PHILIPPINES THEATER REVIEWS

It makes perfect sense that Repertory Philippines (REP) chose to end its 50th-anniversary celebrations with the staging of a big musical like Hair. First, the said musical is also commemorating the 50th anniversary of its first staging Off-Broadway. Second, as the musical talks about the dawning o...

Do not let your unfamiliarity with the 1968 movie stop you from watching Resorts World Manila's newest production, Ian Flemming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. In fact, in this case, having very limited knowledge prior to watching the show (we are, of course, aware of the flying car since it is being u...

When the film adaptation of Edgardo Reyes's novel Maynila, sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag, helmed by acclaimed director Lino Brocka, was first released, it was praised by critics for its brave and honest depiction of the quality (or lack thereof) of urban life during the Marcos administration. Surprisi...

Every generation, past or present, knows what a great musical is: it's one that's so hauntingly memorable, its score and plot reflective of the time or the aspirations of the time. Such is The Sound of Music whose songs and romantic narrative have haunted us to this very day, since its November 16,...

You'd be hard-pressed to find a busier man in the industry than Vince Tanada. Now in his 16th year as the president and founding artistic director of the Philippine Stagers Foundation (PSF), he also serves as the company's creative heartbeat--writing and directing productions with a history of reach...

Most of us probably harbor an old skeleton or two, though we see no urgent reason to empty that closet before we can go about our business. Secrets are part of the dubious norm we share....

If you think you will be watching the same 'Beauty and the Beast' movie you've seen recently starring Emma Watson or the version where you heard Celine Dion and Peabo Bryson's voices during the end credits, you're in for a different yet as magical treat....

At a press preview, Artist Playground Co-Founders Roeder Camañag and Paul Jake Paule have unveiled their cast that will be featured in their restaging of Rody Vera's 'Happiness is a Pearl,' one of their recent hits....

Touted as "Broadway's greatest dance musical," "West Side Story," the international tour, opened in Manila to a crowd of old and new fans, and the result is both exhilarating and, to some degree, bifurcating....

Satisfyingly, the show was a consistent laughtrip from the minute you heard the VO up until the last note. The Fisch Schlapping Song made me laugh like I haven't laughed in ages. I knew then that I was in for a very, very entertaining night....

Disney's Newsies is a Tony Award-winning musical derived from the motion picture of the same title. Produced for the first time in Manila, it has commanded the day's headlines and kept a viewing public abuzz with excitement. We can assume Disney's ubiquitous brand had preceded its product, given the...

The Cyndi Lauper-Harvey Fierstein award-winning musical 'Kinky Boots' has finally strutted into Manila, and if the spontaneous standing ovations and full houses since opening night are any indication, Lola, the indomitable drag queen at the center of the show, could be right--'I came for one thing o...

Sister Act was a Hollywood blockbuster in the early 1990s, pegged as a family comedy that cashed in on the sheer star power of Whoopi Goldberg. A quarter of a century later, Whoopi remains at the helm--this time as a producer of the Broadway incarnation. While her illustrious charm sells almost ever...

The Egg Theater Company (ETC), which stages Filipino plays, and theatrical venue Pineapple Lab, present award-winning playwright and ETC co-founder George de Jesus III's 'Kung Paano Maghiwalay,' which tackles the subject of relationships on the brink of breaking up....

Ateneo Blue Repertory's take on "Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady" is downright engaging: a no-dull-moment rollick of riot and fun. Where most comedy musicals fail, this two-hour comedy does not lollygag in its intent to entertain nonstop, and we have the millennials' boundless energy and raw tale...

Sara Ruhl is arguably the most inventive young playwright to emerge in recent years. Exploiting a genre that thrives on the fringes, she graces the mainstream with narratives that fuse realism and sundry whimsical elements. She has a shrewd sense of humor to boot, demonstrated in her 2009 Broadway h...

Repertory Philippines' (Rep) current production of 'Agnes of God,' a play by American playwright John Pielmeier, tells the story of a novice nun who has borne a child believed to be a product of a virgin birth....

The much-anticipated return of WICKED did not fail to generate the buzz and crowd it was expected to. The throng that trooped to The Theatre at Solaire on February 8 was proof that this hit Broadway musical indeed has a Manila cult following, some of whom wickedly garbed in celebratory costumes, mos...

60 years after its original run in Manila, 'Noli Me Tangere, the Opera' is back for a limited engagement at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) Main Hall. The show's producers, Jerry Sibal (also the show's director) and Edwin Josue, Filipinos both based in the United States, are going all o...

Almost everyone loves Christmas. Almost, since there is The Grinch and an old fellow named Ebenezer Scrooge. The latter is the main character in Charles Dickens' novel titled 'A Christmas Carol.' His story is quite popular, not just among literature fans, because it served as inspiration to some TV ...

It's no fluke that Ballet Philippines' 47th season is titled 'Wings.' In its latest display of creativity, the company dazzles with a unique production and exhibits the intrepid capacity for flight away from convention....

The plucky red-haired girl that conquered our hearts so many times over has finally returned to town as Resorts World Manila's (RWM) production of Martin Charnin and Charles Strouse's ANNIE continues to play the Newport Performing Arts Theatre until December 11....

Repertory Philippines' (REP) 49th season culminates with a musical adaptation of A Little Princess, Frances Hodgson Burnett's 1905 children's novel. Just in time for the holidays, REP's offering comes in a mixed bag of splendor and disenchantment....

Atlantis Theatrical Entertainment Group's (ATEG) Manila production of the 2015 Tony© Best Musical FUN HOME opens and unravels with no fanfare: a minimalist set, a meager ensemble of ten actors, musical numbers that do not play to spectacular choreography and exploding lights, and a venue so small t...

'I'm Martial Law ready.' This was one of the Facebook posts that prompted Vincent Tañada to write 'Katips: Ang Mga Bagong Katipunero.' In a speech he gave right after the curtain call last October 16, Tañada (who also directs the show and is one of the lead actors) confessed that this musical is i...