Globe LIVE! and 9 Works Theatrical are back with Eto na! Musikal nAPO! an original Filipino musical based on the music of the APO Hiking Society, nonetheless. Globe and 9 Works’ first Pinoy musical centers on a barkada’s colorful college life in Manila 1975. It isn’t auto-biographical (let’s straighten that out) but it is inspired by the story of how APO started and came about.
To end its 50th season, the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA) is producing a Filipino adaptation of Marsha Norman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning
drama ‘night, Mother starring Eugene Domingo as Jessie, making her theatrical comeback, and Sherry Lara as Thelma.
In contrast to PETA’s previous productions, ‘night, Mother doesn’t present a grand narrative (or even a rousing musical number to conclude it). Rather, it is a more intimate performance, giving the audience a glimpse of a night with Jessie and her mother Thelma. Jessie who suffers from epilepsy casually tells her mother that she has long decided to end her life that evening. Thelma, of course, with all the arguments in the world tries to convince her daughter that life is still worth living. For one hour and 24 minutes, happening in real-time, the audience witnesses the struggle between the two, and within themselves, that will keep them on the edge of their seats until the end.
“The world will feel the fire and finally know!” – Newsboys, from the musical Newsies
It might be the season for raincoats and umbrellas, but Globe Live and 9 Works Theatrical‘s Philippine staging of Disney’s Newsies still set Philippine theatre ablaze. The Newsies boys were all fired up to let the world know that it’s possible to have all that talent on one stage. The cast spent six months training and rehearsing for a month long production, which was, after watching, definitely not enough.
When I think of Christmas, I think of the cold night breeze on the dawn of simbang gabi, the smell of puto bumbong and bibingka wafting in the air, and the inevitable Christmas rush traffic. But, most of all, when I think of Christmas, I hear the songs of Jose Mari Chan and the Christmas carols we have listened to from when we were young. This year, 9 Works Theatrical and Globe LIVE! is bringing a different kind of Christmas carol: familiar but with a twist. It’s Alan Menken and Lynn Ahrens’ A Christmas Carol The Musical presented in a way that’s never been done before.
Tick, Tick…Boom! tells the story of a promising young composer, Jon (Jef Flores). Things will become different in January 1990 when he turns 30. For him, this means that he will not be “young” anymore. He’s reached his deadline. At 30, he should have had kids already like his father did. He should have had sold-out plays on Broadway! At 30, he’s still a promising composer. He’s been promising for years now and he’s afraid that he’s “starting to break the f***ing promise.” His is a sad but familiar story.
