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Theater review: 'Binondo' musical celebrates Chinese-Filipino connection

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Fred Hawson

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_01.jpg"/><figcaption>The colorful opening number of &#x27;Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical.&#x27; <em>Jeeves de Veyra</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA -- In 1986, a Chinese professor related to Rebecca Shangkuan Chuaunsu his personal love story. The poignant drama of his story stuck with her from that time on. </p><p>More than 30 years afterwards, Chuaunsu boldly took on the reins of creative producer to spark the creation of an original Filipino musical to share that same haunting story with the everyone. This year, her major labor of love finally reached its fruition as &quot;Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical&quot; made its world premiere on the stage of The Theater at Solaire last weekend.</p><p>The year was 1972. On the occasion of the Moon Festival, a Chinese scholar named Ah Tiong, then on a 2-week vacation, dropped into the Lotus Club in Manila. There, he was mesmerized with the beauty of Lily, the featured singer on stage that night. </p><p>When Lily fumbles on the lyrics of a Chinese song, Ah Tiong gamely went on stage to sing it with her. From that moment was born a resolute love that would face insurmountable adversity. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_02.jpg"/><figcaption>Carla Guevara-Laforteza (as Lily) sings &#x27;The Moon Represents My Heart.&#x27; <em>Fred Hawson</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The role of Lily was played by two of the most-sought after leading ladies in the local theater scene -- Shiela Valderrama-Martinez and Carla Guevara-Laforteza. I had been able to see both of them become Lily in separate shows, and I saw that they imbued the character with distinct personalities. </p><p>Shiela&#x27;s Lily was sweeter and demure; Carla&#x27;s Lily was more spirited and feisty. In either case, it was not difficult to see why both Ah Tiong fell head over heels in love with her. As excellent singers, both ladies had no trouble navigating the challenging songs Lily had to sing, like &quot;Dito sa Binondo&quot; and &quot;Paghihintay.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_03.jpg"/><figcaption>Arman Ferrer and Shiela Valderrama-Martinez (as Ah Tiong and Lily) in the dance number &#x27;Ang Pag-ibig ay Disco&#x27; as Noel Rayos (as Carlos) watches on. <em>Jeeves de Veyra</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Ah Tiong was played by David Ezra. This award-winning singer-actor had his stage debut only in 2015, but is now a most in-demand leading man in several shows since then. The role of Ah Tiong was given a lot of difficult songs with soaring notes to sing, like &quot;Kung Sino Nga Bang Una ay Siya Ring Huli&quot;. In the upbeat number, &quot;Ang Pag-ibig ay Disco&quot;, he had to show off his dancing skills while singing, always a big challange to pull off for any performer. Ezra&#x27;s voice never faltered, always strong and passionate, in his solos, his duets (with Lily, Jasmine or Carlos), and with whole company. </p><p>(Ezra&#x27;s alternate in this role is Arman Ferrer, whose career had grown together with Ezra since they had been sharing the stage or alternating in shows like &quot;La Estrella,&quot; &quot;Mabining Mandirigma&quot; and coming soon later this year, &quot;Side Show.&quot; There is no doubt that Ferrer can likewise pull off the challenge of playing Ah Tiong.)</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_04.jpg"/><figcaption>David Ezra and Noel Rayos (as Ah Tiong and Carlos) sing &#x27;Mananagot Ka.&#x27; <em>Fred Hawson</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The character Carlos is a Manila-born Chinese-Filipino who had been Lily&#x27;s friend since childhood. He was played by Noel Rayos, a stage veteran with nearly 100 shows under his belt playing a whole gamut of diverse roles. As Carlos, he gets to show off his comic timing, as well as his dramatic chops. </p><p>The role of Carlos also gets to sing some punishing songs only the best singers can deliver with confidence, like &quot;Dayuhan sa Puso&quot; and &quot;Ako Ay Pilipino.&quot; I consider the latter song as one of the most significant songs in the whole show as it declared that Chinese-Filipinos are indeed true Filipinos, whose loyalty lay with the Philippines, not China -- a sentiment that rings true up to the present time.</p><p>(Rayos&#x27;s alternate in this role is Floyd Tena. I had only seen in him on stage twice before, in &quot;Maynila Sa Kuko ng Liwanag&quot; and &quot;Himala&quot; in smaller roles. Too bad I missed his biggest role to date as Carlos which would really push his vocal and acting skills to the max.)</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_05.jpg"/><figcaption>Mariella Laurel and Arman Ferrer (as Jasmine and Ah Tiong). <em>Jeeves de Veyra</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Jasmine is Ah Tiong&#x27;s childhood friend back in Beijing and the girl he had long been betrothed to marry by their parents. She was played by Mariella Laurel. This is the first time I had seen her onstage before and I thought she stood her ground solidly within all the brimming singing talent on that stage. Her best song for me was &quot;May Tiwala Ako&quot; -- a long-distance duet between her in Beijing and Lily in Manila as they profess their trust in the man they both love, Ah Tiong.</p><p>Mrs. dela Rosa, Lily&#x27;s mother, was played and sung so powerfully by Ima Castro. Every time she dug into her deepest soul as she sang songs like &quot;Tila Kandila&quot;, we are all drawn into her inner pain borne out of sincere concern for her daughter&#x27;s well being. Lourdes, Lily&#x27;s cousin and confidante, was ably played and sung by Jennifer Villegas-de la Cruz. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_06.jpg"/><figcaption>Shiela Valderrama-Martinez and Ima Castro. <em>Jeeves de Veyra</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Mr. and Mrs. Chua, Carlos&#x27;s parents, were played by noted operatic tenor Dondi Ong and soprano Kay Balajadia-Linggayu. It was a shame that we only get to hear them sing very short verses in the song &quot;Hindi na Magbabago&quot; which they sing with their son Carlos. Russell Magno and Elizabeth Chua played Mr. and Mrs. Zhang, Ah-Tiong&#x27;s parents. They get to act and sing in heavier dramatic scenes of persecution in the numbers &quot;Ang Bagong Tsina&quot; and &quot;Kalimutan na ang Lumang Pag-ibig.&quot;</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_07.jpg"/><figcaption>Dondi Ong, Kay Balajadia-Linggayu and Noel Rayos. <em>Jeeves de Veyra</em></figcaption></figure></div><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_08.jpg"/><figcaption>Arman Ferrer and Russell Magno. <em>Jeeves de Veyra</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The key character of 14 year-old schoolgirl Ruby was played very sweetly by Ashlee Factor. Even if she only comes out in a few scenes in Act 2, she got to deliver heartwarming lines and sing one of my favorite songs in the entire show, entitled &quot;Patawad.&quot; Her voice possessed a childlike quality which made her perfect for her small yet important role. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_09.jpg"/><figcaption>Ashlee Factor (as Ruby) -- here with Noel Rayos and David Ezra -- sings &#x27;Patawad. <em>Fred Hawson</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>This play employed the device of a Greek chorus to narrate the goings-on between scenes. They were set apart from the rest of the ensemble by their more ornate costumes and make-up. They also served as conscience to various characters -- needling them, goading them, teasing them. They also got to play a number of other minor characters, either Filipino or Chinese, in the lives of our protagonists. </p><p>The actors in the Koro were Jim Pebanco, Lorenz Martinez, Khalil Kaimo, Ellrica Laguardia, Rhapsody Li and the irrepressible Tuesday Vargas with her scene-stealing antics. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_10.jpg"/><figcaption>Ellrica Laguardia, Tuesday Vargas, Lorenz Martinez, Khalil Kaimo, Rhapsody Li and Jim Pebanco.</figcaption></figure></div><p>The script is in Filipino, written by acclaimed veteran Ricky Lee, along with two younger co-writers Gershom Chua and Eljay Castro Deldoc. It eloquently wove the Fil-Chi love story tightly in the face of historical events in both Manila (Martial Law) and Beijing (Cultural Revolution). </p><p>The length of the play can intimidating at three hours plus long (with a 15-minute interval in between), but thankfully Director Joel Lamangan made the flow of the scenes easy to follow, so the play was quite engaging and highly entertaining. I do think that the script can still be tweaked (especially in certain clichéd melodramatic scenes) so future stagings can be more streamlined. </p><p>Last year, I was introduced to the music of Von de Guzman when I watched &quot;Maynila sa Mga Kuko ng Liwanag.&quot; His songs here in &quot;Binondo&quot; follow generally the same grand flowing style of musical composition. His songs were easy on the ears with their lilting melodies and smooth steady progressions which can reach stratospheric heights as they climaxed. Because of its high difficulty level, it takes a special singer to be able sing and give justice to a Von de Guzman song. </p><p>Meanwhile, the vibrant choreography by Douglas Nierras certainly gave the huge production numbers involving the whole ensemble (imagine 50+ people dancing in unison) infectious verve and energy.</p><p>The big stage of the Theater at Solaire is a challenge for any production designer to fill. Otto Hernandez came up with very impressively huge set pieces which had to be easily moved in and out of stage as the scenes called for them. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_11.jpg"/><figcaption>&#x27;Eternity&#x27; ends Act 1. <em>Fred Hawson</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The concluding scene of Act 1 was a very imaginatively conceived and executed stage illusion which involved passengers climbing up stairs to board an airplane.</p><p>The opening scene of Act 2 with an enormous portrait of Chairman Mao overlooking a troop of soldiers waving red flags also had a very haunting effect as the scene depicted unjust violence. </p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_12.jpg"/><figcaption>&#x27;Ang Bagong Tsina&#x27; opens Act 2. <em>Fred Hawson</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The lighting design of Joey Nombres enhanced the grandeur of the sets, as well as emotions of the scenes being depicted.</p><p>For several years, Rebecca Chuaunsu had the audacious vision of creating a bridge which would foster the positive values and heritage between the Philippines and China. With &quot;Binondo,&quot; her most cherished dream had been realized in a most spectacular fashion, and I extend my hearty congratulations to her!</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2018/life/07/03/20180703_binondo_13.jpg"/><figcaption>Producer Rebecca Chuaunsu (third from left) joins the cast and crew at the curtain call. <em>Fred Hawson</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>As a final note, I commend the Mandarin language coach for making the Filipino actors sound realistic in the delivery of their Chinese lines and the singing of a famous Chinese song like &quot;The Moon Represents My Heart.&quot; </p><p>However, I look forward to the day when actual Chinoy actor-singers can also get to play the roles of Ah Tiong and Carlos. While the portrayals of Ezra and Rayos of their characters in the present production are effective, I sincerely feel that it would make a significant positive difference in the overall impact of the story when the casting could somehow be more authentic. </p><p>&quot;Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical&quot; runs up to July 8 with shows at 8 p.m. on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, and 3 p.m. matinees on Saturdays and Sundays. </p><p>This review was originally published in the author&#x27;s blog, &quot;<a href="https://3xhcch.blogspot.com/2018/07/review-of-binondo-tsinoy-musical.html">Fred Said</a>.&quot;</p>

<p>A major labor of love, "Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical" made its world premiere at The Theater at Solaire last weekend.</p>

A major labor of love, "Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical" made its world premiere at The Theater at Solaire last weekend.