Philippines Theater Reviews: Best Shows & Critic Recommendations

Review: KISS OF THE SPIDERWOMAN Confidently Harnesses the Language of Film
by Oliver Oliveros - October 14, 2025

In 'Kiss of the Spiderwoman,' which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, movie musical veteran Bill Condon reimagines it, with additional songs from the pre-Broadway production....

Review: REP’s ALICE IN WONDERLAND is Lively, Polished Retelling of Lewis Carroll’s Classic
by Gilbert Kim Sancha - October 08, 2025

Repertory Philippines’ latest Theater for Young Audiences (RTYA) production, 'Alice in Wonderland,' is a lively and polished retelling of Lewis Carroll’s beloved classic—one that balances spectacle with sincerity....

Review: THE BODYGUARD THE MUSICAL Launches Rockwell’s Proscenium Theater in Spectacular Style
by Gilbert Kim Sancha - October 01, 2025

Rockwell’s Proscenium Theater makes its grand debut, heralding not just a new stage but a hub for immersive, unforgettable theatrical experiences in the heart of Metro Manila....

Review: DEAR EVAN HANSEN in Manila Speaks to a New Generation
by Gilbert Kim Sancha - September 22, 2025

Presented by GMG Productions, this landmark staging of the Tony Award-winning phenomenon, 'Dear Evan Hansen,' introduces the show to local audiences and marks the Asia premiere of the acclaimed UK touring production....

Review: INTO THE WOODS Weaves Timeless Tale in Philippine Setting
by Oliver Oliveros - August 20, 2025

Once upon a time, Stephen Sondheim's (music and lyrics) and James Lapine's (book) 1986 musical 'Into the Woods' was written to appeal like a mashup of the Brothers Grimm's fairy tales—thus, the show's commercial allure. But we all knew Sondheim's creative mind was more complex than that; he dared to...

Review: BINI Concludes Their BINIverse World Tour in Vancouver
by Alyson Eng - June 26, 2025

Since their official debut in 2021, BINI has become a defining force in Filipino pop music, earning them the well-deserved title of the “Nation’s Girl Group.” Formed through ABS-CBN’s Star Hunt Academy in 2019, the eight member group composed of Aiah, Colet, Maloi, Gwen, Stacey, Mikha, Jhoanna, and ...

Review: DELIA D. Misses Authenticity
by Jude Cartalaba - May 21, 2025

'Delia D,' the latest original Filipino musical presented by Newport World Resorts, had its gala night earlier this month. True to its promise, the Dexter Santos-helmed stage production delivered the daring and dazzling dream of a drag queen, Just Delia (Phi Palmos), whom TV stalwarts have renamed D...

Review: LIWANAG SA DILIM, Take It or Leave It
by Jude Cartalaba - April 29, 2025

It isn't much about deconstructing Dr. Jose Rizal’s deemed subversive novels, but how laudable 9 Works Theatrical’s bold decision to retell mainly Rizal’s 'Noli Me Tangere’s' enduring characters’ origins, probable untold stories, and everything in between....

ANINO SA LIKOD NG BUWAN: Sexy, Risky, and Timely
by Jude Cartalaba - March 06, 2025

Jun Robles Lana's 'Anino sa Likod ng Buwan,' directed by Gawad Buhay awardee Tuxqs Rutaquio, is perhaps one of the most-awaited original Filipino straight play revivals that would come as strikingly sexy and risky but timely production to open this year....

Review: NEXT TO NORMAL Breaks Your Heart Into Pieces
by Jude Cartalaba - February 22, 2025

Mental health a few years back wasn't something very alarming, but due to high rates of depression, anxiety, and suicide, it has become more and more a growing concern. In 2025, the staging of the 2008 American rock musical 'Next to Normal' (with book and lyrics by Brian Yorkey and music by Tom Kitt...

Review: IN THE HEIGHTS Bursts with Contagious Energy
by Oliver Oliveros - January 07, 2025

Despite technical challenges, the cast and crew recently pulled through the Cebu premiere of the Tony Award-winning musical 'In The Heights' at the Saint Theresa’s College of Cebu Auditorium....

Review: Like Elphie, WICKED Film is Confident in Its Skin
by Oliver Oliveros - November 19, 2024

NO ONE MOURNS THE WICKED. While Andrew Lloyd Webber’s 'Evita' begins with Argentinians mourning the death of their beloved Eva Peron, the Ozians of the fictional Land of Oz in Stephen Schwartz’s 'Wicked' rejoice for the supposed death of their perceived nemesis, The Wicked Witch of the West,” in Bro...

MISS SAIGON And Me: A Three-Decade Chase
by Vince Vicentuan - October 03, 2024

Musical theatre became a transformative part of my life when I first encountered 'Miss Saigon' as a young adult in 1989....

PAROKYA NI EDGAR Musical Plays Last Two Weeks at Newport Performing Arts Theatre
by Oliver Oliveros - June 10, 2024

How can Newport World Resorts top its biggest original Pinoy musical hit, ''Ang Huling El Bimbo'? Work around the music catalog of another beloved OPM band, Parokya ni Edgar....

RENT Sheds Light On Those Intimidated, Ignorant About HIV/AIDS
by Jude Cartalaba - June 02, 2024

RENT, the late Jonathan Larson's masterpiece, was a cultural sensation in 1996, winning the Tony Award for Best Musical and a Pulitzer for Drama. But does it still resonate with today’s younger audiences?...

MISS SAIGON Remains Relevant, Given the Continuous Acts of Violence and War Today
by Gilbert Kim Sancha - May 12, 2024

After its phenomenally successful run in Australia in collaboration with Opera Australia, GMG Productions, in association with GWB Entertainment, presented this new and stunning production in Manila, 24 years after a six-month commercially successful run in the Philippine capital....

PRINSIPE BAHAGHARI is Ripe with Life's Foremost Lessons
by Oliver Oliveros - January 25, 2024

The 1943 children’s novel by French writer poet Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, 'The Little Prince,' is a classic literary piece meant for adults. Instead of children-friendly explorations of friendship, love, and fantasy, it blows heavier with darker themes of loneliness, obsession, and loss....

ASIAN PERSUASION: Jhett Tolentino's Bid to a More Inclusive Hollywood
by Vince Vicentuan - December 01, 2023

Amidst excitement and anticipation, 'Asian Persuasion,' a film by Tony and Grammy-winning Filipino producer Jhett Tolentino, premiered on Monday evening, November 27, at SM Megamall Cinema 2. During the exclusive press screening, press members along with the cast and creatives talked about the futur...

Review: HAMILTON Builds An Impactful Legacy
by Rayne Jarabo - November 22, 2023

How the 18th-century American Revolutionary War is depicted in the Pulitzer Award-winning musical 'Hamilton' continues to thrill patrons and theatergoers, now in its last week at The Theatre at Solaire. This production marks 'Hamilton’s' first international tour, which will soon transfer to the Etih...

Review: In TICK, TICK…BOOM! Midlife Crisis, Oozing Talent Are Inescapable
by Jude Cartalaba - August 18, 2023

Jon (Jef Flores, Khalil Ramos), the protagonist in Jonathan Larson's 'tick, tick.... BOOM!' is a struggling composer who is days away from turning 30. He can’t help but hear that internal clock clicking: he doesn’t want to turn a year older without something groundbreaking to show....

Review: IBARRA's Memorable Moments and Excesses
by Jude Cartalaba - June 19, 2023

With the birth of a new theater company, Tanghalang Una Obra, whose creatives were closely associated with Gantimpala Theater Foundation, comes 'Ibarra,' a reworking of the latter’s yearly production of 'Kanser,' based on Dr. Jose Rizal’s first novel, 'Noli Me Tangere.' But this time, it presents th...

Artistic Integrity or Profit?
by Jude Cartalaba - June 15, 2023

A little over 10 years since Actor's Actors Inc.'s The Necessary Theatre premiered John Logan's Tony Award-winning play 'Red' in Asia, the theater company brings back the two-hander on stage. Bart Guingona still plays the abstract expressionist Mark Rothko, while JC Santos plays his fictional studio...

Review: TWENTY QUESTIONS, 20 Years Later
by Oliver Oliveros - May 25, 2023

If you were to stage a 20-year-old two-hander post-pandemic, it’d be a smart move to update its directorial decisions and the script’s words and dialogues, especially with the play’s themes about young love, pre-marital sex, and peer pressure meant to resonate, at the least, with the Gen Zers today....

At Best When There's Singing and Dancing on Screen
by Oliver Oliveros - January 12, 2023

Learning music mogul Clive Davis gave the imprimatur to 'Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody,' the biopic of Davis’s former protegee and the late music icon Whitney Houston, promises topnotch musical sequences, which would not disappoint--even the most critical superfans. ...

Review: Marriage is Not Perfect; It Never Will Be
by Rayne Jarabo - November 29, 2022

Witnessing a postmodern reimagination of a sublime 20th-century Rodgers and Hammerstein musical makes one realize there is a darker, yet more revealing, life’s perspective. In Repertory Philippines’ 'Carousel,' director Toff de Venecia incorporates what we obsess about in this digital age, e.g., mob...