Bells and whistles (and more) in Rak of Aegis' 7th run

The cast of Rak of Aegis

The last time I saw Philippines Educational Theater Association's (PETA) Rak of Aegis was way back during one of its earlier reruns, probably the third. After some years, I finally had the chance to catch it once again at the opening Gala Night presented by PLDT Home.

Time have passed and I thought that I've already forgotten what this musical is all about. In a nutshell, it's about Aileen, an optimistic young woman who dreams of making it viral online to help her parents who have been struggling financially ever since their barangay Venezia got submerged in flood months ago. And the audience gets to join the journey of Aileen and the rest of the residents of Venezia as they try to rise up above the waters while belting out tunes from the discography of the rock band Aegis.

Robert Sena, Aicelle Santos, Isay Alvarez-Seña, and Pepe Herrera

As members of the original cast, led by Aicelle Santos as Aileen, Robert Seña as Kiel, Isay Alvarez-Seña as Mary Jane, and one of Rak's breakout stars Pepe Herrera as Tolits performed on stage, memories from years ago came flooding back as the show went on. I did notice that some of the jokes involving current trending topics had been updated to avoid being stale.

What surprised me very much with this latest viewing were bells and whistles that were either relatively new, or were simply not noticed by me before. Various stage effects like sunflowers and vines appearing onstage, actual rain, and the flood actually subsiding were upgrades that have raised further the production value of PETA's runaway hit. I learned later on that the flood subsiding was through a tube that pumped out the water from the stage. And this water is actually recycled and treated. So it's not like it's water down the drain for every performance which is insensitive in line with the recent water crisis.

The cast and the show were polished and spot on like clockwork but there were still some unexpected moments like an ensemble member slipping in the flood, enabling one to do a quick ad lib in reference to that mishap. Another of these moments was when Jewel's (Ron Alfonso) massive carnival head dress hit Aicelle in the face. This was definitely not in the script but it provided additional laughter. Such is the joy and thrill of live theater since it is very unlikely that this also happened in every performance.

Bayang Barrios, Jenine Desiderio, Kimberly Baluzo, Derrick Monasterio,
and Noel Cabangon

The current run also welcomed new cast members including OPM legends Noel Cabangon, Jenine Desiderio, and Bayang Barrios, along with actor Derrick Monasterio and the newest Aileen, Kimberly Baluzo. They performed excerpts and answered a handful of questions from the press at a pre-performance showcase.

Seeing bits from these new cast members just made me want to catch some of their performances too before this run ends on September 29, 2019 at the PETA Theater Center.