PHILIPPINES THEATER REVIEWS

With a creative vision accompanied by an infectious musical score and punctuated by powerful and authentic performances, 'Mula sa Buwan,' no wonder, is shaping up to be a musical that will be well-remembered long after its final bow. Now in its third and (as they promoted it) last run, I saw the sho...

Imagine yourself in a small room where you can watch people in their most unguarded moments and listen to their innermost, basest desires without any burden or worry of getting caught… Imagine yourself doing what you love doing with no cares for time and space… Imagine yourself in a dressing roo...

In the play 'Boston Marriage,' dramatist David Mamet famously quotes, 'We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.' Indeed, as life in the present has become ever more stressful, one can always choose to find comfort in the gustatory wonders of a perfect pie....

'Mula Sa Buwan,'the original Filipino musical, based on the Edmond Rostand play 'Cyrano de Bergerac,' written by Pat Valera (concept, book, and lyrics) and William Manzano (lyrics and music), returns for a third time, now through November 25, 2018, at the brand new 800-seater theatre at the Hyundai ...

Sneer if you must, but it seems 'Carrie, The Musical' keeps finding an agreeable audience. The cult classic has endured all manner of critical rebuke and inspired a few vicious parodies along the way. But certain companies remain undaunted, hell-bent on resurrecting a departed and beleaguered heroin...

Lonesome is the perch where this avid music fan must critique a genre consumed by a devout subculture. Musical taste is a subjective value, which ought to render all taste buds sacrosanct and perhaps left alone. The task is more involved when said genre becomes a basis for an international musical....

Jukebox musicals have been quite a trend lately. Owing its origin to Buddy - The Buddy Holly Story, which successfully ran on West End from 1989 to 2003, the genre's popularity has been boosted by many others that followed suit, such as Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, featuring the music and lif...

It has been a very busy theater season in Manila. The past months saw the premiere of productions offering different and often intriguing facets of life, which naturally would solicit interest into the prying eyes of the theater-going public. With so much theater goings-on, 'Guadalupe The Musical' s...

Sab Jose (W) and Jake Cueca (M) are the only two actors in Duncan MacMillan's 90-minute play 'Lungs'; they perform on a bare stage, without props, a set, or a costume change....

George Bernard Shaw is believed to have given his stamp of approval on one of the theater's most famous acts of defiance. He called it 'the door slam heard around the world.'...

The press preview of David Henry Hwang's award-winning play 'M. Butterfly,' produced by Broadway producer Jhett Tolentino and Frontrow Entertainment, at the Maybank Performing Arts Theater proved to be far stronger than the force of nature, fluttering nonchalantly despite looming news of a super typ...

He lived a sad life of perversion in a profession of lost causes yet his life's failure was overshadowed when he chose to love, albeit secretly and surreal. This is how one would see Mang Serapio in Theater Titas and Duende Theatre's 50th-anniversary production of 'Ang kay Paglilitis kay Mang Serapi...

It's a fitting irony that Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group commences its season with 'Side Show,' a relatively untapped musical in contemporary theater canon. It's a gutsy show, flaunting with unabashed elan the grim underbelly of circus entertainment....

Being old and gray is a one-way road that awaits everyone. This is the central message of "Gee-gee at Waterina: Ang Musikal," where two old gay friends, Gee-gee and Waterina, revisit the horrendous living conditions during the Second World War and face the new challenges of an uncertain future....

The good news is that 'Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!,' an original Filipino play set into music by APO Hiking Society's hit songs, is like no other OPM jukebox musical we have seen in recent memory. Most of the jukebox musicals staged in Manila have an entirely fictional story (e.g. 'Ako si Josephine,' '3 S...

Whether you're up for it or not, jukebox musicals are back in full swing. The genre assumes a new swagger--aimed not merely to regale, but ostensibly to prove artistic legitimacy....

Philippine theater enthusiasts will surely take pride in the Manila kickoff of the first-ever international touring production of Disney's 'The Lion King,' hailed as 'the world's #1 musical.'...

We Filipinos love to sing and, not only that, some even create theme songs to commemorate special memories with friends and loved ones. At the center of Artist Playground's latest offering is a barkada (clique) of six teenagers forced to have a get-together at their favorite bar as requested by one ...

Chalk it up to antiquated gender politics that a woman must shatter a glass ceiling to validate her achievement. Despite a long history of injustice, the establishment is relatively unscathed and rarely accountable....

Just when we thought a restaging of the musical adaptation of a highly-acclaimed Filipino film could never do wonders, we caught ourselves absolutely in awe of what was offered to us on the February 18 matinee of The Sandbox Collective's comeback musical, 'Himala: Isang Musikal' (its last one was 'D...

What do you get when you have mistaken identity and false accusation of infidelity mixed with melodrama, comedy, Italian and Russian accents, seduction, misunderstanding, opera, and Lorenz Martinez shifting from one character to another? Definitely, a hilarious night at the theatre....

The musical pedigree of Ang Larawan, an official entry to the 2017 Metro Manila Film Festival (MMFF), traces back to Culturtain Musicat Productions' (formerly Musical Theatre Philippines) 1997 musical adaptation of Nick Joaquin's 1950 landmark play A Portrait of the Artist as Filipino. Why such ...

If it's true about Christmas being the most wonderful time of the year, Manila's theater fans may add to their list of good tidings a promising new tradition courtesy of Globe LIVE and 9 Works Theatrical....

Uso kaayo karon, labi na sa mga kabatan-onan, ang kining ginatawag nga mga pamalandong bahin sa gugma. Mao nga kining myusikal nga Gugmang Giatay, nga ang dungog namo kay sikat kaayo sa dakbayan sa Sugbu, dali ra kaayo nakapahimuot sa amoa. Kuha kaayo nila ang mga kinaiya sa mga kabatan-onan karon...

As far as our fickle adult memory is concerned, there could be very few child roles in major Broadway and West End musicals that captured our hearts: Annie, Oliver, Mary Lennox, and Dorothy. Matilda is the latest welcome addition....