, Marco Viaña as Reverend Parris (and Proctor in the next year's rerun), Lhorvie Nuevo as the vacillating Mary Warren, and an ultra-fierce Antonette Go as the diabolical Abigail Williams.

13) "Himala, Isang Musikal" (9 Works Theatrical & The Sandbox Collective, 2018/2019; book by Ricky Lee, music by Vincent de Jesus, lyrics by Ricky Lee and Vincent de Jesus; Ed Lacson Jr., director).

This decade saw the original Filipino musical truly come into its own, and this "Himala" must be accorded pride of place--a tremendously moving parable of our country in this age of unthinking faith in messiahs.

Its core quartet of women was extraordinary: the luminous Aicelle Santos (Elsa), Kakki Teodoro (Nymia), Neomi Gonzales (Chayong) and Bituin Escalante (Saling, also played by Sheila Francisco in the 2019 run).

Beyond them, however, the best character was Barrio Cupang itself, the grit and desolation summoned to tenable life by topnotch direction and design.

"The Pillowman," October 2014.

My other picks

1) "Ang Nawalang Kapatid" (Dulaang UP, 2014; music by Ceejay Javier, Filipino adaptation of "Mahabharata" by Floy Quintos; Dexter Santos, director).

The most exhilarating dancing of the decade, the bone-breaking choreography (also--unsurprisingly--spearheaded by Santos) exceptionally executed by a troupe of mostly student-actors, including four of our most dependable names now: Ross Pesigan (Karna), Jon Abella (Yudisthira), Vincent Kevin Pajara (Duryodhana) and Teetin Villanueva (Draupadi).

2) "The Pillowman" (The Sandbox Collective, 2014; Martin McDonagh; Ed Lacson Jr., director). 

A one-off reading that was easily the towering highlight of "The Imaginarium" festival at the Peta Theater Center. McDonagh's police interrogation of an author accused of gruesome murders was an entrancing back-to-basics in narrating the horror story, finding consummate vessels in Audie Gemora (Katurian), Robie Zialcita (Michal), Niccolo Manahan (Ariel) and the late Richard Cunanan (as Tupolski, the comedy performance of the year). 

3) "The Bridges of Madison County" (2015; book by Marsha Norman, score by Jason Robert Brown) and "Waitress" (2018; book by Jessie Nelson, score by Sara Bareilles) (Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group; Bobby Garcia, director).

Two very American tales united by three elements: Garcia's emphatic focus on the text--his honest-to-goodness "tell the story" sensibility; first-rate design (Faust Peneyra's frame-laden walls and Jonjon Villareal's lights in "Bridges"; David Gallo's pink-and-blue rotating diner in "Waitress"); and Joanna Ampil as each production's emotionally crystalline and note-perfect leading lady.

4) "Mga Buhay na Apoy" (Tanghalang Pilipino, 2015; written and directed by Kanakan Balintagos).

What could have been just another family-under-fire drama turned out to be a flawlessly acted, beguilingly written, unmistakably Filipino work that understood the power of nostalgia--how the past is merely a Pandora's box of answers to all future times.

5) "Almost, Maine" (Repertory Philippines, 2016; John Cariani; Bart Guingona, director).

Repertory Philippines' best production this decade was this captivating little gem of whimsey and muted heartache, featuring the superlative acting quartet of Natalie Everett, Caisa Borromeo, Jamie Wilson and Reb Atadero; and John Batalla's Gawad Buhay-winning conjuring of the northern lights.

6) "Kalantiaw" (Tanghalang Ateneo, 2016; Rene Villanueva; Charles Yee, director).

A celebration of everything theater should represent: ingenuity, imagination, panache where it matters, and that rare ability to overcome so many odds given so little.

This was one of Yee's two enthrallingly stylized works that year (the other was "Ang Sugilanon ng Kabiguan ni Epefania")--marking him as primed for the big leagues.

The play, about one of Philippine history's biggest hoaxes, couldn't have been timelier, arriving at a time of rising historical revisionism.

7) "Spring Awakening" (Ateneo Blue Repertory, 2019; music by Duncan Sheik, libretto by Steven Sater; Missy Maramara, director).

The Tony-winning rock musical given a revelatory, lucidly mounted, across-the-board ravishing treatment, steeped in a profound understanding of youth, its juvenile nature and reckless desires, to evoke a world both archaic and frighteningly current. Also my choice for best musical of 2019.

"Mabining Mandirigma," August 2019.

Arturo's other picks

1) "Care Divas" (Peta, 2011; book by Liza Magtoto, score by Vincent de Jesus; Maribel Legarda, director). 

Magtoto's tale of five gay overseas Filipino workers in Israel--caregivers by day, drag performers by night--was wildly entertaining, campy glitter interwoven with personal heartbreak and the queens' oppressive sociopolitical realities.

The 2011 premiere was trailblazing in the way it gave ample space for both flamboyance and pathos, with a bittersweet spectacle of a finale that was a fitting salute to the musical's affirmation of Filipino OFW and LGBTQ resilience.

2) "William" (Peta, 2011; Ron Capinding; Maribel Legarda, director).

A delightful conjunction of smarts, laughter and heart, set to engaging rap music by Jeff Hernandez, "William" allowed its story's band of teenagers the possibility to grasp in Shakespeare's prose and verse an idiom for coping with reality. "The Bard for young people"--but done with great respect for both the youth and the Bard. Would that adults could "learn" their Shakespeare so authentically, indeed!

3) "Mabining Mandirigma" (Tanghalang Pilipino, 2015/2019; music by Joed Balsamo, libretto by Nicanor Tiongson; Chris Millado, director).

Groundbreaking in many ways: the "steampunk" aesthetic in the score and Toym Imao's visually arresting design; the casting of the central role of Apolinario Mabini with a woman (first Delphine Buencamino, then Liesl Batucan, Hazel Maranan and, most recently, Monique Wilson, in the musical's most polished version yet); and Tiongson's deeply affecting portrayal of the protagonist as fully human, love of country transcending infirmities and impulses to create a true modern hero.

4) "Changing Partners" (MunkeyMusic, 2016/2018; book and score by Vincent de Jesus; Rem Zamora, director).

A showcase of Filipino talent in the purest sense: haunting yet accessible music, remarkably intricate scripting, imaginative direction, and shape-shifting, gender-bending turns from Agot Isidro, Jojit Lorenzo, Sandino Martin and Anna Luna.

The 2016 premiere at the Peta Theater Center was already scintillating; the 2018 rerun gave the musical a richer, even more spacious texture. 

5) "The Kundiman Party" (UP Playwrights' Theatre, 2018; Floy Quintos; Dexter Santos, director).

Political theater seldom explores the social layers of uncertain ground.

Quintos' most recent play probed, through an absorbing narrative, how the comfortable but politically aware upper-middle class gropes for an effective response to the threats to society and country.

The cast was a roll call of generous portrayals of flawed, but very real, modern Filipino types, with Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino at the head as Maestra Adela, as nuanced a protagonist--hilarious, sad, passionate--as any in recent memory.

6) "Dekada '70" (Black Box Productions, 2018; Lualhati Bautista's novel, adapted and directed by Pat Valera, music by Matthew Chang, lyrics by Pat Valera and Matthew Chang).

Already an audaciously realized musical as a student thesis, but polished into it latest form in a matter of months.

It was an all-around triumph--adaptation, direction, music and orchestration--but the show no doubt belonged to Stella Cañete-Mendoza as Amanda Bartolome: Her moment in the finale, clenched fist raised as she stood at the head of the ensemble, was iconic.

7) "Passion" (Philippine Opera Company, 2019; book by James Lapine, score by Stephen Sondheim; Robbie Guevara, director). 

Sondheim is a master of the modern, intelligent musical, and "Passion" may just be his most demanding piece.

This production was simply gorgeous--visually, vocally, dramatically, turning a grotesque tale of obsession into an empathetic exploration of the nature of desire.

Starring a ferocious Shiela Valderrama-Martinez as Fosca, embodying physical and mental sickness, and affirming the transcending power of beauty and love.

"Fangirl," June 2019.

Plus: our favorite one-acts:

1) "Kawala" (Virgin Labfest, 2011; Rae Red; Paolo O'Hara, director).

Ingeniously utilizing only half the stage--the story, after all, is set in an elevator--it was a progressive laugh trip that arrived at something unexpectedly poignant. Starring the underrated Cris Pasturan as the elevator boy forcibly dragged into the private entanglements of his building's tenants.

2) "Kublihan" (Virgin Labfest, 2015; Jerome Ignacio; Guelan Luarca, director).

Exquisitely simple--some 45 minutes of dialogue between two high school friends on the brink of parting ways--but amazing how, despite minimal resort to the explicit, it contained a world of adolescent emotion and inner experience.

3) "Si Maria Isabella at ang Guryon ng Mga Tala" (Virgin Labfest, 2015; Dean Francis Alfar's short story "The Kite of Stars," adapted by Eljay Castro Deldoc; Ed Lacson Jr., director).

This was sheer poetry, Lacson's staging investing the production with a wondrous sense of yearning and magical realism. Starring Krystle Valentino in her breakout role as the title character.

4) "Indigo Child" (Never Again: Voices of Martial Law, 2016; Rody Vera; Jose Estrella, director).

Powerful how it rose above polemics to put a wrenchingly human face to the legacy of a brutal dictatorship. Movingly acted by Skyzx Labastilla and Rafael Tibayan as a mother-and-son tandem coming to terms with the past and each other.

5) "Mula sa Kulimliman" (Virgin Labfest, 2016; Carlo Vergara; Hazel Gutierrez, director).

Crisp, unpredictable writing, and worth seeing again and again, if only for Mayen Estañero giving the performance of a lifetime as an ordinary housewife who discovers her husband is not of her world.

6) "Fangirl" (Virgin Labfest, 2019; Herlyn Alegre; Charles Yee, director).

The seemingly ridiculous phenomenon of pop-culture fandom as engrossing comedy--one high-octane, LOL sequence after another landed perfectly by the tireless trio of Mayen Estañero, Marj Lorico and Meann Espinosa.

Finally, more decade-best works: Reb Atadero in "Dani Girl"; Nicco Manalo in "This Is Our Youth"; Myke Salomon as (jukebox) musical director of the decade with "Rak of Aegis," "3 Stars and a Sun," "Ako si Josephine" and "Ang Huling El Bimbo"; Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante in "Carrie"; Carla Guevara-Laforteza in "Rent" and "Nine"; the kulintang music and igal choreography of "Sintang Dalisay"; Audie Gemora in "The Producers" and "La Cage aux Folles"; Skyzx Labastilla in "Ang Dalagita'y 'sang Bagay na Di-buo"; Gwyn Guanzon's soil-drenched set for "Rite of Passage"; Cathy Azanza-Dy in "Silent Sky"; Kakki Teodoro in "Every Brilliant Thing"; PJ Rebullida's choreography for "Newsies"; the quartet of Frances Makil-Ignacio, Ces Quesada, Missy Maramara and Harriette Damole in "The Dressing Room: That Which Flows Away Ultimately Becomes Nostalgia"; Sheenly Vee Gener in "Ang Mga Bisita ni Jean"; Ed Lacson Jr.'s set and direction for "Stop Kiss"; Tami Monsod in Upstart Production's staged reading of "Wit"; Jennifer Blair-Bianco in "Venus in Fur"; Gab Pangilinan in "Ang Huling El Bimbo"; Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo's "The Ladies Who Lunch" in "Company"; Pinky Amador in "Piaf"; Lea Salonga in "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"; and Mio Infante's instantly unforgettable set for "Rak of Aegis."

Friday, December 20, 2019

The Best of Manila Theater 2019, Part 2

Part 2 of the annual theater roundup: the designers, writers, musicians--because print space limitations *sad face emoji*. The online version here.

SEE ALSO:
8. Compilation of links to my theater reviews

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Best of Theater 2019

"Nana Rose," March 2019.

One major limitation of print publications is the availability of space in any given issue. It is for this reason that the final section of our annual theater roundup, published last Dec. 14, included only our top choices for every design and technical category.

But the designers, writers and musicians are just as essential to any theater production as the directors and actors we recognized last week. What follows, then, is part two of our Best of Theater 2019. Of the 88 fully staged productions we saw in Manila this year, here are the names and works that left a most indelible impressions:

In lighting design, Aaron Porter produced the year's finest work with his psychedelic evocation of the '60s for "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" and his black-and-white show of masterly exactitude for "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Also--Shakira Villa Symes' dreamlike play with shadows for "Passion"; D Cortezano's lights-as-physical beats for "Alpha Kappa Omega"; Miyo Sta. Maria ("Spring Awakening"); Jonjon Villareal ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches"); Dennis Marasigan ("Coriolano"); John Batalla ("Every Brilliant Thing"); Barbie Tan-Tiongco ("The Dresser"); Andre Gonzales ("Makikitawag Lang Ako"); and Jethro Nibaten ("Stop Kiss").

Director-designer Ed Lacson Jr. easily exceeded himself with his jaw-dropping theater-within-the-theater set design for "The Dresser," along with the Instagram-inspired look of "Stop Kiss" that wonderfully simplified the storytelling.

The crowded field also includes Ohm David's otherworldly wood paneling for "Spring Awakening"; Faust Peneyra's '60s throwback in "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical" and claustrophobic clutter for "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches"; Tata Tuviera ("Antigone vs. the People of the Philippines" and "If He Doesn't See Your Face"); Jason Tecson ("Passion"); Marco Viaña ("Lam-ang"); David Gallo ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"); Kayla Teodoro ("Dancing Lessons"); Joey Mendoza ("The Quest for the Adarna"); Gino Gonzales ("The House of/Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba"); Monica Sebial ("Alpha Kappa Omega"); and Charles Yee ("Nana Rosa").

For costumes, Bonsai Cielo's work for "Lam-ang" impeccably summoned the look and texture of native myth. Likewise, Gayle Mendiola and Leika Golez ("Spring Awakening"); Tata Tuviera ("Antigone vs. the People of the Philippines"); Raven Ong ("Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"); Hershee Tantiado ("Hanggang Isang Araw" and "Alpha Kappa Omega"); and Zenaida Gutierrez ("Passion").

For sound design, Arvy Dimaculangan's mastery of music and silence was most sublime in "Every Brilliant Thing," in addition to his topnotch soundscapes for "Laro," "Dolorosa" and "Freedom Wall"--bravo!

More: Teresa Barrozo ("Stop Kiss"); Jethro Joaquin ("The Dresser"); TJ Ramos ("Lam-ang" and "Coriolano"); Justin Stasiw ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"); Glendfford Malimban ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches"); Xander Soriano ("Alpha Kappa Omega"); and Jon Lazam and Marie Angelica Dayao's clever use of radio for "Nana Rosa."

"Charot!," February 2019.

For musical direction, Ejay Yatco was behind the lustrous, full-bodied music-making in "Spring Awakening" and the retooled "Mabining Mandirigma." Gerard Salonga ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"); Daniel Bartolome ("Passion"); Farley Asuncion ("Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"); and Rony Fortich ("Company") also did first-rate work.

The year's standout choreography/movement deisgn was by Mica Fajardo for "Spring Awakening," trailed by Nicolo Ricardo Magno's for "Alpha Kappa Omega."

Steven Tansiongco's projection design for "Makinal" should have earned him a 1.0 for this thesis. The other notable in this field was GA Fallarme for "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches."

For translation/adaptation, the inimitable Guelan Luarca, besides his script for "Alpha Kappa Omega," also triumphantly tames Shakespeare with an easy-on-the-ears "Coriolano," while Sabrina Basilio emerged as the year's breakout writer with "Antigone vs. the People of the Philippines." Two more: Eljay Castro Deldoc ("Makinal"); and Nicolas Pichay ("Fuente Ovejuna").

The sharpest--and funniest--original book of a musical was Rody Vera's for "Walang Aray." Plus--Eljay Castro Deldoc ("Hanggang Isang Araw"); and Luna Griño-Inocian ("The Quest for the Adarna").

For original composition, Vince Lim was responsible for the riotous "Walang Aray" (with Vera's lyrics) and "Charot!" (lyrics co-written with Jeff Hernandez and Michelle Ngu). Also--Fitz Bitana and Krina Cayabyab ("Hanggang Isang Araw"); and new instrumental work by Teresa Barrozo in "Stop Kiss" and Arvy Dimaculangan in "Dolorosa."

Breakouts, brief appearances and readings. Finally, it is only right to recognize the three names that, for the first time, grabbed our attention and now have us looking forward to their next appearances: Nikki Bengzon ("Bring It On: The Musical"); Davy Narciso ("The Theory of Relativity"); and Paw Castillo ("Mabining Mandirigma" and "Lam-ang"). Luis Marcelo and Justine Narciso were a pair of perfectly cast surprises in "The Quest for the Adarna." In "Beautiful: The Carole King Musical," Gab Pangilinan and Teetin Villanueva each ran away with her time in the spotlight; ditto Sabrina Basilio in both "Spring Awakening" and "Dolorosa."

And the Company of Actors in Streamlined Theatre produced two staged readings that may as well have been the real thing. The first was James Goldman's "The Lion in Winter," directed by Mako Alonso and Jill Peña, with a delectably icy Roselyn Perez as Eleanor of Aquitaine, and Jaime del Mundo giving the year's first great performance as King Henry II.

The second was Arthur Miller's classic text "All My Sons," given a "painfully provocative Philippine" treatment, as Lifestyle's Theater reviewer Cora Llamas noted, by directors Nelsito Gomez and Wanggo Gallaga, the sensational ensemble led by Audie Gemora, Tami Monsod, Mako Alonso and George Schulze. For both shows--full staging, please!

Monday, December 16, 2019

PDI Review: 'Break It to Me Gently: Essays on Filipino Film' by Richard Bolisay

In which I review the debut book of someone I idolize and have long fanboyed over--the website version here

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Richard Bolisay's 'Break It to Me Gently': Essential reading for anyone who loves Filipino films

If you happen to be a Filipino cinephile who came of age on social media from the late 2000s onwards, you would no doubt be familiar with "Lilok Pelikula," the self-maintained and, sadly, now-defunct blog ran by film critic Richard Bolisay.

You would know that, like any respectable and self-respecting critic, Bolisay doesn't mince his words: His praises are lucid, his pans crafted with surgical precision. But more importantly, you would know that what sets Bolisay apart from his contemporaries--what makes him our most readable film critic--is that rare sort of deep-seated passion for the movies that informs his writing.

To read Bolisay's reviews is to see film in the eyes of someone with a genuine love for and understanding of the medium; someone who embraces emotion and doesn't flinch at the thought of putting it on paper in its rawest forms.

All that is evident in his debut book, "Break It to Me Gently," which is remarkable for being both a collection of incisive criticism and a sweeping survey of the 21st-century Filipino film landscape. The main goal was obviously to gather over a hundred reviews from Bolisay's blog into a single document; the result is a singular documentation, brimming with unfiltered compassion, of our film industry.

Despite covering mostly films of the new millennium, "Break It to Me Gently" never feels time-bound. Bolisay's reviews do not limit themselves to just the movie at hand; they work like tapestries, woven with a keen sense of history and context, and an awareness that, always, it takes a village to make a film. In one way or another, everything and everyone is covered, from Lav Diaz and Ishmael Bernal to Cathy Garcia-Molina and Erik Matti; from "Working Girls" in the 1980s to "On the Job" only six years ago to the numerous film festivals that have dotted the scene of late.

The introduction alone may well be reason enough to get the book: Already, the piece feels like essential reading for anyone who loves Filipino films and anyone who aspires to get into the nasty business of filmmaking and the even nastier business of film criticism. In this manifesto of sorts, Bolisay not only becomes a historian of the movies, but his very own historian as well, writing of the unspoken struggles and frustrations of being an arts critic this side of the world, in the process grounding his reader on the reality that writing about film--and writing in general--is never an easy task.

Everyone's a film critic these days, to go by Twitter and Rotten Tomatoes. To read Bolisay's book, then, is to realize that not everyone is cut out for the job. "Break It to Me Gently" shows us a master at work.

Saturday, December 14, 2019

The Best of Manila Theater 2019, Part 1

Has it really been a decade since I saw my first show in Manila? This used to be Gibbs' signature annual piece, but now that he's gone (not for good, I pray), someone has to do it. The website version of this piece here--and also, i must insist you get the print copy. Also, and this one huge also, the version in this blog is radically different from the website--in the print editions, we split the actors/directors and designers/technicals into two pieces; the online version of this first part includes the second part as well. Our first-world problems...

SEE ALSO:

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Best of theater 2019

"The Phantom of the Opera," February 2019.

No less than 14 previously staged, full-length Filipino productions returned this year.

9 Works Theatrical brought back its APO Hiking Society musical "Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!". The crowd-favorite Eraserheads show "Ang Huling El Bimbo" played three sold-out runs at Resorts World Manila. Floy Quintos' "The Kundiman Party" moved from the University of the Philippines (UP) Diliman to the Peta Theater Center, and "Himala, Isang Musikal," coproduced by 9 Works and The Sandbox Collective, reappeared even better than its already perfect form in 2018.

Two perennials also turned up--a record-setting seventh run of "Rak of Aegis," and the fourth (and inarguably best) version of Tanghalang Pilipino's (TP) "Mabining Mandirigma"--alongside smaller but no less absorbing fare such as Sandbox's redesigned "Dani Girl."

Even the splashy foreign visitors were repeats: an nth dose of the interactive "Harry Potter" parody "Potted Potter"; and, at The Theatre at Solaire, updated productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber's "Cats" and "The Phantom of the Opera," both having debuted locally at the Cultural Center of the Philippines earlier this decade.

Which is not to say 2019 was lacking in terms of new and/or original work--quite the opposite, actually.

The near-synchronous arrival of three pieces by American legend Stephen Sondheim was nirvana for the geekiest of musical theater geeks.

But Sondheim wasn't the only one all over town. The Spanish playwrights somehow invaded the campuses. Dulaang UP (DUP) staged English and Filipino versions of Federico García Lorca's "The House of Bernarda Alba" and Lope de Vega's "Fuente Ovejuna"; MINT College did Lorca's "Yerma"; and the Theater Arts program of De La Salle-College of St. Benilde had "Ang Dakilang Teatro ng Daigdig" (in part, Calderón de la Barca's "The Great Theater of the World") and "El Mar de Sangre" (Lorca's "Blood Wedding," which Artist Playground deconstructed into "Buwan" for its actors' recital).

Our schools, in fact, proved to be fertile ground, as evidenced below by our picks for the year's crème de la crème.

Of the 88 fully staged productions we saw in Manila--including 28 musicals, 44 straight plays, and 20 new one-act plays--39 were staged by students or student-run companies.

University production or not, however, success was never a guarantee--not just in quality, but also in economic terms.

For every surprise hit, such as "Ang Pagsalubong sa Apatnapu" by the Marikina-based community outfit Teatro ni Juan, there were the likes of "Aurelio Sedisyoso" and "Guadalupe: The Musical," neither planned rerun of which materialized.

FrontRow Entertainment's "M. Butterfly" folded abruptly midway through its national tour.

And, most conspicuously, the London-based Rose Theatre canceled its repertory productions of Shakespeare's "Macbeth" and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" less than a week before the intended opening.

What follows is by no means an exhaustive appraisal of the 2019 Manila theater scene. Take it, instead, as our personal roll call of those we'd most welcome to see again onstage.

"Fangirl," June 2019.

BEST PLAY (ONE-ACT)

"Fangirl" (Herlyn Alegre; Charles Yee, dir.).

The most accomplished entry of Virgin Labfest 15 turned the seemingly ridiculous phenomenon of pop-culture fandom into compelling comedy, buoyed by richly detailed writing, airtight direction, and a tireless trio of actresses playing longtime friends fighting tooth and nail over a concert ticket.

Good news to those who missed it: "Fangirl" will be back next year in the Labfest's "Revisited" section.

Honorable Mentions: "Anak Ka Ng" (U Z Eliserio; Maynard Manansala, dir.); "Wanted: Male Boarders (Rick Patriarca; George de Jesus III, dir.); "The Bride and the Bachelor" (Dingdong Novenario; Topper Fabregas, dir.)

"Stop Kiss," July 2019.

BEST PLAY (FULL-LENGTH/NON-FILIPINO MATERIAL)

"Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" (Tony Kushner; Bobby Garcia, dir.).

The best production in Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group's season heralded Garcia's return to nonmusicals, after "God of Carnage" seven years ago, and, more significantly, his second stab at part one of Kushner's magnum opus, 24 years after premiering in the Philippines all two parts and seven hours of it.

In his script, Kushner writes that an "epic play" such as "Angels" "should be a little fatiguing." Garcia's production was perceptively paced and rendered, with astonishing emotional precision, the unraveling lives of its eight main characters in the 1980s AIDS crisis. It made you laugh, broke your heart, and left you with a renewed sense of hope and possibility.

Honorable Mentions: "Stop Kiss" (Diana Son; Ed Lacson Jr., dir.); "If He Doesn't See Your Face" (Suzue Toshiro, English translation by Christy Scriba; Ricardo Abad, dir.); "Every Brilliant Thing" (Duncan Macmillan and Jonny Donahoe; Jenny Jamora, dir.); "Dancing Lessons" (Mark St. Germain; Francis Matheu, dir.)

"Alpha Kappa Omega," April 2019.

BEST PLAY (FULL-LENGTH/ORIGINAL FILIPINO MATERIAL OR ADAPTATION)

"Alpha Kappa Omega" (Mike de Leon's film "Batch '81," adapted and directed by Guelan Luarca).

In an interview last year, Luarca, then newly appointed artistic director of Tanghalang Ateneo (TA), said: "Theater [should be] agitating and ever-questioning, ardent in its pursuit to challenge the status quo."

That, he achieved irrefutably with this unflinching, contemporized take on De Leon's classic tale of a bunch of fraternity neophytes during the Marcos years.

Performed almost entirely by a student cast, "Alpha Kappa Omega"--yet further proof of the prolific Luarca as one of our most astute artist-critics--was at once a fiery indictment of strongman culture and a subtle middle finger to the sycophancy and depravity now symbolic of Duterte-era politics.

Honorable Mentions: "Antigone vs. the People of the Philippines" (Sophocles' "Antigone," adapted by Sabrina Basilio; Tara Jamora Oppen, dir.); "Makinal" (Sophie Treadwell's "Machinal," adapted by Eljay Castro Deldoc; Nour Hooshmand, dir.); "Katsuri" (John Steinbeck's novella "Of Mice and Men," adapted by Bibeth Orteza; Carlitos Siguion-Reyna, dir.)

"Katsuri," October 2019.

BEST ACTOR (PLAY)

Marco Viaña ("Katsuri"). 

The play itself faltered over erratic world-building, but the world Viaña built for his character--the personal, social and emotional landscape inhabited by his version of John Steinbeck's farmhand George--was fully persuasive and realized. Viaña has always been a dependable member of the TP Actors' Company, counting in his exemplary body of work noteworthy appearances in the Filipino adaptations of such classics as "The Merchant of Venice," "A Midsummer Night's Dream," "Coriolanus," "Uncle Vanya" and "The Crucible." As the hand of God made manifest in this adaptation of "Of Mice and Men," he simply outdid himself.

Honorable Mentions: Topper Fabregas ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches"); Leo Rialp ("Red"); Jonathan Tadioan ("Katsuri"); Lance Reblando ("Wanted: Male Boarders"); Brian Sy ("If He Doesn't See Your Face"); Audie Gemora ("The Dresser"); Randy Villarama ("Dancing Lessons"); Ron Capinding ("Ang Apologia ni Sokrates"); John Sanchez ("Alpha Kappa Omega"); Quiel Quiwa ("Freedom Wall"); Marco Viaña ("Coriolano"); Joshua Tayco ("A Family Reunion"); Chrome Cosio ("A Family Reunion"); Alex Medina ("The Bride and the Bachelor"); Xander Soriano ("Marat/Sade")

"Anak Ka Ng," June 2019.

BEST ACTRESS (PLAY)

Kakki Teodoro ("Every Brilliant Thing").

"We tend to talk about performance as though it's the definition of falsehood, when, at its best, it's the height of truth," wrote critics A.O. Scott and Wesley Morris in The New York Times.

Those words ring truest this year for Teodoro's breakout masterwork in this Herculean monologue, in which she scoured, with breathtaking range, the volatile psychological terrain of her manic-depressive character, and, in the interactive segments, all but completely erased the fine line between reality and pretense.

Long a reliable fixture of the ensemble, Teodoro finally got her chance in the spotlight this year--and delivered a star performance in every sense of the word.

Honorable Mentions: Missy Maramara ("Stop Kiss"); Delphine Buencamino ("If He Doesn't See Your Face"); Skyzx Labastilla ("Anak Ka Ng"); Mayen Estañero ("Fangirl"); Jill Peña ("Dancing Lessons"); Krystle Valentino ("Anak Ka Ng"); Gigi Escalante ("Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba"); Stella Cañete-Mendoza ("The House of Bernarda Alba"); Jenny Jamora ("Stop Kiss"); Meann Espinosa ("Fangirl"); Marj Lorico ("Fangirl"); Via Antonio ("The Bride and the Bachelor"); Karyl Oliva ("Proposal"); Claudia Enriquez ("Dolorosa")

"Fuente Ovejuna," November 2019.

BEST FEATURED ACTOR (PLAY)

Markki Stroem ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches").

In an extremely crowded category this year, none took us on a more transporting (and quietly heart-shredding) narrative journey than Stroem, whose Joe Pitt, the Republican Mormon in denial of his sexuality, was the closest embodiment of that sense of vulnerability pervading "Angels in America."

The actor himself had, through the decade, steadily built a resumé in musical theater, in such shows as "Jersey Boys," "Next to Normal" and "Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady." In making the leap to nonmusical plays, he raised the bar the highest, indisputably signaling the arrival of a serious new entrant to the field.

Honorable Mentions: Gio Gahol ("Laro"); Nelsito Gomez ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches"); Phi Palmos ("Laro"); Art Acuña ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches"); Cholo Ledesma ("Alpha Kappa Omega"); Ross Pesigan ("Laro"); Jon Abella ("Laro"); Brian Sy ("Coriolano"); Adrian Reyes ("Freedom Wall"); Nonie Buencamino ("The Kundiman Party"); Jack Yabut ("Makinal"); AJ Sison ("Wanted: Male Boarders"); Jonathan Tadioan ("Coriolano"); Ross Pesigan ("Fuente Ovejuna"/Filipino version); Boo Gabunada ("The Kundiman Party"); Earvin Estioco ("Alpha Kappa Omega"); Jay Gonzaga ("Laro"); André Miguel ("Laro"); Vincent Kevin Pajara ("Laro")

"Tartuffe (o Ang Manloloko)," April 2019.

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS (PLAY)

Katski Flores ("Alpha Kappa Omega").

As the teacher Ms. Casuso, the play's voice of reason and moral axis, Flores appeared in only a handful of scenes. But how she made every minute count, with a performance that recalled the finest and fiercest fleeting turns of the decade--think Roselyn Perez in "The Normal Heart," Gina Respall in "The King and I," Cherie Gil in "Nine."

Flores' primary job was to ground the world of "Alpha Kappa Omega," which she did every time she stepped onstage--only to send the play shooting skyward with her blazing presence and incendiary monologues.

Honorable Mentions: Angeli Bayani ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches"); Sabrina Basilio ("A Family Reunion"); Sherry Lara ("Coriolano"); Karen Romualdez ("Makinal"); Harriette Damole ("Marat/Sade"); Antonette Go ("Tartuffe [o Ang Manloloko]"); Tami Monsod ("The Dresser"); Sarina Sasaki ("Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba"); Gel Basa ("Ang Tahanan ni Bernarda Alba"); Adrianna Agcaoili ("Marat/Sade")

"Spring Awakening," March 2019.

BEST MUSICAL (NON-FILIPINO MATERIAL)

"Spring Awakening" (music by Duncan Sheik, libretto by Steven Sater; Missy Maramara, dir.). 

Nothing really compares to the thrill of seeing students aim for the big leagues--and hit their marks to show what campus theater can achieve.

This year, the elite company of DUP's "Ang Nawalang Kapatid" and TA's "Middle Finger" and "Kalantiaw" welcomed to their ranks Ateneo Blue Repertory's second shot at "Spring Awakening"--a revelatory, lucidly mounted and across-the-board stunning production that made full, intelligent use of its resources to conjure a world both archaic and frighteningly current.

Tying together all the ravishing elements was Maramara's direction--steeped in a profound understanding of youth, its juvenile desires and reckless nature, and able to keenly translate that understanding into plot, movement, and expression. The result was one of the best university productions we've seen this decade. It was also one of the best productions of the decade--period.

Honorable Mentions: "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" (book by Hugh Wheeler, score by Stephen Sondheim; Bobby Garcia, dir.); "Passion" (book by James Lapine, score by Stephen Sondheim; Robbie Guevara, dir.); "Company" (book by George Furth, score by Stephen Sondheim; Topper Fabregas, dir.)

"Hanggang Isang Araw," March 2019.

BEST MUSICAL (ORIGINAL FILIPINO MATERIAL OR ADAPTATION)

"Hanggang Isang Araw" (book by Eljay Castro Deldoc, based on Trina Paulus' "Hope for the Flowers," score by Fitz Bitana and Krina Cayabyab; Mark Mirando, dir.). 

This little-seen production, part of UP Diliman's lineup of student theses, was the pinnacle of invention and imagination--and the kind of resourceful, risk-taking theater we should all stan. An aspirational musical about caterpillars that was practically a no-entry warning to cynics? Hell yes, it worked--and worked really, really well, care of Mirando's playful direction; Deldoc's compact writing; Bitana and Cayabyab's lush, no-frills music; and a chameleonic four-person cast led by the incandescent Miah Canton in a breakthrough performance.

Honorable Mentions: "Walang Aray" (libretto by Rody Vera, based on Severino Reyes' "Walang Sugat," music by Vince Lim; Ian Segarra, dir.); "Lam-ang" (book and lyrics by Eljay Castro Deldoc, based on "Biag ni Lam-ang," score by Fitz Bitana and Jen Darlene Torres; Fitz Bitana and Marco Viaña, dirs.)

"Company," September 2019.

BEST ACTOR (MUSICAL)

No citation.

Honorable Mentions: Sandino Martin ("Spring Awakening"); Vien King ("Passion"); Jett Pangan ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"); Nicco Manalo ("Ang Huling El Bimbo"); JC Santos ("Lam-ang"); Lance Reblando ("Ang Huling El Bimbo"); Phi Palmos ("Ang Huling El Bimbo"); OJ Mariano ("Company")

"Passion," September 2019.

BEST ACTRESS (MUSICAL)

Shiela Valderrama-Martinez ("Passion") and Lea Salonga ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"). 

What's better than one triumphant performance by an actress in a Sondheim show? Two such performances. How lucky we are, then, to have witnessed in the same year career-best work from both Valderrama-Martinez and Salonga.

Honorable Mentions: Gab Pangilinan ("Ang Huling El Bimbo"); Krystal Kane ("Spring Awakening"); Felicity Kyle Napuli ("Dani Girl"); Miah Canton ("Hanggang Isang Araw"); Celine Fabie ("Himala, Isang Musikal"); Monique Wilson ("Mabining Mandirigma"); Maia Dapul ("Unperfect")

 "Himala, Isang Musikal," September 2019.

BEST FEATURED ACTOR (MUSICAL)

Juancho Gabriel ("Spring Awakening"). 

As the tragic Moritz, whose coming of age becomes both his metaphorical and literal death sentence, Gabriel was an electric bundle of nerves and confusion--gone too soon in the world of the musical, but a most indelible presence on that stage.

Honorable Mentions: Victor Robinson III ("Himala, Isang Musikal"); Lorenz Martinez ("Dani Girl"); Daniel Drilon ("Dani Girl"); George Schulze ("Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"); Jason Tan Liwag ("Spring Awakening"); Juliene Mendoza ("Dani Girl"); Raul Montesa ("Passion"); Nyoy Volante ("Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"); Paw Castillo ("Lam-ang"); Hans Eckstein ("The Quest for the Adarna"); Joseph Nabong ("Hanggang Isang Araw"); Bene Manaois ("Walang Aray"); Chino Veguillas ("Company")

"Walang Aray," October 2019.

BEST FEATURED ACTRESS (MUSICAL)

Cathy Azanza-Dy ("Company"). 

There were many reasons to catch this surprisingly of-the-moment rendition of "Company," but none as persuasive as Azanza-Dy's pitch-perfect embodiment of what makes this musical and what makes it work--as bride-to-be Amy, neurosis, heartache and comedy all rolled into one.

Honorable Mentions: Tex Ordoñez-de Leon ("Lam-ang"); Alexa Prats ("Spring Awakening"); Jenine Desiderio ("Rak of Aegis"); Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo ("Company"); Anna Luna ("Lam-ang"); Joanna Ampil ("Cats"); Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante ("Beautiful: The Carole King Musical"); Maronne Cruz ("Company"); J-mee Katanyag ("Walang Aray"); Leah Patricio ("Rak of Aegis"); Sheila Francisco ("Himala, Isang Musikal"); Jasmine Fitzgerald ("Passion")

"Dancing Lessons," August 2019.

BEST DIRECTOR

Missy Maramara ("Spring Awakening"). 

See Best Musical (Non-Filipino Material).

Honorable Mentions: Ed Lacson Jr. ("Stop Kiss"); Guelan Luarca ("Alpha Kappa Omega"); Bobby Garcia ("Angels in America: Millennium Approaches" and "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street"); Ricardo Abad ("If He Doesn't See Your Face"); Charles Yee ("Fangirl"); Maynard Manansala ("Anak Ka Ng"); Mark Mirando ("Hanggang Isang Araw"); Robbie Guevara ("Passion"); Francis Matheu ("Dancing Lessons")