The thought of the time before recording technology sometimes keeps me up at night. Gregorian chants, sea shanties, pub songs, traditional marches —these are the roots of our love affair with song and music and dance. They keep us together.
Here’s to supporting our local (and not-so-local) musicians, singers, dancers, stage actors, performing artists, and everyone working with them behind the scenes.
*This feels like a version of Spotify Wrapped, but it’s not for music, and it’s also a blog and not a social media story. This year-end summary is just the first in a series of similar blog posts this month. Maybe.
Miss Saigon at The Theatre at Solaire
Rating: ★★★☆☆
The first show I watched this year was Rama, Hari, staged around February. It was a feast for all senses and a delight for my Filipino heart.
The next show I saw was the Manila stop of the international tour of Miss Saigon at The Theatre at Solaire. It was staged last April 23 2024. The production design easily stood out as the most impressive and immersive aspect of the experience. The vocals were great, if sometimes lacking in emotion. I’m sure a lot of Filipino loyalists would be comparing Abigail Adriano’s talent with that of Lea Salonga.
But I struggled to enjoy the show on principle… The racist and orientalist overtones simply can’t be scrubbed away by a semi-Asian cast (still no Vietnamese in the credits).
ChopinFest 2024 at Manila Piano
Rating: ★★★★☆
Manila Pianos Inc. hosted the Manila Pianos Artist CHOPIN Series, with the first concert last May 4 2024 at the Ronac Lifestyle Center. This is a smaller and more niche performance I’m lucky to attend thanks to an invite from more cultured friends.
I used listen to classical music a lot more when I was younger. It eventually transitioned to a very brief love affair with the turn of the 20th century. (I even learned to play some of Erik Satie’s Gymnopédies). But it mellowed out and I’m back in my pop and trap era.
The performances —Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Mnior Op. 11, and Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor Op. 21 with string quintet— were simply staged. The crowd was intimate but also varied and lively. The classics are a classic for a reason; a pleasure to hear, even almost two hundred years later.
Ang Parokya ni Edgar Musical: Buruguduystunstugudunstuy at Newport Performing Arts Theater
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
This was absolutely not on my radar of shows to watch. I vaguely remember the one of the departments in our hospital reaching out to sell tickets for a fund-raiser. Reviews from my friends were very mixed. There were several (valid) criticisms of the overall story, the screenplay and adaptation of the songs. I’ve even heard a femcrit reading that suggested it would be better to skip this show.
But my mom got us free (and really good) tickets for the June 15 2024 showing of A Parokya ni Edgar Musical: Buruguduystunstugudunstuy. I could never say no to good seats and to new experiences.
As a jukebox musical, the show dared the audience to sing along. Who hasn’t heard of Parokya ni Edgar‘s rock hits? Nostalgia caught even me. It leaned heavily on pop culture and meta for its jokes, and that wasn’t always a bad thing. The production and set were simple, but maybe sometimes too reliant on digital visual aids.
Overall, I found the musical entertaining, but its ambitious message championing mental health was a little lost in the telling. There are some limits to absurdity. As of the time of this writing, I can’t even recall the main plot beats…
I would not have paid for the seats we had (which were really really good, thank you Ma!), but I’d probably recommend it to lovers of original Philippine music.
Ballet Manila’s Giselle at the Aliw Theater
Rating: ★★★★☆
I’ve watched ballet several times before. This includes samplers from the Great Classics by Philippine Ballet Theatre, and several rounds with The Nutcracker. But I’ve always had a hard time paying close attention to the full shows. I thought I lacked the skills and the maturity, maybe, to follow a story.
Giselle by Ballet Manila at the Aliw Theater was revelatory. The expressive choreography captured my attention every minute. It helped that the romantic story, already more than a hundred years old, is full of archetypal beats that were easy to follow.
It was also a pleasure all on its own to watch the graceful and strong lines of Russian principal dancer Renata Shakirova and soloist Alexsei Timofeyev in the lead. My attention was hooked. (But I couldn’t help but wish for more synchrony among the corps de ballet…)
The only strong point of improvement would be in the technical production. Aliw Theater has come a long (downhill) way from its glory days.
World Premiere of ‘Florante at Laura’ as a Ballet
Rating: ★★★☆☆
It feels like a century since I’ve properly heard the story of Florante at Laura, a classic in Philippine literature. Quick math tells me it’s been at least 14 years, which I’d rather not think about. The world premiere of this work is a triumph all on its own, as it brings Francisco Balagtas to new audiences. But I found myself unswept for much of the performance last October 14 2024…
Despite a thrilling and thematic score (with orchestra penned by Ryan Cayabyab), it couldn’t save the pacing of the adaptation, which suffered in several points. The narrative titles on the screen also felt more like a hindrance than a help.
Thankfully, the choreography (specifically the character pieces) felt like poetry in motion.* That scene of Fledira shooting arrow at Adolfo deserved the enthusiastic applause. The ballet was also enhanced by the creative set. It was a complementary modern visual element to the production, in contrast to the distracting (and annoying) digital scenes.
*The fight scenes and group dances were a little more forgettable.
I’m rating this a 3 out of 5 more in principle –in support of the source material, and the need to reintroduce the classic and its political themes to a new audience.
Tabing Ilog The Musical
Rating: ★★☆☆☆
When my mom got us tickets to see Tabing Ilog the Musica in PETA theater last November 16, I didn’t expect much. I was too young for the original series and too busy for the first musical staging. The opening song quickly set the stage. The musical was a coming-of-age tale about reuniting friendship in a small town.
Despite the simple premise, the script tries to tackle many theme… too many, I think, to the detriment of the development of its characters and relationships.There were hinted and explicit conflicts on depression, shame and sexuality, teenage pregnancy, and political corruption. It’s hard to get invested with all the whiplash.
There were some standout songs during the performance, aided greatly by the charismatic cast and the intimate theater setting. The humor was also very spot-on –but again, a little related to this particular river’s shallow depths.
I would recommend this more if you’re looking for a fun night, a lot of humor, and a way to support the local musical theater industry. But if you’re looking for a life-changing experience, this might not be it.
P. S. My sister and I watched maybe 20 minutes of the first episode of the original television show on YouTube… and I have so, so many questions.
To more shows in 2025
I find myself manifesting something like this every few months, but I never really look back on them… Maybe this time I’ll actually report back.
I heard Wicked will be coming back to the Sands in Singapore on March 2025, so I’ll have to pray for airfare and tickets (or more reasonably: for the show to come to Manila). I definitely didn’t appreciate it as much when my family watched it in 2012. The recent movie starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande was an inspiration!! The Tony-Winning musical Hadestown will apparently be staged in Australia next, so I’ll hope for either a trip there (unlikely) or a trip to Broadway by 2026 (a little less unlikely).
I never really know what’s happening in the Manila scene, but I’m always open to an invite.
Until next time! ♡
jari m 
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