Saturday, February 02, 2013

Rivalry: Ateneo-La Salle The Musical - The Second Round


The rivalry between Ateneo de Manila University and La Salle University has been renewed this 2013 as 4th Wall Theater Company restages its original musical featuring the legendary feud between this two universities that go beyond just a basketball game. Rivalry: Ateneo-La Salle The Musical - The Second Round, winner of the 2012 Broadway World (Philippines) for Best Music for a Filipino Musical, returns once again for another run from January 25 up to February 17, 2013 at the Meralco Theater.

Mako Alonso, Red Concepcion and OJ Mariano

It has been almost a year since I had the opportunity to see Rivalry during its initial run. Since then the show has undergone some major changes for the second round. There were indeed many changes in this edition of Rivalry with some songs not making the cut this time like the jazzy Thank You for Coming. This was an interesting song but it felt like it didn't do much in pushing the plot nor in establishing the characters. I wasn’t able to memorize the whole soundtrack of the musical when I saw it before so I can’t really say what the other music changes were. I think that some songs were spliced together and eventually making the show flow smoother, faster and tighter. I was also able to appreciate the recurrence of the music themes a lot more when they were reprised during the second act giving the songs more recall and unifying the musical as a whole.

Returning cast members OJ Mariano as Ateneo star player Paco Valencia, Mako Alonso as La Salle heartthrob Tommy Basilio reprised their roles during the press preview. Their performances felt more secure although I had to say that OJ didn’t do the push up variations that I was expecting during the physically demanding Thin Line number he shared with Mako who did the difficult push up variations. While they were also part of the original cast, it was my first time to see Red Concepcion as the geeky Quito Valencia and Athena Tibi as the Maryknoller Reena San Jose. Their alternates were the ones that I was able to catch the first time I saw the show. There were also new cast members to the show like Cara Barredo (Reena San Jose understudy), Altair Alonso (Tommy Basilio understudy) Fred Lo (Quito Valencia understudy) and Mayen Cadd playing the role of Andrea Valencia, Paco and Quito’s mother.

Athena Tibi and the rest of the Maryknollers

Also included as the supporting cast are Juliene Mendoza, Raymund Concepcion, Sheila Francisco, Joel Trinidad, Chino Veguillas, and a special appearance of Noel Trinidad. Rounding up the ensemble are theater veterans Caisa Borromeo, Kyla Rivera, Kakki Teodoro, Robbie Zialcita, Jun Ofrasio, Steve Conde, Will Angeles, Jenny Villegas, Diana Alferez, Angela Padilla. Bulinggit Delgado, Nelsito Gomez, Bym Buhain, Mark Tayag, Kevin Concepcion, Andre Calixto,  Fran Jose, Jay Pangilinan, Francis Jovina, Harold Cruz and Anthony Tarossa Ong.

4th Wall Theater Company’s Rivalry: Ateneo - La Salle The Musical - The Second Round’s  artistic and creative team include musical director, composer, arranger and orchestrator Ed Gatchalian, director and librettist Jaime del Mundo, lyricist Joel Trinidad, choreographer Nancy Crowe, lighting designer Johnsy Reyes and set designer Lex Marcos.

The cast of Rivalry: Ateneo - La Salle The Musical

Here is the schedule of the rest of performances for Rivalry: Ateneo - La Salle The Musical - The Second Round. Tickets are available at TicketWorld outlets.

February 1, 2013, 8:00 PM
February 2, 2013, 3:00 & 8:00 PM
February 3, 2013, 3:00 PM

February 8, 2013, 8:00 PM
February 9, 2013, 3:00 & 8:00 PM
February 10, 2013, 3:00 PM

February 15, 2013, 8:00 PM
February 16, 2013, 3:00 & 8:00 PM
February 17, 2013, 3:00 PM

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