Marco Polo the Musical previews in Manila on March 25 & 26, in Paris June 17 to 21

MANILA, Philippines - Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story sets its international previews in Manila and Paris prior to its targeted West End performance.

In Manila, the musical will run on March 25 and 26, 8 p.m., at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP). In Paris, it will have a five-day staging at the Le Vingtieme Theatre from June 17 to 21.

The new musical presented by Artists Theatre Company is a dramatization of a love story between Marco Polo and Princess Kogajin, the daughter of Kublai Khan, amidst the historical setting provided by his book, The Travels of Marco Polo. Marco Polo was the 13th century adventurer from Venice whose travels radically changed the way the West looked at the East.                                                                 

Marco Polo: An Untold Love Story author, composer and lyricist Rogelio Saldo Chua, who also serves as the musical’s artistic director, says the two-hour international preview will showcase a storyline highlighting dramatic conflict, an orchestration bringing into play a variety of instruments and a choreography adapting more modern interpretations. Chua hopes that the stage production, which boasts of a 40-member international cast and artistic team dominated by seasoned Filipino thespians, will serve as a musical legacy on the pioneering effort to make Manila a center for developing, workshopping and previewing new materials catering to a global audience.

The international preview also introduces French-born Jonathan Wagner in the lead role of Marco Polo. Educated at the International Musical Theater School of Paris (AICOM Paris) and at the Conservatory of Music also in Paris, he had various stints as an opera actor and singer, including his recent interpretation of Jamie in Jason Robert Brown’s The Last Five Years in its Paris premiere (produced by the American Musical Theatre Live!).

However, Jonathan, who also models for brands like Moët et Chandon and Hugo Boss, says education and training can only go so far. He draws from life experiences to bring a character to life on stage. Having traveled to some 30 countries, he resonates with the medieval European traveler he portrays and is confident that audiences in Manila and Paris will be enthralled not only by the personal love story between the hero and the heroine but also the bigger love story — to accept all human beings regardless of race, creed and culture.  

Fil-Am singer-actress Stephanie Reese, whose mother Chris Roco hails from Camalig, Albay, brings her formidable credentials to the princess-cum-soldier role of the feisty Kogajin. She was the first Fil-Am singer to stage a solo concert at the Carnegie Hall in New York City to a sold-out audience. She played Kim in the German production of Miss Saigon, Esmeralda in the Disney World Premiere of the Hunchback of Notre Dame and Princess Tuptim in The King and I at the Palladium Theater in London’s West End.

Chinggoy Alonso, the veteran stage actor and singer, essays the twin parts of Rustigielo, the narrator of the story and Niccolo, the father of Marco Polo. Pinky Marquez, on the other hand, is cast in the role of Empress Wu, the mother of Princess Kogajin.

 Meanwhile, the Spanish-Filipino actor and singer Kuya Manzano breathes life into the character of the mighty Kublai Khan, tapping into his 16 years of experience on stage in Spain, Portugal, Holland and China.

For block reservations, sponsorships, benefactors and investors, call 0917-5581222 or e-mail [email protected] or [email protected] tickets, call Ticketworld (891-9999) or the CCP (832-11235).