From paying Rent to finding Proof

The most-frequently-asked question I get these days is :How different is the process of directing a musical from directing a straight dramatic play. The answer really is – not that different at all.

For the most part, musicals are actually easier to direct because of the presence of music. Musicals are written precisely to draw audiences into the story through song – and if the song is good, half the work is already done for you. With dramatic plays, you have to draw in the audience without the help of a well-written song. But, other than that, the actual process of rehearsing the actors is quite similar. Your objective is the same – to make sure the story is told in the clearest simplest way.

Rehearsals for Proof began on Dec. 11, 2001 just about a month after Rent closed in Manila. I found myself jumping from one genre of theater to another almost without a break, and I welcomed the change. Proof is one of those rare plays written so tightly and beautifully it is a joy to hear the words every day at rehearsals. David Auburn, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play in 2001 for Proof, has written a play that, in the words of one of his characters, is "elegant."

One advantage of doing a dramatic play with one setting and four characters is that you need less rehearsal time than directing a musical. Gone are the long music rehearsals and the weeks of choreography to attain perfection. For Proof, we had exactly four weeks of rehearsals before opening night. It was one of the most joyous, stress free (not to mention side-splitting funny!) rehearsals I have ever had, mostly four weeks of rehearsals before opening night.

Lea Salonga and I first saw the show in New York in the summer of 2001. During intermission I turned to her and said, "Do you want to do it in Manila?" She smiled and excitedly said, "YES!" And that was that. We e-mailed each other as she began rehearsals for Flower Drum Song in Los Angeles to see what would be the best time to do the play. When she said she wanted to spend the holidays in Manila with her family, we both agreed this would be the best time to stage Proof, especially since it is still one of the hot tickets on Broadway. Luckily, I had acquired the rights from David Auburn to stage the play before it went on to win all the awards. This would mark Lea’s return to the dramatic stage since she was a child. It would also be a departure for Lea from the parts she normally plays. In Proof, Lea’s character, Catherine, spews four-letter words constantly. As a consequence, we have a parental advisory on all our posters that the play contains Explicit Language. Lea feels though that, at 30, she is ready to play parts such as this, if the play is as beautifully written as Proof.

After seeing the play on Broadway with a fantastic Mary Louise Parker in the lead, Lea and I went to Starbucks for coffee and we agreed Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo would be perfect to play Claire, her sister. I sent Menchu the script when I returned to Manila and she was excited to do it. The first person who came to my mind to play Robert, the father, was Michael de Mesa.

Michael and I have been working together since 1999, at the first staging of Rent in Manila, and he has become one of my dearest friends. Besides that, I beleive he is one of the best actors in the Philippines and the chance to have him perform in a straight dramatic play was a thrill. Michael agreed to do it without even reading the script, telling me he wanted to spend 2002 doing more theater. Casting Hal, the young would-be-suitor, was a little more difficult. We sent offers out to actors in the States and auditioned in Manila, as well. Ultimately, it was Joel Trinidad’s sensitive math "geek" reading that won me over.

Having a cast of pros, led by no less than a Tony Award winning actress, puts a smile on any director’s face. Everything you’ve heard about Lea’s professionalism is true. She sets the standard for excellence and everybody around her gets infected and follows suit. She also performs the part of Catherine with moving honesty and sincerity. Thanks to this cast and our hard-working crew and production team, we have been able to stage Proof in the Philippines for a daily three-week run.

It’s thanks to the many corporate sponsors who, despite the difficult times, manage to set some of their budget aside to assist theater arts. It’s corporations like The Philippine STAR, Northwest Airlines, Somerset Millennium Suites, Bayo, Nativa, Seattle’s Best Coffee, WeaveCreatives, Sound Crew, Le Souffle, Raymund Isaac, UVA, Goldilocks, Gold’s Gym, YES FM 101.1, Love radio 90.7 and GSIS that make bringing shows such as Proof to the Philippines even remotely possible.

Many of these corporations have been with us from the very beginning and I thank them from the bottom of my heart for the endless support to theater. Times may get harder, but I suspect that with corporations such as these setting the trend, the theater community in the Philippines will only grow bigger.

And so 2002 begins for us with Proof, a beautiful play about the legacy of family and the importance of accepting ourselves for who we have become. We are truly lucky to have been given permission by playwright David Auburn to open his award-winning play in Manila so early in its successful Broadway run. We are even luckier to have assembled a stellar cast led by the "elegant" Lea Salonga.

(Proof is being staged at the GSIS Theater, Roxas Blvd, Pasay City today until Jan. 27, daily (no Monday and Saturday shows). It is directed by Bobby Garcia with Lighting Design by Gerry Fernandez. For details, call Atlantis Productions at 892-7078 or Ticket World at 891-5610.