Monday, March 02, 2015

Superb female voices power up Ballet Philippines’ Manhid

Kim Molina, Sandino Martin, and Teetin Villanueva

Ballet Philippines’ latest production, Manhid: The Pinoy Superhero Musical, featured a bunch of characters who each possess a unique superpower. But one superpower, if I may call it that, that definitely stood out during the show’s opening night was the amazing vocal chops displayed by the production’s female leads namely Teetin Villanueva, Kim Molina, Jean Judith Javier, Ronah Rostata, KL Dizon and Mayen Estañero.

Sandino Martin

I am not saying that the male leads Sandino Martin and Fred Lo lacked in the vocal department. It’s just that the women who sang, outnumbering the men who did six to two, exhibited more variety, range, texture and depth.

Teetin Villanueva
Kim Molina

As Lam-Ang, Teetin sang with a soothing voice that sometimes showed a mean streak just like the wind that she commands. Kim, as the slum bred Allunsina, displayed spunk and power that made each expletive she threw sting a lot more. Jean Judith soared with her haunting soprano voice as Dilim, the nightclub singer who acted as one of the narrators. Playing Lagrimas, Ronah’s voice sounded as if she was indeed always in tears. KL, as Urduja, was a force of nature with her strong classical singing background and her opening duet was one of the highlights of the entire show. Lastly, Mayen’s vocal stylings showed how cunning and manipulative Mamalahi-ma is. As I’ve said above, Sandino, the dreamer Bantugan and Fred, the seducer Radia Indarapatra actually did pretty well. It’s just that they were outnumbered and out powered by the very vocally strong female leads.

Fred Lo
KL Dizon

Plot wise, I struggled initially with Manhid, as the opening songs didn’t seem to follow a narrative thread to me and it became difficult to identify who’s who, how each character is related to the others, and what set them into motion. And since they’re superheroes/villans, there was an added task of figuring out their individual powers, who are the heroes of Maragtas and the villains of the Tulisan ng Bayan. Even more, the world of Manhid is set in an alternate reality where the 1986 EDSA Revolution failed, so the origin section had to show the kind of world the characters are living in. All this was too much to take in that I think the plot suffered a bit. What’s notable is that the same problem of introductions at the expense of the plot moving is also encountered in the first issues of comicbooks. It was only during the second act that things started looking more together plot wise although things just got bleaker for our heroes as they get rounded up by the scheming Mamalahi-ma with the help of her henchmen. The heroes, earning themselves a second wind and hungry for a payback, set up the third act which was the final, all-out battle in which the outcome I won’t spoil in here.

Jean Judith Javier

Of course, my ears were all on the songs composed by Kanakan Balintagos (when he was still Aureaus Solito), Vincent de Jesus, and the Eraserheads along with Carina Evangelista writing some of the lyrics. It was not that easy trying to figure out which song was composed by who if I just had to rely on the music arrangement by Francis de Veyra of Radioactive Sago Project, the live band accompanying the shows. De Veyra did a swell job in giving the musical a streamlined sound. A heavy dose of the brass section provided a packed punch during upbeat numbers while a muted trumpet gave a cool and sexy vibe in some of the slow paced songs. And it was a delight to hear Kailan by the Eraserheads in its original context which is actually tinged with treachery.

Buddy Zabala and Ely Buendia

It amused me to see some of the Ballet Philippines dancers having spoken lines namely Richardson Yadao, playing Apolaki with an Amboy accent, Victor Maguad as Gawigawen, and Jean Marc Cordero as Sarimanok. Cyril Fallar, as Sidapa, even sang for a couple of measures. Other company members like Earl John Arisola as Malyari, Katherine Trofeo as Gonongleda, and Rita Winder as Rasagadang were just limited to dancing and yet came out as very creepy as the silent villains.

Vincent de Jesus speaks during the post-show press conference

With the guest artists/singers taking a more prominent role in this production, Manhid felt like a typical musical but one that has very strong and competent dancers. In comicbooks, a hero who just acquired his superpowers often struggle in using and controlling them, and often fumbles at his first fights. In the same way, Manhid also encountered the same problem especially with its large cast and a larger than life story.  The opening night was plagued by problems concerning lapel microphones and unsure blocking, a typical problem encountered during the first shows. It would be very interesting to see how the production gets more polished and put together towards the end of the run. I am also curious to see how the alternates namely Regina de Vera, Ricardo Magno, Gold Villar and especially the theater newbie Mark Anthony Grantos will fare in their respective shows.


Manhid: The Pinoy Superhero Musical runs until March 8, 2015 at the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Nicanor Abelardo (CCP Main Theater) capping Ballet Philippines' 45th Anniversary Sapphire Season.

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