Mamma Mia! Jukebox musicals invade Manila

Is Manila becoming Southeast Asia’s next theater hub? With the recent successes of Cats and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber, plus the pluck, talent and resourcefulness of our local theater scene, it certainly seems to be trending that way.

Manila audiences are hungry for entertainment, and the splashier and more renowned the production, the better.

Keenly aware of this, Lunchbox Theatrical Productions Limited, which brought us Cats last year and The Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber this year, is bringing in two more blockbusters from Broadway and the West End.

Arriving this October is Stomp, which will play at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ main Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo Theater for just six days (better get your tickets early).

Stomp co-producer: Glynis Henderson, director and executive producer of Glynis Henderson Productions, at her London office

From mid-January to February 2012, Mamma Mia! will fill the same venue with Abba’s hit songs for a month.

“Every time we do a show, it’s a massive risk, so we bring in designer brands, known brands,” says James Cundall, CEO of Lunchbox Productions. “If you think of it in terms of bags, we’re like Louis Vuitton.”

Cundall, who first came to Manila in 1989 right after the military coup that threatened to overthrow the Corazon Aquino government, feels that Manila is finally ready to host a steady stream of world-class entertainment. “I’ve always had a love affair with the Philippines because I think there is such an abundance of talent there,” he said at our interview in London’s exclusive Ivy Club. “I always watched Manila but felt frustrated that I couldn’t do anything there.”

When he started Lunchbox in 1992, he wanted to stage productions in Manila but the time wasn’t really right economically and politically. “Then I went to see Michael Jackson there in ’93, and I thought, if Michael Jackson can go there, why can’t we do shows?”

STin can alley: The cast of Stomp strikes a pose.

Eventually he saw more Western rock acts come in, then major theatrical productions like Miss Saigon and Cinderella, and thought, “Well, perhaps there is a market.”

The success of Cats sealed the deal, and partnering with reputable local outfits like Ticketworld and Concertus. “I genuinely didn’t know whether Cats would work or not, but the turnout was absolutely what I’d hoped for. And we’re lucky now with Ticketworld and then I met Bambi (Rivera-Verzo) and Francis (Lumen). Francis is quite a character.”

Lunchbox recently took a group of Philippine media to London and Manchester in the UK to preview both Stomp and Mamma Mia! and let Philippine audiences know what to expect.

Stomp, which is currently playing at the Ambassadors Theatre in London’s West End, marks its 20th anniversary this year. The premise of the 90-minute show is utterly original: take an everyday object like a dustbin or broom and turn it into a percussion instrument, which the tough-looking, tattooed cast of eight do in a series of set pieces that feature everything including the kitchen sink — literally. Rhythm, movement and hilarity ensue.

The packed audience we were with encompassed all ages, from grade-school children to a grandmotherly type sitting in front of us, and they were rocking harder than the adults in the room.

“Parents say that after watching the show, their children start banging on everything in the house,” laughs Glynis Henderson, whose Glynis Henderson Productions produced Stomp.

We also met one of Stomp’s creators, Steve McNicholas, who with partner Luke Cresswell debuted Stomp at the Edinburgh Festival 20 years ago. Both street performers (Steve played violin, guitar and sang; Luke played drums and danced), they were inspired when they saw a group of Burundi drummers from Africa perform in Covent Garden one day.

“They had this great piece in the street, fantastic drums, and at the finish, picked up their drums, put it on their shoulders and walked away,” McNicholas says. “To us, they looked like dustbin men, the people who collect your trash. And that’s where it started.”

Scenes from Mamma Mia!: In the musical, a love story (or four) is set to Abba’s greatest hits.

“I love it for Asian markets because it’s non-language,” says Cundall. “It’s the language of ingenuity, of music, of humor, and it does make you laugh. It’s one of those shows you can take anybody to, be it your child, your grandmother, your lover. Everyone will enjoy it. And to come up with a show where you make music out of Zippo lighters, or water coolers, or car tires, or newspapers, or a McDonald’s bag. How clever is that?”

According to Henderson, they held open auditions for Stomp, and looked not just for people who could keep rhythm, but also who had the most interesting personalities. “It’s to do with ‘naughtiness,’” she notes. “Nearly 1,000 people turned up, and we were looking to cast eight.”

These “Stompers” — which have included a Filipina-American, Coralissa Delaforce, a performer who’s now rehearsal director for the Australian production — come mainly from drumming and dancing backgrounds, and find their nightly performances as physically challenging as a football match.

“On a scale of one to 10, it’s about a 15,” concurs performer Andrew Patrick.

“The music is hard — it’s literally playing an orchestra with random instruments like brooms,” adds fellow performer Hugo Cortes.

Adam Buckley, a dancer who plays lead character Sarge, says it took him easily two years before he fully mastered the choreography. “And we’re always learning new routines. Every year they change it up a little bit to make it more interesting for the audience and freshen us up.”

We traveled all the way to Manchester, two hours by train from London, to watch Mamma Mia!, because the cast and crew there will comprise the international touring company coming to Manila.

If you’ve been living in an alternate universe and somehow missed seeing either the stage production or the movie, Mamma Mia! is the smash-hit musical that ingeniously weaves a love story (or four) around Abba hits like Dancing Queen, Chiquitita and Thank You for the Music. Young Sophie Sheridan is about to get married on the Greek isles, and, determined to find the identity of her absent father, invites all three of her mother Donna’s former boyfriends to her wedding. In the movie, Meryl Streep played Donna.

Life's a beach: Celebrating a wedding on the Greek isles in Mamma Mia!

“After the movie came out, our audience jumped to 95 percent from 75 to 80 percent,” said Lunchbox associate producer Rachael Abbott. “Kids and families love it.”

The international touring company is on its seventh year, and has visited over 46 cities in that period. Lunchbox plan to charter an entire jumbo jet to fly in the 43-member cast, crew and set.

We met the cast’s major players and it would be an understatement to say that they’re all excited to visit Manila for the first time next year.

David Roberts, who plays Sophie’s fiancé Sky, is a friend of the Azkals’ James and Phil Younghusband, and used to play football with them as a kid.

At 21, Charlotte Wakefield, who plays Sophie, already has significant stage cred: she was nominated for a Laurence Olivier award for her previous role in Spring Awakening.

When Mamma Mia! the movie came out, actors Sara Poyzer and Richard Standing, who play the lead characters of Donna Sheridan and Sam Carmichael, were able to compare their performances with that of Hollywood counterparts Streep and Pierce Brosnan.

“I played the role of Donna in London before I saw the movie, but Meryl Streep was playing it, so I’d be lying if I didn’t watch her and go, ‘I’m going to try that,’” Poyzer chuckles. “Take from great actors — I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. But I don’t think I’m anything like her. I love the fact that her Donna is so earthy and real and honest. Yeah, maybe I did steal a little bit.”

Says Standing about Sam, who in the movie was played by Pierce Brosnan, “I try to play him not deliberately as differently. I’m me, so I try to bring as much of myself to it as I can. But as I’ve been pushed and pushed, I’ve found he’s much less like me than he was. I’m too warm. My director told me, ‘Don’t be as friendly; don’t be as warm.’”

Poyzer and Standing are a married couple in real life. Even if Mamma Mia! is their fourth time working together, during the show they create some lively sparks, debunking the cliché of real-life couples having no chemistry onstage.

Like Stomp, Mamma Mia! is great fun, driven as it is by solid performances and irresistibly catchy music. Both casts said that they feed off audience reaction, so I’d urge Manila audiences to let go of their inhibitions and give both productions as warm a welcome as they can. Considering the number of Abba fans here, I predict Mamma Mia! will turn into one big karaoke sing-along.

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Stomp will show at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (Main Theater) from Oct. 18 to 23. Tickets are now available at Ticketworld.

Mamma Mia! will run at the same venue from Jan. 24 to Feb. 19, 2012.