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Review: 'Changing Partners' shows heartbreak knows no gender

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Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/lifestyle/10/20/cp-1.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Anna Luna as Cris and Jojit Lorenzo as Alex in a scene from &#x27;Changing Partners.&#x27; <em>Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA — With “3 Stars and a Sun,” “Ako si Josephine,” a rerun of “Mabining Mandirigma” (with another one in December) and the phenomenal fifth run of “Rak of Aegis,” this has been a very good year for the original Filipino musical.</p><p>And 2016 just got even better with “Changing Partners,” which could well be the best original musical of the year.</p><p>First presented as a stage reading at this year’s Virgin Labfest, “Changing Partners” is given the full stage treatment it deserves at the PETA Theater Center Studios with four more performances this weekend.</p><p>Written and composed by Vincent de Jesus, whose works include “Zsazsa Zaturnnah,” “Kung Paano Ako Naging Leading Lady” and “Caredivas,” this “torch musical” offers an intimate look at a May-December relationship, clocking at just a little over an hour and presented without intermission. </p><p>“Changing Partners” opens with Alex and Cris at the early part of their live-in relationship. While acknowledging their 15-year age gap, they appear comfortably in love, a portrait of a modern couple. But six years later, their differences become more obvious and the issues that have lingered through the years have now snowballed and appear insurmountable.</p><p>In interviews, De Jesus said he knows the topic very well. “I’ve lived it,” he was quoted as saying.</p><p>Indeed, “Changing Partners” throbs with real heartache and not just the oft-witty “hugot&quot; we encounter on our Facebook walls. De Jesus, who released an album entitled &quot;Songs to Slash Your Wrist By,&quot; composed what is probably the saddest song ever featured in a musical: the low-key final number “Maleta.”</p><p>But despite the stinging honesty of the writing, the musical’s genius lies in its unpredictable exploration of this relationship by having two actors — one male and one female — share the role. Alex is played by Agot Isidro and Jojit Lorenzo, while the younger Cris is played by Sandino Martin and Anna Luna.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/lifestyle/10/20/cp-2.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">Agot Isidro also plays Alex in this scene from &#x27;Changing Partners.&#x27; <em>Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>The musical opens with an older woman and a younger man, which seamlessly turns into an older woman-younger woman relationship. In the next scene, Cris becomes an older man, while the next one has two men.</p><p>And if that weren’t enough, the final confrontation has all four actors on stage at the same time.</p><p>The concept is mind-blowing in itself — this central idea that infidelity and heartbreak knows no gender as it explores the other end of this whole #lovewins saga. But on stage, this was just jaw-dropping. Director Rem Zamora orchestrates the action beautifully but with crystal clarity. Certainly this was one scene that will be talked about in years to come, a masterclass in stage direction.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="http://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/news-special1/lifestyle/10/20/cp-3.jpg"/><figcaption><div class="embed-desc">All four actors take the stage. <em>Vladimir Bunoan, ABS-CBN News</em></div></figcaption></figure></div><p>Despite being performed in a 100-seat auditorium, Zamora and the creative team still manages to inject production values. The single set of a combination living room/dining room of a condo unit was made more interesting with angled walls to create a backstage for the actors. The costume design also helped establish the characters despite the changing genders. </p><p>The ensemble was flawless as they tackle the shifting dynamics of their character’s relationship depending on who they are acting with, while staying true to their character’s basic faults and virtues.</p><p>At the same time, all four sang beautifully with De Jesus himself accompanying them on the piano at the side of the small stage. Isidro, of course, is a known pop singer before she even ventured into acting and her voice has retained its pleasant pop flavor, ideal for De Jesus’s melodic love songs.</p><p>Luna was the musical find in this production, with her clear tone that’s suited for pop musicals, while Martin certainly has the makings of a theater leading man.</p><p>“Changing Partners” is that rare musical that’s perfectly suited for today’s hugot-obsessed audience yet has found a brilliant, creative way to tell another story of a love that has turned sour. It’s theater that feeds both the mind and the heart.</p><p>“Changing Partners” will have shows on Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. and on Oct. 22 and 23 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the PETA Theater Centre in Quezon City.</p>

<p>“Changing Partners” at the PETA Theater Center Studios could well be the best original Filipino musical of the year.</p>

“Changing Partners” at the PETA Theater Center Studios could well be the best original Filipino musical of the year.

Review: 'Changing Partners' shows heartbreak knows no gender

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Review: 'Changing Partners' shows heartbreak knows no gender

Vladimir Bunoan,

ABS-CBN News

Published Oct 20, 2016 07:07 PM PHT

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theater review

Changing Partners

PETA

Vincent de Jesus

Agot Isidro

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