七月的心情: "Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical" Review

Before I go to the review part, let me just tell a simple and short story from how I knew about the Binondo auditions and didn't try for it because I was sure I didn't have enough experience to actually get accepted to finally watching it even though I had zero plans to watch it because I usually pass up the opportunity to watch an amazing musical due to financial lacking.

So the story goes like this...

I was scrolling down my News Feed on Facebook one day and a notification came saying there was a new post on this group I was in. It showed a poster of auditions for a Tsinoy musical. I read the character descriptions and tried to find one that would somehow be something I could audition for. Sadly, my low self-esteem got the best of me and told my inner mind that there was no way I was auditioning for any part. Especially because I have no experience at all whatsoever in an actual musical with real professionals and that the character descriptions didn't fit me--in terms of physical appearance (since Lily's role was a hopeless romantic, I definitely fit in that range... But with the physical aspect, I'm not sure). I mean, in all honesty, the closest I've gotten to performing an actual play was in school for a requirement (and even that was a bone-dry experience because there were a lot of unprofessional deficiencies we just couldn't resolve). So that ended there.

A month later, I saw their poster on my News Feed and thought that I might watch. But it turns out that I had no money on me especially because I had no classes which meant no allowance to save. I did win the photo contest I entered though (a story for another blog post) and got some money out of that but I withdrew in spending that money because I know I don't have any left until classes resume. So the idea of actually watching came across and just floated on my mind for days until I completely forgot about it (a normal thing for me, apparently).

It wasn't until my friend, Brian, chatted me and told me that we should watch Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical. I was surprised because I knew about it and had wanted to audition for it (but didn't) and thought about watching it and now, here it was... A sign of the universe telling me that I really should watch! So I jokingly said that I would if he bought my tickets for me. And he took it seriously!! I told him I was only kidding but he really did buy tickets not just for me but also for our other total theater fan friend, Marvin! I was so ecstatic that it didn't feel like it was really happening (but it was).

SO, on the actual day wherein we were going to watch, I ate at Burger King before going straight to The Theater at Solaire (because my parents thought I might get hungry during the performance). Then, I was on my way when Brian chatted me that the theater doors were already open! I was in panic that I was even frantic at the parking lot, trying to find my way around Solaire. Luckily enough, there were sign boards and maps found in the elevator and in front of the escalators.

It seemed as though I had accidentally made a grand entrance as I arrived from the escalator where at the top, Brian and Marvin were waiting for me. I kid them that I was fashionably late.

This was our seat for the balcony side.

We went inside and got to our seats. A few minutes before the show was about to begin, the ushers announced that we could move our seats upfront. We were all shocked and excited because we had 500 pesos balcony side seats but we moved to the 2,500 pesos orchestra center seats, which was so worth it! (It's a little sad that we moved there because there were very few people watching though)

This was our seat when we moved to the orchestra center.

The good news was that I got to have a seat aligned to the center of the stage so I had a very symmetrical view of it all. Which now brings me to the technicalities and aesthetics discussion of this review (AKA the part where the review actually begins).

First off, we have the plot line. They adapted the original story from Rebecca Chuaunsu and the libretto was written by Ricky Lee together with Gershom Chua and Eljay Deldoc.

The story sets during the time of the pre-Martial Law Manila and Cultural Revolution-era in China. We have Lily, a hopeless romantic night club singer, who believes so much that on the night of the fullest moon ever, Ge Lao (the Chinese deity of LOVE) will be able to grant her wish into finding her true love. To much surprise, this true love of which she found during the full moon was Ah-Tiong, a cynical Chinese scholar who refuses to believe in destiny.

Besides these two star-crossed lovers (since almost all the stars get so oftenly crossed), we have Carlos on the side. He is the long-time Chinese childhood friend of Lily. Carlos, while the two love birds fawn over each other, is the one guy we could say that loves fully, deeply and widely without any cost of return. I can see in him as a representation of Eponine from Les Miserables while Lily and Ah-Tiong seem to be like Cosette and Marius. Although reaching through the middle of the story, it turned out to be more like a Miss Saigon story rather than a Les Miserables. Even my friends thought it was well-patterned with Miss Saigon.

However, the edge of this musical sets on the dialogue and lyrics that they've delivered very well. Whilst listening to the throwing of the dialogue by the characters, I could sense Ricky Lee's writing all over it (since I've read his books especially Para kay B, Si Amapola sa 65 na Kabanata, Kung Alam N'yo Lang and even his scriptwriting manual, Trip to Quiapo, so I know the words, the feeling and the ironies that Ricky Lee gets to write about). There are a lot of humorous but dark comedic parts that lowkey leads to  a foreshadowing of the whole plot line. It's amazing how it all lines up and gets pieced together.

Complementing those factors were the production design (Otto Hernandez), technical design (Otto Hernandez), lighting design (Joey Nombres), choreography (Douglas Nierras) and, of course, the music composition and direction (Von De Guzman) that made it such a surreal experience. And putting them all together, Director Joel Lamangan definitely painted a canvas full of intricacy and intimacy through the artwork that is Binondo.

A very low quality shot of the finale of "Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical"

Piecing them out one by one starting from the production design, we as senior high school graduates of the Music, Arts and Design strand of the University of Santo Tomas learned all the ins and outs from pre-production, post-production and production. This is the reason why, we not only just simply watched the musical but we were also able to dissect and think during the process. With that being said, even in the series of changes in the production design and in itself was very well-defined and well-planned. The stage was definitely broadened and stretched. Not a space was wasted. We were able to get the feel of the story just by the visual representations of every prop, every room, every corner and every color of the set. It felt like we were really roaming the streets of Binondo with Lily or even flying our way to China with Ah-Tiong.

The intellect of this production does not end there, for it also shows how smart the light direction is. The spot light gave emphasis to certain points of the production and the color saturation of the moments and scenes were not just for naught. I highly commend, especially the scene of which there was a rally happening, wherein the silhouettes were definitely on-point with the help of the lighting and emphasis. What shocked me most was the near-end part of that scene wherein white light was flashed in the middle, giving the audience a certain "boom!" feeling. I mean, I myself definitely felt it. I was in the middle. I was basically the target for that white light.

And since we are speaking about colors and visuals, the costume design was also definite genius. The colors they wore meant everything to the whole story. Especially the outfits of the "Greek chorus" from the colorful costumes of the traditional Chinese people to the joker outfits in the night club transcending to the black, white and red colors in the second act. Even the evident colors of blue, red and violet worn by Ah-Tiong, Carlos and Lily were such factors I could not stop wrapping my mind over throughout the whole production.

Not to mention the choreography that was very much plausible. The blockings were simply mind-boggling. It would make you think that the people over the corner isn't just there for fun nor the invisible triangle constantly being formed by Ah-Tiong, Lily and Carlos, always leaving Carlos a few feet away from them. The dance numbers were phenomenal as well. You could see the coordination and the meaning behind every twist, every turn and every bend. The feel of being in the 1970's was definitely there, without a doubt.

There, of course, complimenting the whole thing together was the music. It was spectacularly genius. From the Chinese bamboo flute transitioning to the unsuspecting assigned instrumentals per character (I observed Lily and Jasmine both with a piano accompaniment while Lily's mother had the guitar; both Ah-Tiong and Carlos had beats and it almost always happens when they talk to Lily or have their monologue).

Everything was aligned perfectly. A definite high praise for Direk Joel Lamangan for all the work he has put into "Binondo: A Tsinoy Musical". And of course, we wouldn't have this musical without the cast now, wouldn't we? And it's through the cast that we've seen how Direk Joel worked with such great finesse and expertise. Lily was played by Shiela Valderrama Martinez & Carla Guevara Laforteza, Ah-Tiong was played by Arman Ferrer & David Ezra, Carlos was played by Floyd Tena & Noel Rayos and Jasmine was played by Mariella Laurel. I could only wish for such amazing vocal cords as them. And not to mention their broadway-filled acting? On my opinion, they should be touring the world with those singing and acting skills of theirs!

Brian, Marvin and I with the amazing Director Joel Lamangan.

And as an overall close to this, I would like to share our short chat with Direk Joel Lamangan before he set off. We came to him and asked if we could have his autograph on our playbills. I was trying to give high praises and compliments but instead of that, I was so baffled and I was at lost for words that I didn't even get to say congratulations. My friend, Marvin, however, was able to save the day and tell him that we could have auditioned for the part but we weren't able to. Direk Joel said to us, "Oh, bakit hindi? Sayang, malay niyo matanggap kayo" ("Why not? That's a loss. You could have been accepted"). I told him that we might not have been fit for the part and he said, "Hindi niyo naman malalaman hangga't 'di niyo susubukan" (You'll never know unless you try).

And a strange wind came over me and told what my heart and mind was screaming to me to say and it was, "Hindi po. Magdidirek na lang po ako." and with a smile, he said, "That's good." At that moment, my words fell away again. I was supposed to say that maybe, just maybe, I could be like him. But apparently, I'm still on my way there (I need to stop being so starstruck sometimes. I get loss for words too often in real life.)

In all seriousness, I'd really want to fulfill what I keep dreaming and saying over and over again. I just hope that the moon will grant me maybe even this just one wish for the one thing I truly love more than my family--the arts.

It's a road less traveled. But it's going to be worth it.

That's what I learned not only from watching Binondo and getting to talk to the people behind this production but also what I learned from watching and living in general.