august 16, 2009
on my quest to continually add art in my life, after watching a number of plays and independent films, and in celebrating the fact that i found a partner who appreciates this type of art, i ached to watch a musical.
in one of tin's e-mail groups, onyl torres, sent out an invite to watch "the three penny opera". since we are only available on weekends, we have scheduled ourselves to watch the play on its last run.
i was so excited since i can no longer remember when was the last time i watched a musical ( i don't really consider noli at fili to be one).
we also invited kiki to join us in watching the play, because i know for a fact that she would enjoy such performance.
the play was held in Peta Theater and since it's very much accessible for us, there was no reason for us to miss it.
until the morning of august 16 were we able to reserve tickets and know the time the house opens.
after a day of shopping (weeeee!), we went back to tin's place and headed to peta theater to meet up with kiki.
i remember the benefits of watching the last run of a play. everything has been polished and the actors would be giving it all they've got. i sort of forgot the fact that famous people would be around too.
while waiting for the house to be open, we already spotted some famous faces. like those who star in independent films, stage plays.. and those i remember the name. like no less than mr. mabesa.
i thought it was production by peta, but later found out that it's a production of "a world theater project" . of course we got a copy of the production book and when we skimmed through the pages, goosebumps started to appear! well, it was ignited a little by mr. mabesa, but when i saw the names of the cast, i was already sooo excited and can't wait for the musical to start.
they asked us, those who were waiting to watch the play to fall in line since the house is about to open. there were people seated on the benches near the table. we just bought the production book for kiki so, we were very much near the door. mr. mabesa and his friends were standing in front of us and in front of them was the door. we wanted to get great seats so, instead of going to the back of the line of benches, we just sticked to being at the end of mr. mabesa's party. thus, we had the best seats! well, mr. mabesa and company occupied the first row of seats after the monoblock chairs, and we went to get the row behind him, which is a little more elevated so his height won't be a bother.
House music was played live. There was this guy playing the accordion and after some time he was missing fingers! I can’t find his name in the production book, but I’m sure he is mentioned there somewhere. I don’t know anyone who knows how to play it, so it already had me amazed. And playing it with less than ten fingers?! I was simply blown away.
So, as we enjoy the house music and the oohs and aahs as we flip through the production book, kiki grabbed me and said, “si lea salonga ba yun?” (is that lea salonga?) I looked at the direction she was gasping and way and behold! The great ms. Lea Salonga is just a few feet away from us. When I saw her she was standing in front of the last row of monoblock chairs in front of mr. mabesa and saying hellos. We wanted to stand up and extend our hands as well! I told tin that lea salonga’s here, since she is as much as a fan as I am, if not more. Then, we were all gushing. Starstruck. And that doesn’t happen often. Kiki even had a hard time breathing. My knees were weak and I could barely feel my legs (aside from the fact that it’s really cold).
Then, we heard mr. mabesa told lea that there are better seats than where she was initially seating. Lea didn’t really mind. But tony insisted. He ofcourse could not offer his seat and his row is already full. Then he turned around and saw that the seat beside tin was empty and asked if there was someone seated there. I froze. There’s the possibility that tin would be sitting beside lea salonga! But she was with her mom and there’s only one vacant seat. Tony then asked the guy after the vacant seat to move. He initially moved to the vacant seat beside tin, but then tony said that he move the other way. Lea and her mom was already seated but since mr. mabes insisted that they get better seats, they stood up and went to the seats beside us! At that point, I was frozed and stopping myself from screaming, “Oh my God!” we tried very hard not to show how starstruck we were. So, we were not really looking. Then, it was her mom that seated beside tin. So, if you are on the stage, from your right, kiki, then me, tin, lea’s mom and then, lea salonga! The house music even changed to, “on my own”. I guess to honor her presence.
And the play haven’t even started yet!
With a cast that will blow you away, the expectation was so high, and of course, they didn’t fail to meet or even exceed one’s expectation. Even lea’s.
When it was time to sing the national anthem, for me the least thing you could do for your country is to honor and respect whenever the national anthem is played and proudly sing it. And I know for a fact that lea salonga would be singing it. So, as I was singing, I went a little bit closer to tin to be able to hear her. I even looked at her direction to check if it was really her that I hear. And I saw her hand on her chest rising and falling. She’s singing! Live! Almost beside me! And she really has an amazing voice, that I would just dream of having.
She recently sang “ang bayan ko” during mrs. Aquino’s funeral and I was just as awed.
So, on to the play..
To simply put it (spoiler alert), it’s a story of a known crook that has a number of women in his life and is in ties with the police, so he gets away with things, but eventually his criminal ways would lead him to prison and then he would be sentenced to hang. But would be pardoned by the queen.
There were a few inconsistencies but I’m not 100% sure, it would need research and since this write up is long overdue and the musical was really awesome, I could let it slip.
These are the names that has blown me away while skimming through the production book: Ricci Chan and Bituin Escalante.
Ever since Zsa Zsa Zathurnahh, I have been a fan of Ricci Chan on stage. And as lea said, everytime he comes up on stage, it’s hilarious! He really is a brilliant stage actor.
This is the first musical that I have seen that Bituin Escalante is a part of. So, when I saw the production book, I was surprised that in the list of the actors and their credentials, all she had under her name was her role. And apparently, as kiki said, she’s always like that. She didn’t have here theater escapades printed after her name and role. I’m still not decided if it’s a sign of arrogance, but sure enough, her name, picture and the role that she would portray would be more than enough.
There are a lot of things you learn when you get the production book. Although you would usually have students buying it for their papers. So, here’s the few things I picked up:
Kalila Aguilos is Bituin Escalante’s sister! She was the villain during the run of Zsa Zsa that I was able to watch. And Bituin was also watching with us. We heard that Bituin has a sibling that was part of the musical. So, we were looking among the townsfolk because we didn’t find anyone from the cast that looks like her. And aside from their difference in their looks, they play totally different characters which is totally cool! And their song was really amazing.
The person who played MRS. Peachum is a man! Cholo Gino really played the part well. And his singing voice didn’t seem to have a hint of masculinity. I needed to flip through the production book with the house lights off just to check his name.
The whole cast was brilliant. The production was really good. The stage was not boring. They used the simillar set up of the stage at the Peta Theater with “Noli at Fili: dekada mil dos”. But, again, who would need a fabulous stage if you have a great cast? Their voices were amazing and their acting superb.
The musical ran for, I believe more than 2 hours and not a single second was boring. So, standing O to the cast and production team of the “The Three Penny Opera”! Watching it with lea salonga or not, the play was fantabulous!
