Living memory in 'Noli Me Tangere the musical'

“Noli Me Tangere, the musical" at the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) celebrates history with a capital H – Jose Rizal’s 150th birthday simultaneous to Tanghalang Pilipino’s silver anniversary. Who knew that the news of the day would give its already rich texture a new overlay? It opened on the week the exhibit KULÔ closed under church pressure against “blasphemous" art in the CCP main gallery. A Catholic procession cum protest rally on CCP grounds in “reparation for blasphemy" was easily mistaken for an outdoor scene of a musical set in a time of slavery to the overweening influence of Catholic friars. Seeing the rally at intermission made time stand still as Rizal’s execution for writing the Noli over a century ago merged with a memory half a century later - the Catholic hierarchy trying to pressure Congress to ban the Noli and its sequel Fili (El Filibusterismo) from the school curriculum. If Senator Claro Recto had not led congressional resistance to Rufino Cardinal Santos and the hierarchy in 1956, we would have lost another vital part of the collective memory a nation needs to survive the present and create a future. So now here it was, “Noli Me Tangere, the musical" remounting the brilliant original production in 1994. Then as now, it aims to ground a new Filipino generation in the ongoing live drama of nation with poetry and song on the past. So how well does “Noli Me Tangere, the musical" tell its story in 2011? We begin with four stars for Ryan Cayabyab’s excellent musical score threading the hopes and woes of doomed love in a time of slavery. Ryan, a true master, knows his music and audience well. Next comes lip-smacking over Bienvenido Lumbera’s translation of history’s prose into Tagalog poetry. There were tendentious moments when poetry groaned under history’s weight, making me wonder whether everything really had to be metered and sung. But soon enough came tears with Maria Clara’s farewell to love - the highest point of the musical. Less emotional but equally gripping was the sung debate between Elias and Crisostomo Ibarra on revolution and passive resistance. Now came a rush of memories of struggle with the very same question under dictatorship in the ‘70s. Another four stars next for Agnes Locsin and her co-choreographer Biag Gaongen for moving the action along with unobstrusive grace and discipline. Equal kudos to scenographer Mio Infante and team for minimalist good sense in that stark set of gray carpeted stairs with only the barest furniture for scene changes. Hand in glove with lighting designer Katsch Catoy, they gave full play to the poetry and song of an emotionally overweighted story. Now for outstanding performances on that first Sunday matinee, starting with Mark Bautista as Crisostomo Ibarra and Cris Villonco as Maria Clara. Mark’s rich timbre was a winner all the way, his acting so heartfelt he broke into tears and garbled his lines at some points. What luck to catch him at this point of his career, before the emotional vulnerability that makes great actors grows a protective layer of hard-boiled professionalism. Cris Villonco, on the other hand, remained in control through Maria Clara’s deepest emotional troughs – her voice clear as a bell, her acting thoroughly convincing. Onstage since age 9, Cris’s return after studying Music and Economic Development in New York went on to new TV and movie credits as well as musical albums. Speak of genes in the making of history – this 28-year old named a CNN Hero in her late teens happens to be a granddaughter of the activist diva Armida Siguion-Reyna. Now for two outstanding performances by actors in the supporting cast - the relative theater newbie Red Nuestro as Kapitan Tiago and the PETA veteran Bodjie Pascua as Padre Damaso. Red is strikingly also Bodjie’s understudy as Padre Damaso. Red was a joy to watch as he played the spineless, ever- accommodating cuckold Kapitan Tiago with verve, humor, and a voice as powerful as his stage presence. Setting him off perfectly was Bodjie Pascua, completely immersed in his role as the lustful Padre Damaso played with a mature actor’s restraint. This review began with the history of nation. It ends with Philippine theater as the setting of gems that give life to history with art’s long memory. PETA, the Philippine Educational Theater Association, in the ‘60s cradled many of the accomplished theater artists onstage and backstage of this performance. Among so many theater heroes/heroines, there’s room here for only Noli ‘s director, actor and singer Audie Gemora, and the multi-talented Nonon Padilla, who fathered Tanghalang Pilipino’s new generation of talents. The parallel growth of a devoted theater audience, palpable in this performance, has been no accident. Philippine theater is growing with this nation. Catch the Noli's next two weekends. You may discover more than you expected. - YA, GMA News