The Opening Night
I’ve had my first taste of the music during the J.P., ang Gig ni Rizal show with Erik Santos and Rachelle Ann Go. And then the actual leads had their turn in showing a sampler during the Tanghalang Pilipino press conference. A few weeks later, I was very fortunate to be able to drop by their music run through with no other than Ryan Cayabyab. And I was able to have a quick view/listen of their rehearsals a couple of times afterwards. Finally, the moment that I’ve been waiting for has arrived; Noli Me Tangere the Musical finally had its highly anticipated opening night at the Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater).
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| Ribbon cutting opening the exhibits |
The opening night of the musical also signaled the opening of a couple of exhibits in keeping with the theme of Noli Me Tangere and of its author Jose Rizal whose 150th Anniversary is celebrated this year. The first exhibit is a display of costumes by National Artist Salvador Bernal while the second one is a display of Rizal themed jewelries by noted jeweler Hans Brumman. Select pieces of jewelry will be up for auction as well. Both exhibits will be open for viewing during the entire run of the musical. And in keeping with the celebrations and the theme, I was dressed in native formal wear (Barong Tagalog). I was fortunate to be able to experience and blog about the progress of this play leading to this night so I really felt that I had to dress up to the occasion.
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| The Hans Brumann exhibit |
Finally, I was able to see the production as a whole and whatever words that I may be able to write about it can not even give it justice since one need to experience the production first hand. Any stage adaptation of Noli Me Tangere could’ve easily fallen into the trap of pandering to the level of high school juniors who are required to read the novel. But the libretto by National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera and the music by Ryan Cayabyab clearly avoided that route and created a timeless masterpiece instead. The music consisted of memorable themes that remained in my head for days after hearing them. I must’ve looked like a fool whenever I find myself humming the melodies of the songs in the musical like the song when Crisostomo Ibarra finally saw Maria Clara once again after many years of being apart. And I also had to restrain myself from joining in with the chorus whenever they sang Sa Labas ng Bayan. This song and some others like the exquisite theme that ended the musical were already familiar to me but there were still some tunes that I’ve never heard before like the song of the Leproso that was accompanied by the chorus. And this song had some excellent harmonies that delighted the music lover in me.
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| The Salvador Bernal exhibit |
The opening night had Gian Magdangal as Crisostomo Ibarra. He exuded a refined, polished and a very romantic Ibarra and was able to handle the demanding vocals with such clarity and relative ease. Cris Villonco playing the role of Maria Clara surprised me once again. I was very impressed by the tone of her middle register that was as creamy as a thick milkshake. And this middle register was in full force during the second act where her part had more meat. The rest of the cast were also equal to the task like Bodjie Pascua whose portrayal of Padre Damaso totally ruined my childhood memories of Kuya Bodjie. I grew up with Batibot and it was not easy for me to see him portray a character as bad as Padre Damaso. Angeli Bayani as Sisa was another surprise for me. I wasn’t able to see her when I dropped by the rehearsal so I really paid attention during her solo. I found it more haunting since it was a very subdued song and it didn’t resort to the usual Crispin, Basilio routine that has been done to death.
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| John Arcilla and Audie Gemora |
The stage design was rather simple and it heavily featured hard, right angles of the stairs that dominated the stage to the sliding capiz windows adorning the walls. These hard angles provided a crisp contrast to the organic, flowing and the soft lines of the costumes. The costumes were mostly in monochromatic shades of gray so that splashes of color, like the peach ensemble of Maria Clara, the heavy makeup of Doña Victorina and the deep red accents in the costumes of the ensemble were able to stand out. I felt that this production strived for clarity in story telling and they succeeded in that aspect. For some, the stage and the whole production might seem bare but for me, it was uncluttered instead.
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| National Artist Bienvenido Lumbera |
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| Ryan Cayabyab |
I was able to ask director Audie Gemora about the differences between this version compared to the previous stagings of the musical. He said that they had made changes to the story and made it more linear. And he also added that as the director, he had more responsibilities in the current production unlike the time when he was just concerned with his role as the original Crisostomo Ibarra.
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| Gian Magdangal and RAd |
Soon after watching the opening performance, I got interested in re-reading Noli Me Tangere and I do hope that others will also have the same urge. But I find it extremely disappointing that there aren’t any good versions of the novel in Filipino available in bookstores right now. The only ones that I was able to find are watered down versions that are used as high school textbooks. And the most decent version out there is an English translation that was published overseas.
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| RAd with the cast of Noli Me Tangere |
I am extremely grateful to Tanghalang Pilipino for giving me the opportunity to experience Noli Me Tangere the Musical. It reminded me how beautiful our music and our language are, it reminded me of how talented we are as a people and most important of all, it fueled my sense of nationalism.
This production of Noli Me Tangere, the Musical is co-presented by the Cultural Center of the Philippines, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines and United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corporation (Cocolife).
Another Ibarra (Mark Bautista) has yet to perform on stage so my Noli Me Tangere, the Musical experience is not yet over.
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