Youth in Revolt
By Christopher de Venecia
Since time immemorial, the theater had always been one of those art forms that connected more with adults and the elite, than the youth and the common tao. There was a time when, due to the nature of the performances or the material being performed, only socialites, foreign dignitaries, wives, and so-called “ladies who lunch” flocked to the theaters and dressed up for the prestigious opening nights – cocktails and all. It was, after all, THE social event of the season.
In fact, one such local theater company, in its heyday, had ambassadors’ wives and spouses actually be the ones to usher, fundraise, and sort of provide the necessary logistical support to help reconcile or augment production costs. Yes, the theater, in general, was of the adults, for the adults, and by the adults. And then all that changed.
When Joy Virata started the Repertory Philippines Children’s Theater many years ago, theater in Manila ignited a paradigm shift towards the youth and younger audiences. There were shows being specifically done to cater to a younger market. Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, Mulan, Cinderella, Emperor’s New Clothes, The Wizard of Oz – these shows were done with the hopes of developing these children someday to become theater patrons, or practitioners themselves.
Summer Workshops came into fore, and year after year, adults started sending their kids to “camp” to learn the fundamentals of how it is to sing, dance, and act. Theater became cool again. Shangri-la, REP’s former headquarters, was bustling. And workshops have become even more popular now with TV shows like GLEE, SMASH, and movie musicals becoming box office hits and making their own mark (who’s excited for Hugh Jackman, Anne Hathaway, and Les Miserables?)
By and large, the theater has certainly become an avenue for people from all walks of life. Whether rich or poor, young or old, to converge and share a common horizon and passion for singing, dancing, acting, and the performing arts. And this theaterati couldn’t be more thrilled, seeing as that all the years of trying to bring young’ns to the theater, was triumphantly manifested in a show that was as zeitgeist defining as it was extremely memorable.
I am talking about Repertory Philippines’ Camp Rock the Musical, currently running at On-Stage Greenbelt (and one of two Disney Productions being performed here in Manila at the moment – the other being Atlantis Productions’ Aladdin at the Meralco Theater). I was so blown away by the sheer talent of thirty-five (minus two adults in the cast; read: thirty-three) youngsters taking to the stage and bringing to life the story of the JoBro-fronted Disney movie, which also starred Filipina Anna Maria Perez de Tagle and Demi Lovato.
While the show had its shortcomings as with most reinterpretations of original Broadway material, the intention of making the audiences enjoy, get up from their seats, and have incredible fun was surely met. I cried, laughed, and smiled when needed – especially when the familiar songs (“This is Me”) were sung.
Under the tutelage of Audie Gemora, theater leading man Markki Stroem, alongside up and comers Nacho Tambunting and Jeff Gonzales, shone perfectly in their roles. Their performances couldn’t have been anymore distinct – which was important if all three, while their own individuals, were cut out of the same matinee idol cloth. Hello, it’s the Jonas Brothers!
Meanwhile, Morisette Amon was a theatrical gem, perfect in every way as she delivered her lines with such nuance and clarity, and sang with maturity and depth. Hers is one of the most beautiful voices I’d ever heard to date. She was basically the moral compass of the show and also the leading lady; the other being Cheska Ortega though she was more Sharpay-Evans-wayward-daughter-who-returns-to-the-fold type. And then there was Nelsito Gomez who had such tempest and command of the stage. He proved a worthy adversary to Markki’s character and the other talented kids of Camp Rock.
The show had a strong support (and cast overall), the direction was keen, the choreography crisp. But what impressed me most, like I said, was the number of youth that had been part of the production – all thirty-three of them, possibly seventy percent of which had been first timers to professional theater. Executive producer Juno Henares notes that even the choreographer who gave the production such energy and succinctness had been all of twenty years old. Twenty? And already a professional choreographer? That is pretty freakin’ amazing.
The youngest in the cast had actually been a 13-year old but it sure didn’t seem that way. The energy, as with most productions I would often watch from the likes of college theater outfits Dulaang UP and Ateneo Blue Repertory, was beaming. As an audience member, you could really feel the energy penetrating through your very core, especially when the cast envelopes you in the end. If anything, I’d give the show five stars for energy, and five stars (+1) for heart.
Director Audie Gemora talked about how the forthcoming Miss Saigon auditions for a London revival of the Cameron Mackintosh Tony Award-winning show, will be extracting Pinoy talent once again from our already limited local talent pool. This was previously the case when Hong Kong Disneyland, Macau, and Universal Studios Singapore took away most of our performers, which was thereabouts when I first found myself in theater.
It saddened me because the reality stands that theater performers here are underpaid; in which case, they’d have to leave for abroad to make a decent living. Lea Salonga would always say that if the Philippines could pay for our national debt with talent alone, we would have already been in the green. So. True. And I agree. And in a sense, I would be worried too if our performers kept leaving for every opportunity for them to move abroad and make a decent living. But seeing as that theater seems well and alive with this next generation of performers, as evident with the ones I saw tore up the stage in Camp Rock (and perhaps, really, it’s time once again to shake up the theater scene and mentor new entrants in to the fold), we’ll certainly, leave it to the youth to lead the charge.
