Vlad Bunoan

A scene from ‘Spring Awakening.’ Loreta Arroyo

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ABS-CBN Lifestyle

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width: 960px; display: block;" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1788505552706IMG_0048.webp" style="width: 960px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"><span class="fr-inner">A scene from &lsquo;Spring Awakening.&rsquo; <em>Loreta Arroyo</em></span></span></span></div><p>MANILA &mdash; &ldquo;Spring Awakening&rdquo; led the first round of citations for the 17th Gawad Buhay Awards, collecting 17 citations, as the annual Philippine theater awards began narrowing the field for its 2027 ceremonies.</p><p>The Sandbox Collective production picked up citations in musical direction, choreography, costume, lighting, sound and set design, as well as lead and featured performances, ensemble performance, stage direction and production of existing material.</p><p>&ldquo;anthropology&rdquo; by Barefoot Theatre Collaborative followed with 11 citations, while &ldquo;Bagets The Musical&rdquo; and &ldquo;Kislap at Fuego&rdquo; each received six. &ldquo;Children of the Algo,&rdquo; the other half of PETA&rsquo;s &ldquo;Kislap at Algo&rdquo; twin bill, received one citation.</p><p>The Gawad Buhay Awards has released the first batch of citations from five productions: &ldquo;Bagets The Musical&rdquo; by the Philippine Educational Theater Association (PETA); the twin bill &ldquo;Kislap at Algo,&rdquo; consisting of &ldquo;Kislap at Fuego&rdquo; and &ldquo;Children of the Algo,&rdquo; also by PETA; &ldquo;Spring Awakening&rdquo; by The Sandbox Collective; and &ldquo;anthropology&rdquo; by Barefoot Theatre Collaborative.</p><p>Under Gawad Buhay rules, the two plays in &ldquo;Kislap at Algo&rdquo; were considered separately.</p><p>The citations were determined by an independent jury composed of theater practitioners, journalists, reviewers and academics. A citation makes a production or production element eligible for a nomination but does not guarantee a nomination.</p><p>The final pool of citations will determine the nominees for the 2027 Gawad Buhay Awards ceremonies.</p><p>Below are the first round citations for the 17th Gawad Buhay Awards:</p><div><br></div><div><strong>Outstanding Musical Direction</strong></div><p>Ejay Yatco (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Choreography</strong></div><p>Nunoy Van Den Burgh (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Costume Design</strong></div><p>Boni Juan (&lsquo;Kislap at Fuego&rsquo;)</p><p>Raven Ong (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Lighting Design&nbsp;</strong></div><p>D Cortezano (&rsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><p>D Cortezano (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Sound Design&nbsp;</strong></div><p>Arvy Dimaculangan (&rsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><p>Aron Roca (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Set Design</strong></div><p>Sarah Facuri (&rsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><p>Boni Juan (&lsquo;Kislap at Fuego&rsquo;)</p><p>Wika Nadera (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Projection and Video Design&nbsp;</strong></div><p>Steven Tansiongco &amp; CueCraft (&rsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Female Lead Performance in a Play</strong></div><p>Maronne Cruz (&lsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>Jenny Jamora (&lsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><p>Felicity Kyle Napuli (&lsquo;Kislap at Fuego&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Male Lead Performance in a Play</strong></div><p>CJ Navato (&lsquo;Kislap at Fuego&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Female Featured Performance in a Play</strong></div><p>Jackie Lou Blanco (&lsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><p>Mikkie Bradshaw-Volante (&lsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Female Lead Performance in a Musical&nbsp;</strong></div><p>Sheena Belarmino (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Male Lead Performance in a Musical</strong></div><p>Noel Comia Jr. (&lsquo;Bagets The Musical&rsquo;)</p><p>Milo Cruz (&lsquo;Bagets The Musical&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>Alex Diaz (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>KD Estrada (&lsquo;Bagets The Musical&rsquo;)</p><p>Sam Shoaf (&lsquo;Bagets The Musical&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>Nacho Tambunting (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Female Featured Performance in a Musical</strong></div><p>Ana Abad Santos (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>Angia Laurel (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>Yani Lopez (&lsquo;Bagets The Musical&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Male Featured Performance in a Musical&nbsp;</strong></div><p>Audie Gemora (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><p>Gie Onida (&lsquo;Bagets The Musical&rsquo;)&nbsp;</p><p>Omar Uddin (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Play&nbsp;</strong></div><p>&lsquo;anthropology&rsquo; (Barefoot Theatre Collaborative)</p><p>&lsquo;Children of the Algo&rsquo; (PETA)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Ensemble Performance for a Musical</strong></div><p>&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo; (The Sandbox Collective)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Stage Direction for a Play&nbsp;</strong></div><p>Caisa Borromeo (&lsquo;anthropology&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Stage Direction for a Musical&nbsp;</strong></div><p>Andrei Nikolai Pamintuan (&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo;)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Play</strong></div><p>&lsquo;anthropology&rsquo; (Barefoot Theatre Collaborative)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Production of Existing Material for a Musical&nbsp;</strong></div><p>&lsquo;Spring Awakening&rsquo; (The Sandbox Collective)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Play &ndash; Original or Translation/Adaptation</strong></div><p>&lsquo;Kislap at Fuego&rsquo; (PETA)</p><div><strong>Outstanding Production for Children</strong></div><p>&lsquo;Kislap at Fuego&rsquo; (PETA)</p>

<p>“Spring Awakening” led the first round of citations for the 17th Gawad Buhay Awards, collecting 17 citations, as the annual Philippine theater awards began narrowing the field for its 2027 ceremonies.</p>

“Spring Awakening” led the first round of citations for the 17th Gawad Buhay Awards, collecting 17 citations, as the annual Philippine theater awards began narrowing the field for its 2027 ceremonies.

‘Spring Awakening’ leads first round of Gawad Buhay citations

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‘Spring Awakening’ leads first round of Gawad Buhay citations

ABS-CBN Lifestyle

Published September 04, 2026 03:19 PM PHT

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