A glorious mystery
April 20, 2007 | 12:00am
After my friend Robbie’s " very joyful directorial " debut with Repertory " Philippines’ Gaybirds  and my sorrowful stupidity for having missed Song and Dance  something glorious this way comes as Rep presents the newest offering of its 70th theatrical season, aptly titled Glorious! It’s a comedy based on the life and times of tone-deaf opera diva and socialite soprano Madame Florence Foster-Jenkins.
Set in the very glamorous ’30s, the play takes a peek into the kooky life of Florence, a bizarrely ambitious social butterfly who attempts to make it big on the American opera circuit. Known to everyone except herself and some equally peculiar friends as tone-deaf and incapable of singing the right note, Florence insists on an operatic career despite her dizzying arsenal of sharps and flats. Oblivious to her blatant inability to carry a proper tune, she finances her own recitals and makes records off the bat on the flimsy reassurance of applause that treads the fine line between mockery and peculiar adoration, laughter that she probably translates as positive reception, and some fine words of encouragement from her costumer and best friend Dorothy and larger-than-life ham actor lover St. Clair Byfield.
Mixing things up are Florence’s constantly PMS-ing Spanish maid Maria who can’t speak a word of English, Mrs. Verrinder-Gedge who remains less than enthusiastic about the diva’s celebrated performances, and Cosme McMoon, a gay piano player who hopes to replace Florence’s old one  that is until he hears her sing. Desperately trying to break free from his precarious situation, Cosme is eventually bewildered by the Quixote-like determination of the vocally challenged diva and warms up to the idea of playing catch-up to both her singing and her eccentric views on life and lyric.
As with many of this year’s straight plays, Rep has once again pooled some of the finest talent in the industry  all people I look up to both professionally and personally  to animate Florence’s flat note-worthy life. In the title role of Florence Foster-Jenkins is Joy Virata, an ALIW award-winning actress who is also Repertory Philippines’ Associate Artistic Director and Artistic Director for Children’s Theatre. Hear this: Tita Joy actually had to take voice lessons under Nelson Caruncho on how to sing a half step above or below the actual note. That’s extremely hard if you’re actually an accomplished singer with an ear for music. Nonetheless, the lessons paid off as Tita Joy mind-numbingly screeched and warbled through a tricky repertoire of arias and operatic medleys including Clavelitos, which, for some strange reason, I found myself singing along to, as I actually learned the song in grade school. Yes, I’m very peculiar.
Appearing as Florence’s reluctant sidekick and pianist is Rem Zamora who recently played the title role in RCT’s Aladdin Jr. Rem’s character Cosme, being the only un-cuckoo one who flew over the otherwise cuckoo nest of Florence and posse, provides the stark contrast to the rest of the play’s extremist personalities. In a way, he brings some sanity to the ludicrous cast of players  men and women who were either too deluded and caught up in Florence’s vocal regress and over-the-top theatrical antics, or were totally in a league or language of their own. I was particularly moved by Cosme’s monologue towards the end of the show in which he articulates the nuances and intricacies of someone as complicated and unique as Florence Foster-Jenkins. He recounts how "the first lady of the sliding scale" would always explain to cynical admirers and trusted confidantes regarding her persistence in pursuing an operatic career: "I am well aware there are people who can say I cannot sing! But whatever the case may be  there is no one who can say I didn’t sing!" True enough, she finds her own voice among the Ella Fitzgeralds and Billie Holidays of her time  one that specifically needs listening to, not from the ears but from the heart.
Joining Rem and Tita Joy are theater veterans Bonggoy Manahan (St. Clair) and Pinky Marquez (Dorothy) who recently appeared in the crowd favorite Sound of Music, as Uncle Max and Mother Superior respectively, lyric mezzo Jay Glorioso (Mrs. Gedge) who also recently graced the stage in the whodunit comedy Moose Murders, and direk Chari Arespacochaga (Maria) who returns to her first love, acting, after a successful staging of Disney’s High School Musical and the upcoming Avenue Q. With direction by Baby Barredo and amazing set design by Ariel Reonal (by amazing, I mean vintage movie reel transitions on a descending white screen and innovative set construction), the show will run from April 13 to 29 at Onstage, Greenbelt 1 Paseo de Roxas cor. Legaspi St., Makati. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:30 p.m. For ticket inquiries call 887-0710 or 891-9999.
Catch your breath and let me know what you think at chasingtoff@yahoo.com
Set in the very glamorous ’30s, the play takes a peek into the kooky life of Florence, a bizarrely ambitious social butterfly who attempts to make it big on the American opera circuit. Known to everyone except herself and some equally peculiar friends as tone-deaf and incapable of singing the right note, Florence insists on an operatic career despite her dizzying arsenal of sharps and flats. Oblivious to her blatant inability to carry a proper tune, she finances her own recitals and makes records off the bat on the flimsy reassurance of applause that treads the fine line between mockery and peculiar adoration, laughter that she probably translates as positive reception, and some fine words of encouragement from her costumer and best friend Dorothy and larger-than-life ham actor lover St. Clair Byfield.
Mixing things up are Florence’s constantly PMS-ing Spanish maid Maria who can’t speak a word of English, Mrs. Verrinder-Gedge who remains less than enthusiastic about the diva’s celebrated performances, and Cosme McMoon, a gay piano player who hopes to replace Florence’s old one  that is until he hears her sing. Desperately trying to break free from his precarious situation, Cosme is eventually bewildered by the Quixote-like determination of the vocally challenged diva and warms up to the idea of playing catch-up to both her singing and her eccentric views on life and lyric.
As with many of this year’s straight plays, Rep has once again pooled some of the finest talent in the industry  all people I look up to both professionally and personally  to animate Florence’s flat note-worthy life. In the title role of Florence Foster-Jenkins is Joy Virata, an ALIW award-winning actress who is also Repertory Philippines’ Associate Artistic Director and Artistic Director for Children’s Theatre. Hear this: Tita Joy actually had to take voice lessons under Nelson Caruncho on how to sing a half step above or below the actual note. That’s extremely hard if you’re actually an accomplished singer with an ear for music. Nonetheless, the lessons paid off as Tita Joy mind-numbingly screeched and warbled through a tricky repertoire of arias and operatic medleys including Clavelitos, which, for some strange reason, I found myself singing along to, as I actually learned the song in grade school. Yes, I’m very peculiar.
Appearing as Florence’s reluctant sidekick and pianist is Rem Zamora who recently played the title role in RCT’s Aladdin Jr. Rem’s character Cosme, being the only un-cuckoo one who flew over the otherwise cuckoo nest of Florence and posse, provides the stark contrast to the rest of the play’s extremist personalities. In a way, he brings some sanity to the ludicrous cast of players  men and women who were either too deluded and caught up in Florence’s vocal regress and over-the-top theatrical antics, or were totally in a league or language of their own. I was particularly moved by Cosme’s monologue towards the end of the show in which he articulates the nuances and intricacies of someone as complicated and unique as Florence Foster-Jenkins. He recounts how "the first lady of the sliding scale" would always explain to cynical admirers and trusted confidantes regarding her persistence in pursuing an operatic career: "I am well aware there are people who can say I cannot sing! But whatever the case may be  there is no one who can say I didn’t sing!" True enough, she finds her own voice among the Ella Fitzgeralds and Billie Holidays of her time  one that specifically needs listening to, not from the ears but from the heart.
Joining Rem and Tita Joy are theater veterans Bonggoy Manahan (St. Clair) and Pinky Marquez (Dorothy) who recently appeared in the crowd favorite Sound of Music, as Uncle Max and Mother Superior respectively, lyric mezzo Jay Glorioso (Mrs. Gedge) who also recently graced the stage in the whodunit comedy Moose Murders, and direk Chari Arespacochaga (Maria) who returns to her first love, acting, after a successful staging of Disney’s High School Musical and the upcoming Avenue Q. With direction by Baby Barredo and amazing set design by Ariel Reonal (by amazing, I mean vintage movie reel transitions on a descending white screen and innovative set construction), the show will run from April 13 to 29 at Onstage, Greenbelt 1 Paseo de Roxas cor. Legaspi St., Makati. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3:30 p.m. For ticket inquiries call 887-0710 or 891-9999.
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