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After 14 years, Nonie Buencamino returns to PETA stage for 'Kundiman Party'

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Totel V. de Jesus

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/life/05/30/peta.jpg"/><figcaption>Senator Valderrama (Nonie Buencamino) confronts his estranged son Bobby (Boo Gabunada) in a scene from &#x27;The Kundiman Party.&#x27; Totel V. De Jesus</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- The general is now a senator. Veteran actor for film, television and theater Nonie Buencamino is perhaps more known now to Filipinos here and around the world as General Greg Maximiliano in ABS-CBN&#x27;s top-rating primetime teleserye &quot;The General&#x27;s Daughter.&quot; He&#x27;s the new bad guy tapped to create chaos in the life of Rhian Bonifacio, the character played by lead star Angel Locsin. But since last weekend, Buencamino is also the cunning Senator Juancho Valderrama in this year&#x27;s restaging of &quot;The Kundiman Party,&quot; a straight play with lots of songs, at the PETA-Phinma Theater in Quezon City.The role of the senator was originally played by Teroy Guzman, when it was initially staged by the University of the Philippines (UP) Playwrights Theater-Dulaang UP last year at the Wilfrido Ma. Guerrero Theater in UP Diliman. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/life/05/25/19/theater-review-the-kundiman-party-is-back-and-bolder-than-ever">Theater review: &#x27;The Kundiman Party&#x27; is back and bolder than ever</a></li></ul>Written by playwright-director-art connoisseur-art patron-heritage documentarist-magazine editor-writer Floy Quintos and directed by Dexter Martinez Santos, &quot;The Kundiman Party&quot; revolves around the life of retired, reclusive Filipina opera singer, Maestra Adela, played by Buencamino&#x27;s real-life wife, Shamaine Centenera-Buencamino, and how she became &quot;woke&quot; in the time of EJKs, fake news and misogynism being the new normal. &quot;Last year, taga-sundo lang ako ni Shamaine sa rehearsals and during the run. Naghihintay lang ako buong time na nasa stage si Shamaine. Ngayon sabay na kami papunta sa venue,&quot; Buencamino told ABS-CBN News, laughing at the thought of it. Naturally, being a &quot;driver-chaperone,&quot; he&#x27;d seen the play many times.He was invited to portray Senator Valderrama as early as December last year.&quot;Nag-lunch kami ni Floy tapos tinanong niya ako kung pwede daw ba ako,&quot; Buencamino said. Guzman had committed himself to do &quot;The Dresser&quot; for Repertory Philippines the same time &quot;Kundiman Party&quot; would have its limited two-weekend rerun at PETA. &quot;Of course, I wanna do it. I told Floy, &#x27;I thought you&#x27;d never ask,&#x27;&quot; Buencamino said in jest. He was preparing for another play then, the re-staging of the hilarious musical &quot;D.O.M.,&quot; at the Music Museum, which incidentally was also directed by Dexter Martinez Santos, and there was no conflict of schedules. <div>Buencamino&#x27;s return to PETA</div>&quot;Yes, this is only my second play in PETA. My first was &#x27;Palasyo Ni Valentin,&#x27; and that was a very long time ago,&quot; Buencamino said, realizing the nearly one-and-a-half decade interval. Written by the late, legendary Mario O&#x27; Hara, &quot;Palasyo Ni Valentin&quot; had Buencamino playing the lead character. It was staged in 2005 at the then newly inaugurated PETA Theater Center on Eymard Drive, New Manila in Quezon City. For more than three decades, PETA&#x27;s home had been the open-air theater in the ruins of Fort Santiago in Intramuros, Manila. &quot;Inaugural play ang &#x27;Palasyo Ni Valentin&#x27; dito. Nag-open kami, maalikabok pa. Hindi pa ready &#x27;yung theater,&quot; recalled PETA veteran actor-director Melvin Lee, who is one of the main organizers in bringing &quot;Kundiman Party&quot; to PETA from its UP maiden run. &quot;Grabe ganoon na pala katagal. Parang ayaw sa akin ng PETA. Nadala yata,&quot; Buencamino told Lee, in jest. &quot;Pero ngayon, after this, kukunin na uli niyo ako madalas.&quot;&quot;Busy siya,&quot; Lee told ABS-CBN News, also in a-not-so serious tone, referring to Buencamino. True enough, Buencamino has acted in plays for Tanghalang Pilipino and Repertory Philippines. A seasoned actor who can also dance, Buencamino was also part of various musical productions of Ballet Philippines. More than those live stage engagements, Buencamino has been our favorite father, uncle, grandfather, &#x27;contravida&#x27; and all kinds of characters we can think of in countless films and teleseryes. &quot;Ako kasi, gawa lang ako ng gawa. Sa theater, mga 20 years na akong gumagawa ng mga plays. Pero eto yata ang first play ko na political,&quot; he added, referring to &quot;Kundiman Party.&quot; Though Senator Valderrama appears in the second act for about 20 minutes, the role is vital in the climactic scene. He is portrayed as the cunning, sweet-talking traditional politician, though not in the gutter level of someone who does &quot;budots&quot; dance. Senator Valderrama has been estranged from his youngest son, the activist-rebel Bobby, portrayed last year by theater heartthrob Kalil Almonte. The role has been taken over by Boo Gabunada, who made a mark in recent years playing Cyrano de Bergerac in &quot;Mula Sa Buwan&quot; and the innocent-looking college boy from the province Emman, in &quot;Ang Huling El Bimbo.&quot; In that crucial scene, Senator Valderrama visits the house of Maestra Adela as the uninvited guest. Father and son haven&#x27;t seen each other for seven years. Senator Valderrama&#x27;s main purpose, it appears, is to convince his son to leave the life he&#x27;s chosen and go back home. But first, he has to go through Maestra Adela and her group of activist-friends portrayed by Frances Makil-Ignacio, Stella Cañete-Mendoza, Jenny Jamora (alternating with Missy Maramara) and Bobby&#x27;s girlfriend Antoinette, played by soprano Miah Canton. They are activists from the upper middle class, the perfumed, seemingly untouchable sector whose members have the right connections to get out of the mess they&#x27;ve chosen to get involved in if they wanted to. They have options to get out of the country and migrate for good. Bobby is portrayed as the determined activist. He wants to accomplish things without thinking of repercussions, to the point of recklessness. No matter how he tries to distance himself from his father&#x27;s clout, subconciously he knows he&#x27;s untouchable. In the confrontation scene between father and the angry son, Senator Valderrama has become the spokesperson of the establishment, the government as we see it now. Among his memorable lines: &quot;You want to fight me? Go ahead. But not here, not like this. Go to the mountains.&quot; Despite their differences, Senator Valderrama wants things in order, in his own terms. He knows Bobby&#x27;s weakness and he hits the target where it hurts most. Consider the lines: &quot;You are the better version of me, my dear rebel Bobby. Come home with me now. Your mother&#x27;s waiting for you.&quot;Senator Valderrama offers the comfortable, sheltered life that Bobby has left behind. Will he succeed? Theater lovers still have time to catch Buencamino as Senator Valderrama for &quot;Kundiman Party&#x27;s&quot; final six shows, starting Thursday, March 30, until June 2 at the PETA-Phinma Theater in Quezon City.

Veteran actor for film, television and theater Nonie Buencamino is perhaps more known now to Filipinos here and around the world as General Greg Maximiliano in ABS-CBN's top-rating primetime teleserye "The General's Daughter."

Veteran actor for film, television and theater Nonie Buencamino is perhaps more known now to Filipinos here and around the world as General Greg Maximiliano in ABS-CBN's top-rating primetime teleserye "The General's Daughter."