Grateful for world-class music

With J. Lo, Chris Botti, Sting and Elton John all due in town towards yearend and beyond, and who knows how many other top-class acts, us Metro Manilans are near to chucking off our first-dibs envy of neighbors like Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau for the variety of superstar musical entertainment they get on a regular basis.

Oh, never mind the Jason Brothers and all other fly-by-nighters. (I know adolescents and teeners will hate me for this, but hey, deal with it, as grumpy gramps can say to you in your lingo.)

The biggest treat of the year has certainly been The Phantom of the Opera, which thankfully ran for 11 weeks at the CCP’s Main Theater, allowing us all to swoon, shed a tear, be completely mesmerized by the best and grandest musicale production to ever hit Manila.

It became a must-see, too, by dint of word of mouth, for out-of-towners, with Cebuanos and Negrenses flying into town in droves — and I suppose also Mindanaoans and Luzonian northerners and Bicolanos with the wherewithal — for at least a night in our Big Noisy just to catch TPOTO.

In fact, it must now stand as the most-watched performance ever at a local stage. With reason, of course, for the London production was entirely superb, exceeding all expectations for this most beloved of musicales — especially by women.    

I used to contend that of the two most successful musicales over the past two decades, it was Les Miserables that was most fulfilling — what with its narrative scope, backdrop of socio-political conflict, and sheer number of great melodies, whereas Phantom was “just” a love story.

Okay, I’ve been cuffed on the nape by countless romantics over that apparent putdown, despite the fact that I’m one myself. I must now acknowledge being totally entranced by Phantom at the CCP, and am willing to say now that indeed, its melodies, too, are as haunting as the songs in Les Mis, if of a slightly narrow range of musicality.

But I still contend, no, I take that back… Let’s just say I maintain my take that Phantom naturally appeals more to women, while Les Mis may be more of a guy thing — given that its principal roles and main theme involve a couple of fellows. 

In any case, we look forward to the latest cinema version of Les Mis in January (it’ll be late here relative to world premieres, thanks to the Metro Manila Film Festival that takes over all of our movie houses for the last week of the year). And we can only hope that that doesn’t prejudice any attempt soon to bring in the same musicale as a stage production as entrancing as Phantom.

We have to thank the musical genius of Andrew Lloyd Webber, the production éclat of Cameron Mackintosh and The Really Useful Group, Harold Prince’s direction, and everyone involved in the entrancement, including all entities responsible for giving us such a memorable treat.

So superb were the lead players, Australian Claire Lyon as Christine Daaé and South African-born Jonathan Roxmouth as the Phantom. We were particularly lucky with this pair. I must say I found Roxmouth perfect, so much better than all the other male pretenders to the title role that I’ve seen and heard on video.  

By the by, I also wish to thank friends Chita Herce and Edd Fuentes for the two times we got to see Phantom. Yes. And was enraptured, together with the same fellow romantic non-fellow both times — although I didn’t quite get to shed a tear as she did, ditto both my daughter and granddaughter on the nights they too were stamped their singular memory of The Phantom of the Opera.

Thanks, too, to Karmina de Ungria of Resorts World Manila for our front-row seats to The King and I (ongoing till yearend) at the Newport Performing Arts Theater — a local production, to be sure, but just as entertaining and endearing.

Direk Freddie Santos must be commended for the compleat effort — from lavish set design and costumes to the masterful singing and acting of just about everyone who appeared onstage — panoramic as that stage is.

Catching any gig at Newport Theater makes for a first-class experience. Yet another welcome new venue (like the MOA Arena), it makes us proud to be able to take in any performance in such a remarkable setting. The environment that houses that ultra-wide proscenium and seating arena is enough to make any Pinoy feel like he’s at The Venetian in Macau — maybe even better, given the collective warmth exuded by waitresses, croupiers, and ticket-takers at the theater and cinema.  

Veteran performers Leo Valdez and Monique Wilson not only have their roles as King Monkut and Anna down pat, but also add that unmistakable Pinoy spunk for extra enhancement.

I have just one nitpicking quibble — with regards to the decision to place video screens on both unused ends of the proscenium. I imagine that those close-up images of the performers as they sang and pranced their hearts out might have proven even more distracting for spectators farther from the front rows. Ironically, the quality and color imbalance of these images made then seem even more remote to the appreciation of the performers in the very flesh.

Well, it’s just a quibble. Don’t mind me, please. I suppose that for some of the spectators seated far back, there would be some appreciation for seeing the singer of the moment wearing his or her heart in their very visible sleeves. Still, I can’t help fearing that apart from being a distraction, the technique must take away from what we know to be the magic of theater, musical or otherwise. 

With the third recent production we enjoyed, Ang Bagong Harana by the Philippine Opera Company at the Carlos P. Romulo Theater in RCBC Plaza, there was no such problematic or creative decision to make. It was appropriately intimate, this invaluable sharing of Filipino songs of all time, classics anthemic and pop.

Thanks and congrats to moving force and spirit Karla Gutierrez for mounting this musical review a third time since its pioneering debut last year. Direk Floy Quintos reaffirms his theatrical brilliance with the successful stitching of thematic motifs that bind us all together as Pinoy.

The heart is warmed as we listen to these songs essayed in splendid fashion, all the while that a visual tapestry also beguiles us. FYI, this production has been nominated for Best Musical (Revival/New) on Broadwayworld.com. (One can vote for Ang Bagong Harana on the following link: http://philippines.broadwayworld.com/article/Voting-Open-for-2012-BWW-Philippines-Awards-Vote-Now-20121106)

To our mind and nationalistic heart, the manifestation of Filipino creative talent and expertise that envelops both the Resorts World’s local production of The King and I and Philippine Opera Company’s Ang Bagong Harana is the way to go. Or go about it. And not the way a local org protested the “importation” of an original West End musicale that has already been embraced as universal. Pressing a tithe on such imported shows doesn’t do much to convince anyone that they take away at all from local performers — other than our Dondi Ong who was certainly more than just a token representation as alternate for Piangi in Phantom.

By all means, let’s be enraptured by foreign fare, totally foreign as they may be — even as we are entertained and enriched by the experience, learn from it, and continue to compete with the best of them on our own often brilliant terms.