Last year, 9 Works Theatrical and Globe Live! produced their first original Filipino musical based on the music of APO Hiking Society, Eto Na! Musikal nAPO!. The critically acclaimed feel-good musical made an audience of different generations laugh and cry while resisting the urge to sing along the greatest hits of APO.Answering everyone’s Panalangin (including mine), Eto Na! Musikal nAPO! is back for a second run from February 2 to March 17.
Eto Na! Musikal nAPO! is a heartwarming story of love and friendship. Set during the country’s turbulent 70’s, a college barkada decides to join a singing and songwriting contest. As talented as the young friends are, they find that like real life (especially during Martial Law), finding the right lyric to the perfect melody is not as easy as it seems.
A jukebox musical is always an exciting idea. To the regular theater-goer, it might seem like a simple formula: take a musician’s existing catalog and make a story out of it. But, in reality, it is very hard to execute. Jukebox musicals are either a hit or a miss. 9 Works Theatrical and Globe Live’s first original Filipino musical takes on APO Hiking Society’s greatest hits. And like APO’s songs, Eto Na! Musikal nAPO! is definitely a big hit.
At the core of Eto Na! Musikal nAPO! is a heartwarming story of love and friendship. Set during the country’s turbulent 70’s, a group of college friends decide to join a singing and songwriting contest. At a time when originality and creativity, especially in the music industry, was not particularly celebrated, they decide to submit an original composition.
The barkada preparing their song contest entry (Photo: Leo Castillo)(more…)
Globe LIVE! and 9 Works Theatrical brings back Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens’ A Christmas Carol The Musical this December. This year’s re-staging features new stage, new cast and a new Tiny Tim among the many other surprises of this production. I’ve seen last year’s production and I must say, like the source material, it has become timeless. It never gets old and like a child who has longed for Christmas for 12 months, I don’t want it to end.
You know the story of Ebenezer Scrooge (Miguel Faustmann): an old, miserable and selfish man who hates Christmas. He rains on everyone’s parade when everyone else just wants to celebrate and have fun. Then one night, the ghost of his late business partner Jacob Marley (Noel Rayos) warns him to change his ways before it is too late. He tells Scrooge that three spirits would be visiting him to show how his life was, is and will be at Christmas time. Only then would Scrooge realize the true meaning of the holidays: love and family.
In celebration of hit musical Rent‘s 20th anniversary, 9 Works Theatrical is continuing its stellar run of musical plays with another one penned and inspired by Jonathan Larson, Tick, Tick...Boom! What’s different this time is that instead of their huge musical productions, like La Cage Aux Folles and American Idiot, 9 Works is stripping down to its rawest, most vulnerable emotions.
Jef Flores, Tanya Manalang and Ariel Reonal demonstrate how blending is done.
Tick, Tick…Boom! tells the story of an aspiring musical composer, Jon. Like most artists, Jon finds himself at a crossroads: Should he pursue his chosen passion or give in to the comforts of a stable corporate job? Pressured from (and dreading) turning 30, his girlfriend and best friend make him consider giving up his dream of writing his musical.
Jef Flores is the “struggling artist”, Jon.
Taking the lead role as Jon is Jef Flores who continually makes his mark in the local theater industry. After winning Best Actor (Gawad Buhay for This Is Our Youth), this guy shows no signs of stopping. I first saw Jef as Bazooka Man in Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady. And, while working as an “intern” for the production, I also got to hear him sing different songs from boyband tunes to the Pokémon jingle during sound check (best version ever!). At that point, I wanted to see more of him. And I did. In his stint as Jesus in Godspell, Jef proved that he is a literal gift from the heavens, having demonstrated his many talents and wit. The guy plays the violin, for crying out loud! So…I am one with the people rejoicing that Jef is in Tick, Tick…Boom!. *cries*
Theater workshops might not be the top of mind summer activity for your kids (if you have kids), for your siblings and even for you. Well, that was the case for me. I wasn’t really exposed to performance arts when I was younger. I had only been enrolled in a summer swimming class once. Maybe the reason’s financial or that summer classes aren’t as easy to find back in my day (90s HAHA excuse me). My only “experience” in theater then was being cast as a bird in Aladdin in fourth grade. I got sick so I didn’t really make it to the show. *sighs*
My first theater workshop was in April-May 2014 under 9 Works Theatrical. I got hooked instantly that I enrolled the next year again. Needless to say, I loved it!
Here’s a few of my main reasons why you should TRY theater workshops.
This image was from our last year’s showcase Lucky Stiff. Fun times!
