Saturday, November 03, 2012

Disney’s Camp Rock: The Musical showcases the future of Philippine theater


November 16, 2012-December 16, 2012
Onstage Theater
2nd Level, Greenbelt 1, Greenbelt
Paseo de Roxas cor. Legaspi St.Ayala Center
Makati, Metro ManilaPhilippines

Right now, one of the biggest news in the Philippine theater scene is the upcoming auditions for the West End Revival of Miss Saigon. It is expected (and dreaded as well) that there will be a mass exodus of local theater’s top talents who would make the cut. And the theater companies would just have to bear with those who would be leaving their roster for a significant amount of time. But one such theater company, Repertory Philippines knows that there will always be new and fresh talents out there who will be the future of Philippine theater. And these new and exciting discoveries will be the main highlight once they stage their last offering for this season: Disney’s Camp Rock: The MusicalThe show opens on November 16, 2012 and will run until December 16, 2012 at Onstage in Greenbelt 1.

The cast of Disney's Camp Rock: The Musical

Disney’s Camp Rock: The Musical is based on the hit Disney Channel original movies Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam that starred the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato. Repertory Philippines’ production boasts a cast of 35 with about half of them making their theater debut. The cast is led by Markki Stroem, Nacho Tambunting and Jeff Flores will portray the Gray brothers Shane, Nate and Jason. Star Factor alum Morisette Amon plays the role of Mitchie Torres. Other cast members include Cheska Ortega, Justine Peña, Nel Gomez, Cara Barredo, Mica Fajardo, David Shawn Delgado, Kiara Dario, Justin Valiente, Hans Braga, Karyl Factora, Eric Mercado, Rem Zamora, Hans Eckstein. The young ensemble consists of Jin Dimson, Jazmine Zabala, Alex Reyes, Chaye Magg, Shalee Vicencio, Eddie Thompson, Jim Ferrer, Sam Aquino, Steve Hotchkiss, Kelly Nicolas, Fran Jose, Antonio Lane, Daniel Delgado, Erika Pangan, Aly Wijangco, and Arianna Norton.

I can still remember almost a year ago when I overheard Markki Stroem express his interest to be part of Disney’s Camp Rock: The Musical. Since then, Markki has seen his career flourish through his steamy pre-valentine concert Make Me Sweat, his much talked about walk down the runway for a magazine’s event, his impressive debut record Thousands of Pieces and also his upcoming independent film Slumber Party wherein he portrays a gay role. So it’s very interesting to see him portray a squeaky clean, wholesome character this time around after pushing the envelope in his past projects.

Markki Stroem

One major thing that astounded me about this production is the abundance of such a young and inexperienced cast. I asked the show director’s Audie Gemora if it was challenging to work with them. He diverted the question to his assistant director Topper Fabregas who seemed to bear the brunt of working with newbies. But Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo stressed that while most of their cast members are young, she sees in them the passion and dedication to the craft. And that she believes that everyone from them can make it big if they decide to pursue theater as a profession. It’s no wonder that despite the impending loss of talents because of the Miss Saigon auditions, Repertory Philippines don’t seem to be too worried since they pride themselves as the training ground for theater actors. I admit that I am neither a fan of the Jonas Brothers nor of the source movies where this musical came from. As for me, it will be a chance for me to see the young ones show what they’re made of. I remain optimistic that when these kids make it big years from now, I can brag that I’ve seen them back then when they were in Disney’s Camp Rock: The Musical.

Ticket prices:
P1000 Orchestra Center
P800 Orchestra Side
P500 Balcony

For inquiries:
Repertory Philippines 571-6926, 571-4941, info@repertory.ph
Ticketworld 891-9999

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