'Ang Huling El Bimbo' tackles nostalgia, tragedy and hope

To stage a musical, you either write the whole thing from scratch or take an existing body of work and adapt it for theater. But how do you classify taking existing songs from one or more artists and weaving a narrative out of them?

Ask the folks at Resorts World Manila and they’ll tell you: it’s still an original. Prior to the gala performance of “Ang Huling El Bimbo” on Thursday night, RWM President and CEO Kingson Sian addressed the audience and expressed his excitement at being able to present the leisure and gaming company’s third all-original stage production (after their debut offering “Kaos” nine years ago and “Bituing Walang Ningning” several years later).

In the much-anticipated new musical based on the songs of seminal band the Eraserheads, the narrative switches back and forth between two timelines. The first is set during the present time, in the aftermath of what seems to be just another death in the urban slums. Three men are brought in for questioning, and almost immediately they recognize each other: old college friends Anthony (aka AJ), Emman and Hector.

The story whisks us back two decades earlier in the 1990s, in an unnamed but familiar university. The three friends meet as freshmen, brought together by shared inexperience and a dorm room. They form a bond that is further strengthened when they meet the wide-eyed but feisty Joy.

The foursome navigate the relative innocence of college life: classroom hijinks, endless hangouts, making fun of their ROTC commandants and experiencing the quiet thrill and crushing blows of first romance. It’s here where the fun, carefree songs of the Eheads are put to work.

“Minsan” was an easy sell — a glimpse at days long gone, with the lyrics almost literally transposed onstage. “Tindahan ni Aling Nena” was a glorious song-and-dance romp into the complexities of teenage crushes, perhaps the entire musical at its most joyous. “Pare Ko,” with an altered arrangement, was used with choreography for the ROTC scene. 

The rose-colored view of the world soon gives way to one of blinding clarity. You don’t walk into an Eheads musical expecting dark themes such as drug use, poverty and rape (well, maybe not immediately), but the production gives it to you anyway.

And that’s the big twist in “Ang Huling El Bimbo.” Perhaps most of us associate the music of the Eheads with carefree college days, and we put it on and turn it up during long car trips, trippy Saturday nights or easy Sunday afternoons. The musical certainly gives us that, but it also forces us to face reality—the what-once-was that we fondly look back on versus the here-and-now that we must contend with.

The musical’s architects—writer Dingdong Novenario, musical director Myke Salomon and director Dexter Santos—deftly balances audience expectations about what an Eheads musical should be with what they believe it ought to be.

For every predictable use of a song like “Poorman’s Grave” and “Hey Jay,” we get out-of-left-field choices such as “With A Smile,” a tender ballad here transformed into a forceful, almost angry graduation anthem. Snippets of “Ang Huling El Bimbo” was later also used by a mom singing softly to her young daughter.

READ: Ely Buendia graces 'El Bimbo' gala night

There were audio troubles during the performance but the lighting design was radical and inventive. The sets were likewise impressive, but I’ve come to expect this from RWM productions. Besides, such a humongous stage would go to waste if you can’t maximize it with outsize set design.

Because the main cast is composed almost completely of grizzled theater veterans, you get outstanding voice and acting talent at every turn. Gian Magdangal, Topper Fabregas and OJ Mariano imbue their characters with so much depth and gravitas that made it hard to take your eyes off of them each time they were onstage. Tanya Manalang as the young Joy was equal parts refreshing and spunky, Sheila Francisco (Tita Toyang) steals the limelight in every scene she’s in and Menchu Lauchengco-Yulo (older Joy) should be declared a national treasure at this point.

Jon Santos is always a delight, but it was a bit jarring to see him portray the older AJ alongside Mariano and Magdangal. The second act was crammed with confusing exposition and could’ve used a bit more editing. And there was a brief period when the deft, subtle strokes of social commentary crossed over to afternoon soap melodrama.

But all these are minuscule blemishes in an otherwise grand, ambitious production that is mostly successful at what it aspires to achieve — a daring reintroduction to newer generations of the discography of perhaps the country’s most influential musical group; a brilliant mix of talent and bravado to entertain a crowd increasingly looking for things exciting and fresh; and an intense, affectionate love letter to the enduring musical legacy of the Eraserheads. — LA, GMA News