Rivalry stages 3rd round at the CCP

January 17, 2014, 8:00 PM

January 18, 2014, 3:00 & 8:00 PM

January 19, 2014, 3:00 PM

Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater)

CCP Complex

Pasay, Metro Manila

The 4th Wall Theater Company (T4 Theater) takes the third round of the musical Rivalry over to the Cultural Center of the Philippines’ Tanghalang Aurelio Tolentino (CCP Little Theater) for a limited one weekend run this January 17-19, 2014.

Rivalry, the award winning original Filipino musical centers on the rivalries between friends, cousins, parents, and between Ateneo and La Salle basketball teams. Rivalry at CCP features Athena Tibi, Fred Lo, Red Concepcion, OJ Mariano, Juliene Mendoza, Pinky Marquez, Raymund Concepcion, Sheila Francisco and Noel Trinidad, among other performers.  The story revolves around two families, set in the year 1968, when Ateneo and La Salle were still part of the NCAA with other schools such as Letran, San Beda, Mapua and Jose Rizal.

The 4th Wall Theater Company (also known as T4 Theater) is a Philippine theater group that encourages the creation and production of original, world-class Filipino musicals and plays that will appeal to a wider local theater audience.  In line with its vision, T4 has created, produced and performed two original musicals to date.  In 2009, T4 was commissioned to create and produce an original musical called 100: Insular Life’s Musical Journey in C Major, for the centennial celebration of the Insular Life Assurance Corporation. The result was a highly entertaining piece of theater which won 2 awards in the Philippine Quill Creative Awards. This was followed with Rivalry: Ateneo-La Salle The Musical, a critically acclaimed show that ran for 38 performances in 2012, with 16 additional shows in 2013, both at the Meralco Theater.  The musical then garnered awards from Aliw as Best Musical Director (Ed Gatchalian), Best Stage Direction (Jaime del Mundo), and from BroadwayWorld as Best Music (Ed Gatchalian) for an original Filipino musical.

Ticket prices:

P1200 Orchestra Center

P800 Orchestra Side

For inquiries:

CCP Production Management Services Division 832-1125 local 1606-1607

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 4^th 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.

4^th 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

Rivalry: Ateneo-La Salle, The Musical

For someone who was never an Atenean or a La Sallite, I am truly fascinated by the rivalry between these two universities especially when it comes to basketball. It’s not just the players and the team that is the spectacle but also their respective supporters as well. This rivalry has been a cultural phenomenon for decades now that it’s no longer surprising that a theatrical work has been made about it aptly called Rivalry: Ateneo-La Salle, The Musical.

I was able to catch a special press screening of this musical at the Meralco Theater recently. This musical is very unique since it is truly an original work made by locals and not one of the usual stagings of licensed works from foreign material that is dominating the theater scene in recent years. Jaime del Mundo wrote the book and directed the musical. Ed Gatchalian composed, arranged and orchestrated the music with lyrics written by Joel Trinidad. Musicals featuring original Filipino material (although this production was in English) that were not adapted from other sources like a novel don’t come very often so it’s refreshing to see one once in a while.

Right from the beginning, Jaime del Mundo told the media who were present that the best thing to describe Rivalry to potential viewers is to not give anything away. He said that the best thing to do is just to relax and enjoy the journey that the characters of the musical go through. And in this musical, the journey of cousins Quito and Jimmy, their respective families and schools are put to the test as they go through life as rivals in many aspects.

The musical has a huge cast led by Felix Rivera and Red Concepcion alternating the role of Quito Valencia, a geeky Atenean whose brother, Paco Valencia (played by OJ Mariano) is the university’s star basketball player. The Valencias’ cousin, Tommy Basilio (alternately played by Jeremy Aquado and Mako Alonso) happens to be La Salle’s star basketball player. Both Quito and Tommy fall for Maryknoller, Reena San Jose (played by Athena Tibi and Ashley Imler) and this love triangle added more to the rivalry between the schools aside from that happening inside the basketball court. And not only that, the rivalry spills over between the patriarchs of the Valencias (Juliene Mendoza and Jennifer Tatlonghari) and Basilios (Raymund Concepcion and Sheila Francisco). An ensemble consisting of young and veteran actors play the roles of Ateneans, Las Salllites, Maryknollers, and various adults in the musical.

The musical was set in 1968 when the rivalry between the schools was really intense. This was also the time when the two rival schools still didn’t admit female students.  I also noted that the decade was also reflected in the music evidenced by the very catchy A Boy Who’s From La Salle that showcased harmonies reminiscent of the girl groups during this time. The number Thank You For Coming called to mind a very groovy jazz style and How It All Began featuring Noel Trinidad in a special participation stole the show and drew the most applause which was indeed well deserved. Unlike in some musicals that have an extended dance sequence, this one didn’t have much dancing at all. The closest thing I could think of that the show had as dancing was the basketball/physical training and the ROTC scenes that the male actors had to go through. During the preview, OJ Mariano and Mako Alonso did crunches and pushups (and even trying to outdo each other by doing difficult variations of the pushup) while having to sing at the same number. I think that this was the most physically demanding portion of the entire musical.

As much as I appreciated the music since there were good tunes throughout this musical especially the Prologue, I felt that there wasn’t a prevailing musical theme that I would strongly associate with the musical. I had difficulty in finding a song that had a truly memorable musical and lyrical hook. I really wish that there was some musical phrase or melody that once I hear it, I would automatically think of Rivalry. I do wish that there were clearly defined themes for both Ateneo and La Salle that highlighted the differences and strengths of these schools. I did find it very odd and surprising when I realized that it was Maryknoll who actually got that defining theme with the very memorable A Boy Who’s From La Salle.

Overall, it’s a promising effort for 4^th Wall Theater Company and Rivalry is something worth watching and one doesn’t need to be an Atenean or a La Sallite in order to appreciate the show. There is a treat for someone coming from a different school and I refuse to spoil how that moment would be delivered. I also had a lot of fun noticing how certain members of the audience (clearly from Ateneo or La Salle) applauding and cheering loudly whenever their respective schools were given the spotlight. Locally produced musicals with original material are rare in the Philippines. Rivalry: Ateneo-La Salle definitely deserves to be seen by audiences not only to enjoy the show but also to encourage more companies to stage local works.

OJ Mariano

Here are the remaining performance dates for the final week of Rivalry: Ateneo-La Salle, The Musical

March 7, 2012 8:00 PM

March 8, 2012 8:00 PM

March 9, 2012 8:00 PM

March 10, 2012 3:00 & 8:00 PM

March 11, 2012 3:00 PM