Spring Awakening - Manila

I have heard about Spring Awakening when I was in New York. Limited time that I had, I won't be able to watch everything even if I wanted to (I actually wanted to, hehe). This was one of them. Again, as I said in my post about Cory the Musical, I am no expert about the theatre world except that I am just a fan.

When I heard that this musical will be running in Manila, I have nothing but excitement in me. The problem is always tagging along people to come watch with me. Most of the people in my circle are not really the theatre geek type.

Good thing I posted about Cory the Musical and a bunch of my officemates tagged along (wee!). It was a little bit more than a month prior to the show when tickets were bought. Good seats ran out fast as expected though there were several dates for this musical.

We watched the play last October 10. It was held at Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium RCBC Plaza. We were supposed to grab some snack before the show but there were only few establishments opened that time.

The musical dated back to the late 19th Century in Germany. It talked about the teenagers who became aware of life, love, and sexuality.

A few comments on the musical:

• Butt exposure. I know there was going to be some sort of nudity or at least the motion of having some sort of sexual intercourse (as the title of the musical is begging to). I did not think it would be shown in this manner. I was actually impressed by the way the actors handled this scene. If I were in the place of either one of them, I would not know how to go about doing that scene for several times during the run. It was a job well done.

• There was also the coming out of the closet for two teenage boys in the story. Their scene was a refreshing break of comedic act although of course, it gathered some gasps from the audience. It was funny for me, I am not sure for the guys I was with that time.

• I am still confused on how the musical was written in such a way that the scene was funny for the audience although the characters in the musical were actually emotionally hurt. It was quite an amazing thing for me. Is this how the Avenue Q writers described as Scadenfreude? I am not sure if that was a good thing or not.

• I was taken aback by the sudden appearance of the microphone when the actors were about to do a song. It was distracting. I wondered where (and why) in the world would those microphones appear in the middle of heavy confrontations. I am not sure if this is how they did it in Broadway or if that was some sort of a signature for the musical. If you ask me, I’d rather have the actors sing without holding a microphone.

• Since the musical is based in Germany, I had a hard time tracking who was what. I’m just really bad at names and faces. There were actors who also played two roles but thankfully, the costumes and the acting were very different that I was able to tell them apart.

• I give props to the actors because after seeing the musical, I know that it was given importance that I actually saw the effort and hard work that they exerted to make it such a musical and magical night. I especially loved the actress who portrayed Ilse in the play. She was fabulous and had an amazing voice. She was always dead on the notes and she was such a delight to watch. I didn’t catch her name though, my bad.

• The lightings were utilized very well. It determined the mood of the scene and how a certain scene is only playing in an actor’s mind versus their version of reality. I loved the pop-rock kind of music that was playing in the entire show as well. The numbers were executed beautifully.

I appreciate the fact that there are still people who are willing to gamble just to keep the theatre scene alive. Kudos to the producers! I am also excited for next year as Rent (February 2010) and CATS (July 2010) will be running in Manila. Lea Salonga will play the role of Grizabella in CATS. I just saw it in Inquirer and they are already selling tickets for the Citibank cardholders exclusively ‘til the 6th of December. Who wants to watch? :) We can get the family package (40% off). (Click on the pictures from Ticketworld below for information).



Side note: We saw KC Concepcion watched as well. It was my first time to see her. Good thing my officemate pointed her out to me. She looks the same as how she looks in TV. She moved around a lot in her seat, I noticed. She is just probably bubbly like that. I wonder if she gets enough rest as her exposure in media sure is a lot.